Over 200 business owners gathered this week at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue, sharing their struggles, asking for transparency from county officials, and wanting a date when tourism will reopen. Many of those attending are personal friends who are struggling with little to no income and enormous debt. This is on an island with only 2 active COVID cases (as of February 19) and a mayor touting that after-school sports can continue.
Kauai business owners who had been successful before the shutdown have already either succumbed to the financial crisis or are about to. Even giant businesses, such as the Grand Hyatt Kauai, cannot reopen and noted that employee unemployment benefits are about to expire including health insurance.
Those attending the meeting complained about the lack of specific information emanating from the Mayor and County Council on the basis for reopening. It has become impossible for business owners to plan. One person we talked with shared that another three months without income will simply not cut it.
Yesterday the mayor said businesses should take advantage of PPP and other federal government loans and opportunities. But some business owners said they cannot add more debt with the uncertainty of reopening.
Kawakami yesterday promoted the ability to have after-school sports continue but didn’t address a huge percentage of Kauai-based businesses going under that will never return. The mayor continues to receive his salary estimated at $132k. To our knowledge, no councilperson or the mayor has offered not to take their salary during this crisis.
Some Kauai County Council members also attended the meeting. They conveyed their concern while each receives a salary of over $60k annually. Former mayor Bernard Carvalho who serves on the council and was at the event, said, “Businesses are hurting…We did speak with the mayor…They have a plan…It’s coming.” No further details were provided.
Today the Mayor signed his 7th supplementary emergency proclamation for COVID. As Michelle said on Facebook after reading the announcement: “So what did this proclamation do exactly? Sounds like a whole bunch of wordplay that basically amounts to…. nothing. No actual action plan. But gives them the ability to establish… a plan… eventually??? What?? Anyone else confused. Seems like BS.”
This morning, many comments addressed the seriousness of the situation.
George: I am a permanent resident of Kauai. Poipu Shopping center is near my residence. 75-85% of the businesses and restaurants are closed. Several will probably never reopen. The mayor’s policies are killing local business owners. Hawaii needs one set of rules for all islands.
Chris: In contrast, “Maui transpacific arrivals averaged 3,443 per day during the same period which ended February 17, 2021.” 30 people have died on Maui, 1 has died on Kauai. About 10x the number per capita. Prior to re-opening with a single test requirement, there were very few cases on Maui as well. You’re presenting a consistent view of this but failing to fairly present the views of both sides here. The mayor of Kauai is not on some sort of power trip and is not trying to kill the tourist industry. There would be a clear cost (measured in lives) to fully re-opening now, as nearly every legitimate public health official has stated here.
John: I canceled a trip planned for November 2020 and moved to May 2021 – I have canceled that trip. I understand the local push back on opening up Kauai over concerns with Covid. The hard reality is that the majority of the local economy is based on tourism. Without visitors, there is no feasible way that the local population can drive a recovery. I also understand the local desire to limit tourism in the future. But the way it looks at this time, the entire economy is going to fail. I have made many friends during my many visits to Kauai and feel for each of those folks. I look forward to returning to Kauai, but it will not be anytime soon.
Marjorie: The mayor is rogue. He is destroying the heart and soul of Kauai. The small mom-and-pop businesses are quickly closing as they cannot live without tourism. It is sad and disgusting. He again is still penalizing owners by not allowing them to 3-day quarantine in their own homes and then test out after 72 hours. Disgusting. He is doing nothing for the people of Kauai except fabricate fear. He is making tourists not want to go to Kauai, and he is teaching the rich on Kauai to be rude and nasty to the tourists that do end up going.
Archer: I hope Mayor Kawakami gets what he asked for (i.e., budget cuts, furloughs, food insecurity, homelessness). We are canceling our fourth planned trip to Kauai…we are vaccinated, and the world is our oyster…except Kauai. Your elderly are vaccinated and protected; now, what’s your excuse? What are you going to do when the federal funds stop rolling in? How are you going to rebuild your economic infrastructure? Who will pay for those ICU beds when your uninsured outnumber your insured? Nothing Kawakami does make any sense at all.
