Council Meeting - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome. Council Member Cordero, can you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Council Member Cordero, would you like to introduce our special guest for the message of Aloha?

Mahalo, Chair, colleagues, community, and members of the public. I just want to introduce Kumu Hula, Robert Keanu Kaupu of Halau Hiaakaina Makalehua from Kapaa Lama. And we just honored them today in our honorary certificate program. But I would like to welcome not just the Kumu, but also members from the Halau as well to offer us a great start to our meeting. So I'll hand it over to kumu kaupu.

Oahu, Oahu, ke kua hibi kaua ililani ke lei e kauai o laae. Na ke aloha no e ala mai na makalehua o uu kai. Ua hiki mai no ke aloha lawe puka i ini o loko nei.

The mountains are abundant with the gentle Ililani mist. bedecked with its life-giving water. It is indeed aloha that awakens the very core of the lehua blossoms of the uplands and brings forth our desires from deep within. We give aloha, we receive aloha, and we share aloha. Today, the message that I really want to share with you is something that our Hawaiian culture truly embodies, truly maintains, and is really encapsulated in that sentiment of aloha. And it's something that we can learn from, utilize in both our everyday employ, as well as our everyday life. And it is the, not art, but the hana of reciprocation and balance or for maintaining balance. In the word Aloha, it is important to know that when someone shares Aloha with you, expect Aloha back. We must expect reciprocation in everything that we do. It was always done in our culture pre-contact and should be done today. So as we leave here, my halau and I, sorry, let me back up. Today was a great example of display of aloha. You showed me your aloha by that wonderful certificate of honor. And we are allowed to reciprocate through our oli, through our message. But before we leave today, what I really wanted to share with you folks is to remember that whatever you do in session, out of session, in your own homes, remember that reciprocation is a must. Reciprocation of sharing aloha and receiving aloha is a must. So walk with aloha today, aloha.

That was beautiful. Thank you so much. Members, I have some procedural announcements to make, although remote oral testimony is being permitted. This is a regular meeting and not a remote meeting by Interactive Conference Technology under HRS 92-3.7. Therefore, the meeting will continue notwithstanding loss of audiovisual communication with remote testifiers or loss of the public broadcast of the meeting. Members of the public will be allowed to provide oral testimony on all items on the agenda, either in person, in the council chamber, or remotely. as both English and Hawaiian are the official languages of the state of Hawaii, pursuant to Article 15, Section 4 of the Hawaii State Constitution and Section 1-13 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, members of the public may testify in either language. For oral testimonies offered in Olelo, Hawaii, additional time may be necessary, will be allowed for the testifier to provide an English translation of their testimony. Before testifying, each person shall state their full name and the agenda item they are testifying on. Each speaker may not have anyone else read their statement and is limited to a three-minute presentation on public hearing and new business items and a one-minute presentation on all other items. Registered in-person testifiers will be called first. When your name is called, please proceed to the podium and begin by stating your name and the item you will be speaking on. When I call for anyone who is not registered to speak in person, please line up to the right of the podium. And when it is your turn, proceed to the podium, begin by stating your name and the item you'll be speaking on. All persons who have registered to testify remotely by video conference or phone will then be called. When your name is called, please monitor your screen and activate your audio feed when prompted. When I call for anyone else standing by remotely, please utilize the Zoom raise hand button to indicate your desire to speak. For those joining us by telephone only, please press star nine to indicate your desire to speak. The following are some friendly tips and reminders. Video conference from a quiet location if possible. If you're also watching the proceeding on Olelo, please mute your television when you are called to testify. When the timer on your screen reaches zero, please conclude your remarks promptly. For those who are joining us by telephone only, I will identify you by the last three digits of your phone number. When your number is called, press star six to unmute yourself when prompted. Written testimonies, including the testifier's address, email address, and phone number will be available to the public as described on the posted agenda. As a courtesy, please turn off all cell phones for the duration of the meeting. I'd like to call the meeting to order. Mr. Clerk, roll call.

Council Member Cordero.

Here.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tan. Here. Council Member Kia Aina.

Here.

Council Member Nishimoto. Council Member Okimoto.

Present.

Council Member Tauba. Council Member Tupoula.

Ayo.

Council Member Weyer. Here. Chair Waters. Here. Mr. Chair, nine members are present, one member is absent.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, eight members are present. Excuse me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Floor leader, Kia Aina, introduction of guests.

Thank you, Chair. Wanted to acknowledge the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Andy Sugg, the, of course, Managing Director-designate, Krishna Jaryam, Dr. Kealoha Fox, Executive Director for the Office of Climate Change, Kim Hashiro, Director of the Department of Customer Services, the Executive Director for the Office of Economic Revitalization, Amy Asobai, and her deputy, Deborah Zeisman, and nominees and appointees of the Climate Change Commission, Rural Property Tax Assessment Board, Grants and Aid Advisory Commission, and the Rate Commission, and of course, stakeholders who are interested in the issues today. Thank you.

Thank you. Is Sandy Ma here? I believe Sandy Ma wanted to say a few words. Is she online, Mr. Clerk? No? Mr. Chair, she is not online. OK, no problem. Vice Chair Tupoula, a motion to approve the minutes.

I move that the session minutes as posted on the agenda be approved. Second. Second.

It's been moved and stated. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Any discussion members? Seeing none, any objections or reservations to approval of the minutes? Seeing none, the minutes have been approved. Turning to page four, order of the day. Resolution 26-129, confirming the nomination of Krishna Jayaram to serve as the managing director of the city and county of Honolulu. Aloha, managing director. Would you like to say a few words?

Good morning, Chair Waters, Vice Chair Topola, council members, Krishna Jaram, managing director, designate. For the last four and a half years, I've had this privilege of serving as the deputy managing director for this community and the people we serve. And I work for an extraordinary managing director. And so these are very big shoes to fill. I'm very grateful to Mayor Bongiardi for his trust and confidence in me. I'm grateful to the cabinet for their support of me and to our managing director's office and mayor's office for their support of me as well. And I hope that I have earned this council's support for this confirmation. And I'm available for any questions. And I look forward to discussions with all of you.

Thank you so much, members. Any questions for the managing director-designate? Council member Kiah Aina.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair. First of all, Krishna, I want to just say that you are one of the most competent, efficient and nice public servants that I know. And that is not just within the city, but that's within all of the levels of government that I've ever worked for. And so I fully support your nomination. But I do want to ask just one question relating to an important issue. As many of us came on board, not just the administration, but several of us here, after the 2020 election. And we were dealing with federal funding relating to the pandemic, specifically the ARPA funds. I was able to be on a committee with many in the administration with regard to how to allocate all of those funds. And an issue that has been in the newspapers recently relates to a former staffer of the Office of Economic Revitalization and a commitment that he evidently made without authority to the Hawaii Food Bank to the tune of $800,000. And I understand that it was related to CARES Act funding, which preceded ARPA funding. So my question is, and this has nothing to do, the courts are taking care of the issue, of course. My question relates to how to make the Hawaii food bank whole. And whether or not at the time that the administration knew that he acted without authority, Was there any effort to consider the use of ARPA funds to take care of that $800,000? And if not, what efforts are being taken to make the Hawaii Food Bank whole? Thank you.

Council Member, thank you for your question and thank you for the kind words as well. I will try to be as helpful on this while being mindful of whatever the state AGs are doing on this matter. I want to start by saying that the Hawaii Food Bank is an incredibly important entity in our community and we all recognize that. When we first became aware of the issue, we wanted to make sure that it was looked at carefully and thoughtfully and that there were, and whatever concerns about what happened were being handled by the appropriate state investigative authorities. so and i'll have to look more closely at the timing and back to you but so when when all of that was happening it didn't it wasn't in my opinion and in the discussions we had an appropriate time to immediately pivot and and redeploy arpa for this effort That being said, given how important the food bank is and given that they did deploy food to the community when it needed, we're in active discussions with them now about how we make sure they have the appropriate documentation now and how do we make them whole or at least as whole as is reasonable given the circumstances.

Sure, I appreciate that because again, I bifurcate the issue between what is happening in the courts and what I feel is the city obligation to the Hawaii Food Bank. While that person may have acted without any knowledge of superiors, I feel that he acted in a capacity of city official, and as such, I feel that the city administration needs to do everything possible to determine, make sure you got all of the financial documents in order, to take care of the Hawaii Food Bank. And I do know that they greatly appreciate the collaborative relationship they have with the city. So for me, it's just about making good on a representation by a city official in his official capacity and taking care of them because they need Kukua and we want to make it whole. Thank you very much for your answer.

Thank you. Thank you. Any further questions? Seeing none, thank you so much. We do have a few registered testifiers, starting with Chu Lan Shubert Kwok. Aloha and welcome.

Good morning, Chair. Good morning, Vice Chair. Thank you so much, everyone. Chu Lan Shubert Kwok from Chinatown. I'm here to support this nomination for Krishnan Jaranam for Managing Director. We're very pleased with all the work that we've seen in the last four and a half years, and in Chinatown particularly, where we have so many crises, that the administration under Blanchetti, me Blanchetti, and also MD Mike Formby, and of course Deputy Managing Director has been very helpful in listening and then trying to help. We don't get all the help we want, but they definitely listen and they definitely care about our community. So thank you so much. Please approve this appointment. Thank you. Thank you.

Next we have Shelby Billionaire.

Hello, my cocko Pikachu shall be a burner. So thank you for having us here today I do approve this appointment because you have to manage the budget and I really here for a bill 22 But that's not to the end of the agenda. So we're gonna need someone Pono like mr Krishna and already has a great name, you know, you're very religious Christian has very power like when we say Jesus or Christ so we need some people Pono who's gonna be managing the money and obviously we have the food bank issues as a the council member just discussed. So what we want is fiscal responsibility. So just put it financial transparency, meaning put it on Excel, incomes in green, expenses in red. So be ruthless when it comes to expenses and help increase the income for the community, for our residents here with 51 districts, 250 precincts, and nine council members. Thank you very much, Chair, for letting me testify. Aloha. Thank you.

Chair, question for the testifier.

Please.

Real quick, we do have a council rule about decorum and how we dress, and I do think that Council Member Quintana spoke to you, and I've seen you testify without masks on, but I just wanted to ask if you were aware of what the rule states.

This is the first time you ever asked me a question, Andrew DiPolo, but I know you don't like me. You blocked me on Instagram. So, Chair, I do not feel comfortable because this council member has blocked me on social media and now always does things and disgraces me. And I am on the office of elections as Shelby Pikachu Billionaire. So if they're discriminating against me because I'm Pikachu or because I have a mask on, I feel offended. And I want this on the public record. Okay. I'll state your point.

Oh, thank you so much. Yeah. So rule 20 states, all persons attending council meetings, including city employees, witnesses, members of the media and the general public are expected to respect the dignity of the council in the use of wearing apparel, decorum and general appearance. I think your comments that were made today are actually very nice and you're coming with a good energy. And the other day when you testified at neighborhood board without the mask, I was actually very shocked because I thought, oh, Well, there is an ability to testify without it. This is nothing against you. It's just the decorum of the meeting. As you notice, no one else wears masks in here. We've actually talked to people about dressing appropriately and making sure that we are talking about serious issues here, and therefore, that's why we dress the way we do to make sure that everyone understands the gravity of some of these issues. So it was a kind, respectful question to you. I've seen you contribute in positive ways, like what you just did in your testimony, and I'm going to encourage you to continue to do that because I've actually seen you do some good testifying of which some of the things you brought up actually have very good, valid points. So thank you for being here and thank you for allowing me to read the rule and respectfully ask you to follow it. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Chair, point of order. I still do not trust a single word coming out of this council member's mouth. I will not follow and listen to the First Amendment. And I've done this before as an Air Force veteran. I did not fight a war to combat and be discriminated by my own council member.

No, I appreciate that, but it's really not a discussion.

Thank you very much. Thank you, because that's not the point. I'm here to testify.

Next, we have Calvin Huli He'e.

