Mayor Kawakami schedules State of the County March 11 10 a.m. Livestreamed

Kauaʻi Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami invited the public to the County’s annual State of the County address scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at 10 a.m. in the Moʻikeha Courtyard at the Līhuʻe Civic Center, and the event will be livestreamed on the County of Kauaʻi Facebook page. The Original Report announcing the date and time states the mayor “invited the public to attend” and notes the livestream on the county Facebook page.

The county’s Facebook livestream is the only platform explicitly confirmed for the 2026 announcement; past practice shows broader distribution. At the March 14, 2024 State of the County in Līhuʻe the address was live-streamed on the county Facebook page, Hō‘ike TV’s YouTube channel, and aired on Hō‘ike Kaua‘i Community Television on channels 53 and 54, and the 2024 address was posted to the county website after the event. Those 2024 distribution details reflect how the county has made the address accessible in recent years but are not listed for 2026 in the announcement.

Accessibility and accommodation information was provided in previous postings. For the 2024 address, people in need of an auxiliary aid, service, or other accommodation due to a disability were instructed to contact the Mayor’s Office at 808-241-4900 or mayor@kauai.gov “as soon as possible.” The 2026 notice did not restate that language, so those with access needs should consider using the Mayor’s Office contact that the county has previously published.

Policy context from prior addresses will shape expectations for March 11. In his March 14, 2024 State of the County, Kawakami framed his agenda around resilience and laid out budget and infrastructure figures: he announced a nearly $345 million operating budget and a $104 million capital improvement project budget for the upcoming fiscal year — “an increase of more than $33 million over last year.” He said, “Those are one, to prepare our county for adversity, two, to plan smarter, stronger communities so that we can, three, build resilient families that can thrive for generations.” On roads and transportation he warned “decades of backlogged road repairs need to be addressed,” and he said, “This is largely due to more than doubling our road resurfacing and bridge repair work. Salaries, benefits and collective bargaining expenses also accounted for 35% of this increase.” He added that county GDP revenue was expected to increase by 11%, that “millions of dollars have been secured for improving roads, bridges and sidewalks,” and that “We are approaching a milestone of 50% of all county roads either having been repaved or are contracted for repaving, with another 41 lane miles coming up this year.” Those 2024 specifics established measurable benchmarks for infrastructure and budgets that the county council subsequently moved to review later that month.

Observers will be watching whether Kawakami uses the March 11 address to update the operating and CIP figures he announced in 2024 or to pivot to themes raised in the 2025 address, which was described as centered on “instability and uncertainty.” The 2026 announcement provides the venue, time and a confirmed Facebook livestream; other platform participation and any new budget figures were not specified.

Kawakami has invited the public to attend in person at the Līhuʻe Civic Center’s Moʻikeha Courtyard or to view the livestream on the County of Kauaʻi Facebook page at 10 a.m. on March 11. The Mayor’s Office phone number 808-241-4900 and email mayor@kauai.gov have been listed previously for auxiliary-aid requests.