Its important for a mayor to lead by example, and right now the public has little trust in government and political leaders, says Amemiya. Box 1777, Honolulu, HI 96806. I was heavily involved in that project, it was a project involving the state, the city, the non-profit sector, and we were able to build, in rather short order, 150 homes housing 600 people, 150 families that were previously homeless, and there are plans in the works to build more of those. Whoever was involved in the beginning of the project before construction. It wasnt evident if you saw her and spoke to her maybe one or two times. Theyre frustrated with the length of time it takes to approve permits in that department. Are you the most liberal candidate running from mayor? The additional space at the Hawaii State Hospital is a start, but we need long-term treatment facilities for our communities that dont require someone to hurt another person before they receive care. Were gonna talk about it, we wanna hear your view points. At least two of your competitors say that they dont need training wheels to be mayor. Does that influence you that, Oh, Ive gotta make sure UPW and HGEA are happy?' There were no sparks during their initial encounter, in which they initially found themselves working on opposite sides of a lawsuit. Im clearly my own man, and I do know all those people, but none of them asked me to run for office. This Endless End financial conflicts of interest Amemiya, 54, has made the story of his upbringing a central part of his campaign. We need to sharpen our pencil. As lieutenant governor, Senator Schatz built such a team, and we should reconstitute it. And if the developer pays for it, it gets passed on to the buyer of the house, and it wont be as affordable. Mayoral candidate @keithamemiya joins me to discuss all of the issues we as a community are dealing with in the unprecedented time. Homelessness Mental He. We have to get away from fuel dependency by continuing to invest in green infrastructure and multi-modal transportation. You know it is what it is, you know. Were currently 22,000 units short on Oahu. Well, I think we have to wait and see. Especially during these difficult economic times, its critical that they have the resources needed to continue their important work in helping people get back on their feet.. He has served as Chief Administrative Officer for the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and Honolulu Police Commissioner.He is an attorney, former executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, and executive involved with the investments of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative created by Mark Zuckerberg and his . Again, Im not saying nothing happened, but the meals and the cell block interactions, those happened before my tenure on the police commission. he is one of famous business executive and politician with the age 55 years old group. I will continue enforcement as long as we find more shelter beds. I do believe that whenever Hawaii has an opportunity to be the worlds leader in a field, when we can further the discovery of our universe, and when we can create more high paying jobs on Hawaii Island, we need to strongly consider it. Its doable, but let me add that another area where we can greatly increase housing inventory is through public-private partnerships. Amemiya is perhaps best known for his tenure as the HHSAAs Executive Director, during which the HHSAA doubled the number of state championships held annually, including introducing many new sports for female student-athletes, to the point that Hawaii now holds the most state championships in the country. Theres enough checks and balances in DPP and the permitting process, where if you approve a permit, as long as you have the enforcement and compliance mechanism after, I think well be okay, because there are professionals like architects and engineers looking at the plans as submitted. We just lost Loretta Sheehan, we just lost Steve Levinson, highly critical about the commission not really having oversight over (the Honolulu Police Department). It was rushed, it was ill-planned, and its been a source of frustration for everyone, but were almost done, as I said. You need to get input, and when you get input early on from everybody, you hear the different viewpoints, you modify the proposal. And the general public as well. Today, girls sports such as wrestling, golf, water polo and canoe paddling owe their existence to the noble battle Amemiya first waged nearly two decades ago. Keith, this election is about future generations, our keiki. Collin Moore, Hawaii News Now Political Analyst: Is there one or two big ideas that voters should connect with your candidacy? Mental illness is a problem that no one wished upon themselves, they cant help it, and I was frustrated Im still frustrated at the lack of services, the lack of awareness, the lack of priority by government to address that concern. Keith we wanted to change a little bit of direction and get to know a little bit more personal side, a side that a lot of people don't know about. The same can be said for using the states commercial and industrial holdings as potential sites for technology companies in the biotechnology and innovative technology sectors. In supporting my mother and her challenges with mental health, I have seen firsthand the lack of resources needed for individuals and families. The couple married in 1996, and three years later welcomed their only child, Christopher (named after Amemiyas best friend), into their world. Everyone on Oahu thinks they need their own car, and that everyone else should ride the bus or walk, and we need to all do our part. We have talented local producers and compelling stories to tell that can be part of a regenerative economy. [2], Since January 2021, Amemiya has served as executive director of the Central Pacific Bank Foundation. Yes, Im frustrated like everyone else at the rail progress thus far. Today, she serves as girls basketball coach at Molokai High. And the police commission has less