Civil Beat has asked candidates for the primary election on Aug. 8 to answer a survey about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected. There are four nonpartisan candidates on the primary ballot for Honolulu City Council District 4 that includes the areas Waikīkī through Kaimukī, Kāhala and Hawaiʻi Kai.

If no candidate acquires 50% plus one vote cast in the primary, then the top two finalists will go into a runoff in the General Election in November.

The following comes from Jason Liang, nonpartisan candidate for Honolulu City Council Member District 4.

His primary opponents are Tara Malia Gregory, Trevor Ozawa and incumbent Tommy Waters.

Go to Civil Beat’s 2026 Elections Guide for general information, and check out the other candidates on Civil Beatʻs 2026 Hawaiʻi Primary Ballot.

Why are you best suited for this job? And why do you want it?

I am best suited for this position because I understand the challenges our residents face and possess the political will to confront them. It is shameful that born-and-raised locals must choose between moving for economic relief or staying to face hardship. Our working class deserves a future where they can thrive, and a government that represents their interests. The City Council has the power to improve lives but chooses not to; I am ready to change that.

What is the biggest issue facing your district, and what is the first thing you would do to address it in the first six months after being elected?

Affordability is my campaign’s core mission. To keep working locals here, we must act. I will immediately fully fund TheBus to make it fast, reliable and fare-free. I will fund public housing, establish rent control, levy a vacancy tax, and strictly enforce the short-term rental ban. Long-term I envision city-owned grocery stores and affordable childcare. The entrenched elite will fight back, but this is personal — I am fighting for your family like my own. We all do better when we all do better.

Here’s one question from your constituents: How would you get homeless off beaches?

The simplest way to address homelessness is providing housing. With persistence and programs like CORE, the city can meet basic shelter and medical needs. But living also requires a living wage and building truly affordable housing—not more luxury sky rises. Current affordable housing formulas simply do not work for working people. We have already seen what a policing-first approach looks like: frustration, brutality and ultimately failure.

After years of looking for a new spot to dump Oʻahu’s trash, the city is proposing that the Westside host an expansion of the island’s only municipal landfill. Is this a workable solution? If not, where should Oʻahu put its trash?

I believe that this is a burden that must be equally borne by everyone on the island. The first places to consider a new landfill should be the areas which currently bear none. Also, burning fossil fuels to move waste across the island or off island in large, polluting vehicles is just not sustainable either. In the long term we must work towards waste reduction, recycling, and protecting our ʻāina that sustains us.

Honolulu’s housing market doesn’t have enough units that are affordable for residents. How would you try to increase the housing supply for locals? Are there approaches you think should be more seriously considered?

To fix housing, Honolulu must use laws, taxes and public management. I will penalize unregistered short-term rental platforms, enact rent control and pass a progressive property tax tier for $10M+ homes. We must reject AMI (Area Median Income) metrics, cap office-to-apartment converted rents at 20% of income, and launch a city program to build public housing in-house. The private sector failed; the City must build and manage affordable property directly to protect our people.

Homelessness remains one of Honolulu’s top issues. What should the city be doing to get more homeless people into housing? And what should it be doing to prevent more residents from ending up on the street?

To end homelessness, housing must be affordable long-term. The city must urgently build transitional housing and use a Housing First model — pairing patient CORE outreach with shelter and healthcare. To prevent more residents from ending up on the street, we must replace the AMI metric with a percentage-of-income model to expand true affordability. People are homeless here because they can’t afford their own home; that is a failure of capitalism, not our neighbors.

Hawai‘i has experienced a series of damaging and dangerous weather events that have exposed weaknesses in our planning, preparation and response. What needs to happen for your district to be better prepared for these events?

Climate disasters—floods, fires, and storms—are increasing. As an island, we must rely on ourselves and fund climate adaptation. Because the city cannot always provide immediate emergency services, we must fund and organize local resiliency hubs so communities can receive aid nearby. We need a secure emergency food supply, better crisis management and stronger neighborhood cooperation. We have no choice but to prepare and build a more resilient city together.

What should Honolulu County do to get in front of climate change rather than just reacting and adapting to it?

To combat climate change, Honolulu County must invest in multimodal transit and convert HECO into a municipal co-op, like Kauaʻi’s KIUC (Kauai Island Utility Cooperative). Oʻahu is far too car-dependent. A fast, reliable, fare-free public transit system will slash traffic and road wear. While HECO raises rates to pay executives millions, electricity should be affordable. We must redirect those millions into renewable energy and electric buses, keeping public necessities in public hands.

Many of Honolulu’s parks are in rough shape. What are your solutions?

To maintain our parks, we need a public works program employing local workers, funded by new tax revenue allocated directly to facility repairs. The “rough shape” of our public parks is a direct result of them serving as a poor substitute for the housing amenities for those who have been priced-out. Public facilities are bearing the brunt of a housing crisis. As the city successfully houses our neighbors, the burden on park maintenance will ease.

Skyline, the city’s rail system, has experienced vast budget overruns and construction delays. What’s your vision for the future of Skyline, and how would you help make it happen?

Skyline’s delays and budget overruns are notorious examples of local corruption, but denying our people public transit now only makes things worse. The rail must be built out to Waikīkī and UH Mānoa to help us transition away from car-dependency. The future of Skyline must include transit-oriented social housing, developed and operated by the city at an affordable price point. We must treat homes as a public good that government is obligated to deliver.

More than 80 people were killed last year on Oʻahu’s roads. That was a 20% increase over 2024 deaths and the highest number of fatalities since 2007. How can our roads be made safer?

Making roads safer requires legislation, infrastructure and behavioral incentives. We can use low-cost leading pedestrian intervals to protect walkers, but Honolulu must also adjust its infrastructure as we transition to mass transit. Building roundabouts, raised crosswalks and narrowed lanes will naturally slow drivers down. Finally, we can launch a safe driver app that rewards good driving with reduced vehicle registration fees.

What is your most out-of-the-box idea to solve a county problem?

Access to affordable, nutritious food is a human right. Yet big corporations dominate our market — with Longs and Times bought out, Foodland is our only island-wide local grocer. Worse, giants like Walmart and Target price-gouged us long after supply chains recovered. By establishing city-owned grocery stores, Honolulu can create a public option that applies vital downward pressure on corporate prices and ensures working families can afford to eat.