Public Policies

Public Safety

I have hosted a public safety town hall every year since I became a city councilmember. We have covered topics such as game rooms, the expansion of a new District 9 police district, funding allocation and renovations to the Wai’anae Police Station, sex trafficking, missing children, and school resource officers. It was no secret that in 2023 we had a murder almost every month in Wai’anae and the community was very distraught and wanted to see change. We are not out of the woods but we have seen the following improvements:

Enhanced Wai’anae enforcement in Nov 2023 which resulted in 70 arrests from felony drug arrests to DUIs and 800 citations.

New lifeguard stand at Kahe Point which was the first new lifeguard stand in 11 years.

$300,000 released in the budget to renovate the 2nd floor at the Wai’anae Station.

Officer hiring incentives to address over 400 officer vacancies and can improve coverage across the island.

Introduced Bill 57 & 58 to increase DPP & HPD collaboration to crack down on game rooms in Wai’anae which decreased from 22 down to 11

Ocean Safety Commission for the new Ocean Safety Department.

Prohibited left turns on Kapolei Parkway to decrease accidents, included money in the budget to put up a new stop light, and worked with private companies to get two more stop lights for pedestrian safety.

Homelessness

Restore, Reconnect, Revive (R3) started in August 2022 in an effort to restore areas as public spaces; reconnect individuals with resources with a dedicated focused follow-up; and revive the outreach process by having accountability and timelines.

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Housing

In June of 2023, I was able to successfully pass Bill 56, Ordinance 23-13, which removed the requirement for permits on basic home repairs. This makes it possible for homeowners to take care of improvements immediately instead of waiting for months and years to get a permit from the Department of Planning and Permitting.