The Honolulu City Council convened on November 5, 2025, at 10:00 AM for a full meeting that included a message of aloha, appointment confirmations, first reading of bills, committee reports, and a major debate on a resolution regarding a conditional use permit for a proposed gondola project on Mount Ka'ala. The meeting, conducted as a remote interactive conference, lasted into the afternoon with extensive public testimony on several items.
Aloha and good morning, everyone. Councilmember Cordero, can you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Our nation, under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Thank you so much. Councilmember Cordero, would you like to introduce our guest for the message of Aloha? Absolutely. Members, community, and everyone watching online, I would like to welcome to the council chambers, our message of Aloha deliverer. Today we have Ashley Loa. Ashley Loa's professional career includes nearly ten years of nonprofit experience, which more than half of which was held in executive leadership positions. Prior to her current role as the director of operations at Hawaiian Community Assets, Ashley served as executive director of an interfaith grassroots organizing nonprofit. And then for another nonprofit focused on peace building. Ashley has the honor of serving on the board of directors for the legal clinic, the advisory board of Shade Institute, and her daughter's school community councils, plural. Informally though, Ashley continues to show up whenever she is needed, and I definitely am witness and bear fruit to that. So Mahalo Ashley. Number one, aloha is commitment. You all have a hard job. Let me start with that. You did the sign waving, the door knocking, the long walks through your districts, listening to everyone's stories, their hopes, their dreams, their pain points, their vision, and you shared yours with them. Your community shared your hopes, your dreams, and your vision. And it's because of that vision, they committed to your representation of them, and you committed to being their voice in this room. When a bill comes before you, maybe controversial, maybe emotional, and testifiers line up one by one to tell you why they stand in support or opposition, you don't just hear testimony. You hear people's lives and you hold two truths at the same time. Day after day, you make big decisions under pressure, staying steady when faced with opposition, having courage to do what's right even when it's hard, knowing that each decision shapes the future of Honolulu. And when your commitment is on display for all to see, my hope is that aloha shows up both in the way you offer it and in the way it finds its way back to you. Which brings me to number two. Aloha is compassion. I don't know about you, but compassion, I think, is it might be one of the hardest parts of leadership. Because commitment can get us in this room, but compassion is what keeps us human when we're here. It's easy to care when everyone agrees with you. It's harder when voices are angry, your inbox is overflowing, the meetings are running long, and you're just exhausted. But that's when compassion matters the most. When you're tired, when the room is loud and you still choose to listen. I wasn't sure how I'd weave in some of the items coming up for hearings today, but I think the bottom line is this. Behind every resolution and bill is someone's story, and budgets reflect our values. Leading with aloha isn't about whose voice is the loudest, it's about whose voices are lifted. And that's when compassion evolves into something bigger. Which brings me to number three. Aloha is community. Community reminds us that we are not separate, that our stories and our decisions are intertwined. Centering other people's stories, their truths, allows us to expand our understanding of what's possible. After going back and forth for a bit, the board chair leaned back and asked me, what are you hoping to get out of this out of being on this board? I froze. My ears got hot because I was so nervous. My fingers started fidgeting under the table, my toes clenched in my little Rothy Flats. I had to think quick. Fake it till you make it wasn't gonna get me out of this one. After what felt like several minutes, I replied, to be honest, I didn't think about what I get from being on this board. All I could think about was what I could give. I shared the vision, I committed to being a part of the movement, and compassion connects me to and grounds me in community. And like you, I am working toward a future for my daughters.