Mayor Kirk Caldwell reflective, hopeful in final mayoral media event
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Caldwell reflects on ‘eroded’ public trust during pandemic Mahealani Richardson
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Kirk Caldwell is preparing to leave the mayor’s office Saturday.
In an interview with Hawaii News Now, he looked back at his eight-year tenure, the city’s handling of the pandemic and what he’s looking forward to in the year ahead.
Caldwell said the COVID-19 vaccine rollout needs to move faster.
He also said he wishes he had pushed the state Health Department harder earlier in the pandemic.
“I wanted to overreact but Department of Health leadership at that time said don’t worry. We’ve got it covered. It’s not necessary. I stepped back,” he said.
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This Saturday, Ann Kobayashi, Joey Manahan, Ron Menor and Kym Pine will bid farewell to Honolulu Hale.
During their time on the council, these members had to address some of the most challenging issues in recent memory – ranging from the rail project, homelessness, affordable housing, climate change and COVID-19 related efforts.
While the complexity of some issues requires more time to solve, each member believes they have made a positive impact on their districts.
Chair Kobayashi says she s worked hard to improve parks in her community. We finally got the Old Stadium Park into shape, but that took quite a few years, she said. Parks are very important, and especially Ala Moana Park. I think we finally got the administration to recognize that Ala Moana Park is a people s park.
Mayor Caldwell worries jump in cases will force city back to tier 1 by year’s end Dillon Ancheta © Provided by Honolulu KHNL Caldwell News Conference, Sunday
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - In a news conference Sunday afternoon, Mayor Caldwell expressed his worries that Honolulu, on its current case track, is at risk of reverting to tier one of the reopening plan.
Sunday, 204 new cases were reported statewide with 180 of them on Oahu alone. That’s the largest single-day jump in cases since Sept. 5.
“This virus travels quickly if we let our guard down,” Caldwell said as he urged residents to “hunker down” for the holidays, and only spend time with immediate household members or close bubble contacts. It’s the same message Caldwell and other community leaders have been preaching for months now, but it comes with new urgency as pandemic fatigue sets in alongside a sense of relief now that a vaccine has been approved.
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