Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / 2025 State of the City Address

Transcript

2025 State of the City Address · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

0:15
Friends, colleagues.
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The 15th mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, the Honorable Rick
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Blangiardi.
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Thank you.
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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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Thank you.
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What a what a crowd.
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Thank you.
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So let me just say aloha and good evening.
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And thank you all for coming tonight.
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Your attendance is greatly appreciated.
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And I'm excited to present our state of the Union
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with you and our audience watching at home this evening.
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The first to my wife, Karen.
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Your personal sacrifice is immense,
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and your understanding is more than I have a right to ask for.
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And for that, I love you.
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And much, much more.
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To Governor Green and Lieutenant Governor Luke.
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Thank you for all that you do for Hawaii each and every day.
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Senator, shots.
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Given the uncertainty going on in DC.
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Your leadership and resolve have never been more important.
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And I'm honored that you're here tonight.
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Thank you.
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To my fellow mayors, Rick Pearson, to Derek Kawakami.
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This journey, this challenge of leading our respective islands
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has been more fulfilling because of our partnership.
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And to Mayor Kimo Alameda.
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We look forward to sharing the road ahead with you
1:45
as we work to improve the lives of our people together.
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Thank you all for coming.
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To our city leadership team.
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I'm inspired by each and every one of you.
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Day in and day out.
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For all that you have done, in all that you commit to do
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for the residents of Oahu.
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Expectations are high and there are a lot of people counting on us to deliver.
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Clearly, they have placed their trust in us with our historic win in the primary.
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So we must deliver and we will deliver.
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And that is because of you.
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And finally, to our City Council chair, Tommy Waters,
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vice chair Matt Wire, and honorable council members.
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I want to extend my sincere mahalo to all of you for being true and trusted
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partners, and our shared commitment and responsibility
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to fixing the wicked problems of our beloved city and county.
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For those who constructively and collectively mahalo.
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This is my
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fifth state of the city and the first of our second term.
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Now, my intention tonight is to provide you with an incisive update
3:00
of the stellar work of our team and their ongoing efforts to tackle
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the critical, long and short term challenges we face as an island community.
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And while I'm proud to say we have created considerable success together
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over the past four years, my focus tonight is on the road ahead
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and specifically on what you can expect from our team over the next four years
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as we continue to improve the operations of the city,
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as well as the quality of our lives.
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Our growth as an administration has been steady and strong,
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and we've learned and discovered much together
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about the many diverse needs of our city and our people.
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And we have planned well and prioritized accordingly.
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Our collective efforts in the next four years are primed to meet
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those diverse needs through high achievement, driven by solid execution.
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The stakes are high.
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The timing could not be more critical,
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and this demands an invisible determination from all of us.
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If we are to succeed.
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We cannot acquiesce in the face of so many of our people
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leaving, and so many other people considering it.
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Due to the high cost of living.
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This is the
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leadership challenge of a lifetime for our entire team.
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All eyes and minds are focused on the future as we work to create
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a better tomorrow in our embrace of much needed change.
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Our president, John F Kennedy, once said,
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change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past
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or present are certain to miss the future.
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Now we are facing unprecedented outmigration,
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and clearly the overall cost of living in Hawai'i for both goods and housing
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are the primary catalyst for anyone considering leaving our beautiful home.
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And to solve this island's outmigration issue.
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We must solve our housing issue.
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Last week, we made good on our promise
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from last year to the city to recalibrate
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our organizational structure in service of that goal.
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Our resolution to create a new Department of Housing and Land Management
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has been formally introduced to the City Council.
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Merging our real estate and housing experts into a single unified operation.
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Now, back in 1998, the city's
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last iteration of a housing department was officially disbanded.
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And in working with the council, this new department will mark
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the first time in 27 years that the city has had a fully staffed
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housing department to lead in the construction
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of housing.
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Now, I'm pleased tonight to announce that Kevin O'Shea.
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We've asked him to be our director of the Office of Housing to serve as director
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of this new department, with Cat Tacular supporting Kevin as Deputy director,
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placing our focus on the development of housing
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and transit oriented communities.
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Now, for most of the past year, Kevin Cat and the teams have already been working
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as a single unit, completely rethinking our housing strategy.
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And before every decision they've made in standing up our new department,
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they've asked themselves a simple question will this help us create housing?
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Now, together, they have reestablished the housing platform of the city
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that is geared towards execution rather than policy toward development
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rather than deliberation and toward results, rather than rhetoric.
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Their new housing
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plan has two key components.
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First, that we will stand up an actual development division
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within the new housing department, one that can spearhead a collaborative efforts
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with development partners to aggressively create new housing
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units on city lands.
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You're making me a little dry in the mouth, boy.
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Look at this. Okay,
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our team is identified at least ten underutilized city owned properties.
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That would better serve the public if they were transformed
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into affordable housing.
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These properties have been sitting around for years
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with no plan or strategy
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or the necessary infrastructure.
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Our housing department is activating them to serve the single most needed purpose
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that we can offer our residents as places to live.
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Solicitations for the development of five of those properties
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are already out, and we believe these ten parcels
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have the potential to add nearly 2000 units to the housing market on Oahu.
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Now, to fully unlock that
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potential, there is a second key component to our reorganization.
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The creation of a finance division that can engineer
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new ways to address the cost of development.
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Now, make no mistake, we already have made lots of progress.
