 and welcome to Community Matters. I am your host Keisha King. It's so good to be with you this afternoon and our special guest today. Today we're speaking with Sean Hamamoto, the Executive Director for the Neighborhood Commission Office. Welcome to Community Matters, Sean. Thank you, Keisha. It's so great to have you here to discuss the latest elections. I'd love to know all the details who ran, who won, and what happens next. So please jump right in. Okay, thank you, Keisha. Well, as you know, this neighborhood board system is a volunteer system of community boards. We have 33 boards across the island, and among that about 437 volunteer board members. And we recently had our election, the community votes for their board members. And, you know, overall, we're very happy with the results, you know, just judging from the numbers that we got, you know, we really showed improvement in three major areas that I would like to discuss. Please tell us what areas. You know, first is in the total number of candidates. This year we had 553 candidates run. And I can tell you that is the second highest amount of candidates in history that we've had. And it was more than we had about a dozen, more than we had in our previous election in 2017. So we were happy about more candidates stepping forward. And, you know, I really have to say a word for these candidates and for people willing to step forward and really commend them. I mean, you know, this is not a small thing we're asking. It's a two-year commitment. It's volunteer. They don't get paid a penny. And, you know, they commit to at least, you know, one board meeting a month for a term of two years, and to be there to not only listen to the community's concerns, but actually represent the concerns at the board meetings. So, you know, it really hats off to these people who take time out of their busy schedules to improve the communities. Indeed. I want to say how many positions were they looking to fill if you had over 500 candidates. So we have 437 vacant seats. Now, depending on the area, we had some areas with heavily contested races, and we had some areas that weren't contested. So it's really a mixed bag. But we did have a few end of it out. We do have maybe about a dozen or so vacancies. So that's another way for people to participate for. And it's actually an easy way to get on the board. You can go to your next board meeting, and if there's a vacancy, usually, if you're the only volunteer or more often than not with board approval, they'll bring you on to the board. And that's a good way to get on the board without having to go through the elections. I see. So how many communities are we talking about here? So we have 33 active boards around our island. Every nook and cranny all the way out from the Waianae Coast, out to Hawaii Kai, Chinatown, Kahelu. We have so many different unique communities, and I think that's the beauty of these boards is we have these grassroots boards participating in democracy really at the core community level. Wow, I see. And so now the members have the opportunity to join the board and help make important decisions for a larger group, rather than just their small community. Well, yes, what it is, is these boards are advisory in nature. I think that's important to point out. So they don't have any official approving authority per se. However, I can tell you that, for example, I know a lot of government agencies heavily rely on the advice of neighborhood boards when making their decisions. I see. I see. All right, let's get into it. Who ran? Who won? Okay, so we did, as I say, have 553 candidates. The winners were announced last week, I believe, and the results are complete results all on our website. I don't want to go through every one because there are several hundred of them, but if people are interested, please visit our website at www.hanelululu.gov.co and just click on the results tab. Okay, so that's www.hanelulu.gov.nco for neighborhood commission office. And you can see the full results there. But just in talking general numbers, I did want to point out another success that we had is we got one of the highest percentages of return ballots, which was really good. So we had about in total 18,450 total ballots cast. So that percentage rate was about 10.26. So two years ago, it was 9.96. So there was an improvement there. Okay. And actually, this was the highest percentage participation rate we've had since these elections went online back in 2009. I see. So one thing to put out with a caveat, we did have actually a lower number of ballots cast compared to last year. But that's just because and it's a bit confusing, but the way the system is set up, certain areas, if they don't have a contested race, ballots aren't set up. And that's basically to save money. So it just so happened in this year's race, we had certain key areas off the top of my head, Mililani, which is a huge voting area. Parts of Hawaii Kai Kalihi Valley that although they had candidates to run, there weren't enough to have a contested race. Therefore, no ballots were sent out. Therefore, no return. Therefore, the numbers went down. So on the surface of it, it seems that participation