Currently holds the office of Hawaii House of Representatives - District 6 until November 3, 2026.
Candidate for Hawaii House of Representatives - District 6 in 2024 Hawaii General Election.
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Get StartedConnect veterans and veteran caregivers with the resources they need. Hawaiʻi Island’s nearly 14,000 military veterans – including Kirstin’s father-in-law – face unique health situations associated with military service. These challenges range from visible wounds, to the effects of toxic exposures and traumatic brain injuries, to the invisible wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder. Veteran caregivers face challenges with their own mental health too. Federal, state, and non-governmental resources exist to help, but often face challenges connecting with vets, especially in rural areas. Learn more
Incentivize the return of kamaʻāina to Hawaiʻi after education abroad. With Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living, it is hard for our best and brightest young minds to return home without jobs and networks. We need tax incentives for college graduates from Hawaiʻi who return home. Learn more
Support our local farmers and food producers. Agriculture is an economic sector that needs nurturing at the policy level. Local food feeds the community and keeps dollars in Hawaiʻi. It can also be sustainably done and support our environment too. Growing this industry can create more jobs and economic diversity. Value added production and manufacturing can also grow our economy as we will have shelf stable products that could be shipped around the world. Learn more
Transform Hawaiʻi’s visitor industry from extractive to regenerative. The visitor industry is a significant part of Hawaiʻi Island’s economy and will be for many years to come, not just because of its size, but because of its potential to drive diversification and regeneration. Hawaiʻi Island is in a prime position to advance emerging sectors like sustainable aviation fuel, further grow local agriculture and increase our food security, and offer opportunities for small kamaʻāina businesses to scale up in a variety of sectors. All of these areas benefit from the demand and capital infusion the visitor industry can offer. All of this is predicated on the community’s acceptance of the industry, which is why the community-driven efforts at destination management led by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority are critical at this point in time. Learn more
Strengthen the Hawaiʻi brand and encourage buying local. Buying local keeps dollars in Hawaiʻi and protects our small businesses. We need to elevate and uplift local businesses that are growing, sourcing, and manufacturing in Hawaiʻi. We know it is difficult to manufacture in Hawaiʻi, but if we create more shared manufacturing opportunities, we may be able to find solutions to these issues. Learn more
Support our teachers and staff who directly impact our students. Teachers and staff can make the difference that changes a child’s lifelong trajectory. We can and must do better in supporting our teachers through salaries that reflect their responsibilities, expanding training opportunities before entering the classroom and in-service, and ensuring career advancement opportunities are available for non-teacher educational staff. Learn more
Improve the bridges from high school to college. Higher education is one of the best investments in a student’s future, yet the challenges students face to get into college can seem insurmountable. We must expand the reach of successful Early College programs, and offer more support in school from college and career counselors. We also need to better connect high school and community college programs that are regionally responsive to the area’s workforce needs, in partnership with the business community. Learn more
Expand access to Hawaiian culture and language education. There are not enough Hawaiian language immersion classrooms across Hawaiʻi. This form of education is important to provide children with educational choices in both of Hawaiʻi’s official languages. As programs for Hawaiian culture and language expand in public education, training for teachers must be expanded as well. There are not enough teachers proficient in Hawaiian language to teach our children. Learn more
Commit to at least 50% local food in our public school cafeterias. Our children should be eating the best food we can grow. What kids eat at an early age makes all the difference for their future. Hawaiʻi needs to prioritize sourcing more local ingredients for our school cafeterias, collectively the largest restaurant in the state. Learn more
Ensure schools are safe environments for students and teachers alike. Many of our West Hawaiʻi schools have unacceptably long backlogs of needed maintenance and repairs, and we have seen the effects of some of those situations on student and staff health. We can and must do better. Learn more
Make preschool available to all keiki. Universal access to preschool will help our children and support our working families. We do not have enough preschool capacity or options for all students who need it. Learn more
Work toward local and global sustainability goals. Hawaiʻi has long been a leader in sustainability, and many of our local and global sustainability goals are based in island thinking and island methods of resource management and conservation. We must continue to work to achieve Hawaiʻi’s Aloha Challenge goals as well as the global United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and we should examine projects and legislation through those lenses. Learn more