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After a 23 year hiatus, our private activity bond program is thriving.
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Since restarting the city's program just three years ago,
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nearly $670 million in bond allocations have been awarded to developers,
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including 140 million in awards scheduled to close later
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this summer to help finance more than 400 new public housing units.
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But that said, the simple truth is that our current affordable housing
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ecosystem relies too heavily on low income tax credits and general obligation
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bonds funding sources that are way too restrictive.
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So to further accelerate the delivery of housing and execute on our housing
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goals, the city needs cutting edge financing solutions.
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Our housing team is exploring the use of multifamily taxable
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revenue, bonds and the provision of low cost construction
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equity financing to determine if these alternative structures
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make sense for our development partners across the island.
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Many of whom are with us here tonight.
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The bottom line is that we cannot build
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new housing units if we cannot make the projects pencil out.
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So we are determined to introduce creative financing options
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that could be implemented on city developments, using city properties
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with city infrastructure for the good of this city's residents.
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Before the end of our administration.
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Now, when it comes to housing,
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I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish in our first four years
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and excited for what we are committed to doing over the next four.
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Last month, we proposed meaningful changes to the way the city leases property
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to make it easier for development partners to quickly advance housing projects.
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So we need to offer more leasing options, which will help
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speed up the approval process.
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We cannot call housing our top priority and then insist on the status quo
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when it comes to our leasing rules, and making smart revisions to chapter
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38 will have a wider impact than just housing.
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We want to make it easier for government services and non-profits
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to lease city properties
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to better serve our residents, and we look forward to working with the council
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to make it easier to get projects moving in their districts.
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With these changes
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now, it's okay.
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It's out.
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It's obvious
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that there are plenty of rules and regulations still standing in the way,
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and earlier this year we started working with you, hero,
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on a top down review of anything that developers might call red tape
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to make sure we address any opportunity to reduce regulatory burden,
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knowing that time is money and real estate development is big money.
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We believe every decision we make about housing regulations,
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including whether or not they're even necessary, should be data driven.
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And as a facilitator, the sooner we address the systemic issues
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hindering development, the bigger impact we can make.
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Now, when it comes to our housing shortage, there is no bigger impact.
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We can make no bigger catalyst for change than to unleash the full strength
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of our efforts on transit oriented development.
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Few places in the country support public
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transportation more than the people of Oahu.
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We ranked fifth in the nation for per capita
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transit ridership, and more than 90% of all residents on our island
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live within a ten minute walk of a bus stop or rail station.
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Now, going forward,
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our skylines system provides us with an unprecedented opportunity
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to create high density, mixed use communities
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where people will choose to live along the rail line.
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But first, it's time to bring skyline to Pearl Harbor.
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It's time to bring skyline to the airport so residents flying out for the weekend
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don't need to sit in traffic to get dropped off for their flights.
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It's time to bring Skyline to Lagoon Drive,
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where riders will be able to connect to Waikiki and East Oahu.
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And it's time to bring skyline all the way into Kalihi.
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So we're natty tonight that the second segment of real operations,
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from Aloha Stadium to Middle Street, will open on
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October 1st.
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Way to go, Lori.
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Way to go, baby. Way to go.
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That's a bit of a surprise.
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You got to know that.
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October 1st we go.
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All right.
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Our team at heart, led by Lori Chiquita Gay, continues
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to do incredible work.
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Construction on the third.
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Construction on the third and final rail segment.
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Through downtown Honolulu and into Kakaako will start this year,
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with the entire system slated to open in 2031.
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So our job now is to ensure that the housing developments,
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the new businesses
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and the new public spaces we have planned for communities along the rail line.
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Keep up.
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If not, beat the pace of real construction.
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And perhaps nowhere is that more important for us
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than in the redevelopment of San
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when we acquired Evo Center last year.
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We used the word iconic to describe our vision to transform
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the area into a mixed use community where at least
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2000 new housing units.
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And this month, we announced the next step in bringing that vision to life.
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Right now, the city is accepting proposals that will enable us to select
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a development partner capable of creating the world class community.
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Our residents deserve a community that features affordable
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and market rate housing, commercial and retail spaces.
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Government services, education facilities including childcare providers,
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recreational opportunities and a rail park and ride.
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Simply put, we are making good on our promise
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to build an equitable community where all residents, regardless of income,
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have the same opportunities to live, work,
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shop, learn and play as everyone else.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thanks to an unprecedented $3 million in state and in federal grants.
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We're well into infrastructure planning for this new development.
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Our housing team worked with Hart to completely reshape the Kahului station,
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connecting it directly into Everly Center community
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as well as a multimodal hub at the base of the station.
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That will enable even greater transportation options.
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Now, our Office of Climate Change Sustainability Resiliency is making sure
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the new development is designed to stand strong
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in the face of future climate hazards.
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And our Office of Economic Revitalization will guide
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this new community toward robust business opportunities,
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especially for small and local businesses and entrepreneurs.
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And with $100 million in funding
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for mixed use development in this year's proposed budget, we have set the stage
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to break ground on this transformative project by 2028.
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Now the vision,
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the vision that we have for Eveleigh will not come together overnight.
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We know that planning and design, not just for infrastructure,
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but for the entire mixed use development, will take years to complete.
