Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Budget Director Andy Kawano on the Mayor's proposed budget for FY27

Transcript

Budget Director Andy Kawano on the Mayor's proposed budget for FY27 · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:14
  Welcome to the One Oahu podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and today is Thursday, March 12th, 2026.
• 0:22
  And we're joined this week by Andy Kawano, the city's
• 0:25
  director for our Budget and Fiscal Services department.
• 0:29
  Andy, I know that it's been a busy year, few months for you.
• 0:33
  Your department recently submitted the proposed budget for fiscal year 2027.
• 0:38
  So what are we looking at in terms of this year's operating
• 0:41
  and capital improvement program budgets, and how does that compare to last year?
• 0:45
  Well, there's a lot of differences, Brandi.
• 0:47
  And one of the big things is that, we have really flat revenues this year.
• 0:53
  Our real property tax revenues, are projected
• 0:57
  to be no more than a percent more.
• 1:00
  And what's going on is, you know, with film
• 1:03
  and think about the fact that we look at,
• 1:07
  a time that was even a year back before, we knew the budget.
• 1:10
  So a year prior to, March 2026, interest rates were still high.
• 1:16
  You know, they were at six and more, 6 or 7%.
• 1:20
  And, as a result, the mortgage payments were higher and,
• 1:25
  homeowners were not able to, afford paying more than, you know,
• 1:30
  the median price for a single family home or a condo unit.
• 1:33
  And, as a result,
• 1:37
  the sales information that, Steven to power
• 1:40
  his team uses at real property assessment, was relatively flat.
• 1:45
  The sales information is then used to, populate, data
• 1:50
  into their mass appraisal system, and that that platform calculates,
• 1:56
  valuations for assessment
• 1:58
  assessments for about 309,000 parcels.
• 2:02
  And of the 309,000 parcels, 280,000 parcels
• 2:06
  are in residential or residential area.
• 2:08
  So a lot of work goes into that.
• 2:10
  There is some lag in the data, but, you know,
• 2:14
  nonetheless, everything's flat for, FY 27.
• 2:18
  You know, and as a result, we are,
• 2:21
  dealing with a situation where you have flat revenue growth or very low level
• 2:26
  revenue growth, but increasing expenses and going out the next four years.
• 2:31
  One area that's going to increase a lot is salaries and employee benefits.
• 2:36
  Because of the new collective bargaining agreements
• 2:38
  that are going to be put in place for the next four years.
• 2:41
  We're we're, almost done.
• 2:43
  We still have to finish our fire and,
• 2:47
  ocean safety.
• 2:48
  And at that point in time, we should have everything in place,
• 2:52
  for fiscal year 26, 27, 28 and 29.
• 2:56
  Yeah, I like that. You kind of broke that down.
• 2:58
  So you're telling me
• 2:59
  with the revenue being flat, that indicates that times are difficult.
• 3:03
  And so that's what you have to take in mind
• 3:05
  first and foremost, when you're looking at the budget.
• 3:07
  And then you talked about what you need to pay for. Right.
• 3:09
  So okay things are tough.
• 3:10
  And and this is all need to pay for collective bargaining.
• 3:12
  So when you talked about those unions that have those deals in place.
• 3:16
  Who are we talking about here?
• 3:17
  Who is a workforce
• 3:18
  that you're talking about that is going to be receiving payments?
• 3:21
  Well, let's name the unions first.
• 3:25
  So, Hawaii, Government Employees Association.
• 3:28
  That's a big one.
• 3:29
  That's a that's one of the bigger ones.
• 3:30
  And so this union,
• 3:33
  has members that make up most of general government,
• 3:36
  ocean safety, staff, and,
• 3:41
  I believe the largest one in terms of member count.
• 3:43
  Yeah.
• 3:44
  Then you have HPD, and they have about 1800 in the patrol force.
• 3:50
  And, that union is called show poll.
• 3:52
  So we that one's done.
• 3:55
  We have, Upwork.
• 3:57
  That's another large one.
• 3:59
  A lot of the blue collar, employees,
• 4:02
  the ones that work out in the field,
• 4:05
  they do a lot of the cleanup work, when there are storms.
