Kekaha farmer Umi Martin launches Kaua‘i County Council bid

Kekaha’s next county council fight is being framed around the basics of daily life on the West Side: where families can live, how food gets grown and moved, and whether county decisions reach Waimea and Kekaha as clearly as they do Līhue.

Umi Martin, a lifelong Kekaha resident, formally launched his Kaua‘i County Council bid on May 29, positioning himself as a farmer, small-business owner and West Side voice rooted in agriculture and community service. Martin and his wife, Kaiulani, operate Umi’s Store in Waimea and Umi’s Farm in Kekaha. Before entering business and farming, he spent nearly a decade as a youth counselor for the Boys and Girls Club, worked as a substitute teacher in Kaua‘i’s public schools and coached high school and club canoe paddling.

That background shapes the agenda Martin is bringing to voters. He is pressing on housing affordability, infrastructure, agriculture, food security, economic opportunity, environmental stewardship and public services, arguing that the problems should be treated as connected parts of the same islandwide challenge instead of isolated complaints. He is also making county accountability central to his pitch, saying the council needs to provide budget oversight, checks and balances and the transparency that keeps public trust intact.

For Kekaha, Waimea and neighboring communities, the test will be whether that message translates into concrete county decisions. The West Kauai Community Plan, adopted in 2018, guides long-term development in the Waimea-Kekaha and Hanapēpē-‘Ele‘ele districts and lays out policies on infill and affordable housing, preserving rural town character, identifying sea-level-rise hazard areas and improving circulation through safe routes for pedestrians and bicyclists. Kaua‘i County also has five planning districts, West Kauai, South Kauai, Līhue, East Kauai and North Shore, underscoring how much the island’s future is shaped through regional planning choices.

Martin’s entry came as the 2026 council race was already crowded. By the June 2 filing deadline, 32 candidates were listed for the seven Kaua‘i County Council seats, with four seats open in the election. The next council term begins at noon on the first working day of December after the election, and councilmembers may serve up to four consecutive two-year terms. Martin also enters the race with a recognized agricultural profile: in 2025, Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers named him its Members of the Year recipient, and he serves as president of the group’s Kauai chapter.