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But given that we have already talked tonight about activating city properties,
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we know that letting Eveleigh Center empty and underutilized that entire time
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is not in the best interests of our residents and our taxpayers.
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Instead, while planning and design for housing takes place,
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we're using the building to help address the second greatest challenge
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of our administration homelessness.
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Now, last month, Governor Green and I unveiled
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a groundbreaking new homeless shelter inside the Eveleigh Center complex
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that focuses on brain and behavioral health.
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Now, for individuals who spent years or even a whole lives on the streets,
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mental health challenges and traumatic brain injuries
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can make it impossible to transition back into stable living situations.
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Coming all a hope
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is compassionate housing, steeped in Hawaiian principles that focuses
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on restoring cognitive function through neuroscience and architecture.
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The model we've deployed is among the first in the nation,
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and it's being studied at universities and research centers around the world
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who are looking to us for insight into better ways
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that we can treat our most vulnerable homeless individuals.
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Kumu Ola Ho is the first of four separate homeless shelters
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that will open inside the center this year, adding
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a total of 100 more treatment beds to the city's inventory.
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Now, as a thank you very.
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As mayor,
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our ability to effectively and humanely treat a homeless population,
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our most vulnerable population, is paramount.
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Homelessness is a gut wrenching and heartbreaking reality in our communities,
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one that deeply challenges our minds and spirits at every level and trying
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to alleviate the pain and suffering we see far too much in too many places.
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Yet there's no simple solution.
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In fact, it is a demanding test of our human spirit
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to be purposeful, determined, and unwavering in our intents
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and our actions to help these people with their incredible suffering.
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As we came out of Covid in early 22,
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we developed a comprehensive strategy, one that involves new facilities,
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key strategic partners and a game plan
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to effectively reduce the number of unsheltered chronic homeless
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the most difficult and challenging population on our streets.
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Then, not long after Governor Green's election, we formed the Homeless
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Task Force of city, state and nonprofit stakeholders that now meets weekly.
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The group is truly cross-sector, comprised of key members from city
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and state government, as well as leaders from our homeless provider community,
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representing an unprecedented collaboration of skills and knowledge
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aimed at helping our homeless in every feasible way we can.
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Now we know that many chronically homeless individuals
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suffer from mental illness or some form of addiction.
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Add to that, as we have painfully learned from our medical teams,
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many are also very physically sick with cancers.
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Organ failure and a number of terminal issues.
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Proper medication and treatment has proven to be a game changer.
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So we focus much of our efforts over the past three years on providing
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medical care, including at new respite facilities like our respite.
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The work
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being done there is simply outstanding.
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The rest of it has already stabilized dozens of patients,
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enough to get them into permanent supportive housing, and reunited
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at least 15 patients with their families.
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Facilities like our rescue have also
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dramatically reduced the strain on our health care system.
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Let me give you an example.
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The first two homeless patients,
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just two to be treated at our restaurant last year,
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were responsible for jaw dropping 80 calls
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to 911 in the prior year.
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Now, if you take that rate and multiply it by the more than 150 people
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who have now received onsite medical care, instead of making costly visits
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to local hospitals, we are dramatically reducing strain
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on our 911 system and our health care system.
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And for those homeless patients sick enough to require advanced care,
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nearly every homeless person who is now discharged
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from the hospital is taken to all the restaurant.
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Instead of being put back on the street in a hospital gown.
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We we
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we are approaching this challenge with love and compassion
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because we refuse to let our severely ill,
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our severely vulnerable, die alone on the streets.
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But if this landscape wasn't challenging enough,
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our homeless service providers estimate that in the past year,
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somewhere between 500 and 1000 people
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arrived on Oahu
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from the mainland,
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knowing they would be homeless.
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Candidly just takes a challenge to an entirely different level.
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Reducing the number of homeless people on Oahu demands a bold,
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aggressive and comprehensive strategy.
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But more importantly, it demands a capability
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of executing that strategy and an unwavering commitment
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not to fade in the face of adversity of our most intractable problem.
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Now, I want to share with you our strategy.
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I said at the outset that we needed to treat this problem
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effectively and humanely.
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And it starts with our core our crisis outreach
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responsible and engagement team, better known as core.
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Core was designed to help mitigate thousands of costly 911 calls each year
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involving homelessness calls, which greatly taxed EMS, HPD
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in the emergency rooms at our hospitals, especially the Queens Medical Center.
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This mobile crisis team is growing, and we will establish a second base
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of operations in Waipahu later this year to better serve our homeless population.
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On the west side and in central Oahu.
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Now, thank you.
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Outside of responding to
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911 calls cause, primary responsibility is to fulfill
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one of the pillars that our strategy is built upon,
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and that is getting homeless individuals to engage the system,
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cause boots on the ground in our communities, establishing
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relationships and building trust with countless individuals.
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Now, we found that a homeless individuals are more likely to engage the system
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if they can receive medical care, something which court provides.
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They might engage the system if they can get a free ride or a free meal.
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But our coaching faces a harsh reality.
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The vast majority of our chronically homeless population
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refuses help when first ask.
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So our core team, those are creating a rapport.
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And building trust is essential if we ever hope to have these individuals
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voluntarily buy in to leaving their life on the street.
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But leaving a life on the street
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necessitates that these individuals have a place to go.
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And that is where the collaboration, as well as the much needed
23:18
financial support from the governor and the state, really begins to manifest.