Aloha, Mr. Hule'e, please proceed. Aloha, Kelvin Hule'e Konohike. I wear my mask from 1948. I still wearing them. Look like Ali, but more . But anyway, I wanna talk about this bill, or that, this one, the guy, all illegal. U.S. Justice Memo shows U.S. never illegally annex Hawaii. 1898, opposing state of Hawaii government. In other words, annex of Hawaii could not be achieved in a constitutional manner. Respect, you know, just like wearing masks or whatever. It's not really good to wear a mask. You guys wearing masks or anywhere? The Hawaiian island is foreign soil. In 1898, Hawaii is 2,100 miles away from the US territorial base of international law. It's broken. The territory of Hawaii was not established in 1900, despite the congressional legislation purposing the contrary. The statute vote was an imp to hide an illegal act that began in 1893, remember, with the U.S. Complicity. All this illegal managing, the authority of management comes from that one up there first. And his creation was to manage the water, the land, the air. What's that? commandments, 10, five, three, I can only remember the five, I think so. In the big five, what's more important for survival, sustainability for now and future generations for our keikis. Think about it. Thank you. Thank you, Alvin. Next we have Konohike.

Aloha and welcome.

Good morning. What I have here, the U.S. Justice Memo shows U.S. never legally annex Hawaii, 1898, opposing state of Hawaii government. This U.S. Justice Memo proves Hawaii is not a state. And I have this article of the US Justice Memo. Now, this military brutally overthrew Queen Liliuokalani. And I have the artifacts of that too. Now, the rule of law is a constitution. Therefore, the U.S. state of Hawaii have no jurisdiction in Hawaii. This is the missionaries illegally was part of the overture of Queen Liliuokalani. Finally, what I have here is a treaty back in 1850. The United States is part of this treaty. They busted this treaty in 1893 by illegally overthrowing Queen Leone Colonia. So this whole body here is illegal, including the state capital. I was here before opposing the taxation. Taxation in Hawaii is illegal. A lot of people who got bankrupt or lost their property through not paying the taxes is illegal. They gotta be refunded. So you people here, it's all illegal, plain and simple. So I thank you for your time and aloha. Thank you, sir.

Next, we have Larry McElhaney, followed by Dylan Armstrong.

Mr. Chair, Mr. McElhaney is not logged on. Okay.

Next is Dylan Armstrong.

Aloha, Chair Waters. My name is Dylan Armstrong. It's good to be with you all. In the interest of time, I would normally stand on my testimony. However, I do want to highlight three things while I am in support of the nominee and this measure. The first thing I'd like to mention is that with two years left for the administration, this is a premier opportunity for you as a council to dialogue with the nominee as to what the future of Honolulu is going to be before you get into the thick of things. Second, I think it would be excellent for the council to clarify with Mr. Jayaram what has changed in terms of previous conditions, expectations, and policy for the administration since the previous managing director was serving, very capably I'll add. I noticed some of our North Shore friends and leaders are in this meeting, as well as Dr. Kealoha Fox. And with that, something that is near and dear to me, our climate emergency and the Kona Lo storms that we've dealt with. I think bring to mind that some of the city's important responsibilities are not simply mundane public administration, but a transformative period and process that is affecting all of the work of the city and county. And having people with Mr. Jayaram's qualifications and excellent background, it is important to know where the administration stands on these unprecedented and growing crises that the city and county is facing. Mahalo.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on the nomination of Krishna Jayaram to the managing director position? Tim Gehry, aloha, welcome.

Good morning, Tim Gehry. I fully support Krishna. He's always been very humble and very attentive. Every time I've called him, he gets back to me, hears my concerns, and follows through. He's a very good man. I hope you confirm him. Thank you. Thank you.

Is there anybody else who would like to testify in person? Mr. Chair, we have a remote testifier with their hand raised. Okay. Please proceed. Is that Raquel Achiu?

Yes.

Yes, Chair. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can. Please proceed.

Thank you so much, mahalo chair, council members, Raquel Achu, North Shore, Wailua Moku, in strong support of—I'm so sorry, Krishna, I can never say your last name, but I am very much in support of his nomination and ultimate appointment as Managing Director. You know, it's very hard to come by. higher-ups in the admin or just in business in general to really pay attention. Our community has been able to be very engaged. Krishna is always very humble, professional, and has a great sense of integrity. And I mirror Councilmember Kea Aina's comments. It carries a lot of weight with us when we're able to really be able to engage with our leaders and be able to feel as if we are being heard and not dismissed. I very much appreciate his work and his integrity and his ability to be engaged. And I look very forward to our future with him. Mahalo.

Thank you so much. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on the appointment of Krishna Jayaram?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, we are in discussion. As a gentle reminder, we're referring all the nominees on pages four and five to committee, so I have another opportunity to ask questions. Seeing no discussion, Resolution 26-129 has been referred to the Committee on International Legal Affairs. Turning to the bottom of page 4, Resolution 26-130 confirming the reappointment of Miss Melanie Islam to serve on the Climate Change Commission of the City and County of Honolulu. Is Melanie Islam present? Aloha. Welcome. Would you like to say a few words?

Good morning chair, members of the council. Thank you so much for having me here. Melanie Islam, I'm a practicing architect and sustainability director at a local firm called Mason Architects. I've had the pleasure to serve on the commission for the last five years and chair for the last two. It's been an honor to have the mayor nominate a reappointment for me on the Climate Change Commission. We have been working very closely with Dr. Fox and her office to have a stronger collaboration with our office to ensure that the recommendations that we provide for our charter support the work that they're doing, but also leads on the trends in science and climate change.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the nominee?

Seeing none, thank you so much.

Thank you. I believe we have two registered testifiers starting with Shelby Billionaire.

So I do want to help support the reappointment of Ms. Melanie Islam. And when we're talking about climate change, I'm glad she's female because it's called Mother Nature, not Father Nature. And I got trained by Captain Planet and the Planeteers. You know, we can't stop the hurricanes, but we can learn how to survive it. And when you watch KIT for KHO News, you watch their weather channel, and they're using some EuroWeb. But it gives us a small little green screen. You don't really see anything. So what I do on Instagram and Facebook is we'll look for the Google, it's like a Zoom Earth, and then you can see everything on a global scale. And you can see the trends happening. They'll say El Nino, but you want to get a small glimpse on our news. But I encourage everyone, if we can't control the weather, we have to learn how to flow with it and how to survive. The people in Guam, Saipan, the Kona Lows. If we know what's going to happen again, Paakea, Ili'ili flooding, then what can we do to help mitigate it? And that's why I hope with her leadership and our people in power, we can figure out something to do it together. Thank you very much. Aloha.

Thank you. Next, we have Dylan Armstrong. Mahalo, Chair Waters.

Happy to stand on my testimony.

Mahalo. Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Resolution 26-130? Seeing none, members, we're in discussion. Seeing none, any... Well, Resolution 26-130 has been referred to the Committee on Energy, Environment, and Sustainability. Turning to the top of page five, Resolution 26-154, confirming the appointment of Shannon Smith to serve on the Board of Review for the Real Property Tax Appeals of the City and County of Honolulu. Unfortunately, the nominee cannot be present today, members. Mr. Clerk, I believe we have one registered testifier, Shelby Billionaire.

Aloha, Mike, I hope you get your Shelby Billionaire back. So I'll make it quick and short, because it's about tax appeals. It's a tax code, not a tax law, because I called the IRS, and they know. So Shannon Smith, Smart, Akamai, so I support this, and we can work it out together to file the appeals. Thank you very much. Aloha.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Resolution 26-154? Seeing none. Members, we're in discussion. Seeing none, Resolution 26-154 has been referred to the Committee on Budget. Turning to the bottom of page five, resolution 26-155, confirming the appointment of Shannon Alivado to serve on the Grand City Advisory Commission to the City and County of Honolulu. Aloha, Ms. Alivado. Would you like to say a few words?

It's been a while. Good morning. Aloha chair, vice chair, members of the council. My name is Shannon Olivado. Honored to be considered for appointment by the mayor for the GIA Advisory Council and look forward to conversation with members of the council to talk story about this role. Thank you.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the nominee? Seeing none, thank you so much for being here this morning. I believe we have two registered testifiers. Shelby Billionaire.

Aloha mai kakou, Pikachu showed me her back. So I do support the reappointment of Sheldon Avado for grants and aid, because she doesn't know it. A lot of people call me from Waianae, and they want help with grants and stuff. And I'm not a grant writer on those things, but it's a lot of paperwork. And most people don't do it from my side at 96792. We barely even vote. But people from Kauai do use this stuff for these programs, the Drive with Aloha and other things. And I'm glad we have someone with female at the heart who really cares, has compassion. And if the mayor is going to reappoint you, then he must already approve you. So thanks very much for the hard work behind the scenes because trying to read that stuff, it really sucks. You know, it's very boring and sleepy for me, but I appreciate the hard work behind the scenes. Granted. Thank you very much. Aloha.

Thank you. Next, we have Dylan Armstrong.

Mahalo, Chair. I'll stand on my testimony. Thank you very much.

Mr. Clerk, do we have any other testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, we're in discussion. Council Member Kia Aina.

Thank you, Chair. I am delighted by the nomination of Shannon Olivato, who I've had the pleasure of knowing for a long time since our days in Washington, D.C., where she served for Senator Inouye. What I'm pleased about with regard to this specific commission is that in addition to governmental and private sector experience, she and her family are farmers. They live in Waimanalo. They go to all of our farmers markets as they're selling their fruits and vegetables. And she has a very good understanding of what is going on in our communities. And that is so critically important, as I said, because The Grants and Aid Commission is one of the most important commissions where nonprofit organizations who direly need help compete for funds to keep their organizations going. And so we need candidates like this who will be able to ascertain perhaps sometimes the capacity of smaller organizations who don't score well but need cocoa moving forward into the future so just highly recommend her nomination and i look forward to seeing her in committee thank you so much any further discussion

Seeing none, Resolution 26-155 has been referred to the Committee on Budget. Turning to page six from the Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation and Technology, Council Member Cordero.

I move that Committee Report 176-2026 and Resolution 26-143CD1, which relates to the appointment of Luca Cunaberti to serve on the recommission of the City and County of Honolulu as amended be adopted. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Thank you for the explanation. We have a number of registered testifiers. Before we get to that, Luca Cantiberti is here. Would you like to say a few words? Aloha and welcome.

Sure. All right. Aloha Chair Waters, Vice Chair Tupoula, Council Members. I'm honored to be up here today being nominated for the Honolulu Rate Commission by Council Member Ware and Council Chair Waters. For those who know me and for those who don't, my name is Luca Kinaberti. I'm a transit advocate from the North Shore of Oahu. I was the Hawaii Youth Transportation Council's part of their inaugural cohort. I served as our policy and legislation chair, as well as the North Shore's representative. I'm also on the North Shore Transportation Alternatives Board, and I'm also a co-founder of Wahoo Transit Riders, an organization aimed at representing the 70,000 daily transit riders that ride bus, rail, and beaky every day. My work has span both the state legislature and the city and county of Honolulu with the focus on making our transit system more affordable and better connected. As someone born and raised on the North Shore, I've seen firsthand both the benefits that transit can bring to the communities that we all serve, but also the pressures of Hawaii's cost of living. According to Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the rights of freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. And one of the most effective ways we can uphold that is through fast, reliable, comfortable, and most importantly, affordable public transportation. I look forward to the discussion up ahead and for the opportunity to even be nominated for the rate commission. While I may be young, my experience is grounded in real work with our communities, agencies, and riders. I believe the Honolulu Rate Commission would benefit from a perspective that does not just come from a background of the importance of affordable transportation, but also one that is rooted in the system and rooted in what the reality is like to be a young person taking transit and the financial burden transportation on Oahu in particular can be. I also wanted to shout out, this is probably one of the only times I'm able to embarrass my parents. My mom is in the council chamber today, if you want to stand up. And then I think my dad is also, he's out at Queens West, so he's looking at this too. I'm very happy I'm able to embarrass her because she's always embarrassing me. So I just want to say mahalo, and I'm available if you have any questions.

Thank you. Members, any questions for the nominee? Seeing none, thank you so much. Appreciate you being here today. We do have a number of registered testifiers, starting with Malia Bokanski. Malia Bokanski.

