NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA
MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2025 at 6:00 P.M.
Kapālama Hale – Room 153
925 Dillingham Boulevard, Honolulu, HI 96817
AND VIA WEBEX

This meeting location is open to public participation.
Other available options include participating by computer, phone or by video system.
WebEx and phone-in instructions are as follows:

Meeting Link: https://cchnl.webex.com/cchnl/j.php?MTID=m4ed0ce4c5871978ea94a35efd24063d1
Meeting Number / Access Code: 2482 418 5050
Password: NC00 (6200 from phones and video systems)
Join by Phone: +1-408-418-9388 United States Toll

Recordings of Commission meetings can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/@NeighborhoodCommissionOffice

Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LS8mfBOkIKp5hqr6Fwr5Kn1HCYCURUu0

Rules of Speaking: Anyone wishing to speak is asked to raise his or her hand, and when recognized by the Chair, to address comments to the Chair. Speakers are to keep their comments under two (2) minutes. Public testimony taken on each agenda item. Please silence all electronic devices.

Note: The Commission may take action on any agenda item. As required by the State Sunshine Law (Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes Chapter 92), specific issues not noted on this agenda cannot be voted on, unless properly added to the agenda.

I. CALL TO ORDER BY PRESIDING OFFICER
A. Roll Call of Commissioners, Establishment of Quorum

II. PUBLIC CONCERNS – Limited to 2 minutes for items not on the agenda

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. Monday, February 24, 2025 Regular Meeting Written Summary for Video Record

IV. EXECUTIVE SECRETARY’S REPORT
A. Update on NCO Survey to Board Members

V. NEW BUSINESS
A. Pālolo Neighborhood Board No.06 – Request to temporarily reduce the number of seats from 13 to 9 for the remainder of the 2023-2025 term to achieve quorum by removing one (1) seat from SD1 and SD2; and two (2) seats for SD3.

VI. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. Elections Committee – Chair Claire Tamamoto. Members: Bill Clark and Richard Oshiro (Ex-Officio)
B. Survey Committee – Chair Steven Melendrez. Members: Mahealani Bernal, Claire Tamamoto, Larry Veray and Richard Oshiro (Ex-Officio)
C. Neighborhood Plan Committee – Chair Patrick Smith. Members: Mahealani Bernal, Steven Melendrez, Larry Veray and Richard Oshiro (Ex-Officio)

VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS
A. Next Meetings: The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 28, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. on Webex, and at Kapālama Hale.
B. City and County of Honolulu and Hawai’i Foodbank are Partnering to Fight Against Hunger: Dylan Buck (NCO) will be collecting donated canned goods at the next meeting on Monday, April 28, 2025.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT OF SUNSHINE LAW MEETING

IX. ADJUDICATORY MATTERS – The Commission will exercise its adjudicatory functions in accordance with HRS § 92-6.
A. 2024-33 Lye v. Caravalho
B. 2024-23 Finley v. Misakian – Hearing

A mailing list is maintained for interested persons and agencies to receive this board’s agenda and minutes. Additions, corrections, and deletions to the mailing list may be directed to the Neighborhood Commission Office (NCO) at Kapālama Hale, 925 Dillingham Boulevard, Suite 160, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96817, by telephone on (808) 768-3710, fax (808) 768-3711, or e-mailing nco@honolulu.gov. Agenda documents and minutes are also available online at http://www.honolulu.gov/nco/boards.html

All written testimony must be received in the Neighborhood Commission Office 48 hours prior to the meeting. If within 48 hours of the meeting, written and/or oral testimony may be submitted directly to the Board at the meeting. If submitting written testimony, please note the Board and agenda item(s) your testimony concerns. Send to: Neighborhood Commission Office, 925 Dillingham Boulevard, Suite 160, Honolulu, HI 96817, fax (808) 768-3711, or email nbtestimony@honolulu.gov.

If you need an auxiliary aid/service or other accommodation due to a disability or an interpreter for a language other than English, please call the Neighborhood Commission Office at (808) 768-3710 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. or send an email to nco@honolulu.gov at least three (3) business days before the scheduled meeting. It may not be possible to fulfill requests received after this date.

DRAFT REGULAR MEETING WRITTEN SUMMARY FOR VIDEO RECORD
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2025 – 6:00 P.M.
KAPĀLAMA HALE CONFERENCE ROOM 260 – 925 DILLINGHAM BOULEVARD, HONOLULU, HI 96817
AND VIA WEBEX TELECONFERENCING

Video recording of this meeting can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkN6bGYTYpc

Meeting materials (Google Drive) can be found at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LS8mfBOkIKp5hqr6Fwr5Kn1HCYCURUu0

I. CALL TO ORDER – [0:00:11]: Chair Oshiro called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Quorum was established with 7 members present. Note – This 9-member commission requires 5 members present to establish quorum and to take official commission action.

Members Present: Mahealani Bernal, Bill Clark, James Logue, Steven Melendrez, Richard Oshiro, Patrick Smith, and Claire Tamamoto.

Members Absent: Larry Veray.