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In just the past 18 months, in the Eveleigh area alone,
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we've established more than 200 new beds in four separate facilities
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that are supported by two additional medical research
23:33
centers, plus a one of a kind homeless triage and treatment facility.
23:39
And on top of that, in partnership with Johnny
23:42
Byrne School of Medicine, we've dedicated space for the Home Project
23:46
to provide medical care on site at a center five days a week.
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This innovative clinic is run by medical students
23:54
and staffed by volunteers for our homeless population.
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The home project dramatically improves access
24:01
to health care and the quality of health care.
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Thank you.
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The beds at many
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of our new facilities are designed to be transitional,
24:15
with the average length of stay projected to be 12 weeks before
24:19
individuals are able to move into permanent supportive housing.
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Consequently, the multiplier effect should allow us to treat hundreds
24:27
of people per year in just these four facilities.
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Our goal in the next calendar year, given all of our efforts in creating capacity
24:35
to provide care, is to help at least 1000 people
24:38
who are experiencing homelessness, get treatment and get off the street.
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And this kind of consistent, intense support has proven itself
24:47
as a way to stabilize patients and provide a pathway.
24:51
It's a supportive housing.
24:54
Now working with the state and nonprofits.
24:56
We have been thoughtful, deliberate in our approach to opening new
25:00
homeless shelters for specific segments of our homeless population.
25:05
Facilities with
25:06
communal bathrooms and living spaces can be dangerous for young children.
25:09
So we've opened family shelters in Wahiawa and at Waikiki Vista to better
25:14
serve that population, with another family shelter coming soon to Hula.
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And we've increased shelter capacity for kupuna,
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the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.
25:27
And for people with addiction issues or mental health issues
25:30
or physical ailments, we have one goal in mind to get them the help
25:34
they need to get off the streets to make a meaningful difference.
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Our approach must be smart, calculated,
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and most of all, collaborative.
25:44
I'm very proud and grateful of our working relationship
25:48
with the state.
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And to Governor Green.
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Governor, I cannot thank you enough for your leadership.
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Our partnership
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and your willingness to combine our hearts and minds,
26:08
as well as the necessary resources to properly fight this fight.
26:12
So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
26:19
Now, look,
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we believe strongly in our game plan to tackle this crisis head on.
26:24
And now it's about better execution at every level.
26:27
And for their efforts and driving that execution.
26:30
I sincerely want to thank the members of our homeless task force.
26:33
And I'll ask you to please hold your applause until the end.
26:38
Connie Mitchell, IHS Laura Thielen, partners in care.
26:42
Ryan Catalina's family promise Hawaii junior, the state's new homeless
26:46
coordinator.
26:47
Assistant chief Ryan, Nishi born HPD doctor Greg Payton.
26:51
And this team at mental health. Kokua.
26:54
Doctor Dan Keel and his team at North Shore of Mental Health, including
26:58
committee and fame analysis doctor Scott Miscavige and Premium Medical Group.
27:03
And from the state doctor Mike champion, Doctor Chad Koya
27:07
Nagi and Doctor Kenny Fink, the director of the state Department of Health,
27:11
as well as Doctor Jill Mori, executive director of Jefferson's home Project
27:16
and our very own Doctor Jim and director of the Honolulu Emergency
27:19
Services Department, and his deputy in Santa.
27:23
You know, to our point earlier about health care being a critical part
27:25
of our strategy, if you include doctor Josh green,
27:29
there are nine doctors at the table as we make all of our critical decisions
27:34
about how we address homelessness, a testament
27:38
that.
27:43
And it's
27:43
a it's a testament to our approach of treating this issue
27:46
with empathy and compassion.
27:50
And finally, I want to give a very special and sincere mahalo to Anton Crotty,
27:53
director of our Department of Community Services, his deputy over Los Banos,
27:58
and Roy Mihara, who recently joined our team as director of Homeless Solutions.
28:03
Now, everyone I just mentioned exhibits an unwavering commitment on behalf
28:07
of the people of the City and County of Honolulu to tackling homelessness.
28:18
Now, I want to say one more thing before we move on,
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I want to talk directly to our residents for all our efforts.
28:25
We know that there is a dark side to life on the streets,
28:30
the preys on the vulnerability of our homeless,
28:32
and is also a very real threat to our communities.
28:36
And that dark side is the criminals that lurk about them.
28:40
Our enforcement approach when it comes to crime, especially involving
28:44
our most vulnerable citizens, is centered on a zero tolerance policy.
28:49
Recent Supreme Court rulings have allowed cities and counties
28:51
to be much more aggressive.
28:53
If someone is illegally trespassing or breaking the law,
28:57
or if they are determined by a licensed health care professional
29:00
to be a danger to themselves or others, especially the Wheaton Sea Chinatown.
29:06
And Safe and Sound Waikiki programs have been incredibly successful,
29:12
especially when it comes to targeting habitual criminals with long rap sheets,
29:16
and the combined efforts of both programs over the past three plus years
29:21
have led to nearly 5000 arrests.
29:24
A directive is to arrest and prosecute to the fullest extent
29:27
each and every time someone breaks the law.
29:30
So I want to especially acknowledge the diligence of Steve and his team
29:33
at the prosecutor's office.
29:41
Along with Chief Joe
29:42
Logan and the entire police department, for their great teamwork and partnership,
29:45
and working with us to make help make Oahu
29:48
a safer place.
