(BIVN) – Hawaiʻi County Mayor Kimo Alameda gave his first State of the County address on Tuesday.

The speech was delivered before an audience of administration officials and other elected leaders at the Nani Mau Gardens in Hilo. The address was a unique multi-media presentation, utilizing video and graphics to illustrate Alameda’s talking points.

The mayor said his administration has had “the best start ever”, as he touted several accomplishments over the past four months. Mayor Alameda also talked about the proposed 2025-26 budget, which includes estimated revenue and appropriations of $937 million, an increase of 1.8% percent over the current fiscal year.

photo courtesy the County of Hawaiʻi

State Of The County Address (text provided by Hawaiʻi County)

Aloha and good afternoon to my family, friends, and fellow residents of Hawai‘i County.

Speaking of family and friends, I want to personally introduce my father, Sam Sr. and his wife, aunty Diana. I also see my two sisters and my wife’s family, including my mother-inlaw, Mona Ishibashi.

I also want to give a warm island welcome to Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, Kauaʻi Mayor Derek Kawakami; Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi; and representing Maui Mayor Richard Bissen, Communications Director Laksmi Abraham. In addition, let me recognize the Consul General of Japan in Honolulu, Kodama Yoshinori; U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono’s Hawaiʻi Island representative, Ann Ebesuno; and representing U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, Senior Policy Advisor Dale Hahn.

Can I also send my love to all the nonprofits, all the faith-based organizations, to all the chambers, the Rotaries, and all the clubs. Thank you for working with county government and thank you for being here.

It is my honor and privilege to stand before you today to deliver this 2025 State of the County Address — an opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made, the challenges we face, and the bold steps we are taking to shape a stronger, more resilient Hawai‘i Island.

I have to tell you. We have had the best start ever! In the campaign, 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.

And it’s the little things, like:

After a year of being closed, re-opening Kawamoto swimming pool with warm water.

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.

And, after four years of no lights, here comes the lights at Kamehameha Park in Kohala. And we fixed the pool.

We’ve done repairs at Mountain View gym.

And we’ve been paving roads and resurfacing in every district, especially at Old A’s in Kona, which was long overdue.

And we are at the tail end of adding parking at the Clarence Lum Won Park, which nobody paid attention to for years and years. We finished the Waimea baseball backstop and allowed for the construction of benches along a walking path for Kupuna after 10 years of delay. We are doing it all.

And there is more to come.

On Saturday, we will present our plans to add parking on the bottom of Palani going up Aliʻi Drive. This will increase the customer base for our local Kona businesses.

We are also making plans for blessings of the new call center in Hilo and the temporary relocation of our Central fire fighters to the Yamada building. We are prepping for a reopening of Kamakoa Nui Park and Puʻu Nui Park in Waikoloa. This is remarkable. Unbelievable.

And as I have shared many times, public safety is at the core of our priorities, and we’ve already:

Weathered a storm.

We have already acquired four brand new ambulances.

And, thanks to the Sayre Foundation, our island will be getting a helicopter ambulance that is one-of-a-kind in the state, capable of picking up anyone, anywhere on the island and taking them to Queen’s Medical Center for care. Currently, we have to go to the airport to catch a plane.

At many of our town halls, people have been asking us about fire mitigation, new emergency evacuation routes, fire hydrants, dip tanks, firebreaks, controlled fires, household assessments, etc. And yes, yes, we need all of that. We’ve added 19 fire positions last year and we’re looking to add three more paramedics at Makalei Fire Station in Kona.

Like our firefighters, we are extremely proud of our police officers who risk their lives every day on our behalf. And that’s why we want to add a few more positions in addition to the 25 they got last year to address the growing safety concerns, especially in the Oceanview area. Public safety is strong thanks to the work of Fire Chief Kazuo Todd; Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz; Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno; Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen; Matthew Runnells at Animal Control; and Gerald Takase at Liquor Control.

While I’m at it, let me just share that we also have very strong building and infrastructure departments, thanks to our directors: Jeff Darrow from Planning; acting Director Neil Azevedo from Public Works; Director Wes Segawa from Environmental Management; and at Water Supply, Keith Okamoto. How about departments that provide services to our citizens, like Parks and Recreation Director Clayton Honma and Housing Administrator Kehau Costa. Then there’s transportation acting Director Zachary Bergum.

