Im not afraid to say Im a Democrat and I stand for the democratic ideals.' We need to have someone who will bring people together to find solutions to it and just build more affordable housing. These days, Amemiya is working harder than ever, pushing himself as if the future of the city is at stake. He has also served as the Executive Director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) and as the Executive Administrator and Secretary to the Board of Regents at the University of Hawaii. I mean, why not? What did you change when you were on the commission? Whos really behind your campaign?' Would you continue that practice. I hear from everyone in the construction industry, the development industry, even the home improvement industry, people who wanna build an extension to their house. I want change, and the people want change. There are shelter beds available, we need to get the homeless people to the shelter. One of the things about working class people we hear, with the hotel workers, for example, one job should be enough, and calling for better wages. Is that Kirk Caldwell and David Ige? So the rail project right now, its a major step. "I'm running for. I've been an executive in several areas in the private sector,. Well, I share the concern and frustration, if you will, of the two most recent departing commissioners Levinson and Sheehan. For the very determined Keith Amemiya, the seeds of his disposition were planted the day hnai parents Bert and Harriet Kobayashi sat him down for a heart-to-heart discussion about his future. And we saw first-hand that the incidences of domestic violence were already increasing. I have dedicated my career to public service by working directly in every community statewide throughout my career. PHOTOS COURTESY KEITH AMEMIYA. Right now, my favorite song is Mama Mia, cause. Like it or not, Im forewarning you, we have a campaign song that is sung to that tune. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portrayed guileless, wounded war heroes. Our neighborhoods were being altered, the character of them and the nature of them, and a lot of my friends who lived in areas from Kaimuki to Pearl City to Kailua complained about the proliferation of tourists living right next door to them in residential neighborhoods. [2][7][8][9][10] Until 2019 he was the campaign treasurer for U.S. Access and information to ensure that peoples basic needs are met, such as food and housing. Can I ask, what was your involvement with the 801 South project? You know Keith, I was looking back, you place so much importance on your role running the high school athletic programs. And for years, Keith Amemiya has been a generous donor to the political campaigns of Hawaii's power players. I even worked the weekends as a handyman to help pay my way through college at the University of Hawaii and law school afterward.. And its something that never goes away. I view my lack of direct experience in politics as a plus. I first met Kalei when she was in middle school and, because she couldnt get the type of training and player development she needed on Molokai, Bonny and I agreed to let her live with us, explains Amemiya. So, none of those incidents that you mentioned were brought to our attention. And the general public as well. Can you place penalties for people who have way more cars than they need? Theyre part of the problem. How do you answer those two questions? Many of them had to make hard choices, whether its to pay the rent or pay their car bill, whether its pay their medical bill or food on the table or even choose to stay here and struggle or move away from family and friends to the mainland to find lower cost of living. Like, Heres what your registration is for car one, and your second car is $200 more, and your third car is $300 more?. Im not complaining about it, but its stressful to have to care and worry about someone in your family thats mentally ill. Its on your mind numerous times a day, everyday. We need to automate, first and foremost. Well, to be blunt, we need to do what we can to get money into their hands, whether its federal money, state money, or county money, CARES Act money, in particular. We need to do what we can to help them economically. Homes on the North Shore, when the tide is up, what are you gonna do about this? Everythings okay, weve heard you, youve had a chance to voice your concerns, but were moving ahead. Would you support that project? 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. Thats the way we can get out of this. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. So Im in support of that. And number two, we didnt rent it out as a vacation rental or Airbnb unit. And while he still views tourism as a big part of our economy, Amemiya also believes that greater diversity is required. The state needs to also improve the quality of womens wellness and LGBTQIA+ healthcare services on the neighbor islands. Its pretty powerful people that are very well connected, and very entrenched, you might even say, Are you really your own man, or are other people pushing you to take this job? Are you the candidate thats going to end homelessness on Oahu once and for all? Keith Amemiya, Honolulu Mayoral Candidate: Right, well, I have a lot of broad-based experience, especially for the job of mayor. At the time, he was a young civil litigation attorney and Bonny (formerly Suzui) was the CFO of a local fast food chain. I have the experience to bring solutions to problems. Were looking at in just a few decades or less, with even just a few feet of sea level rise, those being inundated, and that means roads are gonna be falling to the sea. 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. Keith, in your latest television commercial, you talk about your family, and you also remind viewers that youre a Democrat. Amemiya's campaign web site says he and his wife purchased a. Well, I think we have to wait and see. I do know that it was a little higher than the prior year, its an ambitious budget, its an aggressive budget, and time will tell whether they can fulfill all the mandates in that budget. Everywhere I go around this island, people tell me they want change. 