30:00
Many of you heard me
30:01
call this job the challenge of a lifetime.
30:04
And there were times in the first few weeks of 2025
30:07
where it never felt more true when a stockpile of illegal fireworks
30:12
detonated as alleyway maneuvering in the New year.
30:16
Few could have imagined the devastation, the lives that were lost,
30:20
the families that were senselessly torn apart.
30:24
And we were all shocked by the horror of that night.
30:27
It wounded our city and our psyche.
30:30
The scene was described as a war zone,
30:32
and we were horrified by the thought.
30:35
So I'd like to ask all of you to join me
30:38
in a moment of silence tonight, to honor the victims of that awful tragedy.
30:50
Thank you.
30:52
You know, none of us should have been surprised to learn of the bravery
30:55
with which our first responders sprang into action that night.
30:58
Paramedics, police officers and firefighters from across
31:02
the island rushed to the scene, and many did so
31:06
without being asked just to help in any way they could.
31:10
They rushed to the scene because when you devote your entire life
31:14
to protecting others from harm, that mission is all that matters.
31:20
Too often we take for granted the sacrifices of those
31:24
who risk everything for us.
31:27
The sacrifices of men like firefighter Jeff Fiala.
31:31
Just five days after the Altamont explosion, tragedy struck again.
31:37
A house in McCully caught fire.
31:40
And as the flames intensified and people fled from the heat
31:44
and the danger, Jeff and his fellow firefighters ran towards both.
31:49
It was an act of bravery, one that every single member
31:52
of our fire department would have made.
31:57
But for reasons we may never know.
32:01
It would be the final call Jeff ever responded to.
32:04
Jeff, sacrifice will live forever, not just in the hearts
32:07
of our firefighters, but through the love we all share.
32:11
For those whom Jeff loved most.
32:14
Please join me tonight in welcoming firefighter fiance parents
32:18
Mike and Christine, his brother Andrew and Andrew's fiancee
32:22
Nicole and Jeff's wife Fiona.
33:06
Please know that you remain in our thoughts and prayers,
33:08
and we are profoundly grateful that you are here with us this evening.
33:11
And may God bless all of you.
33:17
Our first responders
33:19
put their lives on the line
33:22
every day for us, and our responsibility
33:24
to cities, to make it easier and safer for them to do their jobs.
33:30
The decision to stand up ocean safety as an independent department
33:33
last summer has breathed new life into the day to day
33:36
working lives of our incredible lifeguards.
33:40
I especially want to thank and acknowledge Curt Largo, our Ocean
33:43
Safety Director, for his passion and his steadfast dedication
33:47
in leading this great department through their transition.
33:59
Our promise to Kurt
34:00
is to do everything we can to support operational readiness and ocean safety.
34:04
While our entire team, along with the City Council, works to provide the department
34:09
with resources that will reshape their capabilities
34:14
later this year.
34:16
On a piece of land overlooking Kailua Bay.
34:20
The city will complete construction
34:22
on the first newly built facility specifically for ocean safety
34:28
in its 107 year history.
34:32
Now think about that.
34:33
That's okay. Think about that.
34:35
That's a legacy of lifesaving that goes back more than a century.
34:39
A legacy etched by heroes like Bill Smith.
34:42
Eddie, I call Brian Colonna,
34:45
and heroes like
34:46
Jamal Perry, who we tragically lost last year on the North Shore
34:50
to mile was an incredible waterman who lived an extraordinary life.
34:54
And our thoughts and prayers remain with his family and his friends
34:58
all over the world.
35:01
Okay.
35:04
Okay.
35:06
For decades, our lifeguards have saved countless lives
35:08
despite being asked to do more with less.
35:12
Especially when it came to facilities.
35:15
And our commitment to the men and women of ocean safety
35:17
is to upend that status quo in our second term.
35:20
So in addition to Ocean Safety's New Wynnewood Operations Center,
35:24
we anticipate spending billions of dollars over the next four years
35:28
on the planning, design and construction of improvements to existing ocean safety
35:33
facilities, as well as on the construction of new facilities,
35:38
including one very special facility on the North Shore.
35:43
After countless conversations with community members,
35:46
public safety officials and Vice Chair Matt, while
35:50
we're announcing tonight our intent to purchase a highly coveted
35:54
piece of land across the street from Shark Cove for the creation,
35:58
for the creation of a world class first responder hub.
36:01
Now, these plans are subject to a negotiated sales price
36:04
with the current land owner.
36:05
But this facility will be transformative for our North Shore communities.
36:10
The proposed first responder hub would serve as a base of operations
36:14
for our North Shore lifeguards, and it will feature a brand new ambulance
36:18
station, dramatically reducing emergency response times.
36:23
I want to thank Denise Gently.
36:25
She's in the house this and the members of the community
36:28
who fought so hard to make this happen.
36:31
I look forward to working with you. Okay.
36:33
Yes. Yes.
36:41
I know you thought it would never happen.
36:44
Okay.
36:44
I look forward to working with you, the council
36:46
and our lifeguards to execute this vision.
36:50
I've said before that
36:51
our lifeguards are the best watermen and women in the world
36:54
willing to rush into any situation
36:57
to take on any wave in service of others.
