Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Mayor Blangiardi addresses affordability, cost of living concerns in 2026 State of the City

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Mayor Blangiardi addresses affordability, cost of living concerns in 2026 State of the City · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:15
  Welcome to the One
• 0:16
  Oahu podcast from issues like always, high cost of living and housing, challenges
• 0:20
  to the cities, modernization and use of AI.
• 0:24
  Mayor Blangiardi
• 0:24
  delivered his sixth state of the city address on Wednesday, March 18th.
• 0:28
  We bring you now his full speech from the Michigan Memorial Auditorium.
• 0:32
  Thank you.
• 0:34
  Thank you.
• 0:35
  Well, good evening and aloha
• 0:38
  to our distinguished guests, our committed city
• 0:41
  employees, and those of you at home with your families.
• 0:44
  Thank you for joining us tonight.
• 0:46
  Many of you heard me describe this role as mayor as the leadership challenge,
• 0:51
  responsibility and privilege of a lifetime.
• 0:55
  And I especially want to acknowledge the person
• 0:57
  whose love and support I could not do this job without.
• 1:00
  My wife, Karen.
• 1:09
  Karen,
• 1:09
  I am so grateful for your wisdom and wise counsel.
• 1:12
  No matter how much and how difficult the situation.
• 1:15
  And for that and much, much more.
• 1:17
  I love you.
• 1:20
  Thank.
• 1:23
  Late last week,
• 1:24
  our island faced a very real and legitimate threat as a Kona Loa storm
• 1:28
  brought heavy rains and devastating winds to all parts of the state.
• 1:33
  With the system now behind us.
• 1:35
  I want to give a heartfelt mahalo to those of you who took responsibility,
• 1:39
  who took action.
• 1:40
  You helped friends and neighbors in their time of need.
• 1:43
  These are times when we must all band together
• 1:46
  for the safety and well-being of one another.
• 1:49
  To our many city departments that answered the call.
• 1:52
  Clearing streams, removing trees and keeping our island running.
• 1:56
  All I can say is great work. Great work.
• 1:59
  And to our emergency management and first responder agencies.
• 2:03
  Thank you for keeping us safe through the storm and the storms.
• 2:07
  To come.
• 2:09
  Thank you.
• 2:12
  And I
• 2:14
  and I just.
• 2:15
  Governor green, I just want I know the weekend you had three mayors.
• 2:19
  Mayor Alameda may have a mayor.
• 2:21
  Can we call kami?
• 2:22
  I know you've been through the fact that you guys are in the room.
• 2:24
  Tonight is amazing.
• 2:26
  Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
• 2:27
  We sure?
• 2:32
  Now, not going to have the opportunity
• 2:33
  to mention many of the people in the audience tonight,
• 2:35
  but I especially want to acknowledge our partners at Hank Holly,
• 2:39
  the members of our City Council.
• 2:42
  Thank you for your collaboration and dedication to our communities.
• 2:47
  This is my sixth state of the city.
• 2:49
  I have never been more proud or confident in the leadership team
• 2:52
  we've assembled over the course of the past five years.
• 2:56
  So the members of our cabinet, our directors and deputies,
• 3:00
  your contributions and your sacrifices are truly immense.
• 3:05
  Our collective sense success is because all of you,
• 3:08
  all of you, would all of you please now stand and be recognized?
• 3:15
  Please stand up.
• 3:16
  Be recognized.
• 3:27
  I. Thank you.
• 3:30
  This is a great team.
• 3:32
  Together, we are prepared to have our strongest
• 3:34
  and most effective year yet as we go about attacking the many difficult
• 3:38
  and significant challenges facing the City and County of Honolulu
• 3:41
  and our residents.
• 3:43
  Now, there's no denying that amongst those challenges, there is none greater
• 3:48
  and none more consequential to the people of Hawai'i than our affordability crisis.
• 3:53
  So tonight I want to talk about cost of living.
• 3:56
  In fact, with a few exceptions, it's all I want to talk about.
• 4:00
  Of all the islands in our state,
• 4:02
  Oahu is experiencing the greatest decline in population.
• 4:06
  And for those battling the prospect of outmigration,
• 4:09
  the scarcity of affordable housing is what scares people more than anything.
• 4:14
  And I can assure you, we will address that tonight.
• 4:18
  But housing is far from the only factor at play.
• 4:21
  Simply put, time is money.
• 4:25
  And from our perspective, with regard to the cost of living,
• 4:28
  everything we do in city government has a nexus to affordability
• 4:32
  across all economic sectors, in all city departments.
• 4:36
  Any delay caused by unnecessary bureaucracy, overregulation
• 4:41
  or inefficiency makes living in Hawai'i more costly
• 4:45
  and challenging for our residents.
