Amemiya announces run for Honolulu mayor

Former Hawaii High School Athletic Association Executive Director Keith Amemiya announced his run for the Honolulu 2020 mayor’s race, emphasizing the need to restore trust in government and improve conditions for the public.

Amemiya, 53, made his official announcement at a news conference held Tuesday morning at Ala Wai Community Park.

“I’m running for mayor because too many of our people are losing hope that we can meet our greatest challenges, that we can’t stop the scandals, cost overruns and corruption. And many believe that Honolulu has already become too unaffordable for our people to live here and fulfill their dreams,” he said.

Amemiya pledges to tackle a multitude of issues such as the high cost of living, public safety, transient vacation rentals, rail and homelessness.

“As I have throughout my career, I stand for hardworking people without a voice, who have been ignored for far too long and need someone who will fight for them and their families,” he said.

He vowed to improve conditions for the public, especially youth, and restore trust in government with a “zero-tolerance approach” to corruption.

“My career has been based on strong core values like trust, integrity, character, surrounding yourself with good people. And I’ll bring that with me and my administration to the city,” Amemiya said after the news conference ended.

From 1998 to 2009 he served as executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association. He played a vital role in negotiations for the OIA (Oahu Interscholastic Association) and ILH (Interscholastic League of Honolulu) football alliance. The agreement ended a decades-long, rancorous relationship between the public and private school groups.

He initiated state tournaments for canoe paddling, air riflery, cheerleading and judo and introduced many sports for female athletes such as wrestling, golf and water polo.

Amemiya also spearheaded the Save Our Sports campaign in 2009 in response to severe budget cuts that threatened public school athletic programs.

Amemiya is a senior vice president of Island Holdings Inc., parent company of Island Insurance, Atlas Insurance Agency, Tradewind Capital Group, IC International and Pacxa.

He studied finance at the University of Hawaii, earned a law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law and later worked as a civil litigation attorney.

Amemiya has been married to Bonny Amemiya, chief financial officer at aio group, for 23 years. The couple reside in Pauoa and have an adult son, Chris.

He is the son of former state Attorney General Ron Amemiya and cousin of city Managing Director Roy Amemiya Jr.

Campaign chairman Adam Wong, who has known Amemiya for almost 20 years, said, “We need somebody who could build bridges right now ’cause we got a lot of big problems. And to solve them you are going to have to bring people together. I think what Keith has shown throughout his career and as long as I’ve known him is that he’s really good at getting people to come together and solve difficult problems, and I think that’s exactly what we need as a mayor.”