Guests: Ernest Caravalho, Kevin Lye (Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board No.13); Tom Heinrich (Residents); Dylan Whitsell, Travis Saito and Dylan Buck (Neighborhood Commission Office – NCO). There were 13 total attendees. Name not included if not legible on sign-in sheet, not signed in and/or not participated in discussion.

II. PUBLIC CONCERNS – [0:01:10]

Board Vacancies & Training – [0:01:20]: Tom Heinrich spoke to the following concerns: (1) as the deadline to register for upcoming Neighborhood Board (NB) term has passed, there are several NB’s that will begin the new term with several vacancies; and (2) requested that the NCO consider basic NB member training for all members shortly after the term begins.

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – [0:03:18]

Monday, January 27, 2025 Regular Meeting Written Summary for Video Record – [0:03:18]: [0:03:30] – Melendrez MOVED and Smith SECONDED to approve the Written Summary for Video Record as written. Hearing no objections, the motion was ADOPTED; 7-0-0 (Aye: Bernal, Clark, Logue, Melendrez, Oshiro, Smith, Tamamoto; Nay: None; Abstain: None) – [0:03:37]

IV. EXECUTIVE SECRETARY’S REPORT – [0:03:47]

NCO Survey to Board Members – [0:03:47]: Dylan Whitsell (Deputy – NCO) reported, on behalf of Executive Secretary Lloyd Yonenaka, that the NCO is moving forward with their survey to all Neighborhood Board members. Dylan Buck (NCO) added that the Survey Committee’s report will be presented later in this meeting and that may have an impact on the NCO survey.

V. NEW BUSINESS – [0:04:58]

Appoint Lloyd Yonenaka as Chief Elections Officer – [0:05:15]: [0:05:18] – Smith MOVED and Tamamoto SECONDED to appoint Lloyd Yonenaka as the Chief Elections Officer. Hearing no objections, the motion was ADOPTED; 7-0-0 (Aye: Bernal, Clark, Logue, Melendrez, Oshiro, Smith, Tamamoto; Nay: None; Abstain: None) – [0:05:26]

Appoint Partner Akiona as Chief Monitoring Officer – [0:05:40]: Dylan Buck announced that Partner Akiona volunteered to serve as the Chief Monitoring Officer. Akiona was a previous member of the Kuli’ou’ou-Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board, and a previous Neighborhood Assistant for several NBs. [0:07:45] – Tamamoto MOVED and Bernal SECONDED to appoint Partner Akiona as the Chief Monitoring Officer. Hearing no objections, the motion was ADOPTED; 7-0-0 (Aye: Bernal, Clark, Logue, Melendrez, Oshiro, Smith, Tamamoto; Nay: None; Abstain: None) – [0:08:23]

VI. COMMITTEE REPORTS – [0:09:35]

Elections Committee – [0:09:35]: Committee Chair Tamamoto provided her report and highlighted the following: the deadline to register closed last Friday, February 21, 2025; there are 453 registered candidates and 40 contested races; and the voting period is from Friday, April 25, 2025 through Friday, May 23, 2025.

Questions, comments and concerns followed – [0:12:01]

Survey Committee – [0:16:45]: Committee Chair Melendrez presented his report and highlighted that the Committee will finalize the survey by including questions that address the testimony received by NB members, then present it to the full Neighborhood Commission at the next meeting.
• Report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KGGyAinr-u2WriD8s5DSNBQ0eOJkXA5S/view?usp=drive_link

Questions, comments and concerns followed – [0:18:10]

[0:24:05] – Tamamoto MOVED and Bernal SECONDED to request that the Neighborhood Commission Office (NCO) review the 5 areas outlined in the Survey Committee’s report and consider incorporating them as questions in the NCO survey. Discussion followed. Hearing no objections, the motion was ADOPTED; 7-0-0 (Aye: Bernal, Clark, Logue, Melendrez, Oshiro, Smith, Tamamoto; Nay: None; Abstain: None) – [0:39:55]

[0:41:28] – Melendrez MOVED that the NCO provide their survey to the Neighborhood Commission it is distributed to the Neighborhood Boards. Hearing no second, the motion was not considered.

Neighborhood Plan Committee – [0:43:27]: Committee Chair Smith provided the report and highlighted that the Committee is currently prioritizing the complaint process and putting a hold on the rest of the Neighborhood Plan review process. The meeting in January 2025 included a proposal submitted by the NCO to amend the complaint process, and the Committee used the February 2025 meeting to generally visualize what an improved complaint process would be before formally drafting it. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 17, 2025.
• Unofficial Website: https://n-plan.org/

Questions, comments and concerns followed – [0:44:50]

VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS – [0:49:20]

Next Meetings – [0:49:20]: The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 24, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. on WebEx and at Kapālama Hale.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT – [0:49:28]: The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m.

Submitted by: Dylan Buck, Community Relations Specialist, NCO
Reviewed by: Dylan Whitsell, Deputy, NCO
Finalized by:

To view agenda and minutes, visit our board website.

Event shows physical location; however, other options of participation may also include WebEx and phone.  If available, instructions for WebEx and phone can be found at the top of the agenda.