went down. But yeah, there's that caveat to it. That's a weird statistic. But if you actually look at our again, the number of candidates went up, the actual percentage went up. And very important, the number of contested races actually went up. Two years ago, we only had 45 contested races. This year, we had 63. Wow. So that that's quite a huge jump. Yes, a huge jump. So overall, you know, we did very good. And beyond just the numbers, I just really think it comes on to the quality of candidates, which, you know, remains to be seen. But I am hopeful that a lot of quality candidates were elected and that they will serve their community faithfully and well. Right. And again, these are volunteers who obviously care about their communities enough to get involved and hopefully speak on behalf of their particular neighborhood that they represent. But that would be really, really good. So what are some of the issues that they bring forth in these races? So when the races themselves, you know, every candidate is different, you have candidates running for different reasons. You know, I think a lot of the issues going now within the city has kind of rekindled this grassroots fire for people to get involved. And I can just off the top of my head, monster houses. That is a heavy topic right now. Yes. All over the state. And this affects many of our communities in our urban core. And you will see a lot of these discussions taking place at our neighborhood boards. I see. So it's very important for us to have this open forum, where community concerns can be adjusted, addressed in a transparent way. You know, these meetings are recorded and videotaped. Right. So in terms of transparency, it's a great system to have. It is. You know, we could probably talk a full hour about the monster houses issue easily, because this is where it happens right there in the neighborhood. And so the people want to have their needs met and they want to have their opinions heard. And then once they do, then what you're saying is the neighborhood representative who's just been elected would take that information to the board? Well, the representative. So as a board, the board can make motions, you know, so they can, although they can't approve, but they can show support or, you know, not support a project. So that's basically how they make their voices known. A good example are city parks. So, you know, a lot of our great communities, we have some great community parks. Now, unfortunately in some situations, parks are being misused, vandalized and so forth. So what certain communities choose to do to try to address this issue is to have park closure hours, meaning to legally close the park at certain times. Therefore, HPD, the police department can legally enforce trespassers. Okay. Now, however, in order for this to happen, what the parks department requires is for the neighborhood board to discuss this and show their support for the closure. And then they can begin the process of, you know, creating the signs and changing the rules. But again, just to show you how important the input of the community is. Yes. Very important. Because if you think about that issue, you've got so many variables. Parents may want to use that park at a time that is supposed to be closed and there's so many discussions about that. Exactly. But then there's also the issue of homeless people who may be visiting the park at, you know, it's their resting spot. So I can see where that issue may be something that would be heavily discussed. And this is a forum just for people to express their opinion. You bring up a good point. Some people may want to use that park at four in the morning. You know, but yeah. And so it's hard, but I think it's about we all live in this community. We all have to live together. Certain compromises have to be made. But I think the discussion should be made so we can see our neighbors face to face. We can see, you know, how these issues are affecting us. Right, right. So it's important that no matter who you are, you get involved. Exactly. And you listen and you share because that is what community is all about. And you bring up an excellent point. And you know, which reminds me, you know, we just had a very important holiday recently, which was Memorial Day. That's right. It's one of my favorite holidays as well. And you know, just thinking about that, honoring the service, the sacrifices that were made for us to have these freedoms. Now, I think the best way for us to honor the memory of these people is to take advantage of the freedom freedoms that we're fought for. That's right. And the neighborhood board system is one such way to do that is to take part in active part in our democracy. To speak out. That's right. We, the people have the right to speak out, to use our voice, free speech. It's important. And this is a constructive way to express your opinion. Yes, it is. You know, we do have rules of order. We do have rules of decorum, because we don't want it to be a battle royale. So we do, you know, on the one hand, everyone has a right to their opinion. But at the same time, we do insist that these opinions are expressed in a civil and professional