Jose Maria Brias "Joey" Manahan (born 1971) is a Filipino American politician from the state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Joey Manahan is a former member of the Honolulu City Council and served as the Chair of the Budget Committee and Vice-Chair of the Transportation Committee. Manahan was also the

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

representative and President of the Hawai‘i State Association of Counties’ (HSAC) Executive Committee, whose members consist of the four island counties of the State of Hawai‘i – Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Hawai’i counties. HSAC advocates for county programs and services and represents the county governments before the Hawai‘i State Legislature, administrative agencies, and the federal government. He has served a combined 13 years in elected office in both the Honolulu City Council and the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives. As a member of the Democratic Party, Manahan is a former member of the

Hawaii House of Representatives The Hawaii House of Representatives () is the lower house of the Hawaii State Legislature. Pursuant to Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of Hawaii, amended during the 1978 Hawaii State Constitutional Convention, 1978 constit ...

, serving from 2007 through 2013, and as vice speaker in 2011 and 2012.

Early life

Manahan was born in

Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, in 1971. He is the grandnephew of Manuel Manahan, who served in the

Senate of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of Representatives as the lower house. The ...

. Manahan's father died when he was young. He moved with his mother to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

at the age of 10, where he attended Bellarmine College Preparatory School. His mother remarried in 1991, when the family moved to

. Manahan attended

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

in California, before transferring to the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Political career

While he studied at the University of Hawaii, Manahan became interested in his identity as a

Filipino American Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...

and worked with Filipino immigrants. Through this program, he was introduced to Dennis Arakaki, a member of the

, who mentored him. He later worked for Arakaki as a legislative assistant, and for

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Donna Mercado Kim. Manahan was first elected to the State House in 2006, winning by 11 votes. In 2012, Manahan announced that he would not seek reelection to the State House, and would instead run for the Honolulu City Council in the 2012 elections, and he won. Manahan represented Honolulu City Council District 7, which includes Kalihi, lwilei, Kalihi Kai, Mapunapuna, Salt Lake, Aliamanu, Hickam, Foster Village, Ford Island, and Sand Island. Manahan has held several leadership positions like vice speaker of the

and the chair of the Committee on Budget, as well as vice-chair of the Committee on Transportation for the

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

City Council. As a state representative, Manahan initiated two key projects for his district—the Modernization of Farrington High School and the Kuhio Park Terrace Modernization project. He ran in the 2014 election to represent in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, but finished sixth in the Democratic primary held in August 2014.

Personal

Manahan is married to Maan Santos.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manahan, Joey Living people Hawaii politicians of Filipino descent Democratic Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Hawaii State Legislature Honolulu City Council members University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni People from Makati Filipino emigrants to the United States 1971 births Bellarmine College Preparatory alumni City council members of Asian descent Asian-American people in Hawaii politics