Aloha, I’m Skyler Workman.
My name is Skyler Wailea Workman
As a child of Kauai I never felt like I could be proud of my name, like I wasn’t worthy of public recognition. I was soft spoken and stayed in the background while admiring those who lived for the spotlight. The only thing I took pride in and personally enjoyed, was my dedication to helping others if I knew I could make a difference. I didn’t consider money, my time, my body, or my resources. As long as it wasn’t a crippling sacrifice, I would stay to help however I could if it mean’t making someone else’s day a little brighter.
I mention my past as it is the foundation for my future on county council. I’ve experienced a lot in my lifetime and have overcome situations that others would find devastating. I’ve pushed myself to survive while still holding on to my dedication to helping those around me, and I feel Kauai needs that dedication now more than ever. I’ve learned to find my voice and to stand up for those who feel they have no choice but to accept things as they are.
My goal is to rejuvenate Kauai’s ability to support it’s community.
- I want to find better ways to bring in revenue so we can lower taxes on families that have lived here for decades.
- I want to better our public systems to work for our people and not just those who already have everything.
- I want to fix our crumbling infrastructure so our future generations and kupuna won’t have to bear the mistakes of our past.
- I want our community to live off the land and thrive as it did hundreds of years ago instead of importing food to survive.
- I want to bring strength and ancestral rights back to the Hawaiian people so we’re not struggling to exist in our own land.
But most importantly, I want to see the spirit of Aloha return to our island so we can be PROUD once more in who we are as a community.
I stand for our people, and to do that I need the people to stand for me. If you put your faith in me I’ll put your voice where it needs to be heard. While one term is an ambitious timeline for my goals, county council isn’t my finish line, it’s merely the first steps toward a grander future. I aim to bring recognition to my achievements, giving you undeniable confidence in who I could be as a future Mayor.
Check out my FB page “Skyler Workman for County Council” to find more detailed information on what I’d like to accomplish on island and how it all comes together to make a stable economy.
Champion Bold Leadership and Clear Vision
Discover how Skyler Workman’s campaign for Kaua’i County Council brings fresh ideas and a commitment to community progress.
I have a list of ideas that grows bigger as I talk to more people about the issues that go unseen or fall on deaf ears. I want to hear about the troubles across our island so that I can plan for a future that takes care of everyone instead of those I approve of.
These are my top 3 goals that I believe would benefit the island the most. They’re goals that would immediately help the community by improving reliable transportation, improving the potential for more local owned businesses, and creating a better way to transition out of homelessness.
– Establish a railroad system on existing tracks from plantation days to close transportation gaps while promoting history, culture, and local businesses. Gaps like wailua to lihue can cut down a lot of the traffic on the east side by offering a consistent, uninterrupted line of transportation that people can rely on. Having that stability would allow the public to be more confident in our transportation system while reducing the impact on our roadways. The revenue generated from even the most basic system would be enough to expand on projects without relying heavily on taxing our community.
– Establish self sustainability through public commercial kitchens, county supported markets, new tech workshops (3D/Laser/CNC), information centers for county jobs, community Aero & Hydroponic gardens, and at the peak of it all would be food court like centers that small scale local businesses and volunteers can access to learn the ins and outs of business operations.
The goal here is to give the community access to large scale resources to promote local business growth without the astronomical costs of renting from a private investor. This will encourage innovation and an opportunity for our youth to follow the paths they want instead of being led to the only paths available.
– Establish safe zones to grow out of homelessness. This one will be an obstacle course to figure out but I won’t back down. Being homeless isn’t easy, it eats away at your mind and strips you of your ambitions. Many turn to drugs and alcohol because it’s the only thing left that they have control of. I want to build areas that provide security, hygienic services, therapy programs, and a place to sleep comfortably. I want to give people a chance to get out of homelessness instead of expecting them to perform miracles. Ignoring them will only promote more mental illness, crime, and drug addiction. These are people with nothing left and we as a community can’t keep ignoring them because at any point, that could easily be us.
That’s just the start of my plans, the following is the growing list I spoke of. They’re things I’ve put time into understanding by talking with those who experience it first hand. I’ll be expanding on these later with individual posts that delve into the reasons I’ve considered them as well as the solutions I have for them.