manner, you know. And so we do, we have rules of decorum. We do abide by Robert's rules of order to make sure there's an orderly form of discussion and a way of passing motion so that it's fair and transparent. Yeah. Well, that's good. That's healthy discussion about important issues that matter in the community in which you live. Yes. Very plain and simple. That's fabulous. Now, how long have you been a part of the neighborhood commission's office? I've been in this position coming on four years now. Okay. But my experience with the neighborhood boards goes back 20 years. Oh, wow. I've always been in government and public service. And I attended my first neighborhood board meeting 20 years ago, back in 1999. I see. And I've been, you know, a state senate rep, a city council rep, a mayor's rep to the board. So I've literally attended hundreds of meetings in my career. I think they're fabulous. And, you know, one thing I always think when I enter these meetings is why aren't more people here? Yeah. This is so great. But the good news is, is a lot of these boards now are recorded. So people do have the opportunity to view past meetings online at O'Lellow and so forth. Right. Now, I've seen the few past meetings at O'Lellow. Yes. And I know that they're not always fun to watch unless it's an issue that you have an opinion about, that you feel strongly about. But how does the word get out that these meetings are taking place? Is there a mailer that goes out? How do people know? Yeah. So we are required by law to publicly give notice of these meetings. So we do post the agendas for every neighborhood board meeting on our website. And that must be posted at least seven days prior to the meeting. Okay. So again, go to our website and all of the agendas are there. Okay. So they can find the agendas on the www.Honolulu.gov.co. Sounds good. We're going to take a commercial break. And when we come back, we're going to talk about what more you can do to become involved in the neighborhood commission's office, as well as your local neighborhood meetings. You're watching Community Matters. We'll be right back. Aloha. I'm Wendy Lo, and I'm coming to you every other Tuesday at two o'clock live from Think Tech, Hawaii. And on our show, we talk about taking your health back. And what does that mean? It means mind, body, and soul. Anything you can do that makes your body healthier and happier is what we're going to be talking about, whether it's spiritual health, mental health, fascia health, beautiful smile health, whatever it means. Let's take healthy back. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Gwen Harris, the host here at Think Tech, Hawaii, a digital media company serving the people of Hawaii. We provide a video platform for citizen journalists to raise public awareness in Hawaii. We are a Hawaii nonprofit that depends on the generosity of the supporters to keep ongoing. We'd be grateful if you'd go to thinktechhawaii.com and make a donation to support us now. Thanks so much. And welcome back to Community Matters here on Think Tech, Hawaii, where you can find us always at the downtown studios on the Fort Street Mall studios right here. We are talking today with Sean Hamamoto. Got it right. And we're talking about the neighborhood commission's office recent election. And I think something interesting happened. You had a tie? Yes, we actually had four ties. Four ties. And that just goes to show every vote counts. Yes. And, you know, aside from these four ties, there were some other races where it was decided by less than a handful of votes. I saw one race which was decided by one vote. So the lesson is, is every vote counts. So, you know, people really need to get involved. So, yes, we did have four ties. We did a recount on those four ties and there was no change in the outcome. So according to our neighborhood plan, which is our bylaws, the winners will be determined by lot. So we're actually going to be conducting that after this interview, I'm going back to my office and we're going to be conducting that to determine the winners of those four tied races. Wow. I feel like I should be there for that. That's like back in the day when they had the Chad, remember that? Yeah, those are the days. So they really say every vote counts. And this is a clear and distinct reason as to why everyone needs to get out to vote. Yeah. But, you know, I think because you had an increase in voting this year, there are more people doing it. And I guess that's because you all have created more awareness about it or the importance of it. Yes, you know, we've done a lot this year in terms of being on shows such as yours online, just to really get the word out, bus ads. And, you know, it worked. We are actually getting out into the community. We did candidate drives, actually going out, you know, sitting on a table out in Waianae trying to recruit people to run. So we made a really concerted effort to getting out. And by and large, the response was positive. You know, I was happy. Well, at first, I was a little dismayed that, you know, a lot of people that have never heard of neighborhood boards as long as we've been around for over 40 years. But