Archer: Did you read the other news today about increased property taxes on non-resident owners and decrease of taxes on Kauai income and businesses? Kawakami and Ige see a way out of this fiscal mess – they’re raising the property taxes of over 40% of Kauai homeowners. I’m really tired of paying for their poor decisions – it may be time to pull out our stakes and let the Kauai voters be accountable for their many bad choices.
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Linda T says
The news is bad and keeps getting worse. We are sitting on air tickets from a cancelled family vacation and now we are doubting if they’ll even be used for a Hawaiian vacation. Perhaps we’ve seen the last of Hawaii- so sad.
Marjorie k says
We pay enough taxes. County. State. Ge. Ta. Tax. And we cannot even rent our vacation rental bc noone wants to go to kauai thanks to kawakami on his power trip. How dare he. He comes from a rich grocery store family. But oh boy. The kids can play sports. Never mind kids and people are depressed. Drug use, homelessness, family abuse, alcoholism is all on the rise. Yep. The beauty of kauai is there. But. The harsh reality is that the spirit of the people are all tangled in the above thanks to the out of control mayor. The atty general and the governor need to set the rules. One rule for all island. Enough with his bs and his stupid bubbles.
Libs A says
This is a sad situation! What are the residents supposed to do without income or health insurance? What will Kauai look like in just a few short weeks? What about theft and homelessness?
Total mess!
Kitty K says
We’ve been going to Kauai for almost 30 years, from PA, for 3-4 weeks. We had 3-1/2 weeks scheduled for August 2020, moved it to October 2020, then to February 2021, then to April 2021 and cancelled again ! We own a lot of timeshare on Kauai that we’re going to lose, plus what we contribute to their economy in restaurants, shops, etc. When is Mayor Kawakami going to realize how much business he is losing ? We’re going to the Big Island in April and may decide to continue staying there.
Kavika C says
Sadly, the residents of Kauai are reaping the consequences of electing power hungry tyrants who have the gall to collect their paychecks while others starve Elections have consequences and tyrants suck!
Pass it on to the property owners who live out of state? I hope it crashes down on them!
Brad B says
Thank you for the updates even though they’re distressing for our friends on Kauai. Our March trip plan has moved to October but it might end up being changed to Las Vegas instead.
Did the mayor actually advise the business owners drowning in debt to take on more debt? To what end since there’s no plan? Clueless.
I wonder if the plan would have been here already if the mayor wasn’t paid until it was provided?
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Brad.
Thanks. He said (paraphrasing), that businesses can take advantage of PPP and other government programs.
Aloha.
Rae-Marie M says
Thank you for your continual support of businesses on Kauai. I would like to make you aware of a new website, created by Joel Peterson, which allows people to tell their story. It is openkauai.com. I wish you would consider including it in one of your blogs. Stories matter. The residents are hearing a one sided view of what’s happening and only now are business owners stepping out and letting their voices be heard. One must be brave to do so considering the community backlash that often happens. Some are even afraid of county retribution. The more people who speak out and share what is happening to them as a result of these travel policies, the better. Thank you for your consideration.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Rae Marie.
Thank you. Appreciate your input and comments.
Aloha.
sean says
From co-workers on Kauai.
“The Mayor/County edits negative comments on social media”
Mike says
Kauai has a listed population of 65,930. Vaccinate them! Then, lets move on?
Stop the economic losses and bankruptcy of the island.
Stop the pontificating of FALSE Human losses vs livelihoods.
Stop the insanity.
Stop the poor leadership who is feeding people with fear verses answers and hope.
Unify the COVID decision making, then we’ll only have to deal with Ige and Green… UGH! Even that would be an improvement? Sadly, yes!
sean says
Saw this coming months and months ago.
Can gets kicked down the road at every turn. Always an excuse to delay the plan. Or delay even making a plan.
St. Patty’s Day and Easter approaching. More reason to delay I suppose. Better wait and see if there us a spike.
Lucky for me I’ve already procured a 2nd home in an open State. When it hits the fan even worse out here, I’ll simply sell to a wealthy mainlander for top dollar and have enough funds to last for years.
Yes, I literally bought an ” emergency home” because of the leadership in Hawaii.
