The Kauai County Council will reconvene today with a new councilmember to consider an override of Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s veto of Bill 2491, which calls for regulations tied to large-scale pesticide use and farming of genetically modified crops.
The Council picked Mason Chock in a 4-2 vote to fill the seat vacated by former Vice Chairwoman Nadine Nakamura, who resigned Oct. 31 to serve as managing director.
The vote occurred Friday, a day after the Council postponed action on the controversial measure after failing to line up enough votes to override the mayor’s veto. The Council recessed so it could consider selection of a new councilmember before today’s meeting.
Chock, a Kamehameha Schools and University of Hawaii-Manoa graduate, was sworn in Friday.
With a full seven-member Council, a vote to consider an override of the mayor’s veto is likely to occur at the 11 a.m. meeting.
The Council has 30 days from the day Carvalho vetoed the bill, Oct. 31, to vote on the matter. Five votes are needed for an override, through which the bill would become a new law. The law then would take effect in nine months.
If the Council fails to get five votes, the mayor’s veto will stand.
Chock, 42, of Wailua, is the owner and president of Kauai Team Challenge Inc. doing business as Kupu A‘e, "an outdoor experiential education company specializing in team-building and self-development," according to the kupuae.com website. He is also former executive director of Leadership Kauai.
Involved in leadership development programs for more than a decade, Chock said he plans to carry those skills into his new role as councilmember.
When asked whether he would vote for an override or to sustain the mayor’s veto, Chock said, "I’m moving in that direction of health and safety, which would be indicative of an override, but (still) looking at things as we speak."
Chock said he’s reviewing legal aspects of the bill after meeting with people Friday who support and oppose Bill 2491. He said he has been tracking the progress of the bill, which would affect large agribusiness operations on the Garden Isle including Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer, Dow AgroSciences and BASF as well as Kauai Coffee, the largest coffee grower in the state.
While the effects of pesticides and GMOs on human health are a key issue for Chock, he said he intends to weigh all concerns.
"When I take away all the details that I have to consider, I’m clear of what’s important and very open to look at what’s the best outcome. That’s where I am with this," Chock said Friday night during a phone interview from Kauai.
During Friday’s special Council meeting held to appoint a new councilmember, Chock and KipuKai Kuali‘i, who served as a councilmember from April 2011 to December 2012, were nominated from among 18 applicants.
Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura nominated Chock to fill the vacancy because of his leadership qualities and community involvement. Councilman Mel Rapozo nominated Kuali‘i because of his past experience on the Council as well as his community involvement.
Four votes were needed to select a new councilmember. Yukimura, Council Chairman Jay Furfaro and Councilmen Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum voted for Chock. Rapozo and Councilman Ross Kagawa voted for Kuali‘i.
A Council vote to consider an override was expected Thursday, but action stalled after Kagawa said he would not support an override. His statement stunned some, including Hooser, because Kagawa had voted to approve the measure on the bill’s final reading Oct. 16.
Kagawa said he had always opposed the bill but voted to approve it to show his willingness to work together and move forward. He maintained that the Council should have spent more time on the bill’s amendments. "I wish I didn’t have to cast a vote on either side," he said at Thursday’s meeting.
Soon after Kagawa expressed opposition to an override, Hooser suggested the Council consider selection of the seventh member.
Councilmembers noted that they wanted to fill the vacancy with a well-rounded individual who will work on various county issues such as the budget, housing and recreation, not solely on the controversial pesticide-centered measure.
During the meeting, Furfaro said, "I don’t want a new councilmember to focus on (Bill 2491)."
Rapozo said the Council already had agreed in last week’s meeting, held to acknowledge receipt of the mayor’s veto, that further action was to be made by the remaining six councilmembers.
Rapozo said in that meeting, "It’s the six of us that brought it this far and the six of us to make the decision. I don’t want to see the process of selecting the seventh member hanging on to this issue. To rest a decision on replacing a councilmember on this issue, I don’t think it’s fair."
Rapozo cast the lone dissenting vote when the Council voted 6-1 last month to pass Bill 2491.
Kagawa could not be reached for comment on Chock’s appointment. Rapozo, who has long opposed the bill, also could not be reached for comment.
