I come from a large, happy and busy family.  Including three children who graduated from Moanalua high school, completed college here and abroad, and have started families of their own, blessing the entire ‘ohana with seven brilliant and beautiful granddaughters! 

 

Jill, my partner, my friend, my wife, is a big influence in my life and her grounding in Hawaiian history, preservation & environmental issues and concern for people and place, that helps me learn and understand local issues.  Jill has also become a learned waterwoman and is a tenaciously strong paddler in both OC-1 and 6-person teams.  

 

Having spent the last ten years as an elected Kaneohe Neighborhood Board member and board chairman for the past six, I try to deliver fair and consistent leadership to  serve as an example of who we can and should treat one another and to earn and maintain the trust and confidence of our district's 30,000+ residents.  I'm always looking for ways to serve the community and be of use, so I submitted my name and was confirmed by the Hawaii State Senate in 2015 and continues to serve on the Kaneohe Bay Regional Council protecting the bay. 

 

In a nutshell - I'm always looking for new and efficient ways of getting things done.  After having a 30-year career in the U.S. Navy, I wanted my next career to bring joy into my life, so I combined my love for golf and passion for helping others and  earned a Class 'A' certification and was elected to membership in the Professional Golfers Association of America in 2006. 

It was that same year, I started Golf Academy Hawaii at the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course.  The academy is still going strong and my youngest son, Jonathan, also completed his PGA apprenticeship, earned membership and also teaches at Golf Academy Hawaii.  At the same time, I split time, I split time at the golf academy with a role at what was known then as, San Diego Golf Academy and later as Golf Academy of America at the Castle Medical Building and Koolau golf course and taught a college-level curriculum leading students to an Associate of Science in Business (Golf Management). 

     From 2007-2018 I also facilitated a weekly 3-day U.S. Department of Labor employment transition workshop for military personnel and their spouses stationed in Hawaii who are leaving service and need to successfully integrate into the civilian job market.  And because there was still time in the day that was unused, I enrolled at Hawaii Pacific University and earned a Master of Business Administration  with a concentration in Organizational Change and Development.

 

Now, I took on a role supporting Microsoft's Software & Systems Academy.  Originally, I served as the site manager for a 19-week, in-class, program to help active duty and former service members make transitions into careers in the tech industry.  COVID caused the program to adapt to a virtual learning environment and by March 2020, we were in a totally virtual space and I work from home during the week with weekend jaunts to the golf course to teach.

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Whenever there’s spare time, haha, I'm volunteering.  Currently, I serve as President of the Friends of the Natatorium, a 501(c)(3) non-profit with the goal of reopening the Waikiki WWI War Memorial Natatorium to the public.  In that capacity, I've worked hard to gain the support of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Hawaii Foundation and other groups to leverage the best possible ideas to show the practicality and feasibility of a cost-effective restoration of our local and national treasure.  Mo is also the Hawaii Coordinator of the Salute Military Golf Association where he and his team conducts free golf clinics for combat-wounded veterans. 

Coming from parents who have a combined 130 years in the entertainment business, I've always been passionate about the arts and playing my own music.  Jill, steered me towards live performance theater in 2013 and I'm just gaga over the comradery, effort, professionalism and spirit of Hawaii community theater. I've been fortunate to have had roles in numerous Diamond Head Theater and Paliku Theater shows and can't wait for us to be together again.

 

Some other volunteer activities are:

 

* Kaneohe Christmas Parade, Grand Marshall Driver

* Castle Education Complex Redesign, Brainstorm design team

* Paepae O' Heeia Fishpond, worker

* Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, volunteer

* Historic Hawaii Foundation, volunteer

* Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure, volunteer, photography, logistics

* USS MISSOURI Memorial, work detail team leader

* Past President and member of the Rotary Club of Waikiki. 

* Friends of the Natatorium, President and board member

* Kaneohe Elementary Partners in Education Program, Recess and Fitness support

* Salute Military Golf Association, Hawaii Chapter President

 

I have a guiding thought: “With a passion to serve, I like to see ideas implemented efficiently and effectively.  I'm also patient enough to know that some plans take time to simmer before being implemented and require the advice of our kupuna, and even keiki (elders and children)  I believe an effective design-think mentality can solve many of our challenges and help to implement solutions in a sustainable way. 

 

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