• 4:47
  Systemic barriers within government at all levels, added over time,
• 4:52
  slow our progress and drive up costs for our residents.
• 4:57
  This moment demands a higher level of leadership.
• 5:00
  And tonight I want to talk about more than just individual projects.
• 5:04
  I want to focus on how
• 5:05
  we are restructuring the underlying systems that hold us back.
• 5:10
  Our ultimate priority must be to keep our residents here.
• 5:14
  We can keep costs down by reducing red tape,
• 5:18
  by modernizing our operations, by running a government
• 5:21
  that is part of the solution and not part of the problem.
• 5:25
  That is government's duty.
• 5:27
  And that is our obligation to our people.
• 5:31
  Our administration is relentlessly focused
• 5:33
  on the real world impacts our efforts have on our families
• 5:37
  and our workers, particularly when it comes to affordability.
• 5:41
  Now, together, in partnership with the City Council, we must ensure that
• 5:45
  the way we do business, our processes that the city
• 5:48
  never overburden our people.
• 5:53
  Outmigration is driven by two things.
• 5:56
  One is affordability.
• 5:57
  How challenging it is for residents to pay for housing,
• 6:01
  utilities, gas in their car and the food on the table.
• 6:05
  And the other is economic opportunity.
• 6:08
  How challenging it is for residents to find good paying jobs
• 6:12
  and maximize their earning potential.
• 6:15
  And I want to talk about affordability first,
• 6:17
  especially as it pertains to housing.
• 6:20
  I want to focus on what we are doing to speed up the delivery
• 6:23
  of housing on Oahu
• 6:26
  every day, month in year.
• 6:28
  A project is delayed for unnecessary regulation or processes,
• 6:33
  takes jobs out of our challenging economy, and it pushes construction
• 6:37
  off to a date in the future when everything will be more expensive.
• 6:42
  And these increased costs don't just disappear.
• 6:46
  They land squarely on families who are trying to afford a place to live.
• 6:50
  Trying to stay in Hawaii
• 6:53
  after nearly
• 6:54
  three decades without a dedicated housing department.
• 6:57
  The city officially stood up our Department of Housing
• 7:00
  and Lands Land Management in May of 2025.
• 7:04
  Every day since, the HLM has focused
• 7:07
  on the most important priority of this generation.
• 7:11
  Having a house that you can afford.
• 7:14
  When we set a year ago, we're going to activate underutilized
• 7:17
  city lands for housing in a way we had never done before.
• 7:20
  We meant it.
• 7:22
  And our housing department is doing it.
• 7:24
  Development partners have been selected for 90% of the properties
• 7:27
  we discussed on this stage last year,
• 7:31
  with more than 2500 units in the works.
• 7:34
  And just last week,
• 7:35
  we announced a development partner for the Delite bakery site in Clichy,
• 7:38
  the future home of at least 150 units of transit connected rental housing.
• 7:45
  So as we
• 7:45
  look to further activate lens, our data office is compiling
• 7:49
  the first ever searchable database of all city properties to evaluate
• 7:54
  potential parcels for even more affordable housing development.
• 7:59
  Something that might seem simple
• 8:01
  but was made remarkably difficult and complicated
• 8:04
  when the Housing Department was dissolved back in 1998.
• 8:10
  When we started a year ago, we were going to establish
• 8:12
  a housing platform geared towards results rather than rhetoric.
• 8:16
  We meant it.
• 8:17
  And our housing department is doing it.
• 8:20
  65 land transactions, including housing development,
• 8:24
  property acquisitions and financing deals, are currently underway,
• 8:28
  showcasing an expertise and transactional competency.
• 8:33
  The city has never had before.
• 8:36
  One of those transactions
• 8:38
  is especially meaningful.
• 8:40
  A year ago tonight,
• 8:43
  we announced the city's plans to acquire
• 8:44
  property at Shark's Cove to build a base
• 8:48
  of operations for our first responders on the North Shore.
• 8:52
  And tonight, I'm pleased to report
• 8:55
  that all parties have signed the purchase sale agreement for that property.
• 8:59
  Effective today.
• 9:09
  No. Denise.
• 9:10
  Santa.
• 9:11
  Lady in the crowd of thousands you brought to my office.
• 9:13
  That's for you.
• 9:15
  We're really very happy.
• 9:17
  We're really excited about this.
• 9:18
  And for our and for our first responders.
• 9:22
  When we said a year ago that we were going to transform
• 9:25
  into a world class Todd community, we meant it.
• 9:28
  And our housing department is doing it this summer.
• 9:31
  We will make additional office to acquire even more land
• 9:34
  surrounding Eveleigh Center so we can master planned
• 9:37
  the entire community, 3000 new housing units, complete streets,
• 9:42
  outdoor spaces, bike lanes, all connected to rail, to stores
• 9:47
  and to community resources where our residents can thrive for less
• 9:53
  if we want to keep
• 9:54
  costs low and housing prices affordable,
• 9:57
  transit oriented development is our best opportunity.
