Anthony
Nagatani

You can't feel safe on broken ground.

Honolulu's sewer and drainage systems are decades overdue. In neighborhoods like Chinatown, Iwilei, and Downtown, that aging infrastructure isn't just an inconvenience — it's a root cause. When sewer capacity is maxed out, new housing stalls. When housing stalls, supply stays tight, costs go up, and local families get squeezed out.

Fixing the pipes isn't glamorous. It doesn't make for a great photo op. But it's the foundation that everything else depends on. Modern sewer and drainage infrastructure unlocks housing construction, reduces flooding, prevents street deterioration, and gives our neighborhoods the backbone they need to grow without pricing out the people who already live here.

Fix the pipes. Fix the streets. Keep our neighborhood safe — starting underground.

Chinatown's future should be defined by culture and community — not by what you're afraid to walk past at night.

Too many families avoid ʻĀʻala Park after dark. Too many small business owners on Maunakea Street lock up early not because they want to, but because they don't feel safe. Too many kupuna won't walk to the bus stop alone. That is not the neighborhood we grew up in, and it is not the neighborhood we are going to accept.

Public safety in HD28 isn't just a police issue — it's a funding issue, a mental health services issue, and an infrastructure issue. Better lighting, regular sidewalk cleaning, coordinated state and city investment in behavioral health resources, and real engagement with community organizations are all part of what it takes to make these streets feel like ours again.

When residents, families, and businesses feel safe, neighborhoods come alive. Restaurants fill up. Theaters thrive. Our keiki can just be kids.

This neighborhood is worth fighting for. Safe nights are part of what that means.

This is our neighborhood — not a development opportunity.

Too many families in HD28 live one notice away from displacement. No-cause evictions and unpredictable rent hikes make it nearly impossible to plan a future here — to enroll your kids in school, to take care of an aging parent, to build anything that lasts. The math doesn't work, and working people know it.

Reasonable rent stability policies and just-cause eviction protections create balance. They protect responsible landlords while giving renters the basic security to put down roots. When families know they can stay, neighborhoods stabilize, schools improve, and communities actually become communities.

One job should be enough to live in the place you grew up. That's not too much to ask. It's the floor, not the ceiling.

Hawaiʻi should be a place where working families can build a life — not a place where they are constantly pushed out of it.

Everyone agrees Hawaiʻi needs more housing. But projects stall for years before a single unit gets built — not because of a lack of will, but because of outdated infrastructure, regulatory bottlenecks, and a permitting process that wasn't designed for urgency. The result is fewer homes, higher costs, and another generation of local kids calculating whether they can afford to stay.

The path forward starts with fixing the pipes — literally. When sewer capacity expands, housing projects can finally move. Pair that with streamlined approvals and a real commitment to workforce housing, and we can start building the homes that local families actually need.

This isn't about luxury condos. It's about keeping teachers, nurses, tradespeople, and ʻohana in the district where they grew up and where we need them.

Our keiki deserve to stay home. That starts with building homes they can afford.

Every neighborhood deserves places where families can gather, children can run around, and people can reconnect with the land and ocean that make Hawaiʻi what it is. Sand Island — known traditionally as Mauliola — holds real potential as a restored park space for the entire community.

With serious investment, we can strengthen Sand Island State Park with more trees, shade, fishing access, walking paths, and cultural spaces that honor both Native Hawaiian history and the island's layered past — including the World War II internment site that should never be forgotten.

These aren't luxuries. These are the places where keiki become part of a community. Where kupuna sit in the shade. Where families spend a Sunday without spending money they don't have.

Mauliola belongs to the people of this district. Let's make it somewhere they actually want to be.

Your rep should know your name before they ask for your vote.

Tony knocks doors in HD28 every single weekend — not because it's campaign season, but because this is his neighborhood and that's what showing up actually looks like. Constituent services shouldn't be a phone tree that leads nowhere. They should be direct, responsive, and real.

The shops, restaurants, markets, and family-run businesses across Chinatown, Iwilei, and Downtown give these neighborhoods their soul. But too many entrepreneurs face unnecessary hurdles — complicated permitting, rising costs, and a state government that never seems to be on their side.

By simplifying regulations, improving infrastructure, and making sure local businesses have a real advocate at the Capitol, we can help HD28's small business community do more than survive — we can help them thrive.

When small businesses thrive, neighborhoods thrive. When your rep actually shows up, democracy works.