– Reduce our landfill by processing plastic for construction material and creative outlets like 3D printing
– Improved access and clarity for county programs, meetings, job opportunities, and elderly services.
– Establish a gun range for hunters and officers to practice without the threat of breaking the law
– Improve waste water management with smaller systems that also feed treated water into fenced off taro patches to create a safe habitat for endangered species
– Utilize plastic waste in roadwork to increase durability and reduce cost
– Create a standard checklist for beautification projects. Ensure community needs are being met while checking lighting, emergency vehicle access, practical public use, and history/information display to benefit the area
– Improve environmental/infestation responses to keep the ecosystem stable
– Build better search and rescue programs that focus on establishing teams with specific tasks such as scouting and tracking to increase available data for the main response team.
If any of these speak to you or you have more to add, please comment or come talk to me when I setup public talks. I want to know as much as I can so that I may find the best solution for everyone to benefit from
🚆 Transportation & Infrastructure
Exploring innovative solutions like revitalizing historic rail corridors to reduce traffic and improve island-wide mobility.
🌱 Local Economy & Opportunity
Supporting small businesses and innovation through shared community resources,
markets, and workforce development.
🤝 Community & Housing Solutions
Creating real, structured pathways out of homelessness while strengthening support
systems for those in need.
I’m running to serve our community,
strengthen our future,
and bring real solutions to Kauaʻi.
Stand With Skyler for Kaua’i’s Future
Explore vital campaign insights, showcasing Skyler Workman’s vision and community impact.
Building a Stronger Kaua’i
This campaign is about more than a few ideas — it’s about creating long-
term solutions that strengthen our island from the ground up.
Everything I’m fighting for is more than just solving individual problems. My vision is to make a net of sustainability that addresses multiple issues with each goal that’s achieved. I don’t want to bandaid situations to push it down the road, I want to fix them for the future by incorporating ways to chip away at the core problem while the main system works on mending the gaps.
An example of this is my goal to establish a railroad system. It doesn’t just offer reliable transportation, it offers a way to reduce the landfill and clean our oceans by utilizing plastics in the building materials. It burns pallets and pelletized green waste for power, then turns it into clean ash that enriches the soil. It brings in an alternative source of revenue for county programs instead of draining our funds or relying heavily on taxes. It offers jobs and opportunities to expand local businesses while drawing in tourists to learn about our history and culture.
The island needs more than popular personalities and family names. It needs candidates that care about solving problems and listening to our people. If you truly do a good job, voters will have confidence that you’re the best person for it.
Communication is the most important part of any society. Without it, anything can be misinterpreted and cause roadblocks for the most basic situations. It’s even worse when it comes to filing legal paperwork with the county or state where a simple mistake can turn into rejection, fines, or worse.
What we need is better guides to county related events/programs and a non-profit that can translate and simplify paperwork for those who are overwhelmed by statutory language and lack the technology and understanding required to apply. A majority of the kupuna and homeless I’ve talked to say they shy away from the programs mean’t to assist them out of fear that a mistake will cost money they don’t have or cause a bigger problem that could disrupt what stability they have left in their life.
With technology advancing every year, we need to ensure those who aren’t able to keep up can get the help they need. Kauai has always had a supportive community and I hope to keep it that way for future generations.
Even if you make housing “affordable” it doesn’t guarantee that it will go to those in need. You’re still using the median household income (approx. $97,500) and individual income (approx. $41,000 or $21/hr Full-time) as reference on an island with a limited amount of higher paying jobs. All of which require monthly expenses such as the costs of owning a vehicle (about $150+/month), proper attire, phone services, and a source of sustenance.
Although hotels, large corporations, and the county can pay close to that, you’ll still have to pass a strict selection process and be physically and medically able to work. Growing up, $21/hr would be the pay of a manager or senior employee in general service jobs while common workers got $12-15. Add in debt, and any household will struggle to stay afloat on an island with high costs of everything.
