08-14-2024, 09:16 PM
The mayoral runoff this November will be between Mitch Roth & Kimo Alameda. The primary had the lowest voter turnout since statehood.
Roth has been citing this year’s Point in Time count of homelessness in Hawaii County as a key accomplishment for his administration because it showed a 28% decrease in homeless persons on the island in the past year
He also cites improvements in the county’s historically inefficient process for issuing building permits as well as its record of paving more than 70 miles of roads since 2020. He also contends his administration has made significant progress in increasing the supply of affordable housing in the county.
Alameda counters that a county initiative to pump millions of dollars in additional county funding into programs for the homeless — which many believe helped lower the homeless headcount — actually originated with the Hawaii County Council.
He has also questioned whether the Roth administration’s changes in the building permitting process have been as successful as Roth suggests.
On the hot-button issue of the Thirty Meter Telescope, Roth has said the project should be built, while Alameda and his family protested against the TMT in 2019. However, Alameda said things have changed in recent years, and he may be open to the project if the community agrees, if certain conditions are met, and if the project is “done with integrity.”
https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/08/big-is...-a-runoff/
Roth has been citing this year’s Point in Time count of homelessness in Hawaii County as a key accomplishment for his administration because it showed a 28% decrease in homeless persons on the island in the past year
He also cites improvements in the county’s historically inefficient process for issuing building permits as well as its record of paving more than 70 miles of roads since 2020. He also contends his administration has made significant progress in increasing the supply of affordable housing in the county.
Alameda counters that a county initiative to pump millions of dollars in additional county funding into programs for the homeless — which many believe helped lower the homeless headcount — actually originated with the Hawaii County Council.
He has also questioned whether the Roth administration’s changes in the building permitting process have been as successful as Roth suggests.
On the hot-button issue of the Thirty Meter Telescope, Roth has said the project should be built, while Alameda and his family protested against the TMT in 2019. However, Alameda said things have changed in recent years, and he may be open to the project if the community agrees, if certain conditions are met, and if the project is “done with integrity.”
https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/08/big-is...-a-runoff/