Aloha.

Oh, there you go. Aloha, welcome.

Aloha. Thank you. Aloha chair, vice chair, council members. My name is Malia Boksanski, testifying on behalf of Hawaii Appleseed in support of Luca Kuniberti's appointment. We have worked closely with Luca through the Hawaii Youth Transportation Council and through his work founding Oahu Transit Riders. In both roles, Luca has shown real commitment to transit equity and a really strong understanding of transit policy. He is determined, he's deeply involved, and he consistently shows up ready to do the work. What makes his appointment especially meaningful is that he brings a youth perspective. Young people are some of the most frequent transit riders, but their voices are rarely included in decisions about fares and service. We believe having Luca on the rate commission would help make sure those decisions reflect the needs of young commuters across Oahu. We support his appointment and mahalo for your consideration.

Thank you. Next, we have Shelby Billionaire.

So I want to thank this guy and encourage him for who came all this way here, Mr. Luca Cunaberti. Your mom was right beside me, and I wasn't sure why she was so giddy and excited. She was taking on the camera and wanted to see you. So I love your energy, and you're coming from the North Shore, so you passed the wires test. So Uncle Pikachu's test to you from the younger generation is going to inherit the will of fire and encourage your nomination and your stepping up to the throne is that don't let the kapuna or people outers block or impede your path because you have a young spirit. And you guys can do something our generation couldn't and that's unify with social media and anything. All of your college kids or when high school did it, you guys would outdo all of us. Because look at all the adults who care in this room. We have a million population. You're one in a million people who's willing to stand up, and I encourage that. I wish more people like you would do this. And this is a nomination job, but I don't think you get paid for this one. So I'm glad you're doing stuff else. But with my time, I would inspire you. And Chair, just for the rest, I testified in every single testimony, but I'm actually tearing up behind this mask. when I'm seeing these future generations. And I'll stand by the rest of the testimony as I submit it to you guys to save everyone time. So with the last 10 seconds I got left, like He-Man masters of the universe said, instead of I have the power, it's we have the power. Chihu, yeah you. All right, love you, aloha.

Next we have Eduardo Hernandez.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, members of the Council. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I will stand on representing the Hawaii Bicycling League. I will stand on my written testimony. I do want to add, though, this week, Honolulu Civil Beat came out with a report citing transportation barriers and cited a report by Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. And they really highlighted the need for a youth vote, a youth representation. And Luca certainly brings that. He would be a valued member of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Next we have Dale Vanderbrink.

Mr. Chair, the testifier is not logged on.

Okay, is there anybody else who'd like to testify on the nominee? Seeing none, members are in discussion. Council Member Tupola followed by Cordero.

Thank you for being here and of course thank you for your enthusiasm and your background and introducing your mother. I'm glad that she's here as well. And so I know we had discussion in the committee and I might have different thoughts than others because I am a mom and I do have a kid same age as you. So it's so exciting to see the youth come up and of course be in leadership positions. My main concern was that you're going to school on the East Coast coming this fall and that your young college career is just launching. And so my feelings are the same, and I wanted to express my gratitude towards your mother who's here, that my concern was being on a commission while you live on the East Coast and you're away. And of course, just wanting you to just enjoy your college life, especially freshman year, as it's so impactful for your life. So today, respectfully, no, but I know that there's enough votes that you're probably gonna be on the commission, but I just wanted to be consistent with my thoughts and of course, encourage you in everything that you're doing. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Council Member Cardona.

If I may add real quick.

very quickly. Sure, go ahead.

Yeah, so I actually, over the past week or so, I did a bit of a deep dive, just looking at the last four years of the commission meeting. And I totaled that all up into some averages. In 2026, they've met two times so far. 2025 was three times. 24, I believe, was five. And 2023 was seven. And the average time each meeting was about two hours long. And if I spent about an hour long prepping for each meeting, it'd be only about like an hour a month total work towards the commission.

I appreciate that.

I totally understand your concern.

I really appreciate it. In general, we like when our commissioners are integrated into our community, kind of like what Councilmember Kiana said about the former appointee. She lives in Waimanalo. They're farming. There's just a lot of work on the ground that we love doing with our community members. And of course, I know you're a big part of what's already been going on. But I think in totality, of course, my concern is the time difference. And I know you're so dedicated, but those are my thoughts. And thank you for respecting that. And I respect you as well. Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Council Member Cordero.

Thank you, Chair. Not only am I the Transportation Chair, but I have been able to see the appointee at many transportation conversations and community events, as well as just efforts to ensure that there's equitability in the transit space. So not only do I hope to see him bring a youth voice, to the active transportation to the rate commission, but I think it will allow for the rate commission to adequately represent the actual riders that are riding on Oahu. A lot of them are people a lot younger than Luca. Luca now is an adult and I hope that while he has made decisions to you know come to these meetings while he was in high school and get even at UH West O'ahu taking some courses that he will make those tough decisions to be able to dedicate his time to the rate commission as an adult Luca I know that if you find that hard you are you have to ensure you you look at yourself as well as work with the council to make that decision to circle back with us and be like, hey, I can't handle anymore. And that's the grown-up thing to do as well. So with that, you have my full support. Thank you for not just being an advocate, but a strong person to have conversation with, whether we are on the same page or not. So continue to do that, not just for the Raid Commission, but for the Raider community on Oahu. Mahalo.

Thank you. Any further discussion? Council Member Weyer.

Thank you, Chair. And Luca, I wanted to just moll you again for stepping forward and being willing to serve in this volunteer role, continue to strongly support your appointment. I think, I'm just thinking, who do I know that knows more about transportation policy than you? And no one comes to mind, of course, I'd say be on par at least with folks at our Department of Transportation Services and just your commitment to good policy, while at the same time having such a approachable, respectful, genuine demeanor, I think would bring such great value to the commission. I mean, we've even had conversations with different stakeholders just about how to advance and improve systems. And we've had successes. And then of course, there's still some stuff we're working on in terms of routing and access to transportation. But just the way you've navigated that has impressed me so much in the course. Even at the times you are away, I know you're heavily integrated into the transportation community. And so in addition to bringing the youth perspective that's so needed, I know that you'll also have the ability to tap into the breadth of that knowledge that exists in our community. And so very excited and hope that the resolution moves forward. Mahalo Chair.

Thank you. Any further discussion? I just want to add to that. I'm very impressed by you. Transportation is your thing. And there's no doubt that despite the fact that you're going to college is not going to be a problem. But I understand what people are concerned but just wish you the best of luck. Any further discussion. OK. Seeing none I want to point out the objection by council member Tupola. Any other objections. Seeing none, CR 176-2026 and Resolution 26-143-CD1 has been adopted. Congratulations and thank you.

Thank you so much.

Moving to the top of page seven, Vice Chair Tupola.

Chair, I believe the first reading items listed on pages seven through 10 of the agenda pass first reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded by Chair Topola for the explanation.

Bill 42, 2026, to amend a portion of the state land use district boundary map Kahuku Quadrangle from the Agricultural District to the Urban District for certain lands situated in the Koʻolauloa Development Plan Area, Lāʻie, Oʻahu, Hawaii. Bill 43, 2026, to rezone land situated at Paalakai, Waialua, Oahu, Hawaii. Bill 44, 2026, relating to revenues and funds. Bill 45, 2026, relating to real property taxation. Bill 46, 2026, relating to real property taxation. Bill 47, 2026, relating to the motor vehicle weight tax. Bill 48, 2026, relating to condemnation. Bill 49, 2026, relating to revenues and funds. Bill 50, 2026, relating to funds.

Thank you so much. We have a number of registered testifiers on each bill, starting with Bill 42. I believe Shelby Billionaire has left the building. Bill 43. Shelby Billionaire. Nope. Bill 44. Why don't I start over? It looks like Shelby Billionaire is testifying for or signed up to testify on each one. Bill 42. Is there anybody who'd like to testify on Bill 42? Seeing none, thank you. Moving to Bill 43. Any testifiers on Bill 43? Seeing none. Moving to Bill 44. Oh, Mr. Chair, we have remote testifiers with their hand raised. on Bill 44? I believe so. OK, please proceed.

Aloha, Chair.

Aloha.

Please proceed. Hi. I'm actually wanted to testify on Bill 43 for the property in Wailua. I am vice chair of the North Shore neighborhood board. We did take this matter under review and we did support it. Anyone that knows me knows I do not ever like to change zoning on ag lands. However, this property is an extremely great exception. It has never been fully used to its potential in that space and is now surrounded by a support facility by HECO. And the land owner's intent right now is to just make improvements to the existing space and the structures and to be able to acquire financing for that. This change was necessary to be successful in that. I have been able to visit the property more than once, a few times in different phases of their project. They've stayed very true to their word and their intent and for their family and to their tenants, I might add. When they purchased the property, they kept their original tenants and kept the rents extremely reasonable, if not unchanged. So we're very supportive of this ohana and their future within our community and good stewards of any space. Mahalo.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 43? I know Natalie Iwasa's hand is up. Good morning, Ms. Iwasa, are you here on Bill 43 or Bill 45? 44, please. 44, please proceed.

Thank you. Bill 44 would reallocate city transient accommodations tax, the 8.34% from one special fund into two new special funds and the zoo fund. I oppose this. As you know, special funds reduce our budgeting flexibility and add complexity to the city finances and therefore ask you to not pass this. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Any other testifiers on Bill 44? Seeing none, moving on to Bill 45. Natalie Wasa was on 45 as well.

Yes, thank you. Please proceed. I oppose Bill 45. Oh, Natalie Wasa for the record. I oppose Bill 45. It would increase the regular homeowner exemption from $140,000 to $160,000 effective July 1st, 2028. And the exemption was just increased. So adding another $20,000 to it further widens the gap between the rental properties that are under a million and then as well as the residential A, it increases that difference by $70. It just puts additional pressure on other tax groups who end up subsidizing these exemptions. So I oppose this. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you so much. Anybody else on Bill 46. Mr. Chair, we have a remote. Ted Kafalas, aloha, welcome. Please proceed.

Aloha, Chair Waters, Vice Chair Topola, members of the council. My testimony is on Bill 45, but also Bill 46. I can wrap them both into one if you'd like. Perfect. This bill raises the property tax homeowner exemption for residents. Bill 45 raises it for residents under the age of 65, $20,000. It'll now go from $140,000 to $160,000. We are in support of this bill. The $20,000 increase is worth about $70 a year in savings for a homeowner at the current rate. And this isn't the first time, as Ms. Iwasa noted, this isn't the first time that the Council has taken this step. The exemption was increased again last year and then raised once again in 2023. A new ordinance, though, roughly every two to three years, just to keep pace with rising assessments and inflation, I think that's telling. rather than coming back to the table again and again every couple of years to raise this rate we do hope that the council will consider indexing this to inflation in future years similarly with bill 46 this is just to increase the homeowner exemption for the kupuna As we all know, kupuna live on fixed incomes, which makes them especially exposed to higher assessments when they raise faster than inflation and even just inflationary costs. So we do encourage the council to pass this, and we hope that similarly with Bill 45 that this bill also would include an index to inflation. In the meantime, we support both of these bills. Mahalo for your consideration. Aloha.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 46? Mr.

Chair, we have a remote testifier with their hand raised.

Oh, that's right. Please proceed, Dylan.

Aloha, Chair Waters. I was actually raising my hand for Bill 45, just to be clear. Please proceed. In the interest of time, I would refer to the words of old acquaintance, Natalie Iwasa. I concur with her testimony. You can consider her testimony as my own for the record, and I will be following up in the future with substantive testimony at future hearings. Mahalo.

Thank you. Moving on to Bill 47, I believe Dale Vanderbrink registered to testify, Bill 47. Mr. Chair, the testifier is not logged on. Okay, any other testifiers in Bill 47? Ted Cavallos, please come forward.