generally, once people know about us, there is an interest because generally speaking, people are concerned about their community. You know, we have family, friends, and we all want everybody to have happy and safe lives here. Right. And good relationships with their neighbors. Exactly. Yes, indeed. All right. So moving forward. Well, first of all, so after this tie is decided, this four-way tie, then is there an auguration or anything of that nature? Yeah, so we do have an installation ceremony. It's scheduled for Saturday, June 29th at the Blaisdell Center. It's a different venue this time. I think historically, the installation ceremonies were held at City Hall at the Mission Memorial Building. We opted for the Blaisdell this time just because it's more capacity. We did get comments in the past that, so this is an installation ceremony for all of the candidates who want and who will serve. It's about a half-day event. It entails some training. You know, I do a little speech and an introduction to the system, as well as the actual swearing in. We did get comments that it would be nice if family and friends could come. It's an event, and I agreed. It should. So we got this new, we're going to be using the Pekaki Ballroom at the Blaisdell, and we are telling people, hey, please invite your family and friends. You know, like graduation, the blaze and everything. So we're working on the program for that. The one thing I can share with you that's going to, that we're doing a little bit new is this year we're having a special part of the program where we're going to be recognizing current legislators. So that's current state senators, state representative, council members who are formerly neighborhood board members. Oh, nice. I think that adds a nice touch. Yes. So we're going to recognize them, you know, and just to let people know, hey, these people started way back when in the grassroots in the community. And look at now, years later, state senator, you know, state senator, and dare I say, a president. You never know, right? Kind of had that grassroots beginning. Exactly. Right. But that's where it starts with the grassroots and just really being in touch with your community. That's right. So we're, you know, we're doing at that installation, and then we're looking forward to it. It should be a really nice program. Very good. That's so what date is that for the installation? Oh yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah. So it's Saturday, June 29th. Okay. Yes, 9am. All right. So if anyone wants to attend, is it open to the public? Welcome. Okay. So they could essentially invite the entire neighborhood. Sure. We remember parking this kind of type. But no, of course, we want people to come and it would be a good time. Like again, I'll be doing a presentation on the history and function of the neighborhood boards. We'll have the state office of information practices there, giving some sunshine law training. Oh, nice. So yeah, it'll be a nice program. Very good. Very good. So that's installation. And then moving forward now, what can we expect? Okay. So yeah, so, you know, the elections are over, but our work is not done. You know, we're still committed to increasing public participation in government. That's why we were created. If you go to the city charter, the whole purpose, why this neighborhood board system was created was to increase public participation. So I take that very seriously. So moving forward, now that the elections have been set and we kind of know who won in different areas, we do know that certain areas have vacancies where they didn't have enough people to run. What we're going to do is we're going to be doing concentrated community outreach efforts in those areas to try to recruit people. And that's either going to be going to businesses in the area, putting up posters, perhaps going door to door recruiting, you know, whatever it takes. But now with the elections over, are you going to then appoint someone? If someone volunteers? Well, actually, the boards with the vacancy, they have now the power to appoint their own members to fill their own vacancies. So what we would do is, for example, if I ran into you in the community and like say you lived in say Makiki, I said, Hey, Keisha, there's a vacancy in Makiki. If you're interested, here's what you do. Go to the next board meeting, which is next Tuesday. On the agenda, they'll list. We have a board vacancy. Is there anyone interested in running? And at that point, you can just raise your hand. And what usually happens is the board will ask you a few questions, your background, what you want to run. And more often than not, they're happy to have you because, you know, it's a volunteer position. Right. And so that's another way to get on the board too. So we're going to be working on that. Okay. So let me just say for anyone who's listening, if you would like to get involved, check with your neighborhood board and you could possibly just be appointed if there's a vacancy by default, because no one else has gone, has run. And you know, I encourage people if they have any questions, please call our office, we'd be very happy to help. Our number is 