Mayor Alameda addresses housing crisis at Japanese Chamber meeting in Hilo

Mayor Kimo Alameda used his second State of the County address to press a blunt argument: housing shortages, homelessness and affordability on Hawaiʻi Island require sweeping, cross-jurisdictional effort. Speaking at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaiʻi’s Winter General Membership Meeting at Nani Mau Gardens in Hilo on Thursday, Alameda framed the crisis around infrastructure, regulation and social supports and urged partners at every level to act.

The event drew more than 200 attendees, including Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green and visiting mayors Derek Kawakami of Kauaʻi and Richard Bissen of Maui, alongside county staff, family, supporters and special guests. Alameda thanked community groups, small businesses and County employees for their work while laying out a policy agenda that he said must be shared by county, state and federal leaders.

Alameda cited a survey of 4,000 Hawaiʻi Island residents to underline urgency: cost of living topped the list of concerns. He used that finding to connect residents’ day-to-day pressures to wider systems, saying that addressing affordability will take detailed work across many fronts. “It is going to require all of us,” Alameda said. “And that’s why I feel that when we talk about affordability, the only way to address it is to dig deep into these areas.”

The mayor named a roster of concrete factors driving housing costs and instability on the island: building codes, roads, energy costs, wastewater and water services, workforce development, home insurance, mortgage rates, property taxes and support services. He positioned those items as areas for policy change and infrastructure investment rather than abstract complaints.

To that end Alameda outlined specific county approaches. He said the administration will pursue sensible regulation changes that lower housing costs without sacrificing safety, make investments in energy infrastructure and clean energy, and invest in housing paired with social services. He also pledged to expand housing solutions in partnership with the State, partner with higher education institutions to bolster the local workforce, and collaborate with State and Federal governments to address home insurance challenges.

Alameda pushed a broad definition of “housing” to include treatment and support facilities, delivering one of the speech’s most pointed lines: “And that’s why we need all kinds of housing. We need residential treatment facilities, that’s housing. We need addiction facilities, that’s housing. We need group homes and, you know, homes for women who feel unsafe in their own homes. We need shelters, those are homes. Believe it or not, we need jails, too. Those are homes, as well. But they’re crowded, so we got to figure that out, too.”

Closing the address, Alameda stressed shared responsibility and community ties, saying, “We are all part of the same community and that is my community family.” He highlighted accomplishments from the past year but did not list specific project names, budgets or timelines at the Nani Mau Gardens event. Alameda pledged hard work and collaboration to deliver results for residents as his administration pursues the infrastructure, regulatory and service changes he described.