• 10:02
  But we won't ever make housing truly affordable unless we also tackle
• 10:06
  Oahu's immense regulatory burden,
• 10:09
  which you hear of is identified principally
• 10:12
  as the cost of infrastructure
• 10:15
  right now.
• 10:16
  Our islands infrastructure handles
• 10:17
  wastewater, stormwater, drinking water and utilities.
• 10:21
  And building that infrastructure
• 10:22
  is the largest impediment to new housing development.
• 10:26
  Infrastructure projects come with significant cost.
• 10:30
  And when those costs are borne by developers,
• 10:33
  it raises the price of development, including the price of housing.
• 10:37
  So at the legislature this year, the city is supporting a constitutional amendment
• 10:41
  that would allow counties to capture natural increases
• 10:45
  in property tax revenue when parcels are developed,
• 10:49
  and use that revenue to help pay for infrastructure.
• 10:53
  But even now, our infrastructure departments are addressing
• 10:56
  development needs on both city and state lands in places like Eveleigh and Alava,
• 11:01
  where economic growth around rail stations can help offset
• 11:05
  those of those infrastructure costs.
• 11:08
  A city is also
• 11:09
  taking the lead on zoning changes around skyline stations, taking the burden
• 11:13
  away from developers and saving them years years of pre-development work.
• 11:19
  Transit oriented communities depend on mixed use developments,
• 11:23
  with grocery stores and pharmacies at ground level
• 11:26
  and housing built above with greater height limits.
• 11:30
  But we need to enact zoning changes to allow this kind of development.
• 11:34
  Now, if the city can initiate this process, we can do it
• 11:37
  for entire neighborhoods.
• 11:38
  Instead of leaving developers to try rezone one parcel at a time.
• 11:44
  This helps projects move faster.
• 11:46
  And time is money.
• 11:49
  I want to thank the whole city Council for making a really good decision.
• 11:52
  Last month when they passed Bill 60, allowing us to begin
• 11:55
  planning extensions to the skyline system,
• 11:58
  expanding skyline further into town and further west into Kapolei
• 12:04
  will be an investment in transit, affordable housing and quality of life.
• 12:09
  It will be an investment towards thousands of housing units in our urban
• 12:12
  core, and thousands of jobs, so people can afford those homes
• 12:18
  if we want to keep the
• 12:19
  country, country, keep ag lands and agricultural lands,
• 12:23
  we have to focus development where it makes the most sense.
• 12:26
  Along the rail line to wait years before even planning.
• 12:29
  Rail extensions will only add
• 12:32
  hundreds of millions of dollars to future construction costs,
• 12:35
  a sum that would be passed on to future generations.
• 12:39
  When we concentrate housing near transit, we reduce traffic.
• 12:43
  We reduce commute times, and we give families back hours
• 12:47
  of their lives every week, and we lower the cost of living.
• 12:53
  Later this month, skyline trek into downtown truly begins.
• 12:58
  The first guideway along Nimitz Highway will be poured near a low tower
• 13:03
  just from a couple of days from now, with columns,
• 13:06
  the old triple C to soon follow and like the guideway.
• 13:10
  Enthusiasm will only build from there.
• 13:13
  And we already seeing that enthusiasm in record numbers aboard the trains
• 13:17
  that are currently running
• 13:19
  outside of transit oriented development.
• 13:21
  Another approach that has worked well for the city is Bill seven,
• 13:25
  which centers around smaller projects in neighborhoods
• 13:28
  where infrastructure already exists
• 13:31
  for generations.
• 13:33
  Walk up cinder block apartments define neighborhoods like McCully and you,
• 13:38
  giving local families, including my own family more than 60 years
• 13:42
  ago, a way to put down roots in our urban core.
• 13:46
  But over time, the cost of land and construction began to favor
• 13:51
  larger developments with more units to help projects make financial sense.
• 13:56
  So in 2019, Bill Seven's purpose was to bring back
• 14:00
  higher quality small projects by building in neighborhoods that already
• 14:04
  have utilities and infrastructure, thereby
• 14:08
  reducing the cost of construction.
• 14:11
  Now, over time, we've worked with the City Council
• 14:13
  to improve the program by refining the rules and adjusting
• 14:17
  the incentives and our changes are starting to show results.
• 14:21
  Today, 189 units have been delivered to the market.
• 14:27
  17 projects with
• 14:28
  571 units planned are under construction
• 14:32
  and 35 more projects are in review, representing the potential
• 14:37
  for an additional 1700 housing units in our urban core.
