Mayor Alameda during his first State of Hawaiʻi County address: ‘We are the administration of yes’

Mayor Kimo Alameda is refusing to kick the can down the street when it comes to improving Hawaiʻi County, saying Tuesday during his first State of the County address: “We are the administration of yes.”

In a room full of county staff, family, supporters and special guests — including Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, Kauaʻi Mayor Derek Kawakami, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, Office of Hawaiian Affairs board chair Kaialiʻi Kahele and Consul General of Japan in Honolulu Kodama Yoshinori — Alameda showed a video while energetically highlighting the accomplishments during his first four months in office.

“We say yes first,” Alameda said. “If no, then thatʻs impossible. We will address it somehow. It all gets done sooner or later.”

He talked about starting to fix things that are small but matter to people. An example was the Kawamoto Swimming Pool that was out for a year. “So how are we going to fix that? Well, we put together action steps and stayed on it. People were taking freezing showers, so we fixed it right off the bat.”

Alameda listed other accomplishments of his administration, including:

• Finding housing for 14 individuals at the Kuawa Street shelter and 20 at the Country Club on Banyan Drive;
• Settling the lawsuit with Earth Justice for the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant;
• Addressing hazard pay with all of the unions;
• Starting phase 1 of the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant rehabilitation project with an Emergency Proclamation in place;
• Putting in field lights at Kamehameha Park in Kohala;
• Repairs to Mountain View gym;
• Repaving and resurfacing roads in every district;
• Repaving Old A’s;
• Adding parking to Clarence Lum Won Park;
• Adding benches along a walking path at Waimea District Park for kupuna after 10 years.

“We are doing it all, and there is more to come,” Alameda said. “On Saturday, we will present our plans to add parking on the bottom of Palani [Road] going up Aliʻi Drive. This will increase the customer base for our local Kona businesses.”

Alameda said about 60 parking spots could be added by turning Aliʻi Drive into a one-way street from the Kona Pier turnout to the three-way stop at Hualalai Road. Traffic would flow south and the mauka lane would become diagonal parking. 

The Fix Paid Parking in Kona Committee is hosting the free community event and meeting from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m at Hale Halawai. Alameda and County Councilmember Rebecca Villegas will be there to talk about their ideas for parking in Kona and how they want to combat the issue.

According to Acting Public Works Director Neil Azevedo, this idea could be implemented quickly depending on how the community feels during Saturday’s meeting. 

Next week, the Hawai‘i Police Department, in collaboration with Hawai‘i Fire Department, will hold a blessing of its new Emergency Call Center in Hilo on Monday nearly 4 years after construction began. 

According to Alameda, the call center will begin operations within the next month. He also said the Central Station firefighters also will be relocating to the Yamada building after years of operating out of a deteriorating building. 

Since taking office, the County has acquired four new ambulances and will be receiving the state’s first air ambulance from the David R. Sayre Memorial Foundation. 

The helicopter is a twin-engine Airbus H145 and is being manufactured for Hawaiʻi Island. Life Flight Network will operate the critical care transport, which will be able to fly to Oʻahu from any district on the island without stopping, which Alameda said “will save lives.”

After thanking the Sayre Foundation, Alameda laid out the county budget and expenditures.

“Remember now – our budget is simply our revenue. Whatever revenues we get, that becomes our budget. So, we are receiving over $937 million in revenues with over $660 million coming from taxes, and 80% of that is property taxes,” Alameda said. “Up to $100 million comes from grants and about 56% are federal grants.”

He said the County is hoping the federal government won’t cut its funding, but “we will be ready” if it does.

The proposed 2025-26 budget of $937 million represents an increase of only 1.8 percent over the current fiscal year.

With a small projected revenue increase, Alameda said the County must be smart with how it spends its money. The proposed budget focuses on taking care of what the County already has in place, including increasing the maintenance budget for park facilities and addressing deferred maintenance of critical infrastructure.

“Our biggest challenge we face is wastewater obligation. It keeps me up at night,” he said. “The cost is from the build up of neglect for over 30 years. So now, we have to spend $337 million to fix the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant.”

He said the County signed a maintenance contract with Nan Inc. and is ready for the project to begin with funding from loans and bonds.

The county also met with Nan to put together an emergency response plan, if any emergency arises, according to Hawaiʻi County Managing Director Bill Brilhante. 

“This is years and years of deferred maintenance, so this is a big, important project,” Brilhante said. “In case something does happen, we have plans in place for emergencies and the governor is ready to sign an emergency proclamation if necessary.”

Alameda added that the County has other needed wastewater projects to do in Kealakehe, Nāʻālehu, Pāhala, Pepeʻekeo and Papaikou.

“Weʻre going to need federal help,” he said. “We cannot do it ourselves. We are already borrowing.”

The County also has doubled the Parks and Recreation maintenance budget by adding another $4 million and has dedicated about $20 million to capital improvement projects, mostly for repairs and taking care of basic needs. 

“We need recreation. Kids need to get out of the house,” Alameda said. “And that’s why we will address the promises made that have gone too long unfulfilled. Itʻs not about how much money we have. Itʻs about how hard we work. We have a workforce that is super inspired and volunteers like never before.”

The recreation projects the administration want done include:

• Building the Hilo Skate Park;
• Fixing Kawananakoa Gym in Keaukaha
• Putting in field lights at Pāhala baseball field
• Building multipurpose play courts at Hawaiian Paradise Park in Puna and Clarence Lum Won Park in South Kona
• Redoing play court and building a new pavilion in Miloliʻi Beach Park
• Finishing the multipurpose play court in Papaʻaloa 

Alameda concluded his address with a message of unity for the island.

“Every issue is connected and we should all work together,” he said. “I see this island not divided by districts, but as one family. Let’s look out for one another, for our island, and for the generations yet to come.” 

After the State of the County, Brilhante reflected on the amount of work completed in the last four months and how important it is to recognize the county workers putting in the time and dedication.

“None of the work in the past four months would have been done without the people actually paving the roads or fixing the playground equipment, so we make sure they get recognition they deserve and we take care of them,” Brilhante said. “I think all of us in this administration are motivated and willing to put in the hours, because we are working for our kupuna, keiki, cousins and our friends, and we donʻt want to let them down.”