• 4:09
  They maintain our parks.
• 4:12
  That's a that's a large group as well.
• 4:14
  Fire is about medium size.
• 4:17
  They have about, 1100, 1100 to 1200, firefighters.
• 4:23
  And we're close to wrapping that one up.
• 4:25
  But, I think I think they're, a couple of issues
• 4:28
  that are still outstanding that they're, trying to iron out in ongoing negotiation.
• 4:33
  And we just started, ocean safety.
• 4:36
  We're hoping to have that one done soon, though.
• 4:39
  Yeah. So that's tough.
• 4:40
  I know that you're still working out,
• 4:41
  you know, the deals with some of the unions, but.
• 4:43
  So you took that into account, right?
• 4:44
  That revenue will be flat.
• 4:47
  You have to pay for certain things.
• 4:49
  And so how did that pencil out when it comes to our operating budget?
• 4:52
  What is that number and what does that compare to.
• 4:55
  So the operating budget ended, up at about $38.4 million.
• 5:00
  And a lot of that was driven by salaries.
• 5:03
  And, employee benefits.
• 5:05
  So $30 million, keeping in mind that,
• 5:09
  on average over the next four years, we're going to be adding $55 million
• 5:14
  to our operating budget on increases for salaries and benefits.
• 5:19
  And that that increases year over year.
• 5:21
  So it compounds.
• 5:23
  So, in for 26, we,
• 5:26
  we had to put flex in the budget to cover,
• 5:30
  that amount in 27.
• 5:31
  It goes up 55 more, 2855 more.
• 5:35
  And then when you get to 29, if you compare, if FY 25 is the,
• 5:41
  fiscal year, 25 is the baseline, we're going to add a layer
• 5:45
  of $220 million of additional cost just for salaries and benefits.
• 5:51
  And then, you know, as we approach 29, we're going to have to
• 5:56
  the city will have to get ready to fund the last leg of rail operations.
• 6:01
  Right.
• 6:01
  Going from Middle Street all the way to, city center.
• 6:05
  And, it's, it's probably going to, just based on
• 6:09
  what we've seen recently, another 40 to $50 million in operations costs.
• 6:15
  And, that all has to be funded as well.
• 6:18
  So, at some point in time, we're going to need increases in,
• 6:22
  our real property tax revenues or it's going to be really tough.
• 6:25
  What if we see an increase in ridership?
• 6:28
  Does that factor in at all? And so what that'll cost you.
• 6:31
  You know, I'm sorry. Yeah, I know this is not you, but.
• 6:34
  It will help because, as you're right,
• 6:37
  you know, it'll increase the fare box in terms of what what we collect.
• 6:41
  But keep in mind that, if when you buy your pass, your,
• 6:46
  your holo card pass right now, you can ride anything, right?
• 6:50
  You can ride bus, you can ride rail.
• 6:53
  And, you know that that fare box amount
• 6:57
  is only 12% of the total cost of operation.
• 7:01
  And, the increased ridership is going to, boost that number up.
• 7:05
  But it's not going to be that much.
• 7:07
  It'll be, you know, maybe 4 or 5, $6 million.
• 7:11
  The total budget for transit,
• 7:14
  including administration, is nearly a half $1 billion right now.
• 7:19
  It's a it's it's large.
• 7:21
  And we're going to have to manage that cost going forward.
• 7:24
  And I know this question was posed to you
• 7:25
  during the press conference, but when it comes to federal dollars,
• 7:29
  is there some sort of contingency fund like we've tried to create in the past,
• 7:34
  where we can kind of prepare for things that may be cut at the federal level?
• 7:39
  We have a small provision for that.
• 7:42
  At the same time, we've been able to build up our,
• 7:46
  fiscal stability Fund, which is the city's version of the Rainy Day fund.
• 7:50
  So, by the end of this fiscal year, we'll have at least $200 million in that fund.
• 7:57
  At the end of 27, we project
• 7:59
  to have about 209 to $210 million in the fund.
• 8:04
  We can tap that fund only for,
• 8:08
  proclaimed emergency emergency proclamations
• 8:11
  by the governor or the president.
