Aloha Friends,

Yesterday, I became acting Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.  I wanted to keep you informed on what is happening with my campaign during this important transition period.

As you know, Mufi Hannemann filed to run for Governor which required that he resign as Mayor.  Under the City and County Charter, the Managing Director becomes acting Mayor until a Special Election is held to elect a Mayor who will serve the remainder of the term.  The City Council will issue a proclamation this week calling for the Special Election on either September 18 (Primary Election) or November 2 (General Election).

I will be running in the Special Election and serving as acting Mayor at the same time.   I consider this a unique opportunity because I will be the only candidate who has the knowledge and experience of running the city, overseeing 21 departments and 10,000 employees.  While I have served as acting Mayor at times when the Mayor is out of state, such as during the tsunami alert last February, I look forward to taking on the duties and responsibilities of the Mayor on a daily basis.

While acting Mayor I will also be working hard, like the other candidates, to earn your vote to elect me as Mayor in September or November.  The citizens of our City will get to know me as a candidate for Mayor by the job that I do in this transition period.  And I'm confident that, once they do, the voters will see that my knowledge and experience makes me the best qualified to be your Mayor.

As acting Mayor, I talk with hundreds of people in the course of a day, and when I ask them what they expect most from city government, they say that they want things to work.  They want roads to be paved, trash to be picked up, police and fire protection, timely permitting, and they want their tax dollars to be spent wisely.  Getting the basics done right is very important to me, and, in addition, my focus will be on the following priorities:

• Jobs – taking action to preserve and create jobs for local people.
• Traffic and congestion – finding short and long terms solutions to ease the burden of commute, including working collaboratively to keep the rail project on track.
• Workforce housing – partnering with the private sector to expedite and develop a continuum of housing options for Oahu residents.
• Homeless Population – working with nonprofit providers, communities, and other government agencies to get the homeless off the streets, and returning the parks and beaches for general public use.
• City Budget – looking for ways to curb spending and maintain services without having to raise taxes and fees.

The next few months are critical in this campaign.  I do feel like I will be on a very long job interview for the position of Mayor, and I challenge folks to watch how I do.  I am counting on you to give me feedback, even if critical, on how I can do better.  I am sincere in wanting to hear from you and others.   Please forward this email to your circle of friends to help us get out the word.

Lastly, I want to thank you for your interest in my campaign, and for the tremendous support and encouragement I have received from so many of you.  In the months to come, I will be working very hard to earn your trust and confidence, and I assure you that my first priority will always be serving the public and doing what’s best for the people of Honolulu.

Mahalo,
Kirk

We still have several hours left before the midnight deadline for this fundraising report, so if you haven't done so yet, please help put Kirk over the top by contributing $5, $25, $50 or whatever you can afford.