Q. You've worked on Kalaeloa as a community volunteer. Why did you seek this job?

A. For me, it's actually full circle. Over the last seven years I've been participating in the community side of this project. During the decommissioning of Barbers Point I was involved in that and participated in what we thought the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) should look like. Also, in the strategic plan and master plan over the last two years, I participated in that. So really I'm excited because now I have a chance to take all of these dreams that the community put together and really turn it into action out in Kalaeloa.

Q. When you were working on the community side, were you satisfied with what was going on?

A. My major concerns, which affect 'Ewa Beach (I was 5 years old when I moved to 'Ewa Beach), are the whole planning process and how does it match up to the neighbors and how do you look at connectivity and the land-use plan. I would have preferred that the Kalaeloa area was transferred in its entirety, versus it's been kind of piece-meal, where certain agencies have jurisdiction over different acreage. It would have been easier if it all fell under one authority. It would be easier to do a lot of the planning for infrastructure, which right now are barriers for Kalaeloa. That's in retrospect. At the time you're just excited that the community is going to have access to the resources.

Q. Now that you're on the "other side," do you have a better understanding of why it may have been difficult when you were working on the community side?

A. What I understood at the time was the state and city agencies did not have the money to concentrate on infrastructure. On this side, it's the same thing, just that in this position I have a chance of concentrating and focusing on the coordination to help some of those infrastructure-type projects come through. We're looking at some important projects to the community to move along this year. So I'm excited about that. Some beautification projects, some safety issues, and now with shelters in Kalaeloa they've identified transportation. How do we get people out to the main bus areas so they can get to work and to school? Those are some of the issues that we really want to tackle this year, and in some of the areas where it's dark, try to put up some signage and maybe get some lighting to get to the Renton Road-'Ewa area.

Q. What are some of your long-term goals?

A. In the long term some of the questions will be how do we utilize the airport and utilize that resource to the advantage of the community? How do we get the transit-oriented lines down to Kalaeloa and have that be one of the main modes of transportation to the area? And how do we keep on working with area developers and communities to ensure the connectivity from one area of Kalaeloa to the rest? How do we get from 'Ewa Beach and traverse through Kalaeloa to get to somewhere like Campbell Industrial Park or Ko Olina? How do we bring innovation companies into Kalaeloa? Alternative energy is one of the bullet points.

Q. Do you have sufficient funding?

A. We haven't established a set budget. Most recently the Legislature set aside $250,000 in CIP (capital improvement program) funding, which we're real happy about because we need all of the funding that we can get. But there are some of the planning stages that still need to take place. There are some revenues generated through fees, which are paid by a percentage of acreage that each of the owners utilize within the area. So there are some revolving fund money there. But there are a lot direct type action plans that need to occur in order to get the type of funding we really want. We don't have any set estimates right now, but in the recent Legislature they asked for $50 million for the 449 acres of available land that need to be sold by the Navy, but that was shot down.

Q. The state has opened two homeless shelters in Kalaeloa. Are you concerned that Kalaeloa will become a dumping ground for the homeless?

A. No. I believe every community is going to try its best to take care of the needs. If you look at the Wai'anae Coast area, shelters went up there because a lot of people were on the beaches. In Kalaeloa, we have a lot of the homeless at the White Plains Beach and we want to make sure we can get them assistance and also make sure our resources are protected at the beach and beach park.

Q. Did you ever envision yourself being in this leadership position?

A. I never ever thought that I would have this opportunity, so I'm both humbled and excited at the same time. I've always had the community hat on, so usually when I have the community hat on I'm thinking, "How will this impact our community? What kind of coordination will it take? If a certain decision came down, how will it affect the entire region?" I always did that from a community standpoint. In this position, I bring that with me, an understanding of what the community is looking at and have an opportunity to really do things right out here. We're going to rely on all of these different entities — the community, the different agencies and even outside-type funding — to make it happen. On the community side, you don't really worry about how to make it happen, you just worry about making sure that the impacts are not negative.

Q. Have you set any deadlines for yourself?

A. We really want to address the safety issues and the beautification issues. Those are some of the things that I wanted to do "yesterday." We're going to go before the (HCDA) to request some funding for beautification. We really want to crank that kind of issue out this year. A part of the whole Kalaeloa plan would be coming up with some of the rules for the area. Those are more like the two-year plan. There are some conveyances I'm hoping that we can get by the end of the year. We're talking like areas for the City and County park. Though they might be out there, they may not hold the title. Half of the year is already gone and these are aggressive goals, but I'm going to work hard to make sure that kind of stuff happens.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.