Being Homeless isn’t easy. You have no security, no stability, and your ambitions to get out of it grow slimmer as time ticks on. My goal is to establish safe zones that offer vital resources to help encourage a stronger will power to get out of it and survive. Even with current county programs available, most homeless don’t have the means or knowledge of the process to properly apply. With access to hot showers, bathrooms, parking/sleeping areas, secure storage, and drug support/debt repayment programs, it will make it easier to retain a job and return confidence to those who lost everything.
Ignoring these people in their time of need will only create a bigger problem for the future when the costs to address it have skyrocketed. Homelessness isn’t always a choice and anyone can fall into it’s grasp.
With housing being a key talking point in politics, it’s important to observe the issue as a whole instead of focusing on a small part of a bigger problem. Adding more houses will only increase stress to our weakened infrastructure and doesn’t truly address the need for them in the first place.
Housing is an expense that takes a significant chunck of income from people who are already sacrificing 5-6 days a week just to stay off the street. That paired with debt, insurance that only covers a fraction of what you pay, rising food costs, and the high price of owning a vehicle due to unreliable transportation, is the reason so many can lose their home after a single emergency. They’re reduced to relying on corporations or meeting county standards because generating their own income requires even greater expense.
What we need are resources that allow the public to grow new local businesses through the ambitions of our youth and innovative community so more jobs can be available for those who are unable to meet the physical, medical, mechanical, technological, or travel related demands of corporate investors.
One of the greatest struggles for local businesses is the initial cost to start a future and a building to do it in. Private investors cripple our entrepreneurs by charging ridiculous rents while implementing a system that adds on a % of sales for commercial spaces like shopping centers and malls. My goal is to give the public an outlet that allows them to operate at a much lower cost which will promote innovation and preserve opportunity for our people.
I want to give our children a chance to explore their potential instead of committing to jobs that drain them of their drive for a future they want to achieve.
During the plantation era, trains were a vital source of transportation for sugar cane and equipment, with tracks reaching all across the island. My goal is to use these old systems to benefit our community with reliable transportation that would reduce our dependence on vehicles and reinstate our confidence in getting where we need to be on time and unhindered. Ideally these systems will also have access roads that could be used by our emergency vehicles while establishing potential public use in critical situations like accidents or natural disasters.
Another benefit will be the establishment of cultural and historical centers that will give society an opportunity to learn about the history of Kauai and the Hawaiian people. This will not only keep our culture alive but will increase tourism in a healthy way as a majority of tourists would be thrilled to learn about our Home. These centers could also be used to improve visibility of county programs that go unseen by those who truly need them, offer bike rental services and transportation, and advertise for locally owned businesses that rely on the community to survive.
The grand scale of my plans is to expand across the entire island wherever trains would be least invasive. I want to close transportation gaps in areas where getting out requires a vehicle such as waimea to hanapepe, lihue to wailua, kapaa to anahola, anahola to kilauea. I plan to utilize our bus system to increase stops in rural areas and decrease wait times to get around. Routes that go across the island will still be available, but alternative options will be present for those who are just looking to get into town without the wait.
The revenue produced will easily cover the costs of the project, maintenance, and future expansions. When the totality of the system has been completed, this money can then go towards funding more county projects that benefit the community as a whole.
I’ve heard this a lot since I announced my candidacy. I’ve been told of the struggles I’ll face and the criticism I’ll get for a position that only lasts 2 years, most of which is supposedly spent just figuring out how it works.
Honestly, I’m not doing this to be thanked. I don’t desire the recognition, better pay, or popularity. I do it because it’s what I want for myself, it’s what makes me feel content with life. I’m doing it because I know I can make things better for the people I see struggling everyday. I’ve always offered my hand to those who accept it simply because it’s who I am and how I like to live my life. If it’s something I’m capable of doing, I’ll put my effort into making sure everyone is taken care of so they can feel loved, heard, and appreciated.
So I’ll keep pushing to make it happen but I can’t do it without your support. I need you to put your faith in my desire to make a difference by voting me into a position that allows me to fight for our home. Because in the end it won’t be the “thank yous” that will make a difference, it’ll be the smiles of families and individuals who no longer need to worry about their future that will make the job worth enduring.