Aloha, Chair Waters, Vice Chair Tupoula, members of the committee. Ted Kefalas with Grassroot Institute. Apologize in advance. You guys are probably going to see a lot of me today. But this bill, we're in support of Bill 47. This bill cuts the Honolulu motor vehicle weight tax by one and a half cents per pound and right now our vehicle weight tax is seven cents per pound that's by far the highest of any county in the state maui is the next highest at three and a half uh cents kauai is at two cents and big island is at one and a half cents so this is on top of the state's own weight tax and highway beautification fee but just to put it into concrete terms i mean this is going to save the average person anywhere from like $45 to $65. And this is not life-changing for most residents, but it is coming at a time when gas prices continue to increase. And getting around Hawaii is just difficult. It's continuing to squeeze budgets all across Oahu. So we do think that this is real relief that can happen today. And so we support this bill and urge you to pass it. Mahalo.

Thank you. Any other testifiers on Bill 47? Mr. Chair, we have a remote testifier with their hand raised. Natalie Wausau, please proceed.

Thank you, Chair. Natalie Wausau for the record. So just for clarification, my prior testimony was on Bill 45. I'd like to testify on Bill 46, please.

Okay, please proceed.

Thank you. Bill 46 is similar to Bill 45 in that it increases the exemption for certain homeowners, those over 65. It goes from 180,000 to 200,000. And the preamble to this bill states that we have a lot of low-income seniors. I wanted to point out that there is a real property tax credit for low income people. And when you increase the exemption for one person, you increase it for all the ones in this particular group and not all of them are low income. So it ends up costing other taxpayers more. The other thing that this bill does is it removes the in lieu of exemption, which I don't think there are very many people in that group anymore. I support that and that was actually a recommendation by the Real Property Tax Advisory Committee, I think over a decade ago, so I'm glad to see that go. Thank you for allowing me to testify.

Thank you. Would you also like to testify on Bill 47?

No, thank you.

Okay, thank you. Any other testifiers on Bill 47? Seeing none, Bill 48. Do we have anybody who'd like to testify on Bill 48?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Bill 49. Bill 49. Mr.

Chair, we have none. Thank you. Bill 50. Mr. Chair, we have a remote testifier.

Bill 50. Ted Koufalas. Bill 50.

Dylan Armstrong, Mr. Chair.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, members of the Council, Ted Kefalas, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, in support of Bill 50. So this is just a housekeeping measure, but it's a useful one. So the city created the Land Conservation Fund back in 2005 to support conservation efforts. Then in 2007, just two years later, created a second fund, the Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund, to do essentially the same job. Since then, that second fund has received the overwhelming share of conservation dollars, where the original fund has sat largely redundant. Bill 50 repeals this outdated fund and directs BFS to transfer any remaining budget into the fund that's actually doing the work. This is not going to reduce conservation funding. It simply eliminates the duplicate bookkeeping. and paperwork for any city staff maintaining two overlapping funds instead of one. So this is exactly the kind of cleanup that the council should be doing more of, and we welcome any further efforts to repeal outdated or redundant provisions in the city code. We support this bill. Aloha.

Thank you. Anybody else on Bill 50? Bill 50. Mr.

Chair, we have remote testifiers.

Oh, OK. Let's start with Dylan Armstrong, followed by Natalie Wausau.

Mahalo, Chair. I always maintain an open mind, particularly as to bureaucratic funding programs. I have previously worked with them, including in my stint at the state legislature as a committee clerk. Nonetheless, having been a grants manager with the state as well, I would say that it's great to simplify bureaucracy, but I remain unconvinced that we don't need additional funds in this very strange and restrictive time when real estate is more expensive, our city is more crowded, and climate change is getting more erratic and severe. I could elaborate, but unfortunately I have only 20 seconds, and this is also something we can continue at a future meeting. Mahalo.

Thank you. Next is Natalie Iwasa.

Thank you, Chair. Natalie Iwasa for the record. Yeah, so as previously stated, this particular bill repeals the Land Conservation Fund. I support this. And I guess this is a really good example of when we have so many special funds that we tend to forget that there's another fund out there and money. I don't know how much is sitting in this fund currently, but it sometimes gets unused and then we can't use it for other needed purposes. so i highly support this i wanted to thank the introducer for consistently introducing these types of measures that repeal outdated ordinances or parts of ordinances that's my testimony thank you chair thank you anybody else on bill 50 saying none members we are in discussion councilmember kia aina thank you chair i wanted to comment on a previous testifier who opposed bill 44 which is

a bill that I introduced relating to a current law whereby 8.3% of the transient accommodation tax revenues goes into a fund that the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services to be used to mitigate the impacts of visitors and public facilities and natural resources, including the restoration operations and maintenance of beaches and parks. This is not exclusively included just for the Department of Parks and Recreations, but any other part. any other department. But having said that, since its inception, I have had concerns of the manner of how the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services has overseen this, and so my bill does not create new funds. It simply allocates it to certain funds that currently exist, and that would be 65% would go to the Parks, Maintenance, and Recreation Services Revolving Fund, 10% to the Botanical Gardens and Urban Forestry Revolving Fund, and 25% to the Honolulu Zoo Fund, all existing funds. So I know that we're hoping to have a hearing next week, both on this measure as well as Council Member Topola's measure, and I welcome the dialogue with regard to how we could more strategically target these funds that were specifically set aside to mitigate the impact on natural resources to the appropriate departments. It is no more than that. It is not creating a new fund, and it is rectifying, I feel, a looser oversight in the management of these funds, and we want it. We were the ones who put it in, the council was the one that put it in, and I think the time is now to better manage those funds, specifically in funds set aside for these departments. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Tupola.

Thank you so much, Chair. I just want to echo my support of Council Member Kiana's comments and my gratitude for her introduction of Bill 44 and for the clarification on any opposition that's been posed towards it. Because again, Bill 44, Bill 49, both of them are not introducing anything new. so bill 49 is also in regards to the tata introduced it with budget chair okimoto but basically it's divvying out right into different funds parks maintenance recreation services as well as botanical gardens but it's a huge deal that most of the most beautiful places that people come to on this island we're in charge of it we're the ones who maintain it we're the ones who own it so again with the amount of visitors that we have those impacts need to be mitigated somehow And so I do believe that this is the right direction to go with the TAT funds in the 8% area of it because these are the places that people love to visit. And it's probably one of the places that all of us struggle with. It's how do we keep them up? How do we keep them beautiful? How do we keep them maintained? Not just because our residents are visiting it, but because visitors are visiting it on a regular basis. This past weekend during 4th of July, I actually got to see all down Nanakuli, hundreds of families camping and enjoying our beach parks. And a lot of that is because over these six years, myself, my office, and some community members, we've been working on cleaning our beach parks, restoring it. And it really brought tears to my eyes because as native Hawaiians, we love gathering spaces. We want our communities to gather. We want our families to gather. And guess where they gather? At our parks. They gather in our open spaces. So I do believe this is the right direction for the TAT, but I look forward to more discussion and committee on this. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Any further discussion members for any of the first meeting items? I just wanna make one point. Today we've agendized affordability measures designed to put money back into the pockets of Honolulu residents. Bill 45 and Bill 46 address property taxes. This council has held the line on property tax rates, but many homeowners are still paying more because their property values continue to rise. Families are not trying to profit from their homes or simply want to stay in them. These bills increase the homeowner's exemption to $180,000 and the kupuna homeowner exemption to $200,000. That lowers the taxable value of the owner's occupied homes. Bill 47 reduces the annual vehicle registration fees by 20%. For most law families, the car is a necessity. Lower registration fees means real savings that households will see year after year. and I look forward to a vibrant discussion in the budget committee. Any objections or reservations to any measures on pages 7 through 10? Seeing none, The first reading items on pages seven through 10 on the agenda have passed the first reading. Thank you, members. Moving to page 11 from the Committee on Budget, Council Member Okamoto.

Thank you, Chair. I move that Committee Report 162.26 be adopted and Bill 29.2026 pass second reading.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Okamoto for the explanation.

Relating to real property taxation.

Okay. Mr. Clerk, do we have... We have one registered testifier. Sorry, Natalie Wausau.

Thank you, Chair. Natalie Wausau for the record. Just a comment. I don't quite understand why a mortgage document is being inserted into this bill. Mortgage documents, as far as I'm aware, don't include any information on income levels. So I don't know how you could or how the administration could verify the income levels or the rent being charged with that particular document. And I also wanted to mention, given that you folks are looking at, I don't know, four or five different bills dealing with real property taxes, I think it would be a good time to consider another real property tax advisory commission or a permitted interaction group, because I feel that really what we need to do is look at the entire system. There are some inequities there and some of the taxes are simply not fair. And so I would ask that that be done rather than this kind of piecemeal approach at trying to get at different groups to help them out with their real property taxes. So thank you for allowing me to testify. Those are my comments.

Thank you so much. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 29?

Mr. Chair, we have a remote testifier with their hand raised. Please proceed. Raquel Achiu.

Mahalo. I'll just, short and sweet, in general, property tax, We've got to find a way to really impact the way our kupuna are taxed on their long-term generationally owned properties. On the North Shore, we are paying the highest tax of anyone. We have the most limited amount of services and our kupuna are struggling to keep their properties at the rates that they're doing now. Maui County has done it. Hawaii County, I believe, is reviewing a plan to assist our kupuna in a flat rate type of situation. I just strongly urge that we try to entertain some kind of accommodation for our kupuna that are able to afford their taxes on their minimum incomes. Thank you so much. Aloha.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 29?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, we're in discussion. Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Councilmember Cordero.

Aye.

Councilmember Dos Santos-Tam. Aye. Councilmember Kia'aina. Aye. Councilmember Nishimura.

Aye.

Councilmember Okamoto.

Aye.

Councilmember Toba. Excuse. Councilmember Tupoula.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer. Aye. Chair Waters. Aye. Mr. Chair, there are eight ayes, one member is present.

Thank you. CR 162-2026 has been adopted and Bill 29-2026 has passed second reading. Moving to the bottom of page 11, Council Member Okamoto.

I move that Committee Report 163-26 be adopted in Bill 40-2026, CD 1, as amended, pass second reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Okamoto for the explanation.

Relating to real property taxation.

Thank you. I believe Natalie Wassa has registered to testify. Please proceed.

Thank you, Natalie Wassa, for the record. I really appreciate this effort to consider that people who purchase homes that are in the high residential aid classification might end up paying that tax for over a year because of the way that deadlines work and the timing of the purchase. However, this particular bill doesn't even consider that potential homeowners who want to buy a single family home that is affordable would fall into the same trap. So this is a very narrowly crafted bill that targets just a certain amount of people. And I think it's really well worth noticing that Director Kawano stated the first fiscal year, which is the current fiscal year, that this would go into effect for, it would cost $650,000. So he stated that that can be made up elsewhere in the budget. However, going forward, this is going to be a continued cost. And then that puts, again, another burden on all the other taxpayers. So rather than doing this narrowly crafted type of bill, I would ask that you remove the residential A classification altogether. It is a very terrible tax for anybody who wants to purchase a home that is over a million dollars. And we just found out the other day that now the Median price of a home is over $1.2 million. I mean, the residential aid falls into the million dollars or above. So more and more homes and eventually a lot of condos will be falling into that classification. So I know the city budget director is very concerned about the revenue and wants to keep it. The city is addicted to those funds. As a way to replace that, we should be looking at reducing and removing our exemptions. And there are a lot of organizations in that quote unquote charitable classification that aren't charitable. They're labor unions, business leagues, 501c4s, 501c6s, all types of other organizations other than 501c3. So I ask you to look at that rather than trying to just target and put in a band-aid. I see this as a band-aid. I do appreciate it, but I see it as a band-aid approach to a problem that we have that is much larger. Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 40?

Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, Mr. Chair, we have none. Thank you.

Members, we're in discussion. Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting no objections or reservations, CR163-2026 has been adopted and Bill 40-2026-CD1 has passed second reading. Moving to the top of page 12 from the Committee on Housing, Homelessness and Parks, Council Member Topola.

I move that Committee Report 167-2026 be adopted and Bill 18-2026-CD1 as amended pass second reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Topola for the explanation.

Relating to affordable housing.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have a remote testifier standing by.

OK. Is that Roxanne Bolden? Yes, it is. OK, please proceed.