37:01
We saw it firsthand last summer, when our city and the nation
37:05
were captivated by the race against time
37:09
to rescue kayak of I, a teenage teenager
37:13
who was separated from his high school paddling team offshore from Waikiki,
37:18
and for nearly 12 hours
37:20
in what became the longest night of his life,
37:23
Kaya clung to his kayak in the open ocean
37:26
and the emergency response was overwhelming.
37:30
But then,
37:31
when the night was darkest, just before dawn, an off duty lifeguard
37:37
in a borrowed boat
37:39
called the shore with three words, his friends
37:42
and family will never forget.
37:46
I've got him now.
37:48
Please join me tonight welcoming Kyle, Coby, and the lifeguard
37:51
who saved his life.
37:51
Knowing Carolina.
37:56
Okay.
37:56
All right.
37:56
Yeah.
38:21
Now, Nolan
38:24
is an ocean safety lifeguard, rescue ski operator,
38:27
and Hokule'a crew member.
38:30
In the days that followed the rescue, he admitted
38:33
that nobody ever asked him to help.
38:36
Instead, he called another legendary waterman
38:40
and I know it Thompson, and simply asked to borrow a boat.
38:45
When I Noah asked why,
38:47
no one simply replied, and this is a direct quote.
38:50
There should be no boy out there in the ocean overnight.
38:54
I have to go.
38:57
This is the cloth from which all of our city lifeguards are cut,
39:00
and it underscores emphatically our need to better support the department
39:05
not just with facilities, but with leadership.
39:09
Curt lager has my full support,
39:11
and when the time comes, I will be the first person to testify
39:15
that he should be the chief of the department.
39:18
And congratulations, Kurt.
39:20
Your upcoming wedding to where to go.
39:25
Right now.
39:28
Now, given everything that our lifeguards have to look forward to,
39:31
and given how much that critical first responder agency has evolved
39:35
over the past year, it's clear to all of us as standing up ocean safety
39:39
as its own department was the right decision.
39:42
And we're grateful to the City Council and to the public
39:45
for their support and making that happen.
39:48
Reorganization made great sense for ocean safety,
39:52
and it's time to find out if it makes sense for EMS.
39:56
Our administration has already begun to establish a task force to determine
40:01
whether the Honolulu Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services,
40:04
which operates our units, would be better off as a single integrated department.
40:11
Fire based EMS programs can be found all over the country
40:15
and with a number of 911 cause for emergency treatment on Oahu skyrocketing.
40:20
We need to find out whether a consolidation of fire
40:23
and EMS can improve response times.
40:26
Equally as important.
40:28
We need to study the impact we will have on the morale of our first responders.
40:33
Now, we've consistently approached challenges like this the same way,
40:37
with a commitment to understanding problems before offering solutions.
40:42
In 2021, our first year in office,
40:45
we took operational control of VMs from the state.
40:50
We were confident that we could run EMS more efficiently.
40:54
And in that effort, it became quite apparent
40:57
that EMS needed to focus specifically on medical response,
41:02
and ocean safety had earned the right to be its own first responder agency.
41:08
However, I want to be clear in executing that vision,
41:11
I strongly support Doctor Jim Ireland
41:14
as a director of emergency Services.
41:22
In fact,
41:23
right now, Jim and his team are in the middle of negotiations
41:26
for a location in Kaimuki to place a new ambulance
41:29
which will serve communities from Palo Lo to Kaimuki with backup service
41:33
to Waikiki.
41:34
And while loop and the projected opening date is July of this year.
41:39
EMS is also working with why an Eye Coast Comprehensive Health Center
41:43
to start a brand new program for East training on the Waianae Coast.
41:47
So that residents interested in becoming paramedics
41:50
or EMTs will have easy access to training facilities and instruction
41:56
without having to drive all the way to Capilano Community College.
42:00
So I want to thank Y and I comp and KCC for their vision
42:03
and their willingness to make this happen.
42:06
Now, these initiatives are all designed to improve our services to the public,
42:10
including the decision to study a merger between HFD and EMS,
42:15
and we are doing so with the support of Doctor Island and Fire Chief Colonial.
42:28
Now, you've heard me say it already tonight.
42:29
We have an incredible obligation to those who take care of others,
42:34
but not just our first responders, but all of the employees
42:37
who serve our residents, especially in times of crisis.
42:41
Last week, we were thrilled to finalize our hazard pay agreements
42:45
with Chappelle and UIF for hours worked during the coronavirus pandemic,
42:50
and we will begin issuing payments to members from those two unions
42:53
within the next couple of months.
42:55
And we are in the homestretch of negotiations with HCA, with hopes
43:00
that we can finalize that agreement soon.
43:03
And we now turn our attention toward agreements with the unions that represent
43:06
our firefighters and transit operators, including bus drivers,
43:10
because we are committed to making sure all of our workers are treated fairly.
43:20
So I want to say to all of our essential workers
43:23
that we recognize and respect the work that you did during the pandemic,
43:28
and we will be forever grateful for the way you kept city operations
43:31
going in our darkest hours.
43:34
The more than $130 million we're spending on hazard pay
43:38
reflects our commitment to our employees.
43:41
While our proposed $5.1 billion city budget reflects not just our commitment
43:46
to our communities, but our priorities as an administration.
43:51
We're committed to more than just housing, homelessness and public safety.
43:55
And to be candid, my biggest regret tonight is not having enough time
43:58
to talk about the incredible plans that all of our departments have put together
44:03
and the incredible work that all of them are doing for our people.
