New Hawaii County mayor sworn into office

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaii County welcomed a new mayor Monday.

Mayor Kimo Alameda was sworn in at Kaleiopapa Convention Center at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa.

Alameda is a staunch advocate for geographic equity, which is why his inauguration ceremony took place in Kona.

“It’s the first time, I believe, since 1968, since Mayor Shunichi Kimura took office, that we had a mayoral inauguration here on the west side,” he said.

“I hope that we have this continual celebration over the next four years, because I want to look back four years from now and celebrate,” he said.

Alameda touched on some of the goals for his term, which included:

• Installing emergency sirens in Waikoloa.
• Creating disaster preparedness and evacuation plans in the event of an eruption at Mauna Loa.
• Building comfort stations at the Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area.
• Maintaining high county and workforce morale.
• Celebrating Hawaii’s diverse community.

“Our campaign was super diverse. We had Republicans on our team. We had Democrats on our team. We had Aloha Aina, Independents, Green parties on our team,” Alameda said. “That’s why we’ve coined the phrase, ‘It’s just not about the left shaka. It’s not just about the right shaka. It’s about the double shaka.‘”

Alameda took the oath of office along with Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen and the newly elected Hawaii County Council: Dr. Michelle Galimba, James Hustace, Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Jenn Kagiwada, Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder, Ashley Kierkiewicz, Heather Kimball, Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, and Rebecca Villegas.

The Hilo native is new to public office, but not new to government, having served under mayors Billy Kenoi and Harry Kim.

Related post: Hawaii County Mayor-Elect Alameda looks to ‘engage and assess’ when he takes office Monday