Joshua Montgomery

Criminal Justice / Public Safety Law enforcement will be given a mandate to enforce loitering, overnight camping, open bottle and drug possession laws. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Expand training on basic water rescue to all front line emergency services staff. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Increase corrections staffing and provide additional training to correction workers. Expand drug and alcohol treatment programs and mandate participation for substance adjacent offenses. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Fund, recruit and train additional firefighting staff. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Enforce the law uniformly. Prosecute all offenses and rehabilitate repeat offenders. Criminal Justice / Public Safety -Modernize and expand Department of Corrections facilities. End all private prison contracts. Corporations should never profit off of locking humans in cages. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Require managers and senior government officials to take an oath of office and, upon suspicion of impropriety, submit to forensic audits. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Build three new satellite emergency services offices in rural areas of the county. These offices will host both law enforcement and emergency workers. Sites will be selected with a goal of reducing emergency response times from hours to minutes. Infrastructure / Transportation Expanded walking and hiking trails will provide better access to public lands. Infrastructure / Transportation Provide foundational infrastructure for medical facilities. That means building or purchasing both office space and housing for medical staff. Infrastructure / Transportation The County will also offer to acquire private water systems and integrate them into the county’s comprehensive water infrastructure. Infrastructure / Transportation Hawaii County will invest in a significant expansion of public park infrastructure as well as the people who maintain it. Infrastructure / Transportation Hawaii County will invest in a significant expansion of sewer mains and high-pressure sewage transport infrastructure. Infrastructure / Transportation Every public park on Hawaii Island will be provided with adequate parking and clean restrooms. Infrastructure / Transportation In order to reduce vehicle traffic Public Transit will be expanded to include all public parks on the island. Infrastructure / Transportation Expand divided sidewalk and bike lane infrastructure in high density neighborhoods and along exercise corridors. Install dedicated pedestrian corridors for neighborhood recreation. Infrastructure / Transportation Centralize and expand all County heavy equipment maintenance into a modern, state of the art facility. Infrastructure / Transportation Install guardrails, reflectors and basic safety infrastructure on dangerous roads. Modernize intersections to keep the flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic safe. Infrastructure / Transportation Significantly increase the number and frequency of busses island wide. Increase the number of stops. Create tourism centric bus routes that connect the airport to resorts, parks, retail and cultural sites with a goal of reducing the number of rental cars on our roads. Environment / Energy Open a a full time household hazardous waste drop off facility in Kona and one in Hilo. Provide a hazardous waste pickup weekly at each transfer station. Environment / Energy Invest in recycling infrastructure and technology to better process the waste stream. Environment / Energy Hawaii County will invest in a significant expansion of wells, treatment facilities and delivery infrastructure. The Countywill also explore the possibility of private-public partnerships where it makes sense to properly manage clean water supplies and waste water treatment. Environment / Energy Open all solid waste transfer and green waste facilities 7 days per week. Environment / Energy Open a windward landfill. Wages / Job Benefits Increase wages, improve working conditions and fully staff the department. Taxes / Budget Hawaii County will establish a special tax benefit district process for homeowners which will allow them to amortize the costs of improvements on private property, including septic system conversions, over a 30 year term. Taxes / Budget Freezing Taxes for Kupuna. Housing Pre-contract for long term housing in the event of an eruption. Pre-contracts can include contracts for manufactured housing, tiny home, vacation rental inventory and timeshares. Social Services We plan to set up a "war room" and use our best asset - the desire to be in Hawaii - to recruit the best grant writers in the United States. These grant writers will be engaged on a contract basis and Hawaii County will pay to house them. This effort will be a key area of focus for the first 6 months after the election.