“We must take bolder steps if we want to improve the future of our Islands.”

“To face our challenges, overcome our problems, and seize our opportunities, we need to acknowledge that many of our current approaches are not working anymore.

We need an economy where growth for a privileged few is not enough. We need homes our local families can afford. We need more and better jobs in more than one industry. We need to support our rich and diverse communities. We need to take bold steps, commit ourselves, and not flinch when we encounter obstacles in taking those steps.

We need to provide more authority and autonomy to our counties, while centralizing responsibility and accountability for those things that need to be addressed statewide. We need the mayors and the governor and the legislature working together with greater coordination and synergy.

Most of all, we need to focus more on our people. Not just the outputs of government programs and policies, but actual outcomes of making life better for our citizens. I fear we are falling short and further and further behind. But together, we can change that course. As your governor, I will dedicate myself to championing those changes, taking those bold steps, and improving the lives of people throughout Hawai‘i.”

— Kirk Caldwell

Kirk – Family and Friends

What shaped Kirk’s character, and how he’s worked to improve the lives of people in Hawai‘i.

Kirk’s Priorities

Housing For Local Families

I want future generations to remain in our islands with their families and friends, and affordable housing is the best way to keep them here. The cost to purchase or rent a home in our state has grown beyond the ability of too many local people. We must encourage more rentals, which I began as mayor, but that’s just a part of the solution. We need to build more homes – single family, townhomes, and condos – in areas where our working families live and need them. And as the largest landowner on every island, the state holds a critical key to make this happen.

Diversifying Our Economy

Government is not an entrepreneur. It can’t start and grow new businesses. But we can do a dramatically better job to foster and attract them. Hawai‘i has some of the highest income tax brackets in the U.S. and difficult regulatory burdens. We’re at an all-time low in business rankings. We must make our state a better place for innovators and entrepreneurs to do business. If we want to attract more industries and jobs beyond tourism, we have to reduce taxes, bureaucracy, and over-regulation.

Homelessness

The roots of homelessness lie in housing affordability, and mental health, and substance abuse. There are no fast or easy answers to any of those. But our greatest successes have been through public-private partnerships like Kahauiki Village, and we need many, many more like it. The state controls much of the land and regulatory apparatus to foster such projects and must play a larger proactive role. We must also invest more, much more, in community mental health and drug treatment programs. Although we may never eliminate homelessness in a free society such as ours, we need leadership to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.

Environment and Climate Change

There is no other state in the country more vulnerable to climate change than Hawai‘i. And there are no ecosystems more threatened than those in Hawai‘i, especially when you consider the vast ocean environments surrounding us. I’m proud of the work we’ve begun to make our island home greener and more sustainable, but there is so much more we must do. I have always strongly supported Governor Ige’s aggressive goals of 100% renewable energy by 2045, and believe we also need such a commitment in other areas of our environment and preparation for climate change.

Managing Tourism

Tourism is the driving force of Hawai‘i’s economy, and we are fortunate it’s an industry without belching smokestacks; one that’s founded in the sharing of aloha with people from around the world. But we must manage it better to reduce the growing impacts on our residents, neighborhoods, and environment. We must better keeping visitor accommodations to areas with the infrastructure to support them, like Waikiki, Ka‘anapali and others. We need to reduce traffic congestion and control commercial access to beaches, parks, and trails. And we must attract visitors who come to our islands to support their sustainability, not threaten it.

About Kirk

kirkcaldwell-bio

Kirk Caldwell was born in Waipahu and raised in Hilo, the oldest son of a country plantation doctor father and a fearless, outgoing mother. His family still lives on the Big Island. Kirk’s first job was working on the “weed spray gang” at Puna Sugar Company, tough work his parents wanted him to experience, and that shaped his understanding of the needs of working people.

Kirk graduated from HPA in Kamuela and went on to study Urban Planning and Economics at Tufts University, earn his Master’s at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and his law degree from the UH William S. Richardson School of Law. His earliest experience in the public arena was working in the Washington DC office of Senator Daniel K. Inouye.