Bye. Thank you, Chair Waters and council members. My name is Leland Brady testing on behalf of Roxanne Bolden, executive director of Aloha Independent Living Hawaii, the statewide center for independent living. We support Bill 18's goal. Oahu needs this housing and disabled residents need it most. But CD1 makes the program bigger while deleting its accessibility protections. It doubles lot sizes and lifts the height cap, and at the same time removes every elevator requirement, including the 30-foot requirement this council's own committee approved in March. In a walk-up, federal law reaches only the ground floor. Every unit above it is closed to wheelchair users and to many kupuna permanently from the day it is built. You Heroes report found the real barrier is permitting 661 days on average, not elevators. Deleting accessibility won't shorten the queue. It just guarantees the units that do not get built exclude us. And an affordable rent at this bill's 100% AMI ceiling is $2,850, nearly three times a monthly SSI check. Because this bill returns to committee after today, we ask you to restore the 30-foot elevator requirement, require an accessible route and one accessible parking or loading space, and anchor affordability where disabled renters actually live. Build accessibility in from the first unit. Mahalo.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 18? Ted Kafalas, aloha, welcome.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, members of the Council, Ted Kafalas with Grassroot Institute of Hawaii in support of Bill 18 with three amendments for your consideration. So Bill 7 has been one of the city's tools for producing affordable housing units. and it offers builders relaxed zoning, tax breaks, fee waivers in exchange for keeping 80% of the units affordable. Bill 18 would expand that program and it allows projects in business districts, allows doubling the lot size to 40,000 square feet and adding flexibility on height. That really matters because Honolulu needs over 27,000 new units by 2027 in order to keep up with demand. We would ask that the council consider strengthening this bill in three different ways. One, restoring the TOD language so that projects near frequent bus services can build more units. I think most people here are in support of transit-oriented density and development. Also looking at adopting DPP's suggestion to set the height limit at 75 feet or the underlying zoning district, whichever is greater, rather than just limiting it to 60 feet. And then extending the program's 2030 sunset date. Because right now, with the permitting issues that we've all seen and heard of, having a sunset of 2030 just increases uncertainty. If a builder wants to build a project, it may not get permitted in time. So we do support this bill and we hope that you consider these amendments. Mahalo for your consideration.

Thank you, members. Any questions for the testifier? Council Member Tupola.

Just real briefly, I'll be making comments based upon some of the things you brought up when we get into discussion. But thank you, Mr. Kafalas, on your insight.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 18? Seeing none, members, we are in discussion. Council Member Tupola.

I'll let Council Member Cannon go first, and then I'll go after her.

Okay. Council Member Kia-Aina. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair. I know that there were several measures, including mine, which I had introduced to just express voice of people in my community with regard to Bill 7 projects. Bill 18, I greatly appreciate what Council Member Topola has done to try to pull all of the proposals together and talking to stakeholders, but nevertheless, I do have grave concerns over the requirement that it would be maximum height of 60 feet or the underlying zoning, whichever is greater. um and so in its current form um i do have concerns uh that it is um that this seems to be a push to transform the original intent of those seven projects from low-rise apartment buildings on small zoning lots to as of right medium and large developments that can be built quickly and that i feel could be more properly handled through the 201h process having said that as this project moves forward I'm hoping that with changes, um, you know, I might be able to, uh, look at the, um, the merits for other districts, but I do know for mine with regard to the Kuala Poko, um, sustainability plan, I would like for that plan and any other plan on Oahu that is a sustainability plan as opposed to a development plan to be exempted by the coverage of Bill 7 projects. And I look forward to the dialogue. And I appreciate, again, the hard work that Councilmember Tupoula has put into it, but I will be a voting no on this.

Thank you. Councilmember Tupoula.

Well, first off, thank you everyone for your comments. There were a few in person, but there's actually a lot that were submitted and ongoing throughout the hearings and in between hearings. I'm taking a lot of meetings from different people about this bill, so thank you. Thank you everyone for your insight and of course for your input. Bill 18 is meant to shape Chapter 32 or Bill 7 projects. As we heard in the March zoning committee, six are done, six, that have certificate of occupancies. However, 189 units have been delivered and since then, 16 projects are under construction with building permits in hand and 35 are sitting in review and DPP's numbers show that 28 of the 35 are actually sitting with the applicant and not with us, so not on delays on our part. Seven years in and we are still counting in the hundreds when obviously Hawaii needs thousands. We've had great ideas come out of this council. Council members, Okimoto Wire introduced Bill 4 with grant program to bridge the financing gap, trying to expedite the program. Council members, Scott Nishimoto and Kian introduced Bill 17, responding to concerns from constituents that have raised their issue about the buildings not matching neighborhood zoning. And of course, Council Member Dos Santos-Tam introducing Bill 72 last year, expanding density, repealing outdated lot and unit size caps. As housing chair, I've tried to take every one of those ideas seriously and keep one goal in front of me the whole time. We are building communities, not developments. I want to tell you why that matters to me because I actually grew up in Makiki when my dad was going to law school. I lived on Leeho Leeho Street in one of the small little two-story walk-ups that's still there and has been there for decades. I remember the families that live there and I actually keep in touch with some of them still till today. A lot of our Bill 7 developers are taking their projects that seriously where they host barbecues with their tenants, they're trying to build the friendships and not just trying to collect rent. I think that's what really is going to help the city and county of Honolulu, not units but relationships. So here's what I've done since the last hearing. I've sat down with developers, I walked through project sites. What I haven't done yet, is sit down with the neighbors living next to those buildings, and I'm committing to doing that with Council Member Nishimoto and his constituents before the bill comes back. I won't be listing it at the next hearing or anything. I also read Yuhiro's preliminary report that was supposed to be about specifically Bill 7 projects, but it was rather a very broad take at all affordable housing efforts from the city. So I sent their researcher a four page letter laying out where I needed the specificity. He's been traveling, but we're in touch. I'm going to make sure that that's back before we hear this bill again in committee. The most useful conversation I've had so far was only recently with Director Donna Puna. DPP came with a good 12 pages of insight in this last committee, which was the first time I got their input. So we had a good meeting yesterday and we're going back and forth on suggestions they have as they are the administrators of this program. They have probably the most valid day-to-day feedback that we could take in as a council. I hope Bill 18 is a true testament to our commitment to housing, that we maximize community without overwhelming neighborhoods, that we maximize relationships without severing the historic parts of this town. We love Honolulu, and we hope that this will make it better for the families here now and for the ones that are still to come. So mahalo to my housing committee and to the council members for your support on Bill 18. I'm looking forward to even more improvements. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tam. Aye. Council Member Kia-Aina.

No.

Council Member Nishimoto.

No.

Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Toba. Excuse. Council Member Tupoula.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer. Aye. Chair Waters. Aye. Mr. Chair, there are six ayes, two noes, and one member is absent.

Thank you. CR 167, 2026 has been adopted in Bill 18, 2026. CD1 has passed second reading. Moving to the bottom of page 12, Council Member Tupola.

Chair, I move that Committee Report 168, 2026 be adopted and Bill 30, 2026, CD1 as amended pass second reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Tupola for the explanation.

Relating to public parks.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk. Do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, we're in discussion. Council Member Tupola.

Thank you so much. This is one of a handful of bills I introduced recently as a part of a parks package. I worked with Director Thielen on this, and we do care about their department succeeding. They tell us what's hindering their success, and then as legislators, we try to get to work and modernize the law so that the government can work for the people. In a lot of our parks, we see vandalism, illegal camping, and too often, our response is the same. We spend... hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to eradicate problems over and over, which isn't sustainable. What we really need in our parks is transformation, bringing back life, bringing back community and bringing back food. Can you imagine some of our underutilized parks with a regularly operating farmers market? I'm excited about that. It transforms our parks into positive community gathering spaces instead of places that we're constantly policing. We talk a lot about security, food security in Hawaii, growing our own food, using the sunshine we're blessed with to sustain our families, and not everyone has a garden or even a green thumb. So supporting our farmers who are keeping our agricultural lands in use is how we can still support that same goal. I want to mahalo Kathleen Pohinui from North Shore Neighborhood Board who suggested this, and mahalo the farmers and community organizations who will bring these markets to life. Mahalo, Chair.

Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cuadero.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tang. Aye. Council Member Kia-Aina. Aye. Council Member Nishimura.

Excused.

Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Toba. Excused. Council Member Weyer. Chair Waters. Aye. I'm sorry, Council Member Topola.

Aye.

Council Member Waters. Aye. Mr. Chair, there are six ayes and two members are absent.

Thank you. CR 168-2026 has been adopted in Bill 30-2026. CD 1 has passed second reading. Council Member Tupoula.

I move that Committee Report 169-2026 be adopted and Bill 31-2026 CD 1 as amended pass second reading. Taken.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Tupola for the explanation.

Relating to cultural sites in public parks.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers? Mr. Chair, we have none. Thank you. Members, we're in discussion. Council Member Tupola.

Thank you so much. I just want to give a little background on this. Some years ago in 2022, I introduced a resolution naming Ku'ilioloa Heiau, which is located in Pokai Bay, which is a city and county park. And so this particular heiau was a navigational heiau and is actually one of the only kinds here on our island. It was said that historically was utilized between 1100 and 1200 AD, helping ancient canoes navigate from Hawaii to Tahiti. And so after we did the resolution to rename or to name the Heiau so that people knew what was going on in the park, there still was a lot of vandalism. And to be honest, our parks workers, they work very hard, but this is kind of a very special situation where we have a sacred site within a park. So this bill was actually spearheaded and the brainchild of Carmen Guzman Simpliciano and her husband Joseph. They have been caretakers of this heiau at Pokai Bay. And actually there have been many other practitioners that have been trying to care for this. So the bill itself is for us to strengthen how we treat these sites in our city and county parks. And I want to just mahalo everyone for their support, especially the Parks Committee. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further discussion members? Seeing none, roll call Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tam. Aye. Council Member Kea Aina. Aye. Council Member Nishimura. Excuse. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Tauba. Excuse. Council Member Tupoula.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer. Aye. Chair Waters.

Aye.

Mr. Chair, there are seven ayes, two members are absent.

Thank you. CR 169, 2026 has been adopted. Bill 31, CD1 is passed. Second reading. Council Member Tupola.

I move that Committee Report 170, 2026 be adopted. Bill 32, 2026, CD1 as amended, passed. Second reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Tupola for the explanation.

Relating to public parks, recreational facilities, and botanical gardens.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, we're in discussion. Council Member Tupola.

I'll make brief comments on both this and the next bill together. Thank you.

OK. Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Second.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tam. Council Member Kiya Aina.

Aye.

Council Member Nishimura. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Tauba. Excused. Council Member Tupola.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer?

Aye.

Chair Waters? Aye. Mr. Chair, there are seven ayes. I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, there are six ayes and two members are absent, sorry.

Thank you. CR170-2026 has been adopted in Bill 32-2026. CD1 has passed second reading. Moving to the top of page 14, Council Member Topola.

I move that Committee Report 171, 2026 be adopted and Bill 33, 2026, CD1 as amended, pass second reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Topola for the explanation.

Relating to funds.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers? Mr. Chair, we have a remote testifier with their hand raised. Natalie Wasa, please proceed.