44:07
Work like what our director, Laura Thielen from Parks and Recreation
44:10
have been doing as champions for equity across our island.
44:14
Laura's focus on facilities in rural areas,
44:16
including a new swimming pool in Kahuku and Park
44:19
improvements across West Oahu, has been truly inspiring.
44:23
Thank you Laura, and in Enterprise Services
44:27
and Enterprise Services and the director Gina holyfield's leadership.
44:30
We're our sixth municipal golf courses set all time records this year
44:35
for both attendance and revenue.
44:38
And our beloved Honolulu Zoo is also up in both of those categories,
44:43
or at the Department of Customer Services, where wait times
44:46
for driver's license appointments are a fraction of what they used to be.
44:50
And we'll drop even further as we begin the process
44:53
of making those appointments available online for the first time.
44:58
Now, customer satisfaction has been incredibly important for Ccsd
45:01
director Kim Oshiro, and she and her team are doing incredible work.
45:07
Our proposed budget includes millions to fund the rehabilitation
45:10
of streets, bridges and road infrastructure,
45:13
the electrification of our transportation fleet, and the acquisition
45:17
of new busses and handy vans to keep our residents on the go.
45:22
It also includes
45:23
more than a half $1 billion for critical improvements
45:26
to a wireless wastewater system, a system we all depend on.
45:31
But above all,
45:33
we are committed to fiscally responsible spending
45:37
as it relates to our budget and our priorities.
45:41
Not only do we strongly believe that the budget that we've proposed to the City
45:44
Council is our best to date, but we've balanced it in a way that did not.
45:49
And will not raise property taxes.
45:52
And that is my commitment to you during my time
45:55
in office.
46:02
Now, one of the things we know
46:03
that's on everyone's mind is the potential impact of federal
46:07
spending cuts on our local government,
46:10
our local people, and our local economy.
46:13
The honest truth is that we cannot predict the future.
46:16
And on a personal level, it's not of my nature.
46:19
To overreact to situations outside of my control.
46:23
But our commitment to you is
46:25
to control everything within our power, to control.
46:30
You know, municipalities across the country are going to have to adapt
46:33
whether they like it or not, and we are no exception.
46:37
So in this year's budget, we've asked the council to commit millions
46:40
of dollars to a federal funding contingency, one that we would only use
46:45
if federal funding cuts impacted city employees or city programs.
46:51
And on top of that, in an extreme worst case situation,
46:56
I've directed my team to propose an amendment
46:59
to the Fiscal Stability Fund law that would allow us to use those moneys
47:03
to avoid significant impacts to our most vulnerable populations,
47:07
as well as the nonprofits that serve them.
47:11
And I want to be clear, though, that as of today,
47:13
none of our major programs have been impacted by federal cuts,
47:18
including funding from the FTA for our rail project.
47:26
Now, in this year's
47:27
budget, we've also requested funding to continue working on a challenge
47:32
that affects every single person across our island.
47:36
There is no escaping that we need to solve our landfill issue.
47:41
I don't think we could have applied more due diligence, study, and fought
47:46
into a major challenge than we have with the sighting
47:49
of a replacement for Waimanalo Gulch.
47:52
Our Landfill Advisory Committee spent nearly a full year
47:55
evaluating six potential sites,
47:58
and recommended none.
48:01
We then spent two full years with our top military leaders
48:06
trying to identify a potential site on federal lands, to no avail.
48:11
Now, we are keenly aware that the unfortunate circumstances
48:14
driven by Red Hill changed the discourse of the entire conversation.
48:20
But we've consulted with experts at every step along the way,
48:23
and we stand firm in our solid belief that we can safely build
48:27
and safely operate a state of the art landfill that will represent
48:31
no threat to present or future generations.
48:38
Now, we also need to
48:39
solve our city's longstanding procurement issue.
48:43
Another problem people told us could not be solved on our watch.
48:48
Now, procurement is the process by which we acquire
48:51
goods and services from outside the city.
48:54
And for years, that process has taken way too long.
48:59
It takes too long for us to acquire new firetrucks,
49:02
new garbage trucks, too long to acquire new hollow cuts in license plates,
49:07
and too long to secure contractors for important projects.
49:12
This compromises our ability to deliver core city services.
49:15
And to us, these procurement roadblocks are unacceptable.
49:20
As important as procurement is to our operations,
49:23
the issues are painfully familiar.
49:26
We have processes that are redundant and inefficient,
49:29
technology that does not do enough to support our team and their goals,
49:35
and too
49:35
few people to make up for the first two problems.
49:39
So last summer we established a Procurement Solutions working group
49:42
and started attacking the problem with staffing being our top priority.
49:47
In this year's budget, we made a request for ten more procurement specialists,
49:52
and later this year, BFS, which handles city procurement,
49:56
will become our first department to roll out an incentive program
49:59
designed to reward and retain high performers.
50:03
Now we also have money in the budget to begin our search
50:06
for a new tech platform, one that is easier to depart for departments
50:10
navigate an easier for our procurement team to manage.
50:15
In the meantime, we are reviewing every step
50:17
of the process to eliminate inefficiencies.
50:20
Knowing full well that hardworking employees across the city
50:24
are counting on us to deliver.
50:27
But most of all, we're dedicated
50:28
to finding solutions that will help us better serve our residents
50:32
and every community and every council district for years to come.