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. Other names that Keith uses includes Keith Y Amemiya. They married in 1996 and have a son. For the past 10 years, the CPB Foundation played a leading role in supporting The Salvation Army with their Angel Tree Campaign and 4-Corner Red Kettle Challenge. Again, you need to enforce the vacation rental laws. Hes appointed me to a couple of state boards and commissions. There were no sparks during their initial encounter, in which they initially found themselves working on opposite sides of a lawsuit. Keith, you know, whenever we mention illegal vacation rentals, we always have people call us and say whether theyre illegal or not, they need that income from that house or from that room in their house to supplement their income because our cost of living is so bad. Sir John Mills CBE (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 1908 - 23 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. With no candidate receiving an outright majority of the vote in the August 8 nonpartisan blanket primary, the top two finishers, Amemiya and Rick Blangiardi, advanced to a runoff on November 3. The CPB Foundation has a long history of support for The Salvation Army Hawaiian & Pacific Islands Division. Theres no road map or playbook as to how to deal with this, so Im open to any and all ideas, and I dont wanna be so steadfast to say that we absolutely wont work with the hotels. Over the last ten years, the state legislature has failed on many of the issues that matter most to people in Hawaii affordable housing, homelessness, the cost of living, climate change, and protecting our environment. They want someone different, and they want someone new. What would you do to help them, either by creating jobs or otherwise helping people who are really vulnerable right now, in very big numbers? Would you be willing to freeze or reduce city worker salaries, for example? We need to empower principals to make decisions that are right for their students and communities and invest more in our schools and communities to truly support our next generations. I dont have to point out that most of our infrastructure, including the tourism sector and Waikiki, including the downtown business area, the Honolulu International Airport, these sewage treatments plants, the power plants all of that is on the coast. I dont like it, when people say that things cant be done. The contracts were not as airtight as they could have been with the various developers and suppliers of the project, and it just was a mess from the beginning. Ill answer the resistance to change part first. But I wouldnt rule anything off the table at this point. We still own the unit, were renting it out to a local family who cant afford to buy a unit of their own in town, but wanted to live in town and are renting from us. Their first date was dinner at a nondescript sports bar in Honolulu. Were facing an unprecedented situation. So I dont wanna speculate. His mother suffered from mental illness and Keith was brought up by various relatives until he moved in with a friend whose father, Bert T. Kobayashi Jr., became Keith's hnai father. Do you have that same confidence? bike to work, walk to work, catch the bus to work. Too many of our candidates, too many of our politicians have been entrenched. It was rushed, it was ill-planned, and its been a source of frustration for everyone, but were almost done, as I said. Each of those interviews were recorded, and the videos are available at the top of this story and on all of Hawaii News Now's streaming platforms. The guest is Keith Amemiya. ThinkTech Hawaii streams live on the Internet from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm every weekday afternoon, Hawaii Time, then streaming earlier shows through. Its a problem thats often swept under the rug, whether family members or society is embarrassed by it and doesnt wanna deal with it, but its a thing, its a problem, and we need to address it. We need to dedicate significant funds to subsidize the cost of infrastructure development for affordable housing developers. And we exponentially increased the amount of college scholarship opportunities for girls. Younger people in general are more open to change and new technology, so I think its a great opportunity to utilize that. It was 1995 when Amemiya first crossed paths with the woman who would become his life partner. Keith, one of the major contributors here to the carbon, to our carbon footprint, is road transportation. Yes, absolutely, but this does not address the long-term issues. Keith Amemiya named executive director of Central Pacific Bank Foundation By Star-Advertiser Staff Feb. 27, 2021 COURTESY PHOTO Keith Amemiya Prev Next Central Pacific Bank Foundation has. Well, it was clearly incompetence. It was done under the Abercrombie administration. The real property tax assessments in the upcoming year, we cant assume or shouldnt assume that theyre gonna go down significantly. We have to get the cost of living under control too many of our families and friends are already having to leave every year. The next mayor needs to work with the state, the City Council, the legislature, the federal government to attack climate change. I wanna look at vacant positions.' Thats my intent. [2], Since January 2021, Amemiya has served as executive director of the Central Pacific Bank Foundation. I wanted to switch gears over to rail, and I know Daryl, you wanted, you had several questions on the rail project. What would you look at cutting, what city services? You say that you want to restore trust in government. People need jobs, theyre gonna need money when the federal money starts running out. Keith Amemiya (born 1965 or 1966) is an American business executive and politician who ran in the 2020 Honolulu mayoral election. Amemiya testified before a federal grand jury Thursday. When you look at the Mauna Kea movement and how it has sparked conflicts over projects, what do you tell the nervous developers who have already received the green light by government, and what do you tell the police who have to enforce the law, and native Hawaiians who are willing to protest and put their lives at risk for their causes? You know, I never held it against her. We dont have the money to pay that back. We need to look at it top to bottom, we need to look at creative ways that have been done successfully on the mainland. During his 12 years with HHSAA, for example, he successfully persuaded many risk-averse principals and athletic directors to launch a second state championship division for the so-called smaller schools. It was a move that not only brought in more money for the state, but also increased the level of excitement for prep sports exponentially. It sounds a little bit like unicorns and rainbows to me, but what happens if that doesnt work? I support resuming tourism, but not at the 10 million visitors a year amount. Did you see all that, and did you try and take action on it? We should get homeless out of Chinatown. With the pandemic, we have a lot of people unemployed, and its not just housing thats a problem. What would you do as mayor to try to curb that? Some of them are quiet, working-class. Well, first, they were breaking the law, and thats not right. So let me follow up on this too. Well, theres no good place for homeless people to stay, but Chinatown is not one of the places we should focus on. Keith, part of short-term rental enforcement is obviously the Department of Planning and Permitting, which has been bogged down on both the planning and permitting sides for years. Do you think that it was incompetence or criminality that got us where we are? If I could follow up, both on Mahea and Daryls point, some people said, Wheres this guy coming from?' 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. He's trying to convince voters it's his biggest strength. 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