 But you knew that. You also knew that our Community Matters Today show is about Sean Hamamoto and the Neighborhood Commission and the Neighborhood Boards. In fact, he is the Executive Director of the Honolulu Neighborhood Commission office. And he comes to us today to talk about what's going on in the Neighborhood Commission and the Neighborhood Boards. Welcome to the show, Sean. Thank you for having me again, James. So happy to be here. It's great to see you again. We'd like to have you come on and talk about it. So in February, you called for, well, leading up to February, you called for the registration of candidates for the current elections, the oncoming elections of members of Neighborhood Boards. Can you tell us how that worked and how it went? Thank you, Jay. Yes, you know, just to give a little preface to this story, going into this candidate registration period, we were actually very worried. And here's why. I think most people recall in our last general election, last fall, I believe it was one of the worst voter turnouts in Hawai'i history. Hawai'i historically has had low voter turnout. So coming off the tails of that... Let me say that's quite remarkable because, you know, this was a big midterm election federally. Yes. And I find it extraordinary that people would not vote in a history-making federal midterm election. Yeah. It was a mission and it's a cause for concern. And so coming into this candidate registration, our office, we were really worried that, gosh, maybe our numbers are going to be low, people aren't going to come out. So we did put a concerted effort into getting out there, public outreach efforts. And I can tell you, at the end of the day, we resulted in 533 candidates signed up and that happened to be the second highest amount of candidates ever in neighborhood board history. So we were very thrilled with that. And I think the takeaway from that is, although perhaps the general public's maybe not so interested in these general elections, the grassroots democracy is alive and well. And I think that's the good news. Yeah, very interesting. So what was the secret sauce? How did you do that, Sean? You know, I think it's a combination of a lot of things. I can say, for our office, the Neighborhood Commission office, we did put a concerted effort into going out into the community for the first time ever, to my knowledge at least. We actually held candidate registration drives that would go to shopping malls all over the island just trying to sign up people. That's grassroots. Yes. So I think it's a combination of that. And I just think there are issues around our island that do have people concerned. And a lot of the people we did talk to, that was the reason for getting involved. They were not happy with what was going on in their community, and they saw this as a platform to get involved. So at the end of the day, while we were concerned at first, we were very happy with the results of the candidate registration. So what was the pitch you... I'm really curious because this is a phenomenon you're talking about and a good one. What's the pitch you make to people at a mall or an event where you're trying to get them interested? You say, you got a problem? Are you unhappy about something in your neighborhood? Or as city or state government affects your neighborhood? Come on down. You have a voice. Is that kind of pitch or what? Well, usually one of the first questions we ask people is straight up, have you ever heard of the neighborhood board system? Good question. And surprisingly, even to this day, there are some people who've never heard of it, which is surprising since this system's been around since the early 70s, since Mayor Fossey. So that's usually the first question we ask. And if the answer is no, we tell them what it's about. But once they find out what the board's about, almost everybody we talk to has a concern. Oh, you know, we're having some issues with this off-street parking here. Oh, our parks are being vandalized. Someone's always got an issue. So we let them know that, hey, this is a great venue for you to voice your concerns. And to meet with your elected officials face-to-face and talk with them. And as a community, discuss solutions to these issues. That's great that you can stir up the interest. I wonder if the state or federal government could stir up the interest on voting in general on election day. They could learn from you. I'd be happy to help. Actually, we just met with the U.S. Census Bureau last week, and we're going to be helping them because they're wanting to get out to get people to participate. As you know, the amount of people participating in our census relates to the federal dollars we get. And so they came to actually reach out to us asking, hey, can you help us get out the word? So by all means, in my mind, we have the same goal, which is public participation. So by all means, we're going to be assisting the U.S. Census Office in their efforts for the 2020 census. Good, good. We all need the census to be accurate. Absolutely. We should all help the census. And we should not interpose citizenship questions on the census, so as to scare people away. I hope that gets worked out soon. Anyway, so 500 people, they're all ostensibly running for seats on how many neighborhood boards? So we have 33 neighborhood boards across our great county, about 436 volunteer board members. So when you talk about a grassroots effort, you think about 400 plus community people? I mean, I think that's something to be proud of. So it's not all unopposed. Some of them are running for contested seats. So it's a mixed bag, depending on the area. Some of them are unopposed. We do have some contested races, so it'll be interesting. Is everybody on there, is this a fresh slate, or are the people who are grandfathered in for a term? No, everybody, all seats are open. So even if you've been on the board for 