By Senator Mike Gabbard

Aloha! Here are a few of the things that I’ve been working on.

Villages of Kapolei Maintenance
Shortly after taking office, I sat down with Dan Davidson, the Director of Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corporation (HHFDC). This is the newly created state agency that oversees the Villages of Kapolei and the development of affordable housing in Hawaii (formally HCDCH). Before I took office, I had contacted Mr. Davidson and requested that he look into repairing many neglected areas in the Villages.

I’m pleased to announce that HHFDC will issue a bid within the month for maintenance improvements at Kumu Iki and the rest of the Villages of Kapolei. The work will begin in late Spring and will include approximately $100,000 for repairs to sidewalks, curbs, catch basins, and drain inlets; and $50,000 for repair to stop signs, speed limit signs, street names, and no parking signs. I know that the residents of Kumu Iki/Villages of Kapolei have been waiting for these improvements and will be happy to see the repair work completed.

Meetings with School Principals
As a lifelong educator and member of the Senate’s Education Committee, one of my priorities will be doing all I can to improve our schools. During the last several weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down and talk story with all the public school principals in Kapolei. I wanted to hear first hand what they felt were the top priorities for their schools. I was told there is a need for air conditioners, electrical and phone upgrades, new parking lots, additional classrooms, and many more improvements. I can’t make any promises, but I assure you that I’ll do my best to see that our schools get a fair shake. I also wanted to mention that I’ll be featuring artwork from our local students in my office.

Talk Story
After hearing from many of you about the humbug of attending a talk-story meeting in the evening after work, I've decided to do something a little different. I hope you can join me for a nice, relaxing cup of coffee at the Kapolei Starbuck's (outside seating, across the street from Longs Drugs) the 2nd Saturday of every month at 9 a.m. I'll also be co-hosting some of my talk-story meetings with Representative Har.

Please contact me if I can help you in any way. My phone number is 586-6830 and email is sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov. Mahalo for the privilege of serving you!