power, duties and responsibilities than one would think, and given all the attention on police reform nationwide and here locally, I think its a great time to revisit that situation and see if the Commission can have more oversight and authority. And its more prevalent than people who think or want admit. What would you do as mayor to try to curb that? So, none of those incidents that you mentioned were brought to our attention. Keith Amemiya is on Facebook. And thats why Im running. Summary. Theyre trying to find a contract with a group of companies that would not only build the last stage of the rail, but also will maintain it and run it for the next 30 years at a price that is affordable to the city. Homes on the North Shore, when the tide is up, what are you gonna do about this? No, not the law, so much. Yet, Amemiya apparently did well enough over time to convince her that he was the one. Many of them were struggling. Senior Vice-President Island Holdings, Inc. Keith Amemiya is an attorney and the Senior Vice-President of Island Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Island Insurance and four other local subsidiaries. All rights reserved, https://www.cpb.bank/resources/2021/february/cpb-foundation-appoints-keith-amemiya-executive-director-awards-100-000-grant-to-the-salvation-army-hawaiian-pacific-islands, Copyright 2022, Central Pacific Bank. Wow. And people only started to protest when they actually saw the bulldozers come in, and at that time, the mayor, perhaps expressing some tone deafness on his part, did not want to stop the project. And as the mayor, you can control a couple of things in that regard. After graduating from Punahou in 1983, Amemiya studied finance and law at the University of Hawaii at Mnoa, where he earned his degrees. They know that the job functions of many of their employees in HGEA need to be retooled, and so I look forward to working with both unions to make their workers jobs better and more efficient and beneficial to the taxpayers. At the time, he was a young civil litigation attorney and Bonny (formerly Suzui) was the CFO of a local fast food chain. Colin Moore, Hawaii News Now Political Analyst: But speaking of cutting, whoever wins this election is going to take charge of the city at a time of financial crisis. Everywhere I go, people say that we need change. When you say that rail was ill-planned, who do you blame for that? Well, I share the concern and frustration, if you will, of the two most recent departing commissioners Levinson and Sheehan. Weve gone too far. We need to look at all those options, and COVID has kinda taught us that maybe not everyone has to work in the office everyday. In 1971, he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ryan's Daughter. Its not good to have a homeless person living on the sidewalk, but the solution to that is more affordable housing, more mental health treatment, more drug abuse treatment. Where do the previous administrations fail, though cause everyone says, we need more affordable housing. My top spending priorities will be for affordable housing and reducing the cost of living for our residents. It was done under the Abercrombie administration. We met, we first met when I was running high school sports, and weve kept in contact since. Im running for lieutenant governor because Im concerned for Hawaiis future. Hillary Clinton got the other two-thirds, but you basically told one-third of the voters out there, Republican who did not vote Democrat, you know, These are the guys Im going with, cause by the way, David Ige and Scott Saiki and Ron Kouchi, and all of the members of the delegation in Congress, are Democrats too. Im not just gonna work with Democrats because Im a Democrat, but I do believe and stand by Democratic ideals. So are you even qualified to be mayor, and can you do these things youre trying to do if you havent had an experience in this area? You need to surround yourself with honorable, decent people who always do the right thing. What was your connection to that project? Like it or not, its almost finished. And its something that never goes away. They dont want people with long-time experience in politics. Umm, there must be some issue I changed my mind on, and I need to think about it a little more. This pandemic has been horrible for many, many reasons, but if theres any by-product of it, its proven we can communicate pretty effectively without being face-to-face. But I also think we can do things like focusing on higher end tourists, higher quality tourists, tourists that spend more money, as opposed to the bargain basement tourists that weve had that havent really added to our bottom line, so to speak, in terms of quality of life and revenue to our hotel workers. Ive been able to bring people together, Ive been able to collaborate, and Ive been able to find solutions through team work. The prices of housing, gas, food, and other essentials are skyrocketing. Well actually, looking over your Q-and-A for Civil Beat, thank you very much, you said COVID you know thats the problem of today, but climate change is really gonna be the problem for all of us for the near future, and much further down the line. Most recently joining iHeart Media Honolulu as premiere sponsors of The Salvation Armys "Rescue Christmas" program - supporting their mission to provide help and hope to those most in need in Hawaii. Keith Amemiya is a candidate in the 2020 Honolulu mayoral election.. We cant afford to pay back over $800,000,000 in federal subsidies that weve already received for the rail project, and we also need to ensure that rail is completed, so that we can proceed with transit oriented development. Her work seeks to hold the government accountable for how it spends money and makes decisions that affect people's lives. Vacation rentals were never intended for residential neighborhoods. I know that costs money, but one organization that I feel strongly about, that I know can help domestic violence in particular is the Domestic Violence Action Center. 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