20 years, you still have to run. I like that. I like that too. Is there a term limit or anything? There's no term limits. That issue has been brought up in the past. The reason why people were against it, well, some of the arguments is the fact that, unlike public officials, these neighborhood board members aren't paid. They really are advisories, so they don't have the power to make laws. And just for the fact, it is rather difficult to get people to participate. You're asking someone for a two-year commitment, at least one night a month. So the feeling is, well, if somebody wants to volunteer, we should let them. Yeah. One thing strikes me, though, and I offer you a suggestion on this. Although I certainly agree that we need to encourage people to run and be on these boards and actively engage on these boards, there probably should be a term limit on the chair of the board. Because some of these boards have chairs who have been there forever, and it tends to calcify when that happens. You agree? I would say yes and no. I would say it depends on the board. I'm a firm believer in democracy. Now, as we know, the chairs are elected by the board. So if the board feels that that's the chair ruled by the people, then so be it. But to be very honest, we have seen a turnover, a sort of changing over of the guard. Many longtime chairs who have been around for years are no longer with the system. That's a good thing. I think it's a good trend. I mean, there's this potential for the neighborhood board to really activate people in terms of their relationship with government, all government. It starts grassroots, as you say. So what role does the commission play in managing this election and in managing the neighborhood boards? So for this election, yes, we are administrating this entire election. So that's everything going on behind the scenes. As you know, this is an online election. So behind the scenes we're working with the Office of Elections, our Department of Information Technology to make sure our computer infrastructure is all set. And it's basically that getting out into the community, going on shows like such as yours to get the word out to get people to participate. We're happy to help you do that, Sean. Thank you so much. And then in terms of just the day-to-day running of the board, just our staff are the ones that help boards assist the chairs in publishing their agendas. Our staff is the one that takes the minutes, which is the minutes that go on the public record forever. And just helping the boards with any administrative concerns they may have on a day-to-day basis. So, yeah, and you're, are you the organization that says to the police, come on down? Are you the organization that says to the fire department, come on down? Or to the mayor's representative or to the water supply, come on down? You know, it's actually up to the chair. According to the neighborhood plan, it is the chair who's responsible for producing the agenda. And we like to have it like that. You know, one of, I guess, on a philosophical tangent, you know, I really believe that we should give these boards as much autonomy as possible because every community is unique. So that's one of the ways these boards are very autonomous is that the board can create their own agenda. So it's up to them. But I would say, by and large, most boards, you know, like, you know, HPD or the fire department to come because of the public safety updates that they have. I'd like the board of water supply to come down to ours because I have a few remarks I would like to make to them about the flood in Nutuanu, but that's just me. Well, the neighborhood boards are a perfect place to talk about these things. So the other thing is how much power, autonomy is good. And I mean, we talked before about the neighborhood boards had the autonomy to decide whether to film and televised their proceedings on O'Lello, which is not expensive because all you got to do is pay the cameraman, right? Yes. O'Lello will broadcast it free. But they have the power to do it or not do it. What are the pros and cons of that? And how are the boards reacting to that? And, you know, what do you see in the future for television, televising these board meetings? I definitely think this is just the beginning as technology. In my mind, as technology becomes more sophisticated, I really do see us live streaming these meetings. Currently, they're recorded and played back a few weeks later. I know a few boards have started experimenting with live streaming. I think in the future, we're going to move more towards that, where people from the comfort of their own home or smart device and watch a neighborhood board meeting from home or at a restaurant, at the library, something. So I do see it getting. That's really a good idea, actually, yeah. You know, I can tell you, I'm a former board member myself. I was a former member of the downtown Chinatown Neighborhood Board. And at that time, this was back in 2011. For all those years, they have always been resistant to being televised, for some reason or another. But it was my goal. I thought if there's one thing I can do with my time on this board is I need to get this board televised. Back then, the meetings were held on Pohahi Street with very little or no street parking. And I was concerned about our elderly or perhaps disabled people who would have problems getting through that. And because of the issues in Chinatown, I thought it was only fair and because it is a people's board that the people should be made aware. And it's very difficult if in order to become aware, you have to be able to physically be present at this meeting. So I thought by having it on O'Lello and recorded, people at their own convenience, they can go online and see what happened. So there was a bit of resistance at first. But finally, I convinced the board, hey, can we give it a try? And they agreed. And