Kauai Chamber to honor Mayor Derek Kawakami at farewell dinner
Kauai Chamber’s July 16 farewell dinner will honor Mayor Derek Kawakami as he leaves for a lieutenant governor race, with housing and county services still unfinished.
The Kauai Chamber of Commerce will honor Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami at an A Hui Hou dinner on July 16, turning its 12th annual Mayor’s Event into a sendoff for the island’s departing chief executive. The dinner will be held at The Royal Sonesta Kauai Resort, 3610 Rice St. in Līhue, with registration starting at 5:30 p.m. and the dinner and program beginning at 6 p.m.
The chamber said the evening will replace the event’s usual luncheon format and include dancing from about 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. with Kustom Sounds Kaua‘i. For chamber members and other island residents, the gathering will mark a public closing chapter for a mayor who has led Kauai County since 2018 and is now seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Kawakami filed nomination papers on May 12, 2026, and first announced his run on March 17. Local political reporting has described him as the leading Democratic contender after Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke decided not to seek reelection, making the chamber dinner a timely marker of a broader transition in Hawaii politics as well as county government.
His final 2026 State of the County address called itself his eighth and final such address and said his administration had centered on six priorities: mobility, home, connection, money, freedom and heart. Those themes line up with the issues still pressing on Kauai, especially housing, transportation and access to county services.
The County of Kauai says its Housing Agency exists to create greater opportunities for affordable housing and support community development, a mission that remains central as rents and home prices continue to shape island life. On February 20, 2026, the county said Hawaii’s federal delegation secured $7.5 million for Kauai housing and transportation projects, and Kawakami called those earmarks meaningful progress toward some of the island’s most pressing needs.
His record also includes work on county service modernization and basic infrastructure, including expanded online payment options and added labor positions for road maintenance crews responsible for more than 600 lane-miles of county roadway. That mix of housing, roads and public access will likely define the post-Kawakami county agenda even as the chamber honors him for two terms in office and the island’s business community looks ahead to the next chapter of county leadership.
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