About Joe

I was born and raised in Hawaiʻi Kai. I attended Kamiloiki Elementary, Niu Valley Intermediate, and graduated from Kaiser High School in 1997. I grew up bodyboarding at Sandy’s and China Walls, exploring Alan Davis, spearfishing in our waters, and spending much of my life around Maunalua Bay.

My roots here run deep. My parents have called Hawaiʻi Kai home for decades, my brothers are raising their families here, and today I’m raising my own family in the same community that raised me.

This isn’t simply the district I represent. Hawaiʻi Kai is home.

A Life of Service

I grew up with service as part of my life. My parents and my church instilled those values in me early on. I went from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and eventually became an Eagle Scout. In high school, I joined Rotaract, and years later I became the youngest president in the history of the Rotary Club of Waikīkī.

My Eagle Scout project was right here in Hawaiʻi Kai. Following Hurricane Iniki, I organized volunteers to help restore the Koko Crater Botanical Garden, removing more than ten truckloads of debris and building benches along the trail. It showed me at a young age what can happen when people come together to take care of their community.

Nearly 30 years ago, family friend and fellow Rotarian Gene Ward presented me with a Hawaiʻi House of Representatives certificate at my Eagle Scout ceremony. Today, that certificate hangs on the wall of my Capitol office, the same office Gene once served from.

Business and Community

For more than two decades, I’ve helped build JPG Hawaiʻi and later helped expand our work through JPG Media. Through our companies, we’ve had the opportunity to work with businesses and organizations across Hawaiʻi while also using our resources to support nonprofits, community initiatives and causes we believe in.

One effort particularly close to home was Save the Kaiwi Coastline in 2015. JPG Hawaiʻi donated hundreds of signs that helped residents show their support for protecting the Kaiwi Coastline. For me, it was personal. This was a place I grew up around, and using our business to support a community effort to protect it is something I’m still proud of today.

That same commitment to giving back has carried through my involvement with Rotary and a number of nonprofit, community and business organizations. Whether through business, volunteering, or public service, I’ve always believed in using the resources and relationships I have to help the community I call home.

Serving Hawaiʻi Kai

In May 2025, Governor Josh Green appointed me to represent House District 18 and complete Gene Ward’s term.

Since taking office, I’ve worked to earn the trust of the people I represent by doing what I’ve always believed in: listening first, building relationships, and acting on what I hear.

That means walking neighborhoods, listening at the doors, conducting community surveys, attending Neighborhood Board meetings, responding to residents, and bringing government agencies, utilities, law enforcement, businesses and community leaders together to address the issues affecting Hawaiʻi Kai.

Those conversations have shaped the priorities I’m working on today, from fixing our electrical grid and aging infrastructure to disaster preparedness, public safety, small business, food security and protecting our coastline and community character.

Why I’m Running

Now, I’m running to continue serving Hawaiʻi Kai, the community that raised me, where my family has put down roots, and the home I love.

I’m asking for the opportunity to continue the work we’ve started and to keep being a strong, accessible voice for our community at the State Capitol.