In his first state-of-the-county address, Hawaii Mayor Kimo Alameda shared an audacious boast, a lesson in credits and debits, an accounting of goals met and to be achieved, even a bit of Bob Marley.
“I have to tell you: We have had the best start ever,” said Alameda, who unseated incumbent Mitch Roth in the Primary Election last November. “There were naysayers who didn’t think we would be able to hit the ground running. Oh boy, let me tell you, we are not just running, we are flying. In the past four months, we’ve done more than some administrations have done in four years.”
Alameda counted among his administration’s early accomplishments “little things” like settling an Earthjustice lawsuit over the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant, addressing hazard pay with local unions, and repairing and enhancing public park facilities around the island.
He also pointed to accomplishments in public safety, including a successful response to January’s severe winter storm, the acquisition of four new ambulances and the upcoming addition of an air ambulance courtesy of the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation.
Alameda said the county’s $937 million budget will be derived from $660 million in taxes (about 80% from property taxes), $100 million from grants and the remainder from licensing and permit fees.
“As long as we’re not spending more than we’re receiving,” he said, “we should be good.”
As usual, salary and wages from county employees will account for roughly half of total expenditures. Other appropriations include $230 million for public safety, $90 million for county services, $80 million for highways and streets and $70 million for debt service.
Alameda said the county will take out bonds to help cover major infrastructure projects.
“It’s no secret that we have the greatest infrastructure deficiencies in the history of the county,” he said. “We just signed a contract for $337 million to fix the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant. We will have to find funds for another $50 million for Kealakehe. Then there are Naalehu, Pahala, Pepeekeo, Papaikou and Puako. This is not even counting the expenses for cesspool conversions. These are the challenges of our lifetime.”
With just a 1.8% increase over last year’s budget, Alameda said the county will need to carefully consider its expenditures. One key investment, he said, will be in recreational facilities “because you can’t just stay in your house and kids need things to do.”
To that end, Alameda says he will double the parks maintenance budget and dedicate $20 million to capital improvement projects.
The mayor said the county also needs to bolster its economic stability by protecting tourism, restoring direct air service to the island, cracking down on illegal vacation rentals and addressing workforce housing to ensure hotels can be properly and consistently staffed.
Alameda's closing call for unity was punctuated with a nod to Hawaii Island’s characteristic take on a local tradition and a line from Marley’s “Three Little Birds” that called back to his remarks on the little things that signified the impact of his first days in office.
“One shaka is not enough, and that’s why we do the double shaka,” he said. “And no worry because every little thing is going to be alright.”
Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.