50:37
Now, some of the biggest challenges of our first four years
50:41
are a lot less wicked than than we were when we started working on them
50:46
12 months ago.
50:47
We promised our residents that within a year,
50:50
the average amount of time it took to conduct code
50:54
reviews on residential permits would be less than one month.
50:59
We have it down to two weeks.
51:07
We promised
51:09
that code review on commercial projects would be done
51:12
in six months or less by the end of 2025.
51:16
It is already down to 60 days and DPP is far from done.
51:22
So I want to be clear other parts of the permitting process still need work,
51:26
and we're not saying that applications are being approved in 60 days, but fixing
51:31
the code review process was something that people told us could never be done.
51:36
And the data shows that the staff at DPP have already made more progress.
51:41
That's been done in the last 25 years.
51:44
And for that, I want to thank and congratulate DPP Director John
51:48
Puna and her deputy, Brian Gallagher.
52:00
The seeds of improvement that we've planted over
52:02
the last four years are finally beginning to bear fruit.
52:06
After more than a year of system upgrades.
52:08
Clarity, our new permitting software
52:11
will be fully operational by September 1st.
52:14
Sift check.
52:15
Our cutting edge, AI driven plan.
52:17
Review assistant will go live this fall, helping applicants submit complete
52:22
and compliant permits in their first review cycle,
52:26
cutting down review times even further.
52:29
Now we know even more can be done to streamline the process.
52:32
And so to cut down on review times and address our housing shortage, DPP
52:36
is also developing pre-approved building templates for ADUs in Ohana
52:40
Dwellings that will fast track housing in our own backyards.
52:51
We don't want to simply come out from under the backlog.
52:54
We want to provide applicants with the fastest
52:57
permit review times as anywhere in the country,
53:00
and we're closer to that goal now than we've ever been before.
53:06
Now, we're more than proud of our progress when it comes to staffing.
53:09
Yet another issue we identified just two years ago
53:13
as one of US city's wicked problems.
53:16
Since then, our Department of Human Resources has undergone
53:20
the most transformative modernization of their operations in decades.
53:25
After years where the city lost more employees than they hired,
53:31
we are currently projecting net employee growth at the city
53:34
and county for the third straight year.
53:38
I want to especially acknowledge the HR director, Olivia Saki,
53:42
and Deputy Director Bugs Rafael for their remarkable
53:44
work.
53:51
And and thanks to our success raising salaries for engineers.
53:55
Our net positive hiring growth includes hard to hire departments like design
54:00
and construction, where every new engineer or architect we bring on board
54:05
increases our capacity to improve city facilities across the island.
54:10
Now, we're already tracking
54:12
on a year to year hiring increase of more than 10%
54:16
and our monthly hiring average in fiscal
54:18
year 25 exceeds our pre-COVID numbers
54:23
by an incredible 62%.
54:26
Now, that hasn't happened by accident.
54:28
By streamlining processes and expanding capacity.
54:31
We have cut the average time it takes to hire a new employee
54:34
by more than half compared to what it was just three years ago,
54:39
and in some cases, it's down to just six weeks or less.
54:44
And we've also allocated more staff to focus on employee outreach
54:48
with a new talent acquisition team that has hosted or participated
54:53
in more than 110 recruitment events in just the past year.
54:59
So, together with the governor's team will be at two special recruitment
55:02
events next month, targeting employees who have been impacted by recent cuts
55:06
to government spending and the federal workforce.
55:10
So to those of you who have been displaced,
55:13
we know you have the skills, the expertise to help our communities thrive,
55:17
and we sincerely hope you'll consider joining
55:20
our incredible teams.
55:24
Are by now, through
55:26
nearly three months into the 50 year
55:28
of the defining chapter of my life.
55:31
Most of you know about my previous career in media and news organizations,
55:34
but at least one person at the legislature seems to still think
55:39
that I control the media.
55:43
So it should come as no surprise to anyone
55:47
that on January 5th, a few days
55:49
after we were sworn in for our second term,
55:52
I saw an editorial in the Sunday Star Advertiser with the headline
55:57
Blangiardi has much left to do.
56:01
Now, clearly
56:02
that's not the sort of headline that someone who controls the media
56:06
would have written.
56:08
But the truth is, I didn't mind.
56:12
In fact, I couldn't have said it better myself.
56:15
For everything that our team was capable of,
56:18
for everything that our island expects of us
56:22
and everything
56:24
that we expect of ourselves, we do have much left to accomplish.
56:28
The eyes of our communities are solely upon us.
56:32
Our local residents need housing.
56:34
Our most vulnerable need help, our sick need
56:37
medical care, and our people need protecting.
56:40
These are challenges that we are running toward, not running from,
56:44
and there is clear evidence that our efforts are paying off.
56:48
In a survey of Oahu residents published earlier this month.
56:51
The number of people who said they were committed to staying here,
56:55
to staying home instead of leaving for Vegas, Seattle
56:58
and San Diego was the highest it's been since 2012,
57:03
and for
57:03
the first time in years, our people have hope.
57:07
They believe in this place.
57:10
For what it is and for what it can be.
57:13
And we believe in it too.
57:15
And we promised to work until the last minute
57:18
of our last day to deliver.
57:21
God bless you all.
57:23
God bless Huawei.
57:25
God bless America.