• 14:50
  So another pivot away from the past and toward a new future
• 14:52
  is to take a hard look at our affordable housing requirements.
• 14:57
  When developers receive taxpayer funds to incentivize housing construction.
• 15:02
  Those developers must produce a certain number of below market homes
• 15:06
  that the middle class can afford, in addition to market rate units.
• 15:11
  But if these requirements are not calibrated carefully and projects
• 15:15
  don't pencil out, a policy meant to create affordable
• 15:19
  housing could end up making it harder to build any housing.
• 15:24
  Consequently, we've partnered with you, hero
• 15:26
  to take a data driven look at all of our housing policies
• 15:30
  to make sure they are working for us and not against us.
• 15:34
  So here's an example.
• 15:36
  Right now, when we processing affordable housing projects,
• 15:40
  the city and state disagree on where
• 15:43
  to draw the line between affordable and market rate units,
• 15:47
  as well as the number of units that need to be affordable.
• 15:51
  This is a
• 15:51
  policy difference that makes absolutely no sense.
• 15:56
  If we're serious about solving our housing crisis.
• 15:58
  We have to be willing to change rules that are not working,
• 16:01
  and we have to do it smartly.
• 16:03
  We have to be willing to deregulate smartly
• 16:06
  and prioritize speed without sacrificing safety.
• 16:10
  We have to partner with the building industry, not work against it.
• 16:14
  We have to crowdsource ideas to get feedback from
• 16:17
  those of you who actually build housing.
• 16:20
  And we have to share ownership of the solutions.
• 16:23
  Our housing department is actively working with more developers right now, right
• 16:27
  now, than we have ever done in the past, because we cannot build housing alone.
• 16:32
  We need everyone pulling in the same direction,
• 16:36
  and we need the private sector and we need the state.
• 16:39
  We need to be better at coordinating public land use infrastructure
• 16:42
  problems and housing finance.
• 16:44
  So we can move projects faster with greater certainty.
• 16:48
  And when the city and state are aligned, we reduce friction.
• 16:52
  We lower costs to deliver homes for local families.
• 16:57
  Now, when we talk about building housing faster,
• 17:00
  we are talking about building all kinds of housing faster.
• 17:03
  When developers build more market rate units, people move up.
• 17:08
  When we add supply at the top, families can move
• 17:10
  into bigger or newer homes, creating availability.
• 17:14
  All the way down the housing market.
• 17:16
  Oh, look, that's just basic economics.
• 17:20
  Every new unit we build, no matter the price, eases pressure
• 17:24
  on the entire market in lowest cost at every level.
• 17:29
  Now, our residents
• 17:31
  believe our priorities are in order.
• 17:34
  Polling released earlier this year asked more than 900 people what they thought
• 17:39
  about housing, and the results could not have been more clear.
• 17:44
  71% said we needed to build
• 17:46
  more housing as quickly as possible.
• 17:49
  75% said they believe
• 17:51
  government red tape was a barrier to getting things done,
• 17:56
  and 79%
• 17:58
  79% said we should build more homes and shops and create more jobs.
• 18:02
  Near bus and skyline stations.
• 18:05
  Now we agree with all of that.
• 18:07
  Overwhelmingly, our residents say they want us to make difficult decisions
• 18:11
  to support both solutions so that they can afford to stay in Hawaii.
• 18:17
  And this is what we're delivering.
• 18:18
  Faster timelines, lower costs, more help with infrastructure
• 18:22
  because our families don't need more housing plans.
• 18:27
  They need more homes.
• 18:28
  And they need them now.
• 18:39
  You know,
• 18:39
  we cannot build ourselves out of a housing crisis if bureaucracy
• 18:43
  and inefficiency keep adding months or millions to projects across the island.
• 18:48
  Historically, one of the known obstacles to efficient government
• 18:52
  has been the Department of Planning and Permitting.
• 18:55
  Our administration took on this challenge in 2021
• 18:58
  and committed ourselves to solving this wicked problem.
• 19:03
  I stand by what I said last year
• 19:05
  about building a permitting process as fast as anywhere in the country,
• 19:10
  and I believe in our strategy, and I believe in our team of DPP
• 19:14
  to get the job done.
• 19:16
  The finances alone of what is at stake could not be more clear.
• 19:21
  Last year, DPP approved
• 19:24
  a record $3.3 billion worth of construction permits,
• 19:28
  and every one of those permits represents a high paying job being created
• 19:32
  for someone, a new business being built, or a family finding a place to live.
• 19:38
  And the faster we can issue permits, the more we can invest back
• 19:41
  into our local economy, helping us keep construction costs low.
• 19:45
  Housing prices affordable, and our residents
• 19:48
  here in Hawaii.
• 19:51
  When we talked about Ghp last year, we were hard at work
• 19:54
  replacing a dying system, and last summer we did exactly that.
