FERNANDES CABERTO, Trysten
Party: Nonpartisan · Backing: Unknown
Platform: "Community over Commodity" — Kauaʻi-born, 30-year-old theology graduate student and former judicial clerk/funeral director running to resist the outside economic commodification of Kauaʻi.
- Among the last candidates to file for the 2026 Kauaʻi County Council race: filed nomination papers on May 28, 2026 per The Garden Island June 2 news briefs — within days of the June 1 filing deadline.
- Born and raised on Kauaʻi, Fernandes Caberto, 30, is a Kauaʻi High School graduate who holds a BA in Religious Studies from Arizona State University. He is currently pursuing graduate studies in Religion and Indigenous Traditions at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., with a thesis exploring the desecration of sacred land in Hawaiʻi and India.
- His campaign slogan is 'Community over Commodity.' He argues that Kauaʻi is increasingly shaped by outside economic pressures that conflict with local needs — with overtourism as his top concern — and that land is more than an economic resource. He advocates for local agriculture and food security, and for land-use decisions made with future generations in mind, not merely the next development proposal.
- One of the younger candidates in the race, Fernandes Caberto believes the people who will live longest with today's decisions should have the greatest role in making them. He references the late Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask's concept of 'cultural prostitution' — the transformation of Hawaiian culture into a commodity for consumption rather than something belonging to a living people.
- Beyond his academic career, his professional experience includes work with the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary (judicial clerk, Drug Court) and the funeral industry as a licensed funeral director — experiences he says showed him how quickly stability can disappear and why strong communities matter long before a crisis arrives.
Editorial summary: Trysten ("Trykie") Fernandes Caberto, 30, was born and raised on Kauaʻi and graduated from Kauaʻi High School. He holds a BA in Religious Studies from Arizona State University and is currently a graduate student at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, studying Religion and Indigenous Traditions; his thesis explores the desecration of sacred land in Hawaiʻi and India. His professional background includes work as a judicial clerk for the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary (Drug Court) and as a licensed funeral director. His campaign slogan — "Community over Commodity" — frames his central argument: that Kauaʻi's challenges (housing costs, overtourism, rising cost of living, environmental pressure) stem from outside economic forces commodifying the island and its culture. He invokes the late Native Hawaiian scholar Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask's concept of "cultural prostitution" to describe how Hawaiian traditions are converted into commercial products. Fernandes Caberto advocates for local agriculture, food security, and land-use decisions made with future generations in mind. As one of the younger candidates in the race, he believes those who will live longest with today's decisions should have the greatest role in making them.
Key issues: Tourism and overtourism, Cost of living and housing affordability, Land stewardship and local agriculture, Community-centered governance, Youth representation in local government
Profile last reviewed: 2026-06-08