Good morning, everyone, and welcome.

Councilmember Dos Santos Tam, can you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

Councilmember Dos Santos Tam, would you kindly introduce our guests for the message of Aloha?

Thank you, of course.

We have with us this morning Dr.

Adrian Dillard, who arrived in Hawaii in 1986 and has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Kula Nonapoe Hawai'i, or Kula, a community-based nonprofit serving the native Hawaiian homestead communities of Papakolea, Kewalo, and Kalawahine for more than three decades.

She earned her PhD in social welfare from the University of Hawaii Manoa, where she studied the experiences of caregivers supporting Native Hawaiian Kuna with age-related memory loss.

She also holds bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from Hawaii Pacific University and is a licensed clinical social worker.

She also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the John A.

Byrne School of Medicine and chairs the Pacific Indigenous Knowledge Opportunities, or PICO Center for Community Engagement and Outreach.

Core Community Advisory Action Committee and serves as the board chair of Hawaiian Community Assets.

She also serves in Papua Ola Lokahi's Eola Mao Workforce Development Hui and the Aloe Healo Advisory Committee, which supports community-led approaches to Native Hawaiian health, healing, and wellness.

She is a consultant with the National Center for Engagement in Diabetes Equity Research and serves on the Resource Center for Native Aging and Disability Long-Term Services and Supports Advisory Committee at the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health.

And there's a few more.

She's also a member of the National Academy of Medicines, Building Trust and Health Science through Community Partnership and Lived Experience Action Collective.

She is somebody who is deeply involved in the community.

And not only that, she is a former board member and vice chair of Neighborhood Board No.

And we see her work throughout my community.

And that's why I'm pleased to have Dr.

Adrian Dillard, PhD MSW L C SW here to offer our message of aloha this morning.

Aloha Mikeako, Chair and Esteemed Council members, Mahalo, Councilman Das Santos Town for inviting me to offer this message.

Their mana, their stories, their aloha lives beneath our feet and rises around us still.

Shaped by their unwavering belief that who you are matters, and how you show up for others, it matters even more.

They taught me that community is not simply where you live, it is how you live.

Their lessons prepared me to listen deeply, to honor differences, and to walk with humility.

Building on this foundation, I honored the aloha spirit law, establishing the statutes that governs Hawaii.

It reminds us that Aloha is not only a value, it is a responsibility.

Rooted in these lessons, I carry the strength of my ancestors who endured hardship while remaining committed to prayer, education, service, and community.

Their voices echo in my own, reminding me that leadership is not about authority, it is about care.

And here in Hawaii, the Kupuna of Papu Kalea Keivalo and Kalawahini, Hawaiian homestead welcomed me and taught me the true meaning of Aloha.

As their guest, I learned that aloha is not simply extended to me.

It is a responsibility.

Aloha requires me to listen with intention, to share what I have been given, and to act in ways that uplift the collective well-being of our Hana, our Keiki, our Kupuna, and the Aina.

It requires me to honor the wisdom of those who welcome me and to ensure that my leadership reflects their values.

For more than 30 years, the community of Papu Kalea has been my teacher.

I learned Malama is the sacred exchange of care so that no one stands alone.

Pono is the discipline of balance and integrity.

And Kakua is the generosity that enables us to thrive together.

We offer our gifts so that no so that together we rise, together we accomplish, and together we thrive.

These values are not abstract, they are the visible living of aloha for Papu Kalea.

This aloha is seen through the care families show one another, the guidance of Kopuna, the support for Keiki, and their unity during times of need.

These principles also guide Kula Nunopue Hawaii's work, and the Kula Ohana demonstrates them daily through teamwork.

For me, aloha is reflected in the love I receive from my Hanai Kekoa Martin Ohana, who welcomed and embraces me as one of their own.

It is aloha I feel when I'm called mama or auntie by many across Hawaii.

These are the gifts of Papu Kolea has given me lessons of love, belonging, humility, and service that have shaped my life and leadership.

It is this aloha that guides me today, calling to meet calling me to know hope lives, to prepare the path for the next generation, and to serve with courage and compassion while seeking social justice for all of our communities.

I honor my parents, my ancestors, the Kuna who trained me, my Papu Koleo Ohana, the many Hawaiian homestead leaders, partners in Ohana who see me across the state, my Kekkoa Martin and Kula Ohana who serve tirelessly as expressions of aloha.

Their wisdom reminds me that the well-being of our Ohana, our Keiki, and our Kupuna is inseparable from the well-being of the city.

And so as I continue my work, I promise that every effort, every partnership, and every accomplishment will remain rooted in aloha for our people, for the Aina, and for future generations.

Aloha calls us to walk gently, to serve boldly, and to lift one another up.

Let us make living with aloha our continued shared mission by treating one another with kindness, acting courageously, and supporting one another.

Let us live with aloha so that with one rhythm we rise together, with one purpose we build together, and with the guidance of our kupuna, our work is to renown it so we thrive together.

Mahala.

Prior to the start of the meeting.

Although remote oral testimony is being permitted, this is a regular meeting and not a remote meeting by interactive conference technology under HRS 92-3.7.

Therefore, the meeting will continue, notwithstanding loss of audio-visual communication with remote testifiers or loss of the public broadcast of the meeting.

Members of the public will be allowed to provide oral testimony on all items on the agenda, either in person, in the council chamber or remotely, as both English and Hawaiian are the official languages of the state of Hawaii.