Behind Locked Doors: How Kāne’ohe’s “Simple” Library Fix Exposes a Bigger Problem With Lack of Government Transparency

May 17 marked a wonderful day. From its opening to its closing, the Kāne’ohe Public Library was busy with keiki running up and down its decorated stairwell, kupuna gathering around the newly released books, and parents smiling at the fact that there’s once again a place to nurture their children’s imagination. Book lovers gleaning over the rows and rows of stories and information to be read. After almost 2.5 years of these doors being shut for light remodeling and maintenance, our community finally has a place to gather around education and learning. As one mom put it,

[a library] fosters a love of literature, learning, and community. We know that Hawaii used to be the most literate society; we want to get back to that place. Having access to our libraries is so important.”

This is exactly the kind of community value I want to champion as I run for the House of Representatives in Kāne'ohe and Maunawili.

Our community is excited for this Summer’s Reading Challenge!

Those to thank are our community members, who over the last 6 months took action and made their voices heard in many ways. They called, emailed, and wrote letters to state authorities to ask for updates and push for progress. Some organized small community meetings to exchange information and coordinate efforts. When we heard months ago from our current representative that work would begin “soon” but couldn’t tell us more, we knew we had to go up the chain of command. Calls to the governor's office began. During the first week of May, I was personally informed by someone working in the library that it would open in “a couple of weeks.” Moments like these are why I’m running for office: to ensure our community’s concerns are not ignored and that we receive timely, honest communication from our leaders.

Our community members were surprised to see a newsletter from our current representative’s office stating that, after a phone call and a meeting, he was able to reopen the library doors. As a candidate, I believe our community deserves more than last-minute action and political credit-taking; we deserve proactive, transparent leadership.

We enjoyed a lively read-aloud with the keiki on the library’s reopening day!

While we celebrate this victory, we are left with more questions than answers. The main one being: if all it took was a few phone calls and a meeting, why wait so long to address the community’s concern? Our library is an example of a much broader issue in our state. As we move forward, let’s not stop at celebrating. I encourage residents to reach out to our officials to request clear explanations of these delays or to suggest a community forum where we can discuss these concerns directly with those in charge. By coming together and asking for answers, we can foster greater accountability and transparency.

A couple of bills, HB2190 and HB2523, were introduced this past legislative session, proposing an electronic dashboard on public department websites to detail project statuses. While these bills did not move forward, the underlying idea was clear: our community deserves open access to updates on public projects. This isn’t about politics or party lines, but about ensuring our shared values of transparency and accountability are reflected in how we serve one another. I am committed to advancing practical tools like these to keep the public informed and empowered when in office.

Imagine this: a website or dashboard where the public can see how taxpayer money is being spent, why it’s being spent, and who is receiving it. A type of public audit. We’ve recently seen plenty of corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse involving the Kauhales, Home-Aid, and other government projects. When is enough, enough? With a yearly budget of over $10 billion, most coming from taxpayers, we should know how our money is being spent. Imagine putting money into a retirement account but being told by your financial advisor that you don’t have access to see how it’s being managed. Any financially responsible individual would know that this is wrong. As your future representative, I will fight for these kinds of transparency measures so that you can see exactly how your hard-earned dollars are being used. 

This type of transparency would be only one step in the right direction. If you believe in this kind of openness, there are several ways you can get involved. Contact your legislators, join or support local advocacy groups, and attend community meetings or forums to voice your concerns. Every action counts, and together we can push for the transparency and accountability our community deserves. As I run for office, I invite you to join me in this effort and to hold me and all of our leaders to these standards.

What do you think? Should the public have access to how the government is spending taxpayer money? Comment below. And if you share this vision for transparency and accountability, I hope to earn your support in my run for the House of Representatives in Kāne’ohe and Maunawili.

Aloha,

'Ale Rodas

Sign up for regular updates!

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/fcc09c_3488cca80a684e82a4446806ddac433d/720p/mp4/file.mp4

let's be social!