• 8:13
  We could modify, ordinance working with council
• 8:17
  to allow for use of the fund if if we we lose federal funding.
• 8:22
  We've been very fortunate from the standpoint of,
• 8:26
  the departments that receive,
• 8:29
  federal funding on a perennial basis.
• 8:31
  That's, DTS for transportation and
• 8:36
  DCS for housing and homeless services.
• 8:38
  They haven't nothing has been cut yet.
• 8:40
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:43
  So we did talk about operating when it comes to CIP,
• 8:46
  what does that budget look like and what how does that compare to last year.
• 8:48
  So our CRP budget is at $1.11 billion.
• 8:54
  We're down about $172 million.
• 8:57
  And, what we did is, knowing that we're approaching
• 9:02
  the midpoint of the mayor's second term, our final term as an administration,
• 9:07
  we really focused on projects that can be started and finished
• 9:11
  during the next two years, 2 to 2 and a half years.
• 9:15
  So there were some projects that were on the schedule in future years
• 9:19
  that, we felt that, wouldn't get going.
• 9:22
  So they were either pushed out or taken off,
• 9:25
  you know, the, the, projection over the next six years
• 9:29
  so that our, our current budget and the projection going out six years
• 9:34
  really focuses on what we're going to complete in the near term.
• 9:38
  And that's how we got that number down.
• 9:40
  You know, and in terms of being realistic and being,
• 9:46
  focused in terms of what we're going to get, fully completed.
• 9:50
  So when people hear that, that doesn't mean that the project
• 9:52
  that was supposed to start on your street or some building is canceled or delayed,
• 9:57
  it might not be delayed, but it's just that the schedule for start
• 10:00
  wasn't in line with how we've budgeted.
• 10:03
  Correct?
• 10:04
  Correct.
• 10:04
  In fact, I'm on the Kaneohe Neighborhood Board.
• 10:08
  They've been waiting since 2015 to have their, roads rehabilitated.
• 10:14
  Sidewalks replaced.
• 10:15
  Yeah.
• 10:15
  And, we, we communicated last year, in fact,
• 10:19
  two years ago that it looked like it's going to be a 2026 start,
• 10:23
  you know, in terms of starting the, reconstruction work.
• 10:26
  And we're going to we're keeping to that.
• 10:28
  So we're going to make that happen. Right.
• 10:29
  That was one that was ready to start. Yeah.
• 10:31
  And we know we can finish it in the near term.
• 10:34
  So we're going to do it. Yeah. Yeah.
• 10:36
  It's like that.
• 10:37
  So you mentioned the differences between operating and CIP.
• 10:40
  So altogether how does that compare.
• 10:43
  We've actually lowered the budget.
• 10:45
  We have.
• 10:46
  So on a combined basis if you combine operating and CIP,
• 10:49
  our proposed budget to council is at $5.08 billion.
• 10:55
  It's about
• 10:57
  $133.6 million less than,
• 11:02
  last year's adopted budget.
• 11:04
  And, granted, most of the decrease is from,
• 11:08
  the CIP budget, but on the operating side, we still had we
• 11:13
  we had to be very, purposeful, prudent,
• 11:17
  in some cases, we had to constrain how much we expend
• 11:21
  because, of the fact that operating costs are going to continue to increase.
• 11:26
  And, we know that, most in the public, is feeling pinch right now.
• 11:32
  A large proportion of the public is living paycheck to paycheck.
• 11:35
  And we felt that city also needed to operate within its means.
• 11:40
  Yeah.
• 11:40
  I mean, the way that you pause it in the beginning about just property tax
• 11:44
  and things being very, very flat this year.
• 11:46
  So $133.6 million lower.
• 11:51
  Yes. In on a combined. On a combined basis.
• 11:55
  How difficult was that to do?
• 11:56
  I know you're the one going to
• 11:57
  each department saying, okay, look this is this is where you got to cut.
• 12:00
  There was a lot of back and forth with departments, especially departments
• 12:04
  with larger budgets. Yeah, right.