• 19:58
  When we launched No Build
• 20:01
  and this year our attention is on the user experience
• 20:04
  because even though technology changes fast,
• 20:07
  people do not.
• 20:09
  Most importantly, we are investing heavily in training,
• 20:13
  support and confidence building to improve the build experience
• 20:17
  for all customers and especially our staff.
• 20:21
  Modernization only works if the people using
• 20:24
  new systems feel comfortable doing so.
• 20:28
  In our culture, our processes and our training programs
• 20:32
  are still very much a work in progress.
• 20:35
  But even if we install the most advanced software available
• 20:39
  on the best machines we can buy, we accomplished nothing.
• 20:42
  If our employees don't know how to use it.
• 20:45
  Or worse yet, if they resist using it.
• 20:49
  So in our opinion, modernization applies even more to culture
• 20:52
  than it does to computers
• 20:55
  across the city, and especially with departments like DPP.
• 20:58
  We are working to build a culture
• 21:00
  that embraces change instead of one that fights it.
• 21:04
  The hard truth is that every day one of our departments
• 21:07
  clings to an outdated process, is another day families
• 21:11
  spent waiting, and our families cannot afford to wait.
• 21:18
  DPP has
• 21:19
  deployed AI tools like Swift Check to improve plans
• 21:22
  that are being submitted before they ever reach a human for inspection,
• 21:27
  and later this summer, Swift Check
• 21:29
  will also be available for commercial projects.
• 21:32
  Every plan that is first reviewed by
• 21:34
  AI assist makes our work at DPP
• 21:37
  more efficient, speeding up review times, eliminating review cycles,
• 21:42
  and most of all, lowering cost.
• 21:46
  We also believe in transparency at every step of the process
• 21:50
  the days of review, timelines with no accountability
• 21:54
  are over what they should know.
• 21:56
  Build applicants know if their plans are with their design professional,
• 22:00
  with DPP, or with another agency,
• 22:03
  and no build lets us track that data so we can work with each stakeholder
• 22:08
  and improve their workflow.
• 22:11
  And finally, we need design
• 22:13
  professionals to hold up their end of the deal.
• 22:17
  Design by permitting cannot be the status quo.
• 22:20
  Plans cannot go through eight, nine, or ten review cycles.
• 22:25
  Every poorly drawn plan that requires multiple
• 22:27
  reviews slows down the process for everyone
• 22:31
  with no build capital to see where the ball is in their court,
• 22:35
  even if the design professional says it isn't.
• 22:38
  Because if accountability is good for us at the city,
• 22:41
  it's good for everyone.
• 22:44
  You know, sometimes we forget that
• 22:45
  half of what DPP does has nothing to do with building permit applications.
• 22:49
  Half of what they do launching build has been a monumental undertaking.
• 22:54
  One of the biggest challenges of our administration,
• 22:57
  and I want to thank Donna Puna and Brian Gallagher
• 22:59
  and the entire team of DPP for all of the hard work and commitment
• 23:03
  that went into this new system was incredible.
• 23:15
  You know, build took more than 60 different,
• 23:18
  permitting a licensing functions away from paper copies,
• 23:22
  away from trips to the FCC building and into the digital age.
• 23:27
  Address changes, third party reviews, short term rental registrations,
• 23:32
  shoreline zone permits and payments for each of those services
• 23:36
  can now be done online.
• 23:38
  Instead of walking in a paper check.
• 23:41
  Everything you can apply for through DPP
• 23:44
  is now available in build, cutting down on the time
• 23:48
  that residents spent trying to navigate essential city services.
• 23:52
  Every hour saved is money saved
• 23:55
  for residents, for families and for businesses trying to grow.
• 24:00
  We are
• 24:01
  delivering a system that is easier to use, more efficient
• 24:04
  to manage, and capable of issuing permits faster
• 24:10
  because the faster we can get permits out, the lower we keep costs
• 24:14
  and the more people we keep on low.
• 24:20
  Now, as we fight every day to bring down housing costs, you hero.
• 24:23
  Data shows us that outmigration is driven by job opportunity
• 24:27
  as much as it is affordability.
• 24:30
  That for those thinking about leaving higher wages now
• 24:34
  to just as much as lower costs
• 24:37
  when wage growth stalls, when residents can't find jobs.
• 24:42
  Our economy starts to lag behind the rest of the US.
• 24:46
  Magnifying Hawaii's cost of living challenges.
• 24:50
  When we took office five years ago, it took the city
• 24:53
  an average of six months to hire a single employee.
• 24:57
  That's 180 days.
• 24:59
  That was just completely unacceptable.
• 25:02
  So we empowered our Department
• 25:04
  of Human Resources to tear apart the process.
