First off, I’d like to thank everyone who supported my candidacy for Honolulu City Council District III, whether by voting for me, donating to my campaign, or sign waving with me. Mahalo Nui Loa!! We may not have won, but we were heard.

Some of my supporters have said that it is pretty amazing that I spent $4,000 and my opponent spent more than $100,000, and yet I received 18 percent of the vote after just campaigning for 8 weeks. That is inspiring!

Secondly, I thought I would be sad that I did not make it past the primary to go into the general election, but I am not - I am disappointed!

12,000 people thought it was perfectly okay for the incumbent, Esther Kia’aina, to vote herself a $44,000 raise and they re-elected her. I’m disappointed that another 1,200 people voted for a candidate who didn’t campaign, didn’t show up at any debates and didnʻt respond to any of the many candidate questionnaires we all were asked to fill out. Mostly I am frustrated that the more money you have raised, often from special interests, the better chance you have to win.

I was looking forward to fixing what’s broken, and I know we can do better! In order for things to truly change in Hawaii and improve, we need to be informed and we need to be motivated to vote. Only a third of the registered voters in this state voted in this primary election. We need to change that. Your informed vote matters.

I look forward to seeing you around the windward side (or whatever). I would love to talk story with you to learn more about the issues that concern you and how we might work together to change our windward side for the better.