• 12:06
  In operating in CIP and,
• 12:09
  I would have to say for the most part, everyone pitched in.
• 12:12
  It was a team effort.
• 12:14
  We we are going to have to use our,
• 12:17
  operational acumen, I think going forward
• 12:20
  to continue to, refine and streamline
• 12:24
  what we do to control costs, because we know, we know, costs.
• 12:29
  We know that there's, inflation that impacts costs will continue.
• 12:34
  Yeah.
• 12:34
  And with everything going on in the world, right, there's there's a lot of,
• 12:39
  a lot of unrest throughout the world.
• 12:42
  Inflation could rekindle again and go back up
• 12:45
  1%, 2%, 3%, you know, more than it is now.
• 12:48
  And and it can happen quickly.
• 12:50
  So we just have to be aware of what's going on and continuing.
• 12:54
  We have to continue to improve every day is what I would say.
• 12:57
  You know, when you talk about that back and forth, you know, I know
• 12:59
  folks have mentioned this to you before, but like over at the state,
• 13:02
  when they need to do something like this, they go to every department and say,
• 13:04
  okay, look, you got to cut your budget by 5% this year.
• 13:07
  They'll give them some kind of number, right? A percentage.
• 13:09
  But we didn't do that.
• 13:10
  We didn't do. That. It was a little strategic.
• 13:12
  It was it was a little different. Can you explain that?
• 13:14
  So for instance, we looked a good example is looking
• 13:18
  hard at our, budget dollars for positions that are unfilled.
• 13:22
  We call those positions vacant positions.
• 13:25
  What we did is, you know, we we talked to the departments
• 13:28
  about their operations, what their operating needs are.
• 13:31
  We looked at what the department's lapsed,
• 13:34
  on an annual basis, over the last few years. So.
• 13:37
  So, budget dollars lapsed means that,
• 13:42
  we appropriated the moneys in the operating budget.
• 13:45
  We didn't spend it.
• 13:47
  The appropriation essentially terminated for the year.
• 13:51
  Monies left over were then put in the, fund balance of the general fund
• 13:57
  and essentially rolled into the following year's budget.
• 14:01
  So if a department lapsed
• 14:04
  large amounts, we took a small portion
• 14:07
  of those dollars, and we reallocated those dollars
• 14:11
  to help balance the budget to fund, essential services elsewhere.
• 14:16
  And so when you say vacant positions, say a department has ten open positions. Yes.
• 14:22
  And they hire two every year.
• 14:24
  But, you know, with with folks retiring.
• 14:26
  Yeah, there's still eight every year, year after year for the last 20 years
• 14:30
  that have been unfilled. But they're still budgeted for. Yes.
• 14:33
  Say we take two away.
• 14:34
  It's not that we're taking two jobs away.
• 14:36
  You're taking the funding for two positions and then say, you know,
• 14:39
  we need to fill at some point those positions are still there.
• 14:42
  There's just maybe maybe 2 or 3 that fund it. That's correct.
• 14:45
  And we've been telling departments that realistically in your in the example,
• 14:49
  you just explained Brandi, if you have eight vacant positions,
• 14:54
  you don't fill them all. On July 1st. Yeah.
• 14:56
  So we've been asking departments to think through as to their most important
• 15:00
  needs, you know, in terms of staffing and, and prepare a hiring plan.
• 15:05
  And, and, incorporate the hiring plan into your,
• 15:09
  your projections, you know, for your operating, budget
• 15:13
  and project out where are you going to be at the end of the year?
• 15:17
  And based on that plan, you're hiring.
• 15:19
  Yeah, you know, and fit it in.
• 15:21
  So we're telling the departments, don't
• 15:22
  stop hiring, keep hiring, but be strategic.
• 15:26
  And, if you get to a point in this example where you hire most of the eight.
• 15:31
  So let's say your, next year, your, vacant
• 15:34
  position County is only one because you've done a great job.
• 15:37
  People haven't retired or transferred out of your, department.
• 15:41
  We're going to give you the money back.
• 15:43
  So we're not going to do the same thing next year.
• 15:45
  Why wasn't this done sooner, like in years past when we saw,
• 15:48
  you know, attrition or recruitment challenges?