Kirk was Managing Partner at the Ashford and Wriston law firm and began his public service career in 2002, when he was elected to the State House of Representatives where he quickly rose to become the House Majority Leader. [Photo Kirk working in House.] He served as Managing Director of Honolulu in 2009, and as Acting Mayor in 2010. He was elected Mayor in 2012.

Kirk Caldwell kept his promises to repave roads, upgrade sewers and infrastructure, and improve customer service at satellite city halls and the DMV. He was tireless in his efforts to address long-standing challenges like homelessness and transportation equity. He was recognized nationally as a leader to make Honolulu greener and planning for climate change.

Most importantly, from the earliest threats of the pandemic Mayor Kirk Caldwell and his team responded to the challenge with courage and commitment, protecting community health, instituting rapid testing, feeding families in need, assisting small businesses, and effectively putting federal CARES funding to work. He left office prior to wide vaccine distribution, yet with Honolulu ranked as among the safest cities in the country.

Kirk has been married for 40 years to Donna Tanoue, who served as State Commissioner of Financial Institutions in the Ariyoshi administration, was appointed by President Bill Clinton as Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and is former Vice Chair for Bank of Hawai‘i. Their daughter Maya graduated with a degree in history from Tufts University.

Endorsements

Great cities are the foundation of our country, so it’s important that we elect mayors with vision, integrity, and passion for the job. That’s Kirk Caldwell. I support Kirk for Mayor because he cares about working families and the urban fabric within which they live. He continues to improve the quality of basic infrastructure, and he has been a champion of rail which will be a game changer for Honolulu. Kirk demonstrates local values and manages with a local heart. I see the changes and improvements when I come home to Honolulu, and I urge voters to give him the opportunity to finish the work that he has started.

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Promises Made. Promises Kept.

Environment and Climate Change

Kirk’s team has made huge strides to make Honolulu a greener city, including bans on single-use plastic items, reducing landfill waste, making H-Power the Oahu’s largest provider of renewable energy, installing energy-saving street lighting, and planting tens of thousands of trees.

Public Safety

Under Kirk, Honolulu established the HPD body cam program, added new police and fire vehicles, and spearheaded new legislation on sprinkler retrofits and fire safety improvement to 360 high rise residential buildings.

Rail Transit

Despite many challenges, Kirk has been a tireless advocate for rail transit, and to provide transportation equity for workers and families in west and central O‘ahu, who have no alternative to getting to their jobs or school but for spending hours and hours every day in slow commutes in cars or buses.

Infrastructure

From 2013 to 2018 Kirk’s administration built the massive 3.5-mile Kaneohe-Kailua Sewer Tunnel, the largest wastewater conveyance project ever built in the state; the project was completed on time and on budget.

Road Improvements

The Caldwell administration paved 2,300 lane miles on Oahu, exceeding its goal to improve 1,500 land miles of substandard roads and the largest such improvement project in Hawai‘i since the 1980s.

Covid 19 Response

Honolulu’s response to Covid-19 was immediate and proactive. He worked directly with Governor Ige and the county mayors to implement stringent safety protocols, resulting in Hawai‘i having the lowest Covid rates in the country.

Affordable Housing

Kirk’s administration helped enable more than 10,000 new housing starts in Honolulu, including single family homes, condos, townhouses, and rental units. Honolulu added 2,508 total units of 80% AMI affordable housing.

Homelessness

In partnership with the community, Kirk helped develop homeless facilities including Hale Mauliola at Sand Island, Kahauiki Village near the airport, Punawai clinic, rest stop and housing in Iwilei, and HONU navigation centers and mobile hygiene centers across O‘ahu.

City Management

While Kirk was mayor, Honolulu had no increase in real property taxes for primary residences of homeowners. The City also maintained very strong bond credit ratings: AA+ Fitch and Aa1 Moody’s.

Send Kirk a Message

I’m listening. Tell me what you think. And let me know if you would like to help on the campaign by donating or volunteering.

Contact Kirk

Other Methods

You can write to Kirk at:

Friends of Kirk Caldwell
PO Box 61208
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96839

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