Syngenta employee to run for Kauaʻi council seat
Agrees with employer that pesticide and GE crop disclosure should be regulated at the state, not county level.
Arthur Brun, a 10-year employee of Syngenta, is the third person to declare his candidacy for the seven-seat county council.
Brun told Kauaʻi reporters on Monday that his main priorities, if elected, would be to finish plans for an adolescent drug treatment facility, work on alternative waste disposal solutions for the Kekaha Landfill, build a compromise to bring back Friday night high school football games and find more ways to create affordable housing solutions on Kauaʻi.
Missing from his platform is any mention of GMOs and Kauaʻi’s under-siege Ordinance 960. The Independent called Brun ealier today and asked him what his stance is on the issue.
“I think that sort of legislation should be at the state and Federal level,” he said over the phone. “They already have laws on that so I don’t think the county should have jurisdiction in that situation.”
If elected would Brun attempt a repeal of the county legislation?
“I’d have to really look at the facts before I made any decision on either repealing or not repealing [Ordinance 960],” he said. “I’m not against GMOs, I’m not against organics. Both are good and both must follow the law.”
Besides Brun, Kauaʻi Council incumbent Mel Rapozo and former Kauaʻi councilman KipuKai Kualii have filed nomination papers.
All seven County Council seats (held by Rapozo, Ross Kagawa, Jay Furfaro, JoAnn Yukimura, Tim Bynum, Gary Hooser and Mason Chock Sr.) are up for election this year. Kauaʻi Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.‘s seat is also be up for election, as are Rep. James Tokioka (D-Koloa-Wailua), and Rep. Derek Kawakami (D-Wailua-Haena)‘s.