• 15:51
  We had we had funding available there was, funding available.
• 15:56
  In fiscal years 2023 and
• 16:00
  2024, there were large property tax increases,
• 16:04
  not due to what the mirror or council members decided to do with rates.
• 16:08
  It was because of assessments.
• 16:10
  Assessments increased quite a bit,
• 16:12
  in, fiscal 23 and 24.
• 16:15
  That helped a lot.
• 16:17
  And, keep in mind that coming out of the pandemic,
• 16:21
  we had a hiring freeze when your,
• 16:24
  people left, there was the, what what did they call it, the great resignation.
• 16:28
  You know, people decided that they didn't want to work.
• 16:31
  So the city was really struggling in terms of capacity and staffing.
• 16:35
  And, the administration led by Mayor,
• 16:38
  didn't want any of the departments to feel they had any constraints on hiring.
• 16:43
  He says, we're going to go full bore, and we're going to hire as much as we can,
• 16:48
  you know, in any given year.
• 16:50
  And we did that for a few years.
• 16:53
  But we've learned and we're getting smarter.
• 16:55
  We've learned that even with all of the new hiring initiatives
• 16:59
  put out by the air, we still have vacant positions.
• 17:04
  And that that's why we felt that, it's a perfect time now
• 17:08
  to kind of hunker down and take a look
• 17:10
  at what we really need to get by 2027,
• 17:15
  and, conserve funding because,
• 17:18
  we're going to have to, take advantage of our strong balance sheet.
• 17:22
  And, help us to maintain it.
• 17:25
  We have to maintain it to help us to get through the next few years.
• 17:29
  The next few years are going to be really challenging.
• 17:32
  What was kind of impressive to me as well was the,
• 17:35
  the part of the budget that's being spent on technology.
• 17:38
  So things like Microsoft and kind of really updating the technology
• 17:42
  here in the city, maybe something that should have been done.
• 17:43
  Mayor says it, you know, like ten years ago.
• 17:45
  Yes. But with technology updates, upgrades, equipment
• 17:49
  licenses, things like that, I feel like that would bring costs up.
• 17:53
  But how do you turn something like that into something sustainable?
• 17:56
  Like you said, the next few years are going to be tough as well,
• 17:58
  but we're doing all these upgrades.
• 18:00
  We're going to have to spend money wisely in certain areas.
• 18:03
  And, the mayor specifically told us that he didn't want to cut,
• 18:09
  anything in
• 18:10
  it and technology as much as possible because,
• 18:13
  we needed to, keep up,
• 18:16
  and, you know, smartly, expend additional monies
• 18:20
  where we needed not, you know,
• 18:21
  Microsoft 365, I think is going to be game changing for a lot of us.
• 18:26
  I spin, I have to admit, when I'm in front of the computer,
• 18:29
  I must spend 10% of my time,
• 18:33
  reviewing files that are not needed because I run my space all the time.
• 18:37
  I constantly lock up.
• 18:38
  I have to do a soft reboot.
• 18:41
  It's just it's not.
• 18:42
  It's not efficient.
• 18:44
  Yeah.
• 18:44
  And, I know that if we don't have to deal with that,
• 18:48
  if I look at my personal situation, I'm going to get ten.
• 18:50
  I'm going to be 10% more efficient. Yeah.
• 18:53
  And I think it's it's going to apply to a lot of people.
• 18:56
  I don't know about you, Bernie, but, it's it's not good.
• 18:59
  Yeah.
• 19:00
  So I think it's going to be money well spent and it's going to pay off over time.
• 19:04
  And I know that technology, you know, mayor, there's all these
• 19:07
  these things that mayor mentions
• 19:08
  in his state of the city address, even to cabinet every other week.
• 19:11
  But how does this budget reflect other parts of his priorities?
• 19:16
  We're still, for instance, making commitments to housing,
• 19:21
  DPI. You know,
• 19:23
  he is on DPP to continue their, improvements
• 19:27
  in technology processes and where needed, staffing.
• 19:32
  So they're going to continue to do that.
