We are voting in a CEO.

The job interview starts Thursday.

Kauai Wire is a co-presenter of Thursday's mayoral debate. Before Mel Rapozo and Bernard Carvahlo share a stage, we sat down with Rapozo one-on-one to hear what he's not saying in soundbites.

Mark Your Calendar

The Kaua'i Mayoral Debate airs live Thursday, Aug. 27, 6:00-7:30pm.

Presented by Hale Lihu'e, Hō'ike Kaua'i Community Media, KKCR, and Kauai Wire.

The backstory people don't know

Rapozo didn't set out to be a cop or a politician. He wanted to manage hotels. That changed at 19, when he started working for the Kauai Police Department while serving in the Air National Guard. What really shaped him, though, was coaching Special Olympics track for more than a decade and running Pop Warner football even longer. One former player later asked Rapozo to officiate his wedding, so he got licensed by the state to do it.

The admission

Asked what he'd change, Rapozo didn't dodge it. Early in his political career, he says, his own ego kept him from hearing out ideas he disagreed with, including former mayor Joanne Yukimura's on recycling and waste diversion. He says the relationship is actually strong today, despite how it looked from the council floor.

On Kauai's problems

Housing, wastewater, solid waste. Rapozo calls them real problems, not talking points. But his pitch is local-first: he'd rather lean on working groups and local subject-matter experts than outside consultants. As he puts it, "The answers are here. We just gotta go find it and then implement it."

On the debate itself

Rapozo frames it as a job interview, not a fight. Voters are the hiring committee, he says, and the debate should help them compare qualifications rather than watch two people trade jabs.

Kauai Wire will have coverage of Bernard Carvahlo's pre-debate conversation as well. Stay tuned before Thursday.

Watching live? Hit reply and tell us who won the debate for you. We'll feature the best responses next issue.