Thank you, Natalie Wasa, for the record. This particular bill creates two new special funds for parks, the Repairs and Maintenance Fund, and then one for Botanical Gardens and Urban Forestry. And first of all, I'd like to thank Councilmember Kea Aina for a clarification on Bill 44. When I read that bill, I got it mixed up with this particular bill in which a new fund is being created. It looks very similar to the one that is in Bill 44. With respect to the new funds, they will be funded by park permits, parking and entry fees, concessions, all that kind of stuff. Part of the transient accommodations, as well as the current fund for the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park and the Central O'ahu Regional Park. And so those two funds would be repealed. The Botanical Gardens Fund would be funded by similar sources. And I oppose this just as I do many of the new special funds because it removes the flexibility in the budgeting process. And it adds to the complexity of our city financial affairs from recording the transactions in the records to the auditing to making sure that the funds are being used properly. All of that is an administrative cost. And rather than setting up these special funds, we should be looking at using our general fund efficiently and for priorities such as our parks. So that's why I keep opposing these new funds. I just don't think that they're, in general, the way that we should be handling our very valuable city resources. So thank you, Chair, that's my testimony.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 33? Seeing none, we're in discussion, members. Council Member Tupola.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you, Ms. Iwasa, for your testimony. Just for clarification, the funds that are listed, such as parks, maintenance, et cetera, they're listed because they are in that section of the ROH, but they are not new funds and they are not being created. Specifically, Bill 33 is allowing us to deposit any fees that are charged into the Parks Maintenance Fund, just for clarity. So I will say that Bill 32 and 33 were both discussed by myself and Director Thielen because I asked why the grass does not get trimmed regularly. So it's a big issue, maybe not for other people, but when grass is super high, I get lots of calls, why can't people trim it? So she explained to me about the contracts. And one of the reasons why our contracts constantly lapse or get started late is because they were moving July 1 to June 30 every year. That's how they move. So as soon as the budget comes out July 1, then they start to RFP out the contract, then we get people on. But then if we don't use all of it, it lapses. So long story short, the way these two bills are working together is they are going to be able to do contracts over a long period of time because we will have an account that's specified for maintenance. Another reason why it's hard to compare something as simple as grass cutting in the budget is that when we talk about stream cleaning, drains, none of that. None of that is more important. Grass cutting is not more important than that. So long story short, I think that these two things will suffice so that our parks can actually get the maintenance funds they need, but then also use it based upon contract timelines that don't have to stick to the annual fiscal budget. So, I do want to say that Director Thielen has metaphorically and literally heard your cries about grass cutting, and I do believe that this is going to help us, not just with that, but many other parks maintenance issues. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Members, any further discussion? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting none, CR 171, 2026 has been adopted. Bill 33, 2026, CD 1 is passed. Second reading. From the Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation, and Technology, Council Member Cordero.

I move that Committee Report 142-2026 be adopted in Bill 35-2026, which relates to streets, sidewalks, malls, and other public places, pass second reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Cordero, thank you for the explanation. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members who are in discussion? Seeing none, we'll call Mr. Clerk.

Oh, Chair, there was testimony.

I'm sorry. Ted Kafalas. My apologies. Please proceed.

Sorry, Chair. Sorry. I will try to keep my comments brief. But Ted Kafalas with Grassroot Institute in support of Bill 35. This bill is just repealing old ordinances that will authorize curbside bank tellers to encroach onto public sidewalks. These provisions date back to when curbside tellers were actually a thing. I don't think anybody has really used one in the past maybe 20 years. So this is something that, you know, the way we banked has shifted, and this cleanup bill would have minimal, if any, practical effects on banks, credit unions, financial institutions, but what it does is it removes an obsolete provision that no longer serves a purpose. So we think this bill already builds on what council has already done with Ordinance 2522, which removed similar outdated provisions. And we do think this kind of code cleanup is worth continuing just because it makes the city code a lot easier to navigate. So we support this bill and appreciate your consideration. Aloha.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Bill 35? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tan. Aye. Council Member Kea Aina. Aye. Council Member Nishimura. Aye. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Tauba. Excused. Council Member Tupoula.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer. Excused. Chair Waters.

Aye. Mr.

Chair, there are seven ayes and two members are absent.

Thank you. CR 142, 2026 has been adopted. Bill 35, 2026 is passed. Second reading. Moving to the top of page 15, third. Oh, excuse me. Council Member Cardero.

I move that Committee Report 175-2026 be adopted and Bill 41-2026, which relates to transportation, pass second reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Cordero, thank you for the explanation. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, yes, we do.

I believe Dylan Armstrong has registered to testify.

Mahalo Chairwaters, Dylan Armstrong again. I am testifying in support, and the reason I'm not simply standing on my testimony is that I think the big picture needs to be addressed as to why these sorts of bills are necessary. When you think about how you interact with the sidewalk or pedestrian infrastructure, and every single resident of Honolulu who drives, who is in a wheelchair, who bikes uses pedestrian infrastructure whether or not it's just from your car through the parking lot or whether it's your main commute you need to reduce as lawmakers the variability of that experience for honolulu residents because the variability is the stress known as lots level of traffic stress and if you can do that you're going to make it safer for kupuna to be able to independently go about their business in their own neighborhoods with dignity. You're gonna be able to encourage children to walk safely in their own communities. Safe Routes to Schools is a program that we could talk about, but this bill specifically is establishing what is not allowed among other things. And unfortunately for a lot of us who are primarily pedestrians, when we can be, It's a lot of these transportation devices that actually introduce the unsafe variability of using pedestrian infrastructure, partly because of speeding, partly because of reckless use of those devices, and partly because of lack of enforcement. You're strengthening the enforcement, you're making it easier for HPD at all to create consistent conditions to encourage what we all want, a better transportation system model.

Thank you. Would anybody else like to testify on Bill 41? Bill 41. Seeing none, any discussion members? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tam. Aye. Council Member Kiana.

Aye.

Council Member Nishimura. Aye. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Toba. Excused. Council Member Tupola.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer?

Aye.

Chair Waters?

Aye.

Mr. Chair, there are seven ayes, two members are absent. Eight ayes, one member is absent. Excuse me.

Thank you. CR 175-2026 has been adopted in Bill 41-2026 is passed second reading. Moving to the top of page 16, third reading item. From the Committee on Budget, Council Member Okamoto.

Chair, I move that Committee Report 16126 be adopted and Bill 2025 CD1 as amended, pass third reading. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Okamoto for the explanation.

Relating to funds.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

We have a remote testifier standing by, Mr. Chair.

I think it's, is that Susan Young? Yes, it is. Please proceed.

Aloha, Chair Waters, Vice Chair Tupoula and Council Members. I'm Suzanne Young, CEO for the Honolulu Board of Realtors. We are in strong support of Bill 20, which provides down payment assistance. One of the biggest barriers to homeownership besides housing supply is being able to come up with down payment for a home purchase. Many residents are already paying the equivalent of a mortgage for their monthly rent and don't have access to down payment funds, and that prevents them from even considering becoming a homeowner. We thank the Council for working to increase down payment opportunities for our local residents. Mahalo.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do I have any other testifiers on Bill 20? Mr. Chair, we have none. Thank you. Discussion? Council Member Cardero.

Thank you. Mahalo, Chair, and mahalo to my co-introducer, Vice Chair Tipola. As Suzanne, as Ms. Young mentioned, from the Honolulu Board of Realtors, this is an important measure. As we move forward, I'm grateful to the programs that we have at HHFDC, and especially here at the city, the HOME program and more, that focuses on those of an affordable AMI, Area Median Income, um hopefully with this measure we are looking to look at the people who are in the middle as well but who are still struggling to have support in purchasing a home a lot of our our services here at the city are funded by real property taxes so it is and it is pertinent that we support people becoming homeowners and this is something that will help the cycle of making our city work so i look forward to i am also grateful for the conversation um that we've had with the city's department of community services um uh vice and i also met with uh budget director kwano as well um there were really great discussions about what um what the program could look like moving forward um through administrative but also since we do have a good year-long time before this bill gets implemented, we will be able to hopefully work that out. But I'm grateful for the discussion, and I know it's been a priority of this council. Mahalo. Thank you. Council Member Tepala.

Thank you so much, and mahalo to my co-introducer. You know, we've spent years building buildings. I think it's time that we start building homeowners. If you've ever tried to own a home here, one of the hardest parts is having a down payment, and that's a wall that stops so many of our local families before they even get started. In the city, we put millions of dollars towards ground up construction or the purchase of buildings. And at the end, after that process and all that money, we end up having a very small amount of people live there. And usually it's rentals. That's not wrong. We need to do that. But a building holds tenants. and as long as they pay rent, but a home holds a family. Births, funerals, birthday parties, grandkids growing up down the street, there is a difference in your life when you own a home and you get to raise your child in a community in the home that you own. If we're serious about keeping our families intact, we have to be just as serious about ownership as we are about construction. This bill creates a revolving fund that goes directly to families. Because it's revolving, it doesn't stop with one project or one generation. The money comes back and gets loaned out again to the next family and the next. I want every local family to know that we stand with you, and we want you to be able to stay together for generations. BFS and DCS asked us to defer this, and I want to address that directly. Bill 20 addresses the much needed gap, as mentioned by the co-introducer, the missing middle, for a down payment program that's going to go up to 140% AMI. HHFDC's program, as well as DCS, only helps up to 80% AMI. UHero's 2026 Housing Factbook tells us that all families that are trying to own a home are well above 80%. It's between 100 and 240%. And if you're at that AMI, then you're at the level that you're getting ready to purchase a home. So their program is highly underused. In fact, they said only six people applied for their program because it's kind of hitting the wrong income bracket. And so this program is different from that. It addresses a different gap. BFS also asked the co-introducer myself where the funds would be coming out of. And we did look at various funds that are already here, which is the home repayment fund, the housing development special fund or the affording affordable housing fund. However, there are charter specifications on all those funds that would make it impossible for us to use this program through that, which is why we're suggesting that a new one be made. But that is a separate piece of legislation. So I do believe that because this will be city funded and again, it's a pilot. So it's only going to be until 2032. If it goes great, awesome. If it doesn't, we can discontinue it. But we do think that this is like a ladder of help. You know, some of our housing projects help 30%, then we hit 60, we hit 80. We think that we need to help the whole spectrum of renters come into home ownership in Honolulu and that this is how we're going to help keep local families here for generations to come. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further discussion members? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tam. Aye. Council Member Kiya Aina.

Aye.

Council Member Nishimura. Aye. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Toba. Excuse me. Council Member Tupola.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer.

Aye.

Chair Waters.

Aye.

Mr. Chair, there are eight ayes, one member is absent.

Thank you, CR161, 2026 has been adopted. In Bill 20, 2025, CD1 has passed third reading. Moving to the top of page 17 from the Committee on Budget, Council Member Okamoto.

Chair, I move that Committee Report 16426 and Resolution 26-145 be adopted.

Second.

Chair moved and seconded. Council Member Okamoto for the explanation.

authorizing the Director of Budget and Fiscal Services to issue and sell in one or more series not to exceed $205 million principal amount of general obligation bonds of the City and County of Honolulu for financing the amounts appropriated in certain capital budget ordinances of the City and County of Honolulu specified in such capital budget ordinances.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, we're in discussion. Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tam. Aye. Council Member Kia-Aina.

Aye.

Council Member Nishimoto. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Tauba. Excused. Council Member Tupoula.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer.

Aye.

Chair Waters. Aye. Mr. Chair, there are eight ayes, one member is absent.

Thank you, CR164-2026 and Resolution 26-145 has been adopted. Council Member Okamoto.

Chair, I move that Committee Report 16526 and Resolution 26-146 be adopted.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Okamoto for the explanation.

Authorizing the Director of Budget and Fiscal Services to issue and sell in one or more series not to exceed $11 million principal amount of general obligation bonds of the City and County of Honolulu for financing The amount appropriated in Ordinance Number 26-13 also referred to upon its approval as Bill 23-2026, CD2-FD1, and as may be further amended of the City and County of Honolulu for the purpose of financing capital losses of the Honolulu Rail Transit Project.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, any discussion? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Aye.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tam. Aye. Council Member Kea Aina. Aye. Council Member Nishimura. Aye. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Tauba. Excused. Council Member Tupoula.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer. Chair Waters.

Aye.

Mr. Chair, there are eight ayes, one member is absent.

Thank you. CR 165-2026 and resolution 26-146 has been adopted. Turning to the top of page 18, Council Member Okamoto.

I move that Committee Report 16626 and Resolution 26-147CD1 as amended be adopted. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Okamoto for the explanation.

Accepting a gift of transportation, lodging, meals, and registration fees valued at $5,600 to the City from the National Association of State Procurement Officials NASPO for two staff members from the city to attend the NASPO REACH conference and training event in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Thank you. Mr. Clark, do you have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, any discussion? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting no objections or reservations, CR 166-2026 and Resolution 26-147 CD 1 has been adopted. From the Committee on Housing, Homelessness, and Parks, Council Member Tupoula.

I move that Committee Report 91-2026, Resolution 26-65 be adopted. Second.