• 19:34
  With regard to homeless, we've included in the budget,
• 19:38
  some skin in the game in terms of keeping our respite centers, open.
• 19:43
  You know, the state has been funding it, but they're getting tight
• 19:46
  on funding as well.
• 19:47
  So we've been asked to put some skin in the game there.
• 19:50
  And, we've added more than $10 million
• 19:53
  in the homeless operation for 27 to do things like that.
• 19:58
  And then we're also going to fund with the state one more hotel
• 20:01
  unit, I believe, going out west,
• 20:04
  so that we can, send, homeless, that we take off the streets to some
• 20:09
  to sheltering so that, you know, they can they can, receive treatment.
• 20:15
  Right?
• 20:15
  Because a lot of them have issues medical,
• 20:18
  mental illness, drug abuse, you know, so they can start
• 20:22
  in, in those types of centers and, through coordination
• 20:27
  of care with the state, be sent to where they have to go for the right treatment.
• 20:31
  But that's not something the state is giving us more,
• 20:35
  I guess, kuleana for we still have Ohana Zone funding for.
• 20:38
  We still have a lot of zone funding.
• 20:41
  But the funding may be squeezed a little as we go forward.
• 20:46
  Yeah.
• 20:47
  And so what happens now?
• 20:49
  This is the proposed budget. What is the process?
• 20:51
  I know that your your job is you don't get a break right now.
• 20:54
  It's the fun part right now.
• 20:55
  So we do, briefings. Yeah.
• 20:57
  All departments do briefings next week.
• 20:59
  And it'll be, it'll be in, special committee, Committee on budget meetings.
• 21:04
  The council members are allowed to ask us whatever is on their mind,
• 21:07
  we're going to have to answer a lot of questions.
• 21:09
  And then, we go through the process of, bill readings.
• 21:14
  Right. We got to go through three readings.
• 21:16
  And as we go through the readings, the council members typically introduce
• 21:20
  their council drafts.
• 21:21
  So they take our bills and they add amendments into the bills, and it happens.
• 21:27
  There's never going to be a time when they don't add any amendments.
• 21:30
  So we go through the process, in the first, second and third
• 21:34
  readings of the bill.
• 21:35
  So, the I think, I think
• 21:38
  the month of March is really hectic
• 21:41
  and then starts to taper off in April and May because we really start
• 21:45
  focusing on certain budget issues at that point in time.
• 21:49
  It's not the whole thing.
• 21:51
  For instance, last year you remember, the big issue was the sewer charging.
• 21:55
  Crowd, So that that was kind
• 21:58
  of like the big focus area as we got into me.
• 22:01
  I don't know what it's like.
• 22:02
  Yeah. What is it this year? Yeah, I don't know.
• 22:04
  How were the council members kept up to date?
• 22:07
  Like, as you're going through this process,
• 22:10
  do you kind of,
• 22:11
  you know, let them know, like, hey, this this might be coming this year.
• 22:14
  This is what we're working on. This is what we're making a priority.
• 22:16
  Do they do they kind of have a heads up on stuff
• 22:18
  so that there aren't, like a 10 billion questions come.
• 22:21
  Yeah.
• 22:21
  So all of the departments are meeting with council members
• 22:24
  as we speak, to share with the council members
• 22:27
  structural changes, operational changes in their departments, personnel changes.
• 22:33
  And we're we're doing that as, as we've we've done three meetings.
• 22:37
  We have to do, five more.
• 22:40
  And, I, I do believe it helps for some of the council members, sometimes
• 22:44
  they go off track because they start asking about things they want done.
• 22:48
  Yeah.
• 22:48
  You know, and they're not really asking us about our departments and what changed.
• 22:53
  So we're going to have to cover that probably
• 22:54
  during the week of the department briefings now that that's coming up.
• 22:58
  Yeah. But that's not abnormal.
• 22:59
  I mean, they have agendas because they're representing specific issues.
• 23:02
  Specific projects, specific issues.
• 23:04
  Correct? Yeah. Correct.
• 23:06
  And so when does a process I know you've mentioned this, you
• 23:09
  kind of are working on one budget, but you're also kind of starting the next one.
