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Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Nov. 5 General Election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer some questions about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following came from Ross Kagawa, candidate for Kauai County Council. The top 14 primary vote-getters advance to the general election. The other primary candidates are Abe Apilado Jr., Addison Bulosan, Bernard Carvalho Jr., Felicia Cowden, Sherri Cummings, Bill DeCosta, Fern Holland, Arryl Kaneshiro, W. Butch Keahiolalo, KipuKai Kualii, Jacquelyn Nelson, Mel Rapozo and Bart Thomas.

Go to Civil Beat’s Election Guide for general information, and check out other candidates on the General Election Ballot.

1. What is the biggest issue facing Kauai County, and what would you do about it?

Lack of affordable and workforce housing continues to get worse. Market values of Kauai’s homes are going through the roof as supply decreases and demand increases. Our population has doubled over the past 50 years while supply of homes throughout that time has not kept up. Costs of materials to build have grown so bad that a simple three-bedroom home will cost about $450,000 to build on Kauai. These factors are unreasonable for our people here on Kauai.

We need to work with everyone from the state and federal governments to the private sector to address our problems that we facing here on Kauai and in Hawaii as a state.

2. Kauai has proven vulnerable to natural disasters especially on the island’s north shore. What would you do to improve disaster preparedness?

Kauai County has gone through several disasters in recent years, primarily flooding, and I feel like overall we have responded well and continue to improve in that area.

3. There are nearly 14,000 cesspools on Kauai that must be removed by 2050. With an average cost of $15,000 to $30,000 to convert to septic, many homeowners say making the transition is not affordable. How can the county help to jump-start cesspool replacements?

I think it is important to receive significant help from the federal government in this area as we are so different from the other 49 states. We are the only island state and hopefully we can get our congressional and state delegation to work with us so that it won’t prevent needed growth for housing while also promoting health and safety of our island and our people.

4. Traffic is getting worse on Kauai, and different regions face different challenges. What would be your approach to improve Kauai’s transportation problems?

We need to continue to fix our roads and bridges that five years ago were severely overlooked. Thanks to rail and our .5% portion of the general excise taxes, which a last check was near the $35 million a year range, along with federal matching programs, we are hopeful that by 2030 will have upgraded all of our county roads and bridges.

Westside morning and pau hana traffic is terrible by the Kalaheo traffic light and the Tunnel of Trees (Koloa/Poipu) merge. These are all state issues as far as road widening, or developing alternate routes (old cane haul roads). I continue to push for more action rather than studies. This is a problem that’s affected our Westside community for years, it’s time for action.

5. The median price for a single-family home on Kauai has topped $1 million. What would you do to help address the shortage of low-income, affordable and middleclass housing?

It’s basic economics, supply and demand. We need to look at all options with infrastructure and utilities in place or nearby with adequate capacity. Working together with our federal and state governments as well as developers and other private sector entities is a priority if we are going to seriously address this problem.

6. Kauai’s landfill in Kekaha will soon run out of capacity and there’s still no timely plan in place to build a new one. What can the county council do to address what could become a garbage crisis for the island?

We need to continue to look to increase recycling and waste diversion efforts to minimize the amounts being taken to the landfill each day. We also need to push forward with an alternative site to accommodate the landfill waste after Kekaha reaches its capacity.

7. Overtourism can degrade the environment, threaten biodiversity, contribute to wear and tear on infrastructure, generate traffic and disrupt neighborhoods. What more can be done to better manage the island’s tourism sector?

Working with our state and representatives from our visitor industry is imperative to keeping a healthy visitor industry. Our people are known for our tremendous hospitality to our visitors as it is our main economic driver. However, that hospitality is created with respecting our people’s rights, which sometimes seem compromised with our growth in tourism.

Continuing to work and be involved as an elected official is vital to finding balance for a sustainable tourist industry on Kauai.

8. Should more be done to encourage agriculture and food sustainability on Kauai? What would you suggest?

Yes, absolutely, We have seen so much progress in this area with our growth of taro farmers and also large companies such as Aloun Farms in Kaumakani and Pakala.

We need to work with the state and the federal governments to remove barriers to feeding our schools with locally grown produce rather than serving processed food as was being done for years.

9. What would you do to ensure transparency and accountability in county government?

As a council member, I answer each and every call or complaint and make sure that the council provides our residents of Kauai and Niihau a trusted voice to look into any problem that arises.

It is our duty to serve and protect our people with transparency and accountability in Kauai County’s affairs.