• 25:07
  We gave them the tools and the authority to move faster.
• 25:10
  And the results speak for themselves.
• 25:14
  Despite an extremely tight job market
• 25:16
  with the second lowest unemployment rate in America, the city's vacancy rate
• 25:21
  amongst our core departments is the lowest it's
• 25:24
  been in more than five years.
• 25:32
  And for the fourth straight
• 25:34
  fiscal year, we are reporting net positive employee growth.
• 25:37
  That's the first time in 25 years within the city.
• 25:41
  We have worked to raise pay for hard to hire professions.
• 25:43
  We had to do that, including engineers and medical professionals,
• 25:47
  to help us stay competitive in the job market.
• 25:49
  We were just not there for those and not for those seeking jobs outside the city.
• 25:54
  Our Good Jobs Oahu program has been a resounding success,
• 25:58
  helping nearly 6000 people increase household income through training
• 26:02
  for careers in sectors like health care and clean energy.
• 26:07
  And separately, the JCS American Job Center,
• 26:10
  a federally funded workforce training hub, supported
• 26:13
  an additional 4000 people last year with case management
• 26:17
  that also includes pathways to housing for many of our clients.
• 26:22
  And later this year, we'll begin rolling out the city's
• 26:24
  first small business loan fund to help local entrepreneurs get off the ground
• 26:30
  and grow their ideas here at home, helping to employ
• 26:34
  more local residents.
• 26:37
  Now, we will continue to be aggressive about hiring and workforce development
• 26:40
  because we know there are challenging economic times ahead.
• 26:45
  You hear old data is projecting slow growth and jobs and wages
• 26:48
  over the next few years.
• 26:50
  And with our residents tightening their belts more than ever,
• 26:53
  city government has to do the same.
• 26:58
  Earlier this month, we proposed a city budget
• 27:00
  that was $133 million less than last year.
• 27:05
  Thank you.
• 27:10
  And balancing that budget is only going
• 27:11
  to get harder when you factor in the loss of federal funds
• 27:16
  over the past five years.
• 27:18
  The city received almost $900
• 27:21
  million in supplemental federal dollars.
• 27:24
  It's all tied primarily to Covid relief.
• 27:28
  Those funds are no longer available to us at a time
• 27:32
  when everything is going to get more expensive.
• 27:36
  Over the next four years, the cost of collective bargaining increases alone.
• 27:40
  The cost of collective bargaining increases alone will outpace
• 27:43
  the city's projected economic growth.
• 27:46
  A staggering.
• 27:47
  And let me just be clear those wage increases are a good thing for our workers
• 27:51
  and for the economy.
• 27:53
  But it also makes for a very real challenge when we balance the budget.
• 27:58
  So if we're truly committed to not raising property taxes,
• 28:00
  which I want to say right now as emphatically as I can,
• 28:04
  we will not raise property taxes under my watch as long as I'm mayor.
• 28:12
  City government
• 28:13
  needs to do more, needs to do more with less.
• 28:17
  And across the city, we are modernizing the tools our employees use
• 28:21
  so they can work faster, smarter, and more efficiently.
• 28:25
  In the upcoming fiscal year.
• 28:26
  Our countywide adoption of Microsoft 365 will include Copilot AI,
• 28:32
  a tool that will help us automate, task
• 28:34
  and analyze data across the city.
• 28:37
  We are we are focused on implementing AI that can handle repetitive assignments,
• 28:42
  manual data entry, routine calls so that our employees can focus
• 28:47
  on the work that requires a human touch.
• 28:51
  Last fall, our Department
• 28:53
  of Customer Services deployed a voice AI system
• 28:56
  to handle phone calls from the public about routine city services.
• 29:00
  For example, like when does my trash get picked up?
• 29:03
  Or where can I pay my taxes?
• 29:06
  That AI system
• 29:07
  is already handling 40% of those calls,
• 29:11
  and our employees now spend their time helping residents
• 29:15
  with complex issues instead of answering simple questions
• 29:19
  over and over again.
• 29:22
  Now, similar to available on the city website too, providing real time
• 29:26
  answers to questions about driver's licenses and car registrations.
• 29:31
  And we've even expanded our use of AI to pay utility bills for our city buildings.
• 29:35
  Another example of a repetitive task that can be automated smartly.
• 29:42
  And even HPD is exploring AI that would assist our officers
• 29:46
  with writing reports, enabling them to get back on patrol faster.
• 29:52
  Now, I think and hope that everyone in this room knows that the future is now.
• 29:56
  Especially when it comes to AI.
• 29:59
  We are committed to smart modernization,
• 30:02
  and I want to say something directly to our employees.
• 30:06
  I know that some of the technology tools
• 30:08
  designed to save time and improve efficiency concern you.
• 30:12
  So let me be clear about one thing.