• 23:12
  When does the process for balancing the budget for FY 28 to begin?
• 23:15
  Well, we have to get through 27 first.
• 23:19
  So in typically at third
• 23:22
  reading at the beginning of June, the budget gets approved.
• 23:26
  And if it gets approved, the mayor signs it.
• 23:29
  We go through the process of ensuring everything
• 23:31
  balances, so we rebalance the budget.
• 23:35
  So we make sure everything balances to cash.
• 23:38
  That's the main thing.
• 23:40
  And then we have to get it into the system.
• 23:42
  And then when we get the budget into the system, we send instructions out
• 23:47
  to, all of the agencies except for part and board of water supply.
• 23:52
  And there's separate, giving them guidance on how to execute the budget.
• 23:57
  Then we start 28.
• 23:58
  So 28 starts probably latter during the latter
• 24:02
  part of July, early August, that time frame.
• 24:06
  So for most of July, we're in budget execution
• 24:09
  for the for that for the start of the new year.
• 24:13
  You know, and then as we get into August, then we start thinking about,
• 24:15
  okay, the next the following year, the next year.
• 24:19
  And so this is your is this your sixth.
• 24:21
  I believe? Yeah.
• 24:24
  It's just I think it's the fifth cycle
• 24:27
  because in the first year we didn't know what we were doing.
• 24:29
  Right? Yeah, we were just.
• 24:31
  And when you come in and it's due in March,
• 24:32
  I mean, you don't have you have two months maybe.
• 24:34
  It's a it's essentially the prior administrations. Budget.
• 24:37
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 24:37
  We just make sure that it balances.
• 24:39
  And you know, we were in Covid when we started.
• 24:42
  So if anything we, we we had to, restrict
• 24:45
  a lot of things because we were concerned that we're going to run out of cash.
• 24:50
  But, fortunately, things worked out.
• 24:53
  You know, the federal government, through CARES, CRF and,
• 24:59
  our American Rescue Plan funding really helped the city,
• 25:03
  not only get off its feet, but actually build up some reserves.
• 25:07
  So some cash and fund balance,
• 25:10
  reserves that we can we've effectively been carrying forward honestly.
• 25:14
  Right. Like with the utility help and.
• 25:17
  Yeah, it's going to help.
• 25:18
  And, we're fortunate because if we didn't have fund
• 25:22
  balance over caring for it, we would have to restrict services.
• 25:25
  Yeah. You know, maybe furlough,
• 25:28
  stop hiring, you know, hiring freeze and do things like that.
• 25:31
  But we're not doing that. We're hiring.
• 25:33
  So with that said, 5 or 6 under your belt, what's something you wish
• 25:37
  you could have told yourself back in 2020 or even pre-pandemic, that you wish
• 25:41
  you knew now what it could be about this process?
• 25:43
  It could be about this job?
• 25:45
  No. It's been the job has been gratifying.
• 25:47
  I was looking for change, actually, in the late or from,
• 25:52
  I would say in the timeframe just before the pandemic, two years before
• 25:55
  2018, 2019, I wanted to change my daughter, just started college.
• 26:00
  So we were talking at home about,
• 26:03
  maybe finding a job in, on the West Coast.
• 26:07
  And, Jill, my wife, she would we would commute back and forth.
• 26:11
  We were planning to do that, but,
• 26:14
  rent a place and do something like that.
• 26:17
  So I was looking at technology companies.
• 26:20
  But then the miracle,
• 26:22
  during that process, while Covid happened, the mirror called, and here I am.
• 26:27
  It's been eye opening. It's very good.
• 26:29
  Working in government is rewarding.
• 26:32
  But, you have, at the level we work at and same same for you.
• 26:37
  Brandi, you don't know what's going to come at you on any given day.
• 26:41
  It's it's challenging.
• 26:43
  What's the most challenging part?
• 26:46
  The people, I think keeping
• 26:48
  keeping the team focusing on what's important
• 26:52
  as different things get thrown at you, that's the challenge.
• 26:56
  What's the best part? Success.
• 26:58
  And it doesn't have to be big.
• 27:00
  It can be small successes along the way.
