Five candidates vie for Big Island southwest council seat

District 6 voters are choosing an open Hawaii County Council seat that stretches across South Kona, Kaū and the Volcano area after Michelle Galimba declined another term. The race lands in one of the island’s more rural districts, where remoteness, thin infrastructure and growth pressure are already squeezing neighborhoods from Ocean View Estates to the southern edge of the county. Puna, just to the east, is part of the same broader pressure zone, with one estimate putting its population at 75,000 by 2030, up from about 45,000 in 2020. The primary is Aug. 8, and the general election is Nov. 3.

Geothermal: safety, culture and control

Geothermal is the district’s sharpest energy question because the debate is not just about power output, but about who decides how development happens and who absorbs the risks. Zed Kaapana Aki is the clearest on that point, saying geothermal only works if it is safe, returns benefits to the community, respects culture and includes Native Hawaiian leadership. That makes him the candidate most likely to frame geothermal as a land-use and consent issue, not a simple yes-or-no expansion pitch.

That stance matters in a district where land-use decisions can ripple into road access, view planes and neighborhood trust. If the next council member is willing to back geothermal only under those conditions, the practical effect is slower, more scrutinized development; if not, the district could see more pressure for faster utility-scale projects with fewer local guardrails.

Housing supply and the county's shortage math

The housing numbers explain why this seat matters beyond campaign slogans. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Hawaii County’s population at 210,043 in 2025, with a median gross rent of $1,510 and median monthly owner costs with a mortgage of $2,157. UHERO’s 2026 Hawaii Housing Factbook says residents face the highest housing costs in the nation and argues the state has to significantly expand supply if it wants to bring prices down.

That reality is shaping how the candidates talk about land use. Guy Enriques is pitching affordable housing through strategic land use, Zed Kaapana Aki says development should be guided by responsibility, balance and respect for community character, Kyle Kepano Jones lists housing affordability as one of his main issues, and Jason Masters centers local housing and quality of life in South Kona, Kaū and Volcano. The common thread is that none of them can avoid the supply problem, because every added home, subdivision or permit decision changes who can afford to stay in Nāālehu, Ocean View and the smaller communities in between.

Vacation rentals and the island's narrowing home inventory

Vacation rentals are the clearest policy fight in the race because the county already has a legal framework, and voters know the stakes. Hawaii County Planning says Bill 108, adopted in November 2018 as Ordinance 2018-114, regulates short-term vacation rentals. A newer county ordinance, 25-50, expanded registration and enforcement rules for hosted and unhosted transient accommodations, while draft Bill 147 would lengthen the short-term threshold to stays of less than 180 consecutive days.

Justin Canelas draws the hard line in the field: he supports hosted short-term rentals when the owner lives on site, but he opposes unhosted multi-property operators. Jason Masters takes a different angle, saying short-term rentals affect property values and home prices islandwide. Together, those positions frame the choice voters will feel most directly: whether the council seat should protect year-round housing stock from conversion, or leave more room for tourist-oriented use in neighborhoods already under pressure.

What the five candidates would change

Justin Canelas is a farmer in Nāālehu and serves as the Environmental Management Commissioner for District 6, which gives him a public identity rooted in land stewardship and day-to-day rural management. His clearest policy line is on rentals, where he wants hosted units to remain available but would shut the door on unhosted, multi-property operators that remove homes from the local market. In practical terms, that would put more weight on preserving neighborhood housing and less on expanding tourist inventory.

Guy Enriques is running from a record that includes a previous council term and local service in Kaū, where he once helped deliver an $18.9 million hurricane shelter and gym, a potable water well in Ocean View and lifeguards at Punaluu. His current pitch focuses on affordable housing through land use and a permanent secondary route in and out of Puna, which tells voters he is prioritizing infrastructure and access before tourism growth. That approach would likely push county attention toward roads, emergency access and buildable land rather than opening the door wider for short-term rentals.

Kyle Kepano Jones is the race’s most emergency-focused candidate, arguing that disaster response problems come mainly from slow state and federal help. His broader issue profile puts him on tourism management, housing affordability and traffic infrastructure, a combination that suggests he sees the district’s pressure points as transportation, overcrowding and resilience rather than a single land-use fight. That would matter most in communities where one bad storm, one blocked road or one delayed aid request can isolate entire mauka-to-makai corridors.

Zed Kaapana Aki presents himself as the candidate most willing to tie development to cultural and community standards. His platform stresses a stronger, more self-sufficient District 6, and his housing work has already centered on collaborative solutions to the affordability crisis, while his geothermal position sets conditions for any future expansion. That combination points toward a council vote that would be more cautious about outside development and more likely to demand that new projects prove they serve residents first.

Jason Masters is a trained urban planner who grew up in Pāhala, now lives in Waiōhinu and chairs the Kaū Community Development Plan Action Committee. He is the candidate most likely to approach the seat through planning mechanics, with a focus on local housing, quality of life and the way short-term rentals push up property values and home prices. If voters want a council member who reads every new project through the lens of land-use consequences, he is the clearest fit. In District 6, that difference will show up not in rhetoric, but in rent checks, road pressure and how much of the southwest corner remains a place where people can still afford to live year-round.