Four days before Kauaʻi County voters decide who replaces term-limited Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami, both finalists are making the same closing argument: trust me to actually get things done in the first 100 days. Mel Rapozo, the longtime County Council chair, and Bernard Carvalho Jr., a former two-term mayor turned council member, advanced from the Aug. 8 primary and now face off on Nov. 3 with strikingly detailed, if differently flavored, transition plans.
Rapozo and Carvalho will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, according to Hawaii News Now, with the election itself confirmed for that date by Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Both men live in Kapaʻa, are 61 and 65 years old respectively, and are vying to succeed Kawakami, who is term-limited and running for Hawaiʻi lieutenant governor, as reported by Kauaʻi Now.
A Primary That's Still Disputed on the Numbers
Exactly how decisively Rapozo won the August primary depends on which outlet's tally you trust. Per Kauaʻi Now's reporting, Rapozo took 7,618 votes to Carvalho's 5,744, a lead of 1,874 votes, with the four other candidates splitting 4,139 votes combined and 1,016 ballots left blank in the mayoral race. The Garden Island, however, put Rapozo's primary share at 40.6% on 7,580 votes and Carvalho's at 30.6% on 5,720 votes, while Hawaii News Now reported Carvalho's total differently, at 4,971 votes, or 31.7%. KHON2's account of a later results printout showed Rapozo near 43% and Carvalho around 33%. Turnout itself was modest: The Garden Island reported that just 18,675 of Kauaʻi County's 49,060 registered voters cast primary ballots, a 38.1% turnout rate.
Both men bring decades of government experience to the race. Carvalho served as mayor from 2008 to 2018 and has sat on the County Council since 2020, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Rapozo has spent 18 years on the council, following earlier careers with the Kauaʻi Police Department and the Hawaiʻi National Guard, as detailed by Hawaiʻi Public Radio in a profile published this week.
Competing 100-Day Playbooks
Per Kauaʻi Now, Rapozo says his first priority would be county infrastructure, particularly solid waste, and he plans to convene public works leaders, solid waste professionals and community stakeholders within his first 100 days. He has set three specific first-year goals: a funded, time-bound solid waste plan; faster housing and building permits; and housing projects visibly moving toward construction. Rapozo also plans to direct the county's housing and planning departments to identify county-owned land and projects that could be accelerated, and he wants to review property tax policies for potential relief to resident homeowners without cutting essential services.
Carvalho's approach, per the same Kauaʻi Now report, centers on process and accountability. He says his first priority would be bringing people together and improving how county government functions, and he plans to meet every department head within his first 100 days. Carvalho intends to review projects and set priorities, responsibilities and timelines. He has said he would offer a clear plan, immediate action and honest accountability rather than promise universal affordability within 100 days, and that he would not promise what he could not realistically deliver.
Rapozo plans to issue quarterly progress reports covering work completed, tasks underway, expenditures and obstacles.
Landfill Capacity and a Contested Timeline
Kekaha Landfill is nearing capacity, per Kauaʻi Now's reporting. Just how soon remains in dispute: Rapozo's June candidate questionnaire with Civil Beat referenced the landfill approaching full capacity in 2027, while Hawaiʻi Public Radio reported the facility is expected to reach capacity in 2030, with Rapozo noting that estimate could shift given the volume of storm debris added since recent hurricanes hit the islands. Rapozo has named the county's next landfill, alongside the housing shortage and disaster preparedness, as among the unresolved issues he says Kauaʻi still faces, according to Hawaiʻi Public Radio. He has also proposed curbside recycling and evaluating emerging technologies to cut the volume of waste reaching the landfill, per Kauaʻi Now.
Cesspools, Sewers and a Costly Fix
Wastewater infrastructure has emerged as one of the sharpest policy contrasts between the two campaigns. Kauaʻi has roughly 14,000 cesspools that discharge about 9.5 million gallons of raw sewage into the environment daily, according to Civil Beat. Converting those systems individually is estimated to cost residents $40,000 to $70,000 apiece, which would total nearly $569 million at the lower estimate for roughly 14,200 cesspools, the outlet reported; Rapozo's earlier June questionnaire with the same outlet cited a different average conversion cost of $15,000 to $30,000.
Carvalho favors first exploring smaller, clustered wastewater systems shared between multiple properties before pursuing a broad sewer expansion, the Civil Beat report found. Rapozo, by contrast, says expanding the county sewer system should be on the table to help homeowners move off cesspools altogether. The county's existing cesspool-conversion grant program drew 340 applications in its first year and awarded $20,000 grants to 100 homeowners.
Housing, Food Security and the Cost of Living
Both men point to housing affordability as central to the race, which the Star-Advertiser has framed around families struggling with rising living costs and infrastructure needs that demand continued investment. Rapozo has proposed reducing permitting delays, forming partnerships with private developers and building affordable housing for working families, while also pledging to streamline permitting and support local job creation. Carvalho has said he supports responsible expansion of accessory dwelling units and gap housing, and plans to review affordable and workforce housing projects to address permitting and infrastructure delays.
On food security, Rapozo says he would work with farmers to address water, infrastructure and market-access barriers limiting local food production. Carvalho has proposed uniting farmers, ranchers, schools, businesses and community organizations to strengthen local food production, processing and distribution. Rapozo has also said Hurricane Lowell underscored Kauaʻi's vulnerabilities, reinforcing his emergency-preparedness proposals around evacuation planning, communications, shelter readiness and alternate emergency access routes, according to his Civil Beat candidate questionnaire. On tourism, Rapozo has said it remains the island's financial backbone but needs to be managed in a way that prioritizes residents, per Hawaiʻi Public Radio.
Carvalho, for his part, has pointed to government efficiency, outside funding sources and avoiding unnecessary costs to taxpayers as guiding priorities, while Rapozo has said he would review county fees, operations and spending in search of efficiencies. Both candidates acknowledge that larger infrastructure and housing projects will take longer than any 100-day window to resolve, even as they race to convince Kauaʻi voters before Tuesday which closing pitch deserves the county's top office.