Focus on cesspool conversion to protect our groundwater and shoreline resources. Existing state regulations mandate that 88,000 cesspools across Hawaiʻi be upgraded, converted, or closed by 2050 – and a significant number of those cesspools are in West Hawaiʻi. Taking action on these cesspools is important for the health of our groundwater resources and nearshore waters, and we will not meet that 2050 deadline without significant public investment or a substantial financing mechanism for families and small businesses. Learn more
Move with purpose toward renewable energy independence. Blessed with a variety of resources to generate our own energy, Hawaiʻi Island is in prime position to end our addiction to imported fossil fuels and reduce our carbon footprint. With multiple renewable energy projects on the island canceled or stalled, we must identify the hurdles and solutions to achieve Hawaiʻi’s bold goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045. Learn more
Responsibly develop new water sources in Kona. Learn more
Encourage composting as a way to enrich soil while diverting waste from the landfill. Whether at the backyard, community or municipal scale, we can compost more and throw away less. State policies can encourage more composting while balancing environmental health concerns. Learn more
Explore on-island recycling. As islands, there are only so many places to take our waste, and with the rising cost of fuel it is more difficult to export our recyclables. We need to incentivize waste reduction within households and reward businesses that reduce waste. We can create new economies within waste management. Innovation and entrepreneurship in this area is critical for Hawaiʻi. Learn more
Attract and retain more doctors and healthcare professionals in Kona and rural communities across Hawaiʻi. Learn more
Support community health efforts to meet people where they are. In our rural communities, there is no one answer to delivering the health care services people need. A combination of projecting resources into communities, offering transportation to facilities, and embracing telehealth is needed. Learn more
Reexamine our zoning and land use decisions of long ago. We must explore today’s best practices of walkable, transit-connected, livable communities. These concepts could inform lower infrastructure costs for affordable housing developments, and reduce the environmental impacts of urban sprawl and vehicle dependence. Learn more
Deliver on Hawaiʻi’s obligation to native Hawaiians on homestead lands. With the high cost of housing, the Department of Hawaiian Home Land’s mission to return kanaka maoli to the land has perhaps never been more important or relevant. Many of the hurdles the department faces are related to the cost of infrastructure. The 2022 Legislature supplied much-needed funding to the Department, and we must hold them accountable and ensure the funds are put to good use. Learn more
Expand opportunities for affordable, attainable housing in Kona. We need more housing in Hawaiʻi, and especially in Kona. The demand for housing at all levels is far bigger than the supply. We need to build more of the right kinds of housing, and regulate short term vacation rentals to preserve housing inventory for kamaʻāina families. Learn more
The observatories already on Mauna Kea should keep doing their work, but we shouldn’t even talk about anything new until the astronomy community delivers on its promises of decommissioning, and until a new management system is in place. Learn more
Provide safe, complete streets for all who use them. We know Kona’s roads need work. We must leverage all available federal dollars, prioritize state projects in the district, and maximize all potential funding sources for county projects. We also need to ensure our roads are safe for everyone who uses them, whether on foot, on bike, in a car, or using mass transit through the principles of Complete Streets and Vision Zero. Learn more
Build a new hospital in Kona. The population of Kona has grown significantly and its center has shifted geographically since Kona Community Hospital was built. The time has come for a new, modern hospital to care for West Hawaiʻi’s people. We must work closely with private sector partners to leverage all available public resources to make this a reality. Learn more
Expand broadband connectivity so all residents can connect to the knowledge-based economy. Broadband connectivity on Hawaiʻi Island is a right, not a luxury. It is an economic justice and social equity priority. The global pandemic showed us the vast disparities in connectivity and the real-world consequences of the digital divide. Whether it’s wired or wireless, we must expand connectivity especially in our rural areas. Learn more
Expand Highway 11 between Kailua and Keauhou. One of the most critical bottlenecks in our district is Highway 11, which narrows to one lane each direction between Henry Street and Kamehameha III Road. Traffic congestion in the morning and evening rush hours negatively impacts quality of life, and often impedes the passage of emergency vehicles with narrow shoulders. We must work to expand this important corridor to four lanes. Learn more
Work toward accessible, affordable child care and flexibility for working families. Not every family in Hawaiʻi is fortunate to have family available to help with child care before preschool. Tax incentives to businesses that support employee child care needs could help. Working with businesses to offer hybrid work models will not only reduce the stress of child care, but the child would have more time with their parents at this early stage of life. Learn more
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