Finally, we have our directors and staff who support other departments, such as Managing Director Bill Brilhante, Deputy Managing Director Merrick Nishimoto, and all of our Executive Assistants. And give it up for Human Resources. Thank you, Sommer Tokihiro. Thank you, Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen and IT Director Corey Stone. We have an office of environmental sustainability – thank you, Laura Acasio. And an office of economic sustainability – thank you, Benson Medina. And what makes this all possible is the Finance Department. Thank you, Diane Nakagawa. Well, Diane knows all of what’s happening with the budget.

And speaking of the budget. 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 – Property Taxes, GE taxes, Fuel taxes. But 80% is actually Property Tax. Up to $100 million comes from grants and the rest comes from fees that we receive from licensing and permits.

And as long as we’re not spending more than we’re receiving, we should be good. So, let’s talk expenditures. Up to 50% of the $937 million is for salary and wages. Let me break it down by topic area — public safety consumes over $230 million of the budget; over $90 million goes to providing services; about $80 million goes to highways and streets; and over $70 million goes to paying our bills (what we call the debt service).

It’s no secret that we have the greatest infrastructure deficiencies in the history of the county. We just signed the 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 is Nāʻālehu, Pāhala, Pepeʻekeo, Papaikou, and Puako. This is not even counting the expenses for cesspool conversions. These are the challenges of our lifetime. There’s not enough in the fund balance and that’s why we have to take out bonds. Think of that as a big credit card or loan from investors who charge us interest. And they give us 20 years to pay it back.

Now you might ask: Is there anything left to do anything else? The answer is yes but not much. That’s why we have to be smart with our spending. We doubled the parks maintenance budget, adding another $4 million to fix and repair what we already have. And we are dedicating about $20 million to capital improvement projects, mostly for repairs and taking care of our basic needs. I believe there are at least eight bathrooms we need to build. A bathroom, to me, is a basic human right. I also think the need for recreation is equally important because you can’t just stay in your house and kids need things to do.

And that’s why we need that skate park in Hilo, we need to fix Keaukaha gymnasium, we need field lights in Pāhala, we need to start the process of designing the multipurpose play courts in Hawaiian Paradise Park in Puna and Clarence Lum Won Park in South Kona. We need to replace the play court and pavilion in Miloliʻi, and let’s finish the multipurpose play court in Pāpaʻaloa.

Together, we also need to take a serious look at our economic sustainability while preserving our natural resources.

How do we ensure economic sustainability? I believe we need to pay attention to how the money flows. Tourism remains our biggest economic engine. So how do we protect it? Well, let’s be a tourist for a second and let’s jump on the plane. Are there direct flights to Hilo International Airport? No. What about Kona? Yes and no — we just lost direct flights to and from Japan because of the repairs at the Kona runway. So, let’s fix it fast.

And so, after the tourists land, they then need to have a place to stay and that should be at our hotels. So, let’s support the hotel industry, which means cracking down on illegal vacation rentals.

But we know the hotels need a workforce. That’ll only increase if they have someplace that they can afford to live. So, then we need to increase workforce housing. Which means we need to support the construction industry. They need to feel the love by getting their permits out in time so they can build without delays. Because time is money. And then finally we need to take care of our health. Yes, public safety is critical, but our health is more important than anything else.

As a healthy person we can solve multiple problems, maybe 100 problems in a day. But if you’re unhealthy, you can only focus on one problem and that is to get yourself back to good health. And so let us all stay healthy. Let us continue to strive to do our best to contribute to our community.

Let us move forward — not divided by districts, but united by aloha. I am committed to listening, learning, and leading with you at the center of every decision we make.

I’m reminded everyday of this quote: “That the past is over for all of us. The future is promised to none of us. All we have is today, so make every single day the best that you can.”

Let’s look out for one another, for our island, and for the generations yet to come. God bless you. God bless this county. One shaka is not enough and that’s why we do the double shaka. And no worry because every little thing is going to be all right.