Three years ago, Sharon made a career switch from being a land use and construction attorney to building affordable housing. She was frustrated that the State of Hawaii continues to lag in building affordable housing and wanted to understand why. She is now working on a senior affordable rental near Chinatown and continues to commit her career to ensuring that all local residents, will have access to affordable housing.

Sharon has been instrumental in many traffic relief measures for commuters on the West side. She worked with the Hawaii State Department of Transportation to have the shoulder lane heading townbound from Kualakai Parkway to Kunia, used as an additional throughlane during rush hour to alleviate traffic. She also worked with HDOT to allow a second lane to be used in the Zipper lane. She is responsible for many traffic improvements in the Second City including:

• Allowing right turns on red heading makaibound from Kualakai to Farrington;
• Allowing right turns on red from the far right lane heading makaibound from Kualakai Parkway to Kapolei Parkway, and removing the delineators for the right lane
• Allowing two lanes on Kapolei Parkway heading east and westbound at the intersection of Ft. Barrette, to make left turns with traffic signal adjustments
• Adjusting the school crossing and traffic signals at the corner of Kama’aha Parkway and Kapolei Parkway, to help traffic flow while allowing Kapolei Middle School students to cross safely;
• Re-striping the lanes on Kalaeloa Blvd., just past Kapolei Parkway for motorists to proceed safely on the H-1 freeway heading townbound;
• Installing the traffic signal at the top of Kalaeloa Blvd. heading westbound on the H-1 to allow for traffic flow;
• Working with the City on installing the delineators at Kapolei Parkway and Kunehi Street
• All improvements on Ft. Barrette including adding additional lanes, sidewalks, curbs and gutters
• Having the backbone roads in the Villages of Kapolei repaved

Throughout the pandemic and as we recover, crime continues to be on the rise. One of our biggest problems on the West side is that we have grown exponentially, yet the District 8 police station and the number of officers stationed there, has not. District 8 covers from Makaha to Ewa Beach so Sharon supported a resolution to add and additional police district to the West side. She has participated in neighborhood watch walks and continues to support tougher laws against offenders who commit all crimes, including property crime such as theft of catalytic converters.

When first elected in 2006, Sharon’s number one priority was getting the UH West Oahu campus built, as government had promised the west side a 4-year campus for over 40 years. Sharon was responsible for securing funding to build the UHWO campus and in August 2012, they opened their doors. She is also responsible for securing funding for Hookele Elementary School, which resulted in Kapolei Elementary School no longer having to serve as a multi-track school. Most recently, she secured funding for Honouli’uli Middle School, which also resulted in Kapolei Middle Scholl no longer having to serve as a multi-track school. She is a champion for public education and continues to stay involved with our schools.

Sharon has had the privilege of representing our Kapolei Homestead Communities for 16 years. She supported funding for the Department of Hawaiian Homelands to be built in Kapolei [INSERT PHOTO OF GROUNDBREAKING] and even celebrated at its groundbreaking. Sharon played an instrumental role in getting Ka Makana Ali’i built in Kapolei and spearheaded passage of a bill that would allow KMA to conduct business on DHHL lands, as this was a revenue stream for DHHL. Most recently, she strongly supported an appropriation of $600M to DHHL to build approximately 3000 more homes. Her advocacy does not end there. She is committed to ensuring that DHHL works with its beneficiaries and addresses their needs.