Shaking my damn head
Kathi E. says
I’m beginning to think that Kawakami and other extremists on island are determined to do away with the tourists permanently and send Kauai back to the dark ages. It’s so sad for locals, tourists and the 40% of us who are second home owners.
Anyone on the mainland cannot comprehend how an island who has had two cases for the last three weeks, one death in a year, 1/3 of their people vaccinated and the highest unemployment rate of any county in the U.S. can remain closed. It makes no sense. Is there any talk of a recall??
And last night on the news- vaccinations are good for at least six months and probably 12.
Dan M. says
Residents of Kauai should demand that the mayor and councilmembers forgo their salaries until the island comes up with a fair plan.
My wife and I and another couple are scheduled to visit Kauai in May. All four of us have been vaccinated. As of right now, I doubt we will make the trip because of the insane rules that are in effect.
This is absolutely crazy. Vote these people out.
Fred says
Maybe it would be a good if the mayor stopped getting paid along with the other bureaucrats? Maybe teaches too?
Just a thought
Scott A. says
I have traveled multiple times to Kauai and I am supposed to be on Kauai this week. We cancelled the trip in late November due to the ever changing plans of Kauai, some with only days notice. We changed our trip to venture to St. Maarten. Living in Arkansas, we only had one Covid-testing option that met Hawaii’s partnered testing (Walgreens). St. Maarten gave us 120 hours for a nasal swab PCR testing window or 48 hours for one of four named antigen tests. We were so thankful for this because our PCR test took 4 days for us to get the results from Walgreens. St. Maarten was willing to accept Covid testing from any accredited laboratory or clinic as long as certain requirements were met. The island mandated that we submit our test results prior to our arrival, and then mandated us paying for its Covid insurance policy for $30 per person. That would have covered us for up to 4 Covid tests and covered our entire lodging during any necessary “quarantine.” Upon our arrival, we were so well received. I’ve traveled there before, prior to it being decimated by two, category 4 hurricanes in 2017. The reason I am writing this is to demonstrate how another island economy is treating life in Covid times. When the United States announced mandatory Covid testing prior to entering the country, the property we stayed at emailed us a list of 6 laboratories or clinics (including contact information) that were conducting the testing with guaranteed results in less than 24 hours. Two days later, the property announced that it was going to have one of the labs test on the property itself every Thursday evening. I spoke with the general manager about St. Maarten’s plans to reduce the testing window from 120 hours to 72. She told me the government had changed course and was going to keep the testing window at 120 hours because the need for tourists outweighed the slight increased risks of a few more Covid cases since the policy had been working for over 6 months already.
Laurie G says
There is a growing grass roots movement to dethrone the powers of mayor Kawakami and open Kauai. Thank you for sharing this.
molla says
I am wondering and hoping that the mayor reads the comments on Beat of Hawaii. I hope so. People who legally rent out their home, who follow the rules and are licensed already pay higher property taxes than owner occupied homes and we are threatened with an even higher bill, yet we are not allowed to be part of the “bubble.” Does that sound right? We are going to get our second shot soon. My potential guests are thinking that if they get their second dose that they should be okay to come to Kauai.
Andy says
Let me ask this… what has Kauaʻi done to improve the health system there… by now I would expect far more ICU beds being available… have they just sat there and not upped the numbers on that or brought in more medical teams? Seems like that would help… I haven’t read ANYTHING saying the island has done ANYTHING to correct that.
Jeanne F says
You guys are the rudder steering the information ship. -it’s beyond me how a person,people, who are receiving salaries can continue to be oblivious to the silent suffering of not only Kauai residents,but good simple people,who love Kauai,visitors who find joy and happiness on Kauai-
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Jeanne.
Thank you! We appreciate your more than 50 comments.
Aloha.
Shawn C. says
Has anybody considered that Mayor Kawakami secretly doesn’t want tourism to return and he wants businesses to fail so that Kauai will return to the way it was in the 60’s? And COVID is the perfect vehicle for him to realize his dreams.
Jerry says
I wish I had something good to say about the decisions being made, but I don’t. This is a good time to keep quiet and wait for the obvious to happen. – Mahalo
John G. says
Please…Impeach Kawakami! Mahalo!! 🌴
John in RI