I move and second it. Council Member Tupoula for the explanation.

Urging the City Administration to restore the Mauna Lahilahi Cultural Garden by activating and implementing the Mauna Lahilahi Cultural Garden Master Plan.

Thank you. Is there a motion to amend? Council Member Tupola.

I move that resolution 26-65 be amended to the hand carried up D1 identified as OCS 2026-0434 backslash 7 backslash 7 backslash 2026 at 2 p.m. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Tupola for the explanation of the amendment.

Thank you, Chair. There has been passed out to all the council members a proposed FD1 letters A through F that explains the technical changes to the resolution that are not substantive. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you so much. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, any discussion? Council Member Tupola.

Thank you so much. I want to thank Deputy Director Kehau Pu'u for working with us on this one. This resolution closes the gap between what was planned in 2010 and what the community has actually had to do for itself ever since. There was an environmental assessment back in 1999 when we had a master plan, and I even called the council member that represented my district just to get the historical background on why the city would purchase a Mauna, an entire mountain. was Ibikupuna discovered in 2007. There was a burial treatment plan in 2009, and then an archeological site preservation plan in 2010. But since then, there has been no investment, no studies or development, and really the community has had to shoulder this burden for many, many years. I want to thank Malama Rising, specifically Kule Samson, as well as Adam, who have both themselves as well as other caretakers gone every month for years to care for this Mauna, and they're desperately waiting for it to become a botanical garden. I just really want to thank them as well as all of the community members who without very much help have done so much. But I do believe that if the city steps in, we can really get to where we need to. I'm grateful for all of the committee members' support. We actually discussed this in committee some months ago, but we've been working on edits, so thank you for your patience. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Any objections or reservations to the amendment? Noting no objections or reservations, Resolution 26-65 has been amended to the hand-carried FD-1. Any objections or reservations to waiving Council Rule 19-G, the 48-hour rule notice requirement? Noting no objections or reservations, the 48-hour notice has been waived. Any further discussion? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting none, CR 91-2026 and resolution 26-65, FD1 has been adopted. Moving to the top of page 19. Members, we'll be taking up the next three items together as they relate to gifts to the city. Council Member Tupola.

I move that the committee reports and resolutions listed on pages 19 and 20 of the agenda be adopted. Second.

Second. Council Member Tupola for the explanation of each item.

Committee Report 172, 2026, Resolution 26-139, accepting a gift of $5,000 to the city from the Friends of Hawaii Charity for the upkeep and maintenance of Kahala Community Park. Committee Report 173, 2026, Resolution 26-141, accepting a gift of cash in the amount of $5,000 to the city from well care to the development of parks and recreation for the 55th Annual Senior Citizens Valentine's Dance on February 6, 2026 at the Neil S. Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall and Committee Report 174-2026 and Resolution 26-148, accepting a gift of $6,750.67 to the city from Shinyo Inn Hawaii for the upkeep and maintenance of Ala Moana Regional Park.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Do we have any testifiers? Mr. Chair, we have none. Thank you. Any discussion members? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting none, CR 172, 2026, CR 173, 2026, and CR 174, 2026, and resolutions 26-139, 26-141, and 26-148 have been adopted. Moving to the bottom of page 20, From the Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation and Technology, Council Member Cordero.

I move that Committee Report 177-2026 and Resolution 26-149, which approves the grant of Perpetual Subsurface Easements to Hawaii Key Submarine Cable USA LLC within portions of the Kahe Point Beach Park, Ewa, Hawaii, tax map key number 19-2-049-001 be adopted. Second. It's been moved and seconded.

Council Member Cordero, thank you for the explanation. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Any discussion members? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting no objections or reservations, CR 177, 2026. And Resolution 26-149 has been adopted. Moving to the top of page 21 from the Committee on International Legal Affairs, Council Member Nishimoto.

I move that Committee Report 179 and Resolution 26-133, CD1, as amended, be adopted.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Nishimoto for the explanation. This is a gift for the Office of the Managing Director. Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Members, any discussion? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting none, CA 179-2026 and Resolution 26-133CD1 has been adopted. Council Member Nishimoto.

I move that the Committee Report 180 and Resolution 26-152 be adopted.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Nishimoto for the explanation. Just to retain the legal services of Kalama and Farm. Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Any discussion members? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Excused.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tam. Aye. Council Member Kia-Aina. Aye. Council Member Nishimoto. Aye. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Toba. Excused. Council Member Tupola.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer. Aye. Chair Waters. Aye. Mr. Chair, there are seven ayes, two members are absent.

Thank you. CR 180-2026 and Resolution 26-152 has been adopted. Turning to the top of page 22, Council Member Nishimoto.

I move that Committee Report 181 and Resolution 26-153 be adopted.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Nishimoto for the explanation.

This is to retain legal services of Kobayashi, Segita, and Gota.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Any discussion members? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Council Member Cordero.

Excused.

Council Member Dos Santos-Tan. Aye. Council Member Kia-Aina.

Aye.

Council Member Nishimura. Council Member Okamoto.

Aye.

Council Member Toba. Excuse. Council Member Tupola.

Aye.

Council Member Weyer. Chair Waters. Aye. Mr. Chair, there are seven ayes, two members are absent.

Thank you. CR 181-2026 and Resolution 26-153 has been adopted. Council Member Nishimura.

I move that Committee Report 182 and Resolution 26-156 be adopted.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Nishimoto for the explanation.

This is authorizing Corp Council to initiate legal action.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting no objections or reservations, CR 182-2026 and Resolution 26-156 has been adopted. Finally, I know you all have been waiting for this. From the Committee on Zoning and Planning, Council Member Kia'aina.

I move that Committee Report 188-2026 and Resolution 26-134, City 1, is amended be adopted.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Kia'aina for the explanation.

This resolution approves the expenditure of Clean Water and Natural Lands funds to acquire a perpetual conservation easement over 12 parcels of land known as Ke Kipuka o Kalai'uila Tax Map Keys 156003, 001, 019, 020, 021, 022, 023, 024, 026, 030, 031, 046, and 049 in Kahuku, O'ahu, Hawaii.

Thank you. I note that we have a number of registered testifiers, starting with Adam Lee. Is Adam Lee here? No, we can come back. Kavilakai Farant. Aloha and welcome. Followed by Adam Borrello. Thank you for waiting patiently. Switched it? OK. No problem. Aloha and welcome.

Aloha council members and thank you for the opportunity to testify in strong support. I'll largely stand on my written testimony. We believe this is an amazing opportunity, once in a lifetime opportunity. We appreciate the involvement of all of the various council members and community members that have been involved in making this possibility getting close to a reality. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. But just to share with you, we have an amazing network of partnerships together with Trust for Public Land and OHA, together with the community and a network of other support organizations that have made our work successful in other parts along the North Shore. And just to share with those of you council members that aren't familiar with us, the North Shore Community Land Trust, was founded in 1997 with the mission to protect, steward, and enhance the natural landscapes, cultural heritage, and rural character of Ahapua'a from Kahuku to Ka'ena. Since our inception, we have raised over $70 million with partner organizations to protect over 4,000 acres along the North Shore. So this is an amazing opportunity to add to that, work closely with the community to maximize the wonderful things that can happen at Kala'iwila. Mahalo.

Thank you. And you're Adam Ferrello? All right. Thank you. Mr. Ferran?

And I work with North Shore Community Land Trust as a stewardship and restoration specialist for the past 12 years. I'm testifying in strong support of this measure. Kalaiwila is a really amazing, beautiful property. As someone who's grown up in the nearby community, it would mean so much to me and my ohana to have this place preserved and as a place for our community to access not only the beautiful, natural ecosystems, but also the deep cultural significance, which relates to many Mo'olelo, as well as various cultural sites, including Kalaiwila Heiau, for which this area gets its name, as well as Keanaakua, which was a koa, or a traditional fishing shrine. There's very deep cultural and environmental and community significance to this parcel, so I strongly urge you all to support this measure. Mahalo.

Thank you. Is Reyna Ramalete Hayashi here? Aloha and welcome.

Aloha, chair and council members. Mahalo for this incredible opportunity. My name is Raina Ramalese Hayashi. I'm with the Trust for Public Land. We've partnered with the city and county, as well as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and North Shore Community Land Trust on a number of successful conservation projects over the years. And we're just so thrilled about Kalaiwila It really is an incredible opportunity to protect a really pristine sand dune ecosystem. Probably it's the last parcel of its size zoned ag to Makai of the highway. There really is no other aina left like this on Oahu. So this is a really exciting and tremendous opportunity. And we'd love to partner with the city on this. We thank all of you for your incredible support and advocacy.

Thank you. Thank you all for your hard work. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify? Sorry, Council Member Kiana.

Chair, thank you. Chair, I think it's critically important for me to be able to ask some questions of the testifier because the Trust for Public Land was the coordinator and facilitator of all the various partners to make this happen. We have received strong testimony and opposition from a testifier challenging the fiduciary duty of the City Council and unauthorized use of funds through this acquisition, saying that there is no valid contract negotiations that have been completed. So for the record, I simply wanted to ask a couple of questions to get on the record. Reyna, can you explain the typical process for successful conservation real estate transaction?

Yeah, so this is a very long and complicated process. It actually feels like a miracle when it does work because so many different puzzle pieces have to align to have a successful project. One of the first things that needs to happen is you have to have a willing landowner, a willing seller. So we're moving land from private hands into public stewardship, and you really need to have a willing seller. But at the application stage, when you're applying for funding, what you need is a willing seller letter. typically you do not get the land under contract until after you have secured funding. Given the listing price for this property, which is $28.8 million, you would imagine that it's very difficult to negotiate with any seller that has these kinds of expectations when you don't have proof of funds. And so really this step that the council is taking today is very critical to putting us into a position of, being able to get the property under contract. Funding is the first step. Contract and due diligence happens after.

I just want to confirm that with regard to this fund, the Clean Water Natural Lands Fund requirement, you do not have to have a contract with the seller during the funding stage. Is that correct?

That is correct. We do have a willing seller letter. We do not have a contract. Typically, contracts like this will only happen at early stages when the seller is very much aligned with a conservation sale or acquisition, and that is very, very rare. With a private real estate market the way it is in Hawaii, we are competing against other buyers that have sometimes cash on hand and are willing to pay above market rates for properties like this on Oahu. So it is very rare to have a contract at this stage.

Sure. Thank you so much. Again, for the Clean Water Natural Lands Fund, is it a requirement that all due diligence efforts have to be conducted during the funding stage?

No, due diligence is not required at the funding application stage. It is something that happens after funds are authorized. So we for sure will partner closely with the city, with OHA and our other partners to do title review, to get an appraisal done. to do a phase one environmental site assessment, but it is very cost prohibitive for any nonprofit conservation organization to put in tens of thousands of dollars of funding into due diligence when we have no contract with the seller and no promise of funding. So like I said, this is a very critical first step.

And so please clarify, what does it mean for a project that a property is under contract with another buyer?

Yeah, so this property is under contract with another buyer. It has previously been under contract with another buyer. It did fall out of escrow previously. And so I think what that means is A, if you pass this resolution, and for some reason the current buyer is successful in buying the property, the city could still negotiate with that future landowner. It creates the opportunity for funding for the current owner to negotiate with them a potential deal or any future landowner to negotiate with them a potential conservation deal. I think what it also shows is that one of the criteria of the fund is to show that the property is threatened. With sale and development the fact that this property has gone in and out of escrow a couple of times already shows how in demand and how special and unique this this Opportunity is and really shows that level of threat and so so we really need the council's support to move quickly and urgently and I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that we're going to be successful. Like I said, this is the first step to put us in a strong position with the current seller.

Thank you. My last question is, have you conveyed to the owner what is going on at the City Council with regard to interest in purchasing this property?

Yes. I did just have a conversation with the seller's representative two days ago, so they are aware that we are moving forward.

and I'm assuming they are encouraged that we can continue to do this, so if everything pulls together, that we can make them an offer. Is that correct? We would like to be able to make them an offer, absolutely. Okay. Thank you so much. No further questions. Thank you, Chair. Thank you.

