Honolulu charter amendment questions finalized, with some big proposals left out
By Mark Ladao
July 21, 2026 at 2:37 PM HST
The Honolulu Charter Commission has finalized which charter amendments Oʻahu voters will decide on this November, though it left out some notable proposals.
The commission on Monday approved about 20 questions to amend the Honolulu City Charter this election cycle.
One would ask residents if city officials should be elected by ranked-choice voting. Voters would be able to select their top five candidates for each race, and their ballots — and rankings — will be tabulated in a way that results in a candidate that gets more than 50% of votes.
If the proposal passes, and with state authorization, city elections could use ranked-choice voting as early as 2032.
“The last charter commission asked us to research ranked choice voting 10 years ago. We did, and we found that ranked-choice voting means more opportunity for a more diverse set of candidates,” said Commissioner Trey Gordner. “We found that it means more choices for voters, and we heard from testifiers that it leads to a more collegial sort of democracy in which people are competing for second choices, and so you don't have these sorts of nasty campaigns.”
Another proposal voters will decide on this year is whether the city administration should create a Food Security Fund.
The city, according to the ballot question, would get a small portion of the city’s real property tax revenue “to increase access to healthy and affordable foods grown, raised, or harvested in the State of Hawaiʻi, and value-added or processed products derived primarily from such foods, for food insecure residents and communities on Oʻahu.”
It was one of the more popular proposals sent to the commission. Most of the public testimony for it was in favor of creating the fund to tackle hunger on the island.
There were also some major ballot initiatives that the commission omitted.
One of the most-discussed was an empty homes tax.
The tax would raise money from unoccupied Oʻahu homes being used as investment properties, while making more housing available and affordable for residents. The revenue would be used for affordable housing projects.
A majority of the 13-member commission actually voted to put an empty homes tax proposition on ballots, but a supermajority, or nine votes, is required for charter amendment questions to pass. The empty homes tax question received eight favorable votes.
A neighborhood of homes is shown Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015, in Honolulu. (3872x2592, AR: 1.4938271604938271)
Opposition came from testifiers like Suzanne Young, CEO of the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
On Monday, she told the commission, “Over 80% of all homes without a homeowner exemption are owned by local residents — that’s over 80,000 homes. These kamaʻāina owners are the ones that will be hurt if you allow an empty homes tax to be passed.”
The charter commission did approve the proposal, though not before gutting it of most of its substance. If voters approve it, it would only recognize the housing shortage on Oʻahu and encourage policies to address it.
Commission Vice Chair Sommerset Yamamoto presented the weakened version of the proposal in an effort to get at least some version of it passed.
“I was going to let it go. I felt like there was something in me that said to let it go,” Yamamoto said, but added, “I couldn't leave this not trying to make it so that our kids can live here.”
Commissioner Cedric Duarte said he was disappointed in the proposal the commission did pass.
“We had an opportunity here to do something really bold and actually get action done on a measure that's really been stirring around and not going anywhere, and then putting us in a situation where the government would have to figure it out because the charter would have been changed,” Duarte said. “I am disappointed that we're not getting something done. Half-measures usually get half-results, and that's kind of what this is.”
The commission also voted against a proposal that could have increased the abilities of Honolulu Police Commission, and another that would have added two members to the nine-member City Council.
The commission on Monday approved about 20 questions to amend the Honolulu City Charter this election cycle.
One would ask residents if city officials should be elected by ranked-choice voting. Voters would be able to select their top five candidates for each race, and their ballots — and rankings — will be tabulated in a way that results in a candidate that gets more than 50% of votes.
If the proposal passes, and with state authorization, city elections could use ranked-choice voting as early as 2032.
“The last charter commission asked us to research ranked choice voting 10 years ago. We did, and we found that ranked-choice voting means more opportunity for a more diverse set of candidates,” said Commissioner Trey Gordner. “We found that it means more choices for voters, and we heard from testifiers that it leads to a more collegial sort of democracy in which people are competing for second choices, and so you don't have these sorts of nasty campaigns.”
Another proposal voters will decide on this year is whether the city administration should create a Food Security Fund.
The city, according to the ballot question, would get a small portion of the city’s real property tax revenue “to increase access to healthy and affordable foods grown, raised, or harvested in the State of Hawaiʻi, and value-added or processed products derived primarily from such foods, for food insecure residents and communities on Oʻahu.”
It was one of the more popular proposals sent to the commission. Most of the public testimony for it was in favor of creating the fund to tackle hunger on the island.
There were also some major ballot initiatives that the commission omitted.
One of the most-discussed was an empty homes tax.
The tax would raise money from unoccupied Oʻahu homes being used as investment properties, while making more housing available and affordable for residents. The revenue would be used for affordable housing projects.
A majority of the 13-member commission actually voted to put an empty homes tax proposition on ballots, but a supermajority, or nine votes, is required for charter amendment questions to pass. The empty homes tax question received eight favorable votes.
A neighborhood of homes is shown Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015, in Honolulu. (3872x2592, AR: 1.4938271604938271)
Opposition came from testifiers like Suzanne Young, CEO of the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
On Monday, she told the commission, “Over 80% of all homes without a homeowner exemption are owned by local residents — that’s over 80,000 homes. These kamaʻāina owners are the ones that will be hurt if you allow an empty homes tax to be passed.”
The charter commission did approve the proposal, though not before gutting it of most of its substance. If voters approve it, it would only recognize the housing shortage on Oʻahu and encourage policies to address it.
Commission Vice Chair Sommerset Yamamoto presented the weakened version of the proposal in an effort to get at least some version of it passed.
“I was going to let it go. I felt like there was something in me that said to let it go,” Yamamoto said, but added, “I couldn't leave this not trying to make it so that our kids can live here.”
Commissioner Cedric Duarte said he was disappointed in the proposal the commission did pass.
“We had an opportunity here to do something really bold and actually get action done on a measure that's really been stirring around and not going anywhere, and then putting us in a situation where the government would have to figure it out because the charter would have been changed,” Duarte said. “I am disappointed that we're not getting something done. Half-measures usually get half-results, and that's kind of what this is.”
The commission also voted against a proposal that could have increased the abilities of Honolulu Police Commission, and another that would have added two members to the nine-member City Council.