Hawaii County Council CRCOC Meeting – September 1, 2026: Kailua Village BID Annual Report
Hawaii County Council Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight Committee Meeting – September 1, 2026
The committee met on September 1, 2026, at 7:10 p.m. (the meeting was originally scheduled for 4:30 p.m.) via interactive conference technology from the Hilo County Building and the Kona Council Chambers, with courtesy sites in Ocean View, Pāhoa, and Waimea. Council Chair Rebecca Villegas presided. Quorum was present: Councilmembers Kimball, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Hustace, and Kagiwada joined the chair. Councilmembers Galimba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, and Onishi were excused. No public testimony was offered. The sole agenda item was the 2025–2026 annual report of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District (KVBID), presented by Executive Director Ross Wilson.
Discussion Items
- KVBID Annual Report (Comm. 1000): Ross Wilson summarized the report, noting that the district was established nearly 20 years ago to address challenges in historic Kailua Village. He emphasized that KVBID’s role is to collaborate with and complement county services, not replace them. He reported that the village is “clean and safe” and outlined two initiatives: cleanliness and safety. Wilson also mentioned plans to work with the county on new ordinances addressing panhandling, loitering, and public intoxication, and requested that police budgets be increased if possible. He highlighted the district’s branding efforts, including the installation of historic and cultural signs.
- Councilmember Comments: Councilmember Inaba expressed appreciation for the work done in Kailua Village, particularly along the gateway for cruise ships. He suggested that the county explore supporting the creation of new business improvement districts by allowing taxes already paid to be committed for use by the districts, rather than requiring additional fees. Councilmember Kierkiewicz praised the KVBID model as a “boots on the ground” public-private partnership and echoed Inaba’s suggestion about tax diversion. Chair Villegas, whose District 7 includes the KVBID, thanked Wilson for his leadership and noted the healthy collaborative relationship between the council and KVBID with community policing. She expressed hope that the resistance to a Hilo Business Improvement District might fade in light of Kona’s success.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Close File: Councilmember Inaba moved, seconded by Councilmember Kimball, to close the file on Communication 1000. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote (6 ayes, 3 excused). The committee then adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, we have quorum. Welcome to this late evening's communications reports and council oversight committee. This is our 25th session. This evening we are in the Hawaii County Building in Gilo. Today is September 1st, and the time is 7:10 p.m. Joining me this evening for our late night session is Councilmember Kimball, Councilmember Inaba, Councilmember Kirkowitz, Councilmember Houstis, Councilmember Kagiwara, and myself, Rebecca Viegas, chair uh chairing this committee this evening as Councilmember Galimba, Councilmember Coney Lee Kleinfelder, and Councilmember O'Neshi are excused for this committee this evening. Let's go to testimony. Any testifiers? No testifiers for your committee this evening, madam chair. Hallelujah. With that said, one last chance when we open up the agenda. If someone would like to testify in communication 1000, please speak up now. Hearing and seeing non-communication 1000 2025-2026 annual report of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District from Kailua Village Business Improvement District Executive Director Ross Wilson, dated July 20, 2026. Motion to close file on communication 1,000. So moved. It's been moved by Councilmember Inava and seconded by Councilmember Kimball. And with that, Mr. Ross Wilson, thank you for your patience with us this evening and for providing us with a very thorough, detailed report on the Kailua Village Business Improvement District. And with that, I will turn it over to you to do a concise and high-level review for us this evening. Good evening, everybody. First of all, thank you so much for doing the people's work. I I don't think the community understands fully the amount of time and effort it takes to run a government. And sitting here for the past few hours, um, I really appreciate what you're doing and the level of commitment towards doing the right thing for the community. Um I circulated the Kailua Village Business Improvement District 2526 annual report. It speaks for itself. I won't go into the nuances of what's in there. Um but I would like to say that the next time there's a committee meeting on the West side in a couple of weeks. Um I think it's important to remember that the KVBID was set up you know nearly 20 years ago because things weren't working well. And fast forward to you know 19 years later, and and things are going well in historic Kailua Village. Um we have two initiatives. It's easy, it's clean and it's safe. And I'm happy to report that the village is clean and safe. Um and you know, it's been said before, but it really takes a village to get it done. Uh, our job um at KVBID is not to replace county government. Our job is to collaborate, cooperate, and complement county services. In a lot of discussions I had with the administration with uh Mayor Kimo Alameda's administration. I really emphasize it takes a village in in all of the things that we are doing. Um as far as what happens with government and government leadership, um, you know, I think we all need to do more. Um we we will need everybody's help so that we can enact new ordinances dealing with panhandling, loitering, and and public intoxication. And we plan to work on those in in in this coming year. Um I really um appreciate the job that uh the police department's doing. And we have a great working relationship with the community police, and whatever budgets that they have, please please please increase them if you can. Um they're doing great work with us. But I think all of us working together from the county side, KVBID and all the departments are volunteers, our boards, working together, we can truly make the Kailoa Village Business Improvement District, which is historic Kailua Village a better place to live, work, plan, invest. And individually or collectively at another time, I'm happy to go through all of the programs that we're doing and all the things that we've accomplished. But in addition to the clean and safe, we've done a lot of branding. We're bringing place names back into the village. We're installing historic signs. Not only our visitors but local people on the importance of all of the historic and cultural events that happened in historic Kyloa Village. Happy to answer any questions on KVBID.
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