Shigemoto files for council, touts housing, infrastructure and teamwork

Taylor H. Shigemoto entered the Kauai County Council race Friday with a pitch aimed less at biography than at the pressures facing Kauai households: housing, county infrastructure and a government he says should work more collaboratively. He filed his nomination papers with the County of Kauai Office of the County Clerk Elections Division as the 2026 filing window moved toward its June 2 deadline.

His campaign begins in a race that is unusually open. Four of the council’s seven seats are on the ballot this year, only the second time in 30 years that so many seats have opened at once. Council Chair Mel Rapozo, council members Bernard Carvalho and Felicia Cowden are running for mayor, while Vice Chair KipuKai Kualii is term-limited. Because Kauai County Council members are elected at-large, the contest is countywide, and the top seven finishers in the November 3 general election will win seats. Civil Beat reported roughly two dozen candidates had shown interest as of March 31, underscoring how quickly the field is filling out ahead of the Aug. 8 primary.

Shigemoto said housing would be his first priority, especially affordability, the supply of available homes and the threat of houselessness. He also highlighted solid waste, wastewater, roads, sewer systems and parks and recreation, placing his campaign squarely on the county’s most basic functions. Those issues are already under strain. The County of Kauai Housing Agency’s 2026 Homeless Program Grants drew 12 proposals, 10 of them eligible, and the county selected five projects for a total of $500,000. County homeless-service requests totaled about $1.7 million, far above the money available.

Wastewater and landfill capacity are similarly pressing. The council-approved sewer rate increase in Bill 2874 is phasing in at 11 percent a year over five years, with county officials saying the added revenue will help repair wastewater facilities that are more than four decades old. The Kekaha Landfill, meanwhile, is Kauai’s only permitted landfill and is expected to reach capacity around 2030. That is why the county is moving ahead with the proposed Kekaha Landfill Cell 3 Vertical Expansion while planning for a future landfill at Māalo.

Shigemoto also tied his run to economic development, job creation, stability and a broader tax base, arguing that county government needs less division and more teamwork. He said his more than 25 years in banking and financing, including work at several Kauai financial institutions, gives him a useful skill set for county governance. His public record also shows community ties: a 2021 notice identified him as a HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union representative involved in a Hawaii Foodbank Kauai donation decision, and a 2022 Hale Ōpio Kauai article showed him and his mother, Karen Shigemoto, presenting a $500 award for the Hale Ōpio First Jobs Academy.