• 30:14
  There will be no AI related job cuts while I am there.
• 30:19
  AI is here so we can do more to help
• 30:21
  our neighbors, more to keep Oahu affordable.
• 30:24
  We are not cutting jobs, but we are cutting waste.
• 30:27
  And when we cut waste, we work faster.
• 30:30
  And when we work faster, we lower cost for everyone.
• 30:36
  Now, if you take anything away from our time together tonight,
• 30:39
  I want it to be a level of focus on initiatives that improve government
• 30:44
  efficiency, to keep costs low and improve affordability.
• 30:49
  We cannot burden future generations with the unnecessary
• 30:53
  cost of bad decision making and ineffective leadership.
• 30:57
  To that end,
• 31:00
  there is another challenge facing our island.
• 31:02
  There's just as serious with significant cost
• 31:06
  of living consequences.
• 31:09
  The future of waste disposal on Oahu.
• 31:13
  For years now, the city has been focused on new technologies that will one day
• 31:18
  largely reduce, if not eliminate, our need for a major landfill.
• 31:24
  But those technologies simply do not exist today
• 31:27
  at the scale of our daily, monthly and annual waste numbers.
• 31:32
  Collectively, we generate
• 31:35
  1.5 million tons of solid waste every year.
• 31:40
  1.5 million tons of solid waste every year.
• 31:44
  And that trash must go somewhere.
• 31:48
  Finding a location for landfill has quickly become one of the most
• 31:52
  difficult infrastructure challenges this city has ever faced.
• 31:58
  Now I made a commitment and one that I still believe
• 32:01
  in, to not locate Oahu's next landfill on the Waianae Coast.
• 32:06
  It is just plain wrong.
• 32:08
  It is just plain wrong.
• 32:09
  But the city's hand is being forced by rules and laws that ignore our capacity
• 32:15
  to build a safe, state of the art landfill
• 32:18
  a landfill that would be EPA compliant to all toxic landfill standards.
• 32:23
  Not to mention one that will increasingly accept ash
• 32:26
  instead of bulk waste at reduced volumes over time.
• 32:31
  So here we are today
• 32:32
  with a landfill crisis on our doorstep.
• 32:35
  Why are no gauchos only a few years of capacity remaining
• 32:39
  and planning for the next facility?
• 32:41
  That should have begun long before we ever took office.
• 32:45
  Instead, we. Now I've spent.
• 32:47
  We have spent the entirety of my time as mayor exploring every possible solution.
• 32:54
  And now all we get is more rules and laws
• 32:56
  telling us what we cannot do versus what we can do.
• 33:02
  Another landfill in the Wine Coast may be acceptable to some,
• 33:05
  but it is not acceptable to me or to the city.
• 33:09
  Oahu must have a landfill and we have no more stones to turn over.
• 33:13
  Right now we are out of options.
• 33:15
  Except the one I reject.
• 33:18
  Another landfill in the wine I coast.
• 33:20
  Shipping out trash is not realistic
• 33:23
  and it would be hugely expensive to you, the taxpayer.
• 33:27
  It is not a real solution.
• 33:30
  So we need the legislature's help in this.
• 33:33
  So our legislative partners, even if it's a bitter pill,
• 33:36
  we need you to share in this responsibility with us.
• 33:39
  We cannot do it without you.
• 33:42
  This is a responsibility we owe to future generations.
• 33:45
  And our residents are counting on us.
• 33:48
  If we are committed to keeping costs low,
• 33:51
  to making Hawai'i more affordable, if that is truly
• 33:54
  what matters to us, we have to be willing to make tough decisions.
• 34:00
  Now, building a city that works for
• 34:02
  our residents means more than infrastructure projects
• 34:06
  and economic growth.
• 34:08
  It also means
• 34:10
  making making sure we are addressing the most urgent human challenges
• 34:13
  facing our communities, including homelessness.
• 34:17
  Now we've gotten smarter about how we find people in need
• 34:20
  and how we deliver the services they need to get off the streets.
• 34:24
  From the very beginning,
• 34:26
  the focus of this administration has been on getting people and families
• 34:30
  off the streets and into treatment beds and shelters where we can provide
• 34:35
  an appropriate level of care, especially for mental illness,
• 34:39
  drug and alcohol addiction or physical ailments.
• 34:43
  To do that, we invested in Core,
• 34:46
  our crisis outreach team, to engage
• 34:48
  and triage the chronically homeless.
• 34:51
  We invested in properties, and the governor invested
• 34:55
  in wraparound services to ensure we had treatment beds available.
• 34:59
  Waikiki Vista, Senator
• 35:02
  Leahy Hospital, Isle our respite.
• 35:05
  How will the family center?
• 35:06
  Not to mention the hundreds of colleagues provided by Governor Green and his team.