7683710. Okay. And we'll say that number again at the end of the show. Great. Yeah. Fantastic. So this is really good. So you've had the elections. There's still work to do. There's still some vacancies. And you all are still putting together different bits and pieces now and preparing for the installation. You know, because even though the election is over, we still need people to be number one aware of their boards and to be active. So we're still going to be going out into the community to talk about the boards. You know, I made it a goal for our office ever since I took the helm that we make at least a thousand visits out into the community on an annual basis, at least 1000 touches we make to talk to someone about the boards. And it's just face to face. You know, I think nothing beats, I mean, don't get me wrong, technology is fantastic. Can't live without it. But at the same time, nothing beats the face to face to eye to eye That's right. Communication. And so that's something we really take seriously. So we're going to continue to do that. Good. You know, speaking of face to face and door to door, in 2020, we're going to have the national election. Yes. How are you all incorporating that in your neighborhood? So well, for better or for worse, we're not involved. Our elections are offset from those main elections. So neighborhood board elections are every two years on odd number years. Okay. So the general elections are always on even numbers. So we don't yeah, we don't really conflict with that. Okay. And so for the census, then there's no involvement whatsoever. Well, actually, we are, we are, I guess, maybe tendentially involved with the census. I did meet with representatives from the US Census Bureau. Well, gosh, maybe a lot of month ago. So I know they're about ready to do their census soon, which is very important. We offered to assist them in getting the information out. So that's how we're helping them. We met with their executives and one avenue they're going to have is through our office, because again, we do have 33 boards across the island. So and we actually did actually do an article in our newsletter about our partnership with the census and it's just getting people to participate. Exactly. Exactly. And that date is coming up upon us really quick, because even though it's the census of 2020, and we're in 2019, it'll be here before you know it. Before you know it. Yeah. It's half the year has gone by already. Right. And I'm still stuck on last Christmas. So this is fabulous. So thank you so much for stopping in today and sharing this information with us. I want you to give us the website and your telephone number again in case people have questions or want to get involved. And then if there are parting words or points that you want to express, this is your moment. Okay. Thanks. Yes. For more information, please visit our website www.hanolulu.gov.co where you can find board agendas, board minutes, a list of current board members, resources, the neighborhood plan, all sorts of stuff. If you want to talk to us in person, we'd be happy to. 768-3710. 768-3710. And yeah, and just some parting words, you know, I just want to say thank you for all those in the community that do step up. I think it's important. You know, this neighborhood board system really is the cornerstone of democracy in our society here in Honolulu. We're very fortunate to have such a system not everywhere in the United States or even in this world has this public forum where people can be heard and have things on the record and have their voices heard. So really, at the very least, be aware of your neighborhood boards and if you can take part. That's right. Awesome. But thank you so much, Sean. I think again, I second what you have stated, the importance of it. I do have another question though. Sure. We have a lot of renters here. So do you have to be an owner resident? No, see this, that's a fantastic question. No, this is a very inclusive system. The only requirements to be a member, a board member is to be 18 years or older and a resident. You don't have to be, yeah, so you can be military. It's as long as you're a resident, you're part of the community, you have a voice. That's important to know. Because yeah, I think about it. I'm like, you know, there are a lot of renters here and they have thoughts too about their community. They have an opinion about it. Absolutely. Yeah, and their voice should be heard. So it's good to know that you guys acknowledge that. Oh yes, this is a very inclusive system. Very good. That's important. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. My pleasure. And hopefully we'll have you again. We'll hear about wonderful things that you guys are doing in all of our communities and neighborhoods. Thank you. Yes, indeed. So you've been watching Community Matters right here at Think Tech Hawaii. And we're hoping that you'll come back again. Today we've been talking with Sean Hamamoto about the Neighborhood Commission's office. And we want you to get involved. Your words matter. Your opinion matters. So get involved, right? Thank you. Your vote matters too. We'll see you next time. Have a great one. Aloha.