• 27:02
  And people are, you know, proud
• 27:05
  of their accomplishments and you can celebrate with them.
• 27:08
  That's that's the fun part. I think.
• 27:11
  And so when do you take time to yourself?
• 27:13
  When do you work out? When do you rest? When do you spend time with your family?
• 27:15
  Do I don't I don't do a whole lot for myself.
• 27:20
  I'm low maintenance.
• 27:22
  Seriously. I'm low maintenance.
• 27:23
  So I go home.
• 27:25
  I, I record all of these business stuff.
• 27:28
  I watch, a lot of Bloomberg stuff.
• 27:30
  I watch sports, yes, I tape ESPN, NFL live,
• 27:35
  and some other stuff.
• 27:38
  So I'm watching TV usually, and,
• 27:41
  I work out every day for about 15 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes
• 27:45
  doing mostly, plank type push ups, things you would do in a Jill.
• 27:51
  So kind of bodyweight exercises.
• 27:53
  Yeah, but you don't have to call a jail.
• 27:54
  So yeah. Yeah, I just do that and a walk
• 27:58
  from time to time and, we have grandkids now.
• 28:01
  We have two grandkids, so they take up time on the weekends.
• 28:05
  But, Yeah, I must leave when I go home.
• 28:07
  Actually.
• 28:08
  I get to go.
• 28:10
  You know, to to Jill and my daughter Katie.
• 28:13
  Yeah. That's what happens.
• 28:15
  Happy wife, happy life.
• 28:17
  Well, Andy, is there anything that is
• 28:20
  is there any?
• 28:20
  I hope she doesn't listen to this.
• 28:22
  I might have to cut this part out.
• 28:23
  I think she'll love it.
• 28:25
  Is there anything that we missed?
• 28:27
  No, I think this, I think you got everything covered.
• 28:30
  After next year, what I really want to do.
• 28:33
  And I think Carrie, Carrie Castle is our, deputy
• 28:37
  director is really nail down
• 28:40
  how we're going to transition, you know, efficiently.
• 28:42
  Effectively.
• 28:43
  I think, Carrie and Paula Young Lynn are purchasing administrator.
• 28:47
  They're doing a super job on, their procurement improvement initiative.
• 28:52
  And, I think we're going to be able to hand that off with training,
• 28:59
  attached to it to the next administration.
• 29:01
  As I mentioned earlier, I think I think that's going to be great.
• 29:05
  It's going to be a game changer for the city.
• 29:08
  I think that,
• 29:10
  we still need to strengthen
• 29:13
  our bench, you know, throughout BFS.
• 29:17
  And we can talk about that at another time.
• 29:19
  But, I think I think we need,
• 29:22
  to improve our succession planning in certain areas.
• 29:24
  And I think your office will be fine.
• 29:26
  I've been fortunate.
• 29:27
  Right when I started, most of the,
• 29:32
  division Chiefs were experienced.
• 29:36
  And, it it really helped, really help to get me up to speed,
• 29:39
  get Carrie up to speed so we can lead.
• 29:43
  And they're all good people. They work hard.
• 29:45
  If they have to come in, on the weekends, they come in.
• 29:48
  If they have to work extra hours during the work week, they work, if they have to,
• 29:53
  and they're all good people, and I'm proud of them.
• 29:56
  How old are your grandkids?
• 29:57
  They are six and 3 or 6 and two. The.
• 30:01
  The younger one would be three this month.
• 30:03
  Yeah. What do they think you do for work?
• 30:05
  They don't know what I do.
• 30:07
  They just know I go to work
• 30:09
  for Andy. Thank you so much for your time.
• 30:11
  Thanks. Thanks, Brandy.
• 30:13
  And we are very happy for the work that you do.
• 30:15
  Don't forget, next week, March 18th, Mayor
• 30:18
  Blangiardi will be delivering his 2026 state of the city address.
• 30:22
  Will be live stream on Olelo and on our YouTube and Facebook pages.
• 30:26
  We'll also post the mayor's full speech right here on the One Oahu Podcast.
• 30:30
  Mahalo for listening. And until next time, Aloha.