Justin Canelas

Hawaiʻi County Council District 6 - Ka'u

Candidate Questionnaire Status: RESPONDED

Justin Canelas completed the HAA Election Center 2026 Candidate Survey and provided additional written comments emphasizing long-term outcomes, community input, practical implementation, public accountability, prevention, and strong county support for humane community cat programs.

Voter Education Notice: HAA’s Election Center, Candidate Summary, candidate snapshots, and candidate pages are provided for issue-based voter education. They are based on candidate survey responses, follow-up clarification when provided, and HAA’s assessment of alignment with humane, accountable managed cat policy. They are not formal single-candidate endorsements and should not be represented as such.

1.  HAA Candidate Snapshot

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2.  HAA Assessment

Managed Cat Policy Alignment: Fully Aligned

Justin Canelas’ survey response demonstrates strong support for humane, managed community cat policy.

He rated humane treatment and the One Health perspective as Extremely Important, strongly supports expanded access to low-cost or free spay/neuter services, identified himself as Familiar with Trap-Neuter-Return, and believes managed community cat programs should play a Major Role in Hawaiʻi County.

His responses also strongly support:

• Prevention and education
• Long-term outcomes
• Practical implementation
• Public accountability
• Community input
• Measurable results
• Consideration of unintended consequences
• Reassessment and adjustment based on outcomes
• Strong collaboration between county government and community organizations

Taken together, these positions reflect strong support for moving Hawaiʻi County away from unmanaged cat populations and toward humane, structured, and accountable population management.

Managed Community Cat Programs

Canelas selected a Major Role for managed community cat programs.

His written comment makes clear that he sees county government as an active partner rather than a passive observer:

“I think the County should be playing a major role in supporting local organizations and ensuring they have the resources they need to manage community cat programs.”

He also states that Animal Control and Protection Services needs additional staffing and resources so it can be an effective partner to community organizations.

This position aligns strongly with HAA’s view that community cat management should be community-engaged but institutionally supported. Volunteers and nonprofit organizations provide critical expertise, trust, field capacity, and neighborhood relationships, while county government should provide funding, coordination, staffing, infrastructure, public accountability, and appropriate enforcement.

Prevention and Humane Policy

Canelas strongly favors prevention and education.

That position aligns with an upstream approach focused on:

• Preventing unwanted litters
• Expanding affordable spay/neuter access
• Reducing abandonment
• Keeping owned animals with responsible families
• Supporting adoption
• Managing existing community cat populations
• Preventing future shelter intake and community conflict

His selection of Extremely Important for humane treatment further supports policies that reduce animal suffering while addressing public-health, community, and environmental concerns.

Leadership and Decision-Making

Canelas’ responses suggest a constituent-centered, practical, and long-term leadership style.

He selected:

• Constituent concerns
• Long-term outcomes
• Practical implementation and enforcement
• Meeting with affected residents
• Meeting with subject-matter experts
• Reviewing measurable outcomes from similar programs
• Accountability
• Long-term thinking
• Community input
• Considering unintended consequences
• Reassessing and adjusting based on outcomes

He also noted that many additional factors—including compassion, environmental stewardship, public health, and other policy considerations—would normally be included in his decision-making, even though the survey required candidates to select only three.

This suggests that he views policy decisions as multidimensional and does not rely on a single factor or constituency.

Accountability and Measurable Outcomes

Canelas strongly agrees that government-funded programs should demonstrate measurable outcomes and public accountability.

He also selected reviewing measurable outcomes from similar programs as one of his preferred methods for evaluating public issues.

These responses align with HAA’s position that county programs should:

• Establish defined goals
• Identify responsible agencies and partners
• Measure implementation and outcomes
• Report results publicly
• Compare performance with successful programs elsewhere
• Adjust strategies when results are inadequate
• Continue funding approaches that demonstrate effectiveness

His support for reassessment and adjustment based on outcomes is particularly consistent with adaptive management.

Community-Government Partnership

Canelas believes community organizations and volunteers should play a Major Role in addressing county challenges.

He writes:

“I feel a strong working relationship between community organizations and Hawaiʻi County is the key to long term success of humanely addressing the needs and challenges of our island’s animal community.”

This statement aligns directly with HAA’s belief that successful humane animal policy requires coordinated participation by:

• County government
• ACPS
• Veterinarians
• Animal-welfare nonprofits
• Rescue organizations
• Community cat caretakers
• Volunteers
• Residents
• Public-health and conservation partners

His emphasis on strengthening ACPS also demonstrates that he does not expect nonprofit organizations and volunteers to carry the county’s responsibilities without meaningful government support.

Alignment with HAA Standards

HAA Coexistence Framework

Strongly Aligned

Canelas supports humane treatment, prevention, expanded spay/neuter access, managed community cat programs, county support, community partnership, long-term outcomes, and adaptive policy evaluation.

His survey clearly supports the Community Cat Zone’s reliance on managed programs and reflects the broader framework’s emphasis on appropriate, practical, and accountable management.

Conservation Science Compliance Standard

Strongly Aligned in Principle

Canelas supports subject-matter expertise, measurable outcomes from similar programs, accountability, long-term thinking, practical implementation, consideration of unintended consequences, and reassessment based on results.

His alignment would be strengthened further by explicitly confirming support for site-specific wildlife analysis and evidence-based evaluation of all significant threats, but nothing in his survey conflicts with those principles.

One Health Alignment Standard

Fully Aligned

Canelas rated the connection among human health, animal health, and environmental health as extremely important when evaluating public policy.

Community Partnership Standard

Fully Aligned

He supports a major role for community organizations and a strong working partnership between those organizations, Hawaiʻi County, and ACPS.

HAA Takeaway

Justin Canelas strongly supports humane treatment, prevention and education, expanded spay/neuter access, managed community cat programs, One Health, measurable outcomes, public accountability, and community-government partnership.

His emphasis on long-term outcomes, practical implementation, subject-matter expertise, and adjustment based on results is strongly consistent with HAA’s evidence-based approach.

Overall assessment: Fully Aligned with Managed Cat Policy and strongly aligned with the HAA Coexistence Framework.

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