Thank you. Members, any follow-up questions? Seeing none, is there anybody else who'd like to testify on this matter?

Mr. Chair, we have a remote testifier with their hand raised. Okay, please proceed.

Mahalo, Chair. Raquel Achu, North Shore, Wailua, Moku, in strong support of this measure. Although it is not my kuleana or in my Moku, the work and the respect that our community has for the North Shore Community Land Trust, and TPL and the people involved there with Mr. Borrello and Mr. Front. It stands to their credibility and their integrity. And any time that we're making efforts to perpetuate and conserve our lands, we're very supportive of. So I look forward to seeing this measure move forward. Mahalo.

Thank you so much. I believe there's another testifier. Elaine? I can't read the last name. Aloha and welcome.

Hi there. It's Elaine Chan. Aloha Chair Waters, Vice Chair Kia'a'ina and members of the Honolulu City Council. My name is Dr. Elaine Chan. I am a practicing OB-GYN in Oahu and I am testifying in full support of Resolution 26151. Importantly, I am a settler here on these lands and waters, and I have had the opportunity to witness the ways in which Kanaka'o Iwi has stewarded and attempted to restore this land, where Iwi Kapuna cultural sites and open space are being aimed to preserve for future generations. Being able to protect this land honors Hawaii's history, safeguards, important cultural resources and ensures that this place remains sacred and protected from future development. Therefore, I respectfully urge the Council to recommend adoption of Resolution 26-151 and mahalo for your continued support of protecting iwi kapuna and preserving Hawaii's cultural heritage. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who would like to testify on Resolution 26-134-CD1? Seeing none, Members, we're in discussion. Council Member Keohane now.

Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to thank all of the entities who've pushed forward for this acquisition, starting for the Trust for Public Lands, the North Shore Community Land Trust, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Clean Water and Natural Lands Advisory Commission, and the Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund staff, as well as the hundreds of community members who've been shepherding this project forward. I do want to say that this property is one of the last remaining intact coastal dune ecosystems on O'ahu, which provides habitat to several native endangered species, contains cultural and historical sites, and includes significant watershed lands, forests, beaches, coastal areas, and agricultural lands. And we all collectively agree. that it is vulnerable to speculation by private investment. And because it is agricultural lands, it's subject to being CPR and developed for housing. And so I think this is a culmination of years in the making. And I just want to thank everyone and urge my colleagues to get it to the finish line.

Thank you. Council Member Weyer.

Thank you, Chair. Really just wanted to echo those sentiments and mahalo, of course, North Shore Community Land Trust, Trust for Public Land, Office of Hawaiian Affairs for just pursuing such an amazing opportunity and helping get it over the finish line. Of course, one of Mahalo's owning chair for so carefully going back and forth. I know there are different directions that it could go. So I'm so excited that we landed at a place where we can preserve this space and, you know, look forward to continue conversation. And again, similar to the chair's urge, the resolution be passed. Mahalo.

Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? Noting no objections or reservations, CR 1-8-8-2026 and resolution 26-134, CD1 has been adopted. Congratulations and thank you all for your hard work. Moving to the bottom of page 23, Council Member Kia'aina.

I move that Committee Report 189-2026 and Resolution 26-140-CD1 as amended be adopted.

Second. I move then seconded, Councilmember Kiana for the explanation.

This resolution accepts the gift of travel and related expenses valued at $659.60 to the City from the County of Hawaii Planning Department for three Department of Planning and Permitting employees to participate at the Regional Planning Focus Group in Hilo, Hawaii, June 10th, 2026.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers?

Mr. Chair, we have none.

Thank you. Any objections or any discussion? Seeing none, any objections or reservations? No, there are no objections or reservations. CR 189, 2026. In Resolution 26-140, CD 1 has been adopted. Moving to the top of page 24, Council Member Kia Inouye.

I move that Committee Report 190, 2026 in Resolution 26-151, CD 1 is amended, be adopted. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Council Member Kia'aina for the explanation.

This resolution approves the expenditure of clean water and natural lands funds to acquire a perpetual conservation easement over one parcel of land, tax map key 13603006, CPRs 001 to 008, situated in Wailupe, Oahu, Hawaii.

Thank you so much. I believe we have a number of registered testifiers, starting with Jennifer Latham. followed by Wayne Tanaka.

DIRECTOR RIVERA- Aloha. Thank you Chair Waters and Vice Chair Kea Aina and council members. I I'm a priest in at Holy Nativity Church was in in the Wailupe area and I've been walking alongside Pu'u Honua o Wailupe for about four years praying with them working on the aina with them and I wanted to just urge support for this resolution and just express how important it is to secure these sacred spaces for the future and for protecting Iwikipuna. And I urge you all to support. And I want to say also that aside from the protection of sacred spaces this has also been a process that has been sacred with the community coming together grassroots efforts of education and working together toward a goal of protection. So mahalo. Thank you.

Thank you. Is Wayne Tanaka available? Aloha, Mr. Tanaka. Please proceed.

Okay. All right. Good afternoon, Chair Waters, members of the Colomso, Winton-Occo Sir Club. We are in strong support. I have a lot of thoughts on this, but in the interest of time, I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has worked for years in getting us here, you know, to the Clean Water Natural Lands to the commission staff, to the commission itself, to OHA, to yourself, Chair Waters, and to Commissioner Kiyo Aino for your leadership, and to the landowner and the hundreds of people that have come together to, you know, take care of this very special place. And it's just been a true privilege to work alongside the Pulau Umuroa Wailupe in their effort. And it's really, um it's been remarkable to see how it's evolved from a place of contention to you know truly like unprecedented collaboration and shared understanding of kuleana and that's really you know what i think we all should be striving for you know as we as we look towards the future um so with that i have to answer the questions and thank you so much again for your consideration of this resolution thank you next helen sonoro sonorapale

Aloha, welcome.

Aloha, Chair Waters, Vice Chair Tupoula, and members of the council. My name is Helani Sonorapole. I am a Kanaka Maoli and a co-founder. I serve as a volunteer board member of Puʻuhonua Wailupe in strong support here in front of you. Too long in Hawaii, the bones of our ancestors have been unearthed, displaced, and desecrated in the name of development. Puʻuhonua Wailupe embodies the tradition traditional Hawaiian concept of a puʻuhonua, a place of refuge. This property will serve as a puʻuhonua for iwi kupuna, a sacred place where our ancestors remain at rest, protected from future disturbance and cared for by descendants and our community. Beyond the known sites, oh sorry, the State Historic Preservation Division has recognized a significant portion of the property as a cultural landscape and multiple archeological sites on the property have been formally documented and recorded. Beyond the known sites, there are likely additional cultural resources that have yet to be identified. The property offers a rare opportunity to permanently preserve an entire cultural landscape, where Iwi Kupuna cultural sites, traditional knowledge, and the stories of this place can be protected for future generations. Mahalo nui loa for this opportunity and supporting our years of work and supporting the protection of our iwi kūpuna.

Mahalo nui. Aloha. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate your hard work. Next is Mikey Galea available. OK. How about Elaine Chan.

Aloha everyone. My name is Elaine Chan. I am a practicing physician in O'ahu and I am testifying in support of Resolution 26151. And as I said earlier, I am a settler here on Native lands and waters, and I've had the privilege of witnessing and also working alongside Kanaka'o'iwi and the ways in which they steward this land and restore this land, especially how they have handled Iwi Kapuna and the cultural site. Protecting this land does honor Hawaii's history, safeguards important cultural resources, like Aunty Healani has said, and ensures that this sacred place remains protected. So I respectfully urge the Council to recommend the adoption of Resolution 26151. Mahalo for your continued support of protecting iwi kupuna and preserving Hawai'i's cultural heritage.

Thank you. Next is Chris Kramer.

Mr. Chair, the testifier is not logged on.

Okay. Next is Caitlin Mika. Aloha, welcome.

Aloha. Aloha, Michael. Mahalo chair and board members for your time. My name is Kaitlin Mika and I am in full support of Resolution 26151. As someone being born and raised on Oahu and seeing so much change and development and also desecration of ʻāina and our waters, it concerns me to a high extent of the future of Hawaiʻi and I feel like this resolution will be the perfect opportunity for other communities to come together and to protect Aina and preserve Native Hawaiian culture practices and safeguard Hawaii's future. Mahalo for your time. Have a great day.

Thank you. Next we have Alfred Medeiros. Aloha, Mr. Medeiros. Long time. Thank you for being here today.

Okay. Aloha mai kakou. I am the co-VP of Pu'uhonua Wailupe. Mahalo chair, vice chair, all council members. Four years we've been fighting for this, you know. February 12th, 2022 was a traumatic day for many of us. I come from Waianae and people was wondering why I'm over there in Wailupe trying to stop development because our ancestors are buried there. The same thing with anybody, if there was to desecrate Punchbowl, there would be a rise up, same way we've done. It was a community effort, not only just by us of Puʻohonoʻi Lupe, but of you as well, city council members, of the Clean Water, everybody over at OHA, so many testimonies, churches, community members and everything. And I'm a Kiai. If you guys know me, I fight for everything. I stand for any part of Ko Hawaii Pae Aina. Wailua hit with the floods, I'm there. When burial grounds of Koloa is getting desecrated, I'm there. In Maui, repatriation of our kupuna, I'm there. I don't get paid for this. This is our kuleana. We got to preserve what we have left in Hawaii. And it's very unfortunate that we get displaced even when we're dead, and it has to stop. And I believe this process, as long as it was, as heartbreaking as it was through everything, could be the blueprint to move forward throughout Hawaii. On our side of Waianae, there are places that need to be protected, preserved. All over, places need to be protected and preserved. And in the beginning of this, the homeowner, the developer, they didn't want us on the land. They didn't understand that. And now they work alongside us. They stand on the aina with us. They malama that. It's been a growing process. I want our keiki to learn this, to understand our history, to know where they come from. Because throughout time, we've seen Hawaii change. More development, more development, we get pushed away. So everything gets decimated. Everything that once was, like the Wailupe fish ponds, the local ias, no longer around. But the history still is prevalent, you know what I mean? We're still around. As kānakamole and Hawaiians, as long as we're still alive, we can tell these stories our kupuna told us. That's why you see my shirt. My kupuna sent me. You know, earlier we had somebody saying, don't follow the lead of kupuna. No, we get kupuna guided in everything that we do. I know you guys seen on different side of me before, you know, the more ku'e approach in these meetings. Today, I like break down and cry because happy, sad, you know, fearful what may happen, but also know that our future is bright. We have keiki come up into the aina of Wailupe. They learn the olis. They learn about the history. We should do this across all Hawai'i. Every ahupua'a should have the same significance as we do, as we feel, of pu'u hono wailupe. I just want to say mahalo to many of the people inside this gallery today. My wahine, side by side with me through this whole process. They say behind every good man is a better woman. I'm half one great man without the best woman in the world right there. The wahine that's been through this whole process, Healani Sonoropale, fighting diligently. Malia Marquez, my sister, the co-VP along this. You know, we had Mia Alyssa Otis. You know, our po'o should be here today, Uncle Michael Hikalea, but he's sick. Me and my wife have been fighting with illness. I woke up this morning like I was brand new. You know, that's my kupuna in me, saying you got to be there. You got to watch this follow through and see what happens. And that's why we're here today. Like I said, this could be the blueprint. I heard Andre Tupolo speak up on the last meeting that we have parcels across our west side that should be in the same thing, that should be brought up to the clean water. And I stand with you all the way to preserve anything a part of Hawaii, a part of our culture, a part of our history, to preserve it and keep it in place. Because once that gets displaced, the history of that place gets displaced. And when the history of this place, we get displaced. You know, we don't belong in museums. We belong here. We belong in your guys' seats, you know, to fight for our people, to fight for the land, for the protection and preservation. So mahalo to you guys. And I support this wholeheartedly. You know, I was willing to give my life on that day, February 12, 2022. And I'm willing to do the same for anybody, you know, at any time. So mahalo, everybody.

Aloha.

Oh, mahalo to you and to the whole group for all your hard work. Really appreciate you. That's all I have for registered testifiers. Is there anybody else who'd like to testify on this matter? Yeah, please come forward.