so far, so good. Up until now, we're in 2019. And they're still being recorded. So I'm very happy about that. Yeah. You know, I just add a thought to that is that I would favor, I do favor, recording and for that amount of streaming. Why? Because I think that although it's hard to get people to serve on boards, somehow this makes it easier. It makes them see themselves as public officials. They are. They're officials. And what they do and say, how they appear, how they conduct themselves, it's all for the benefit, arguably, of the public. And what I hate to see in a given neighborhood board meeting is some person says, I'm sitting on this board and I want you to fix the front of my house. This cracks in my sidewalk. There's homeless sleeping in my lawn and I want you to do something about it. That's self-interested. That's not raising to the level of a public official concerned with the whole neighborhood and all the neighbors. And I think if you put them on the air, they're going to figure it out. They're public officials. I agree. And I think it helps the community know how the people of the elected are representing them. And again, one of our major tenants of our board system is transparency. We adhere very strictly to the state sunshine law. So I think having these meetings recorded, it just furthers our goal of transparency with public meetings. Well, I love the idea, although it's probably a way to go of streaming these meetings. We're not right there yet, but I honestly believe we will in a few years we will get there. We do this. You can ask me how to do it. I'll tell you how to do it. We've been through all of the learning experience on that. So we're Sean Hamamoto, the executive director of the neighborhood, Honolulu Neighborhood Board Office, excuse me, Honolulu Neighborhood Commission Office. We're going to take a short break, Sean, and be right back after this. And then we'll talk about the election itself coming soon. This is the real purpose of our meeting today. Sounds great. The election itself. We'll be right back. Hey, loha. My name is Andrew Lanning. I'm the host of Security Matters Hawaii airing every Wednesday here on Think Tech Hawaii, live from the studios. I'll bring you guests. I'll bring you information about the things in security that matter to keeping you safe, your co-workers safe, your family safe, keep our community safe. We want to teach you about those things in our industry that may be a little outside of your experience. So please join me, because security matters. Aloha. Hi, I'm Mabuhay. My name is Amy Ortega Anderson, inviting you to join us every Tuesday here on Pinoy Power Hawaii. With Think Tech Hawaii, we come to your home at 12 noon every Tuesday. We invite you to listen, watch. For our mission of empowerment, we aim to enrich, enlighten, educate, entertain, and we hope to empower. Again, maraming, salamat po, Mabuhay, and aloha. Yeah, the magic word is shonhama motto. That's the magic word today. He's the executive director of the Honolulu Neighborhood Commission office, which runs the neighborhood boards. I should say, which provides administrative support for the neighborhood boards, because they run themselves. So you have your 500 and Samad candidates ready to fill your 400 and Samad seats on 33 neighborhood boards, see how much I remember. OK, and this election is going to take place over about a month or so. Well, tell us about the time frame. Yes. So the actual voting period starts this Friday, April 26, and runs until Friday, May 17. Pass codes, I just want to remind people out there that this is primarily an online election. About 10 years ago, the Neighborhood Commission did decide to make elections primarily online to utilize technology. I just do want to add, though, that for those who perhaps do not have access to a computer or are not quite comfortable using a computer yet, we do have a mail-in ballot option. We really don't want to disenfranchise anybody as much as we want to encourage people. So please call us, and we would be happy to send you a paper ballot. But pass codes have actually, throughout this week, will be mailed out to all registered voters. It's going to come in a simple white envelope, and it's going to be a pass code. It's a unique pass code, so what you just go to our website, and you enter your pass code, and literally you can vote in about two minutes. It's really fast and secure. Most people must vote online. It's so easy. I would say in our last election, about 90%, over 90% get online. And you don't have to speak Russian or anything like that to vote online, eh? No, no, it is in English. I'm joking. I'm joking. We like to think of global issues. OK, so I can vote online. I can ask for a paper ballot. What telephone number do I call? 768-3710. 768-3710. And in addition, we've also made a deal or a partnership with our Hawaii State Library system. So for people who don't have computers at home, you can go to any state library that has computers, and that can also be a voting station. And we're also setting up voting stations, Kapola Mahale, Kapolei Hale, and the key project called Kahulu. So there are a lot of ways that people can get out there and vote. We want to make it as easy as possible for people. So yeah, and certainly that's important. How many voters do you hope to achieve? And are you doing the same kind of voter registration effort that you did with getting candidates? In terms of the effort, definitely, we're going out into the community as much as possible. I believe this week we're going to be out in a couple of neighborhoods around the island. In terms of voter participation, that is a goal of mine to try to get as many people as possible. I can tell you in our last election we had a little over 20,000 voters. And at that time, that was the highest number of voters for our online election. So that was the good news. The other part of it is, and I think just from a historical standpoint, is that the elections went online in 2009. Prior to that, though, that year in looking at my records, I wasn't here at the time. But prior to that election in 2007, they had a high of 40,000. So from 40,000 in 2007, in 2009, it went online. And we saw a drastic drop. From 40,000 of those, it went down to 10. And ostensibly, it's because people are not quite used to the online system, it takes people. But what I've seen in looking at the numbers over the past decade now is a steady increase. So hopefully, one day, we can get back up to those numbers of 40,000. But I can say my goal this year is to get more than last time. And we had 20,000, a little over 20,000. And if you think about it, that's still a lot of people. 