• 35:11
  We invested in environments where our most vulnerable
• 35:14
  neighbors could be treated safely and effectively,
• 35:18
  and we've helped reduce the tremendous burden being placed on EMS,
• 35:23
  on law enforcement, and on our overcrowded emergency rooms.
• 35:34
  Our collaborative partnership with the state and service providers
• 35:37
  has made us more effective
• 35:38
  and more efficient than at any other point during my time in office.
• 35:42
  On this stage last year, I said our goal was to help
• 35:47
  at least 1000 people get off the streets and into treatment.
• 35:52
  Tonight I can report the actual number.
• 35:54
  We doubled it 2000 people.
• 35:56
  I'm very proud of that.
• 36:03
  And we're getting better by the day.
• 36:04
  And I can tell you right now the results are visible across our community.
• 36:08
  Our streets look different. They feel different.
• 36:11
  And behind those numbers are some remarkable success stories.
• 36:14
  Last year, I told you about our hall, our groundbreaking shelter
• 36:18
  that focuses on brain health and cognitive function.
• 36:22
  To date, every single person
• 36:24
  who received treatment through that program remains housed today.
• 36:29
  Not a single one has ended up back on the streets.
• 36:33
  Thank you.
• 36:34
  Thank you.
• 36:39
  Now, I want to be clear about this.
• 36:40
  At this moment in time, innovation is just as important as compassion.
• 36:46
  Not just what individual shelters, but with our entire approach.
• 36:50
  We need to know in real time when the demographic of our homeless
• 36:53
  population is changing, so that our strategy can evolve.
• 36:58
  Now the city is bringing online a command center,
• 37:01
  the tracks homeless resources, including bed availability.
• 37:04
  Well, up to the minute data, along with the financial impacts of our efforts.
• 37:09
  Ultimately, every person we can help move into
• 37:12
  housing means one less person relying on emergency services.
• 37:16
  One last phone call to our first responders.
• 37:19
  We are getting better by the day.
• 37:21
  And when we reduce that strain, we lower costs for everyone.
• 37:26
  Governor green,
• 37:27
  I cannot thank you enough for your leadership, your unwavering support,
• 37:32
  and for sharing a vision of how we treat our homeless
• 37:35
  aggressively, humanely and with purpose.
• 37:39
  God bless you, sir.
• 37:47
  And finally, to our service providers
• 37:49
  and to the key city and state contributors to our Homeless Working group.
• 37:52
  To you I say bravo. Great job.
• 37:55
  Mahalo for all that you do and your continued commitment and tireless
• 37:58
  work to help those truly less fortunate.
• 38:05
  Now I want to bring us back to where we started tonight.
• 38:07
  Time is money and everything.
• 38:10
  Everything we do as the city is connected to the cost of living on Oahu.
• 38:15
  Every decision that we make, every system
• 38:18
  we fix, has a real world impact on affordability.
• 38:22
  For you and your family.
• 38:25
  When we deregulate,
• 38:27
  when we modernize our permitting systems,
• 38:30
  we reduce what it costs to build housing.
• 38:33
  When housing costs less, we build more
• 38:36
  and we create more jobs in the process.
• 38:39
  When we eliminate waste.
• 38:41
  When we cut red tape, when we move faster, your families pay less.
• 38:46
  It's that simple.
• 38:48
  And this is what our team is focused on.
• 38:50
  Driving change in city government.
• 38:52
  That makes Honolulu more affordable.
• 38:55
  Change that survives long after our time in office.
• 39:01
  Now the work is not done.
• 39:02
  We still have young professionals, teachers,
• 39:05
  nurses, first responders looking at the cost of living
• 39:10
  and wondering if they can afford to stay
• 39:13
  anywhere.
• 39:14
  Every one of us knows someone who has left a son, a daughter,
• 39:19
  a friend who wanted to stay but couldn't make the numbers work.
• 39:25
  I said it at the beginning of this speech.
• 39:27
  I want to say it once more.
• 39:28
  Our ultimate priority is to keep our residents here at home.
• 39:34
  So if you're watching with your family tonight,
• 39:37
  I want you to hear this from me.
• 39:40
  We reject a world
• 39:42
  in which you have to choose between your home and your future.
• 39:46
  We believe in a city we can have both.
• 39:51
  A city where government works
• 39:53
  for you, not against you.
• 39:56
  A city where your children, your grandchildren, will be able to build
• 40:00
  lives and raise families and the place they love more
• 40:03
  than anywhere on earth.
• 40:06
  That city is not a fantasy.
• 40:07
  It is a city we are building.
• 40:09
  It is the future we are fighting for.
• 40:12
  It is the promise
• 40:14
  we will keep.
• 40:16
  God bless you all. Thank you for being here.