LIHU'E, Kaua'i — You might suppose these would be good times for Kaua'i County — a booming economy, a vibrant real estate market, low unemployment — but the candidates in the mayoral election tell a different story.

All five of them, including the incumbent who has been running things for the past four years, see a list of troubles — many of them the results of that same booming economy.

Recurrent issues in campaigns are traffic snarls that extend far beyond rush-hour periods, housing prices so high that many can't buy, and expensive rentals.

Five candidates are running in the nonpartisan mayoral primary. If one candidate gets 50 percent plus one vote of the number of votes cast in the election, he or she is elected outright. Otherwise, the top two candidates will move on to the general election.

The winner will run a county with more than 60,000 residents, an average daily tourist count of 16,000 to 19,000 and an annual operating budget of about $130 million.

For some candidates, the business of operating the county is one of nuts and bolts — fix the roads and build new ones, build inexpensive housing, empower police to control drugs. For others, issues like goodness and sustainability are key.

For candidate Janee Marie Taylor, the key is to approach the problems with a sense of values, of doing the right thing. She uses the Hawaiian word "pono," which has meanings including goodness, morality and justice.

"Our economic strength comes from the heart. This island needs to be run by values," she said. She suggests that the principle of pono be applied to development, that traffic solutions be sought that look generations into the future, and that the county find "out of the box" ways to build housing that suits the environment.

Housing is important to candidate Bruce Pleas as well. He would let people build their own homes on lots big enough to grow gardens for their own consumption. He would charge each visitor unit a daily fee of perhaps $2, to help pay for infrastructure improvements and other costs of running the island.

"We need to become self-sustaining in food and energy, to get so this island does not depend on the outside world to exist," he said.

Pleas would promote the growing of soy to make biodiesel for fuel, and would expand agriculture, since "we should supply Honolulu with quality food."

Candidate John Hoff said the cost of government and the cost of energy are key issues for his campaign. He said he was angered when the mayor and County Council blocked the enactment of a residential property tax measure passed by voters in the last election.

"Everybody I talk to, they're telling me that taxes are killing them and electric rates are killing them. Government officials are not going after the important issues that are affecting the people drastically," he said.

He would use the county's municipal authority to promote renewable energy. The county's solid waste, green waste, cardboard, paper and lumber scraps all could be used to make electricity, he said.

"We should be well on the way to implementing biomass" as a fuel for power plants, he said.

Jesse Fukushima said his candidacy is about a single-minded focus on the key issues, and working every day to deal with traffic problems, affordable housing development, reducing the impact of real property taxation on residents. He said he strongly supports housing programs in which people help build their own homes.

Fukushima said traffic is the number one issue for residents, and he would work quickly to convert old sugar cane roads to public use as alternate access routes — doing things like connecting Kapa'a to Koloa at Maluhia Road, using cane roads. He said he prefers multiple two-lane roads to building one-route major highways.

The incumbent mayor, Bryan Baptiste, said many of the suggested improvements are being acted upon, but it's a long process — with many transportation improvements well into planning or under way. He said 10 affordable housing projects are in the works around the island.

"We are faced with making up for decades of deferred maintenance and upgrade of our infrastructure," he said.

The county has bought new equipment for its work crews, will replace all basketball and tennis court surfaces by the end of the year, rubberize a stadium track, and is moving forward on other projects.

Public transportation has improved with new bus feeder routes and a midday shuttle in Lihu'e to reduce lunch-hour traffic, he said.

Baptiste said he is proud of his administration's programs to fight drug use, with funding secured for many drug prevention activities and programs, and a residential drug treatment center.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.