20,000 people is a lot of people out there just taking the time to vote. It must be, I mean, I'm sure there are various factors in those numbers. But one of them has to be that if you have a lot of people voting, it means they have a lot of concerns about the way the city is working. And maybe, I mean, one element here, maybe the number of people who are concerned and complaining about if the city is working are less now. That could also explain the drop. I'm making that up, I don't know. But it must be a number of factors that lead to that demographic change. Yeah, I personally think it's just the fact that they pretty much back in 2009 went cold turkey to that online system. And that's where you saw that drastic, a 75% drop. Right away. So that's a good correlation right there. I think it is. Like I said, the good news is every year it's been, so 2009, 10,000 votes, here we are just several years later, we doubled that, we're up to 20,000. I think we're on the right path. We're going to keep at it. How long have you been in this job? So this year, I was first appointed to this position by Mayor Caldwell in 2015. So this August is going to make four years. OK, good for you for having your eye on the ball. So what about the candidates? You know, if I went through the trouble of putting my name in and all that, now I'm a candidate. The election is going to start pretty soon. What should I do? Should I get out there and pound the pavement, knock on doors as they do for state legislature? I mean, how do I get votes? Well, for those in contested races, we actually, we leave it up to the candidate. We say, you know, you can do however you want it. On one end of the spectrum, you have people who will simply just put their name on the ballot. That's it. On the other end of the spectrum, you do have people who will go door to door, which I actually think is a better idea if you're going to serve your community, go door to door to their neighbors, introduce themselves. Hi, I'm So-and-So. I'm running for your neighborhood board. We have some people hosting flyers. It's one candidate that I know he lives in a condo building, so he's passing out flyers to his neighbors. Well, you know, it's open, you know, it's whatever you want to be. If you really want it, you should want and get it. You should put some effort, yeah. And I also am very curious on this, you know, as we talked about, a lot of people stay on the board year after year. So this is like, you know, this is like the freshman in Congress. How many freshmen are out there? In other words, candidates who have never sat on the board versus people who've been sitting on the board in the past. That is a very interesting question, and I would love to come back to you after the elections with the results, and I can tell you specifically, I would love to have that information. Okay, that's a date. I want to hear about that. You know, that change tells us a lot about the community. And I actually have seen that in some of our communities, especially here in the urban core, we've been seeing some of the millennial generation get involved, new chairs coming up. So, you know, it's a work in progress, but you know, I'd be very happy to report that. I think that's an interesting point. Yeah, I want to see what that means, yeah. Okay, the other thing I wanted to ask you about is we're not necessarily talking about vacancies that are filled midterm. In other words, suppose we have a whole new slate, boards are, you know, seated and say, I don't know, June, July this year, whenever it is. And then somebody resigns, you know, falls off somehow. Now there's a vacancy. My recollection is that the sitting members of the board then fill the vacancy by there, but am I right about that? Correct, correct. How often does that happen? You know, that happens, I would say quite often, just for the fact that yes, it is a two-year term. And people resign for many reasons. I would say a common reason that people resign is simply that they move out of the area. You're not pursuant to the neighborhood plan, you're not allowed to be a representative if you don't live in the district. Oh yeah. So if people move out of the area, they need to resign, sometimes, you know, family obligations, so forth. But for whatever reason, sometimes people are not able to complete their term, which is fine, and yes, you are correct. It is up to the board to fill those vacancies. And usually how it's done is you'll have somebody, they'll get someone from the audience, you know, the vacancy will be listed on the agenda. So when they get to that point is, anyone in the audience want to serve and they usually are able to get. But there could be a contention too. There could be more than one. And one that's a serving. And there could be more than one. And then the chair would have them present. And the board would decide which one it liked best. Well, again, a democratic process. Yeah. Yeah, and I also wanted to ask you, what their authority is these days. You know, my recollection is the board didn't have any legal authority, but they had kind of moral authority. And for example, if a government agency wasn't doing a job in their view, they could write a letter. And if that didn't solve the problem, they could write another letter and they could write higher up and they could get other officials involved until it was enough, what do you want to call it, political pressure on that agency to at least respond to them and take action. Does it go beyond that? Well, I'll put it this way. So you're correct. The board members don't have any authorization powers. They are, at essence, an advisory board. But what I can tell you is that they do can have an effect on how government conducts their business. If you look at, just say, developments, if you look at our land use ordinance, certain developments are required by the law to make a presentation to the neighborhood board. Liquor licenses, that's another big one. Certain communities have a lot of liquor establishments. So it is written in the liquor commission rules that new applicants must go before the board. So what that shows me is that the government does take what the board says seriously, otherwise they wouldn't make it mandatory for them to present to the community. Another good one, Department of Parks and Recreation. With park closures, before they take any action on closing a park, perhaps to stem illicit activity, is they require that the issue be brought before the neighborhood board and the board take a position on it before they'll even move on it. So although they don't have the authority, I say they give some really strong advice, is a good way to put it. And the government, in a lot of cases, they do listen. Yeah, I mean, it's an interesting role. I mean, two things that I learned when I served on a neighborhood board is that sometimes the board members forget their middle name, neighbor, the word neighbor. And they're way lofty dealing with issues that have nothing to do with their neighbors and making love among their neighbors. The other is that it's easy to fall into the notion, and some boards do this more than others, that you're a big cheese now and you can be very lofty and officious. And that doesn't help in terms of dealing with the neighborhood. So it's a matter of achieving the right tone. How do you do that? Do you address them? Do you talk to them? Do you give them guidelines? Well, we do provide training, a general training, and we do point out, as stated in the neighborhood plan, rules on decorum. However, and I'm gonna be fair, nobody means ill, and I just think sometimes people are passionate because it's their neighborhoods. But what I do have is I have my staff and they're the key, our neighborhood assistants who actually sit at the board meetings and assist the board chairs. They are actually a big part in helping keep the decorum. So I can just tell you what goes on behind the scenes is that sometimes we do have issues where maybe somebody's maybe using vulgar language or people are getting a little feels threatened. That's a really good point. We'll take care of it, we'll counsel them on the side. You can tolerate that. Exactly, we'll call in a chair to counsel them. So we help them, and ultimately it is the chair's responsibility to run the meeting but we're there to assist the chair. It does require management. It does require administration. I mean, the point you raised earlier about a member of the neighborhood board, one of the people who would win here in this coming election could move out of the neighborhood and not say boo about it. But theoretically that person is disqualified from serving on that board, needs to be replaced. Somebody has to make that point and ask him nicely to leave or her leave. And we actually did have that recently at one of our boards. It does come up. Last question, Sean. Every board gets a budget of sorts from the city. I don't remember what it was and I certainly don't know if it's changed but I wonder if you could talk about that for a minute. Yeah, I don't have the exact figures but I can tell you it is a shoe string budget. Basically the boards are a lot of the budget and we pay for their monthly facility use. So that could be like a school cafeteria or a community center, whatever the case may be. So, but the funds are used to basically pay for their facility use, any printing. We send out agendas to the area. We also provide if they want banners to advertise. I mean, in the meeting. Or actually like certain boards, they'll have a banner and they'll place that out somewhere in the community. During that week, hey, come to our neighborhood board. I think we just gave a key one. I want to publicize the meeting, yeah. I think they'll want to have one for a few years. Yeah, we will, yeah, okay, yeah. So yeah, just very simple operations but that's basically what the money goes for and for any newsletters or a level, well actually a level of broadcast for free but we help pay for the recording services, yes. Well, last question, I said the last one was 11 as you want more. How is it doing in a sort of trajectory sense? Where do you see the system going? You know, from, it's been up and down over the years. Sometimes it's been very effective and I guess that's the condition of humanity. Where do you see it going from here? I'm very hopeful and of course, you know, I'm cold-terminous with the mayor so as much as I love this job, I'm only here till the end of his term. All I can say is that I hope that the foundation in this admission that we sent will help propel the neighborhood system into the future and I just wish him the best but I do have hope that with technology is going to be a game changer. I really think that that's going to be a key ingredient in really getting more community input and more community involvement. Yeah, community engagement, that's what we care about most and happy to see any infrastructure that enhances that. Thank you so much. Sean, I'm alone, neighborhood commission, aloha. Thank you.