Romy Cachola
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Romeo Munoz Cachola, commonly known as Romy Cachola, is a Democratic
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
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 ...
and former member of the Hawaii State House of Representatives, representing House District 30 (Kalihi Kai, Sand Island, Hickam, Pearl Harbor, Ford Island, and Halawa Valley Estate) since 2012. He formerly served in the Hawaii State House of Representatives from 1984 to 2000. An immigrant from the
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 ...
, Cachola became one of the first
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 ...
s to be elected to the
Honolulu City Council Honolulu City Council is the legislature of the City and County of Honolulu, the capital and largest city in Hawai'i, the fiftieth state in the United States. The City and County of Honolulu is a municipal corporation that manages government a ...
since statehood in 1959.


Education

Born in the historic
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
colonial
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
of
Vigan Vigan, officially the City of Vigan (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
in the Philippines province of
Ilocos Sur Ilocos Sur (), officially the Province of Ilocos Sur (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital of Vigan, while Candon is ...
, Cachola studied at Quezon University near
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
where he obtained his Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees. After having settled in
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 ...
and obtained
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
citizenship, Cachola became an
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...
and
realtor Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agent ...
.


Politics

With the urging of fellow Filipino Americans in his neighborhood, Cachola ran for the House District 39 seat comprising Aliamanu, Foster Village, and all the military housing districts on the southern coast of
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 ...
. He served the district until reapportionment in 1991 placed him in House District 30. He successfully ran for the seat and continued his service as a legislator until his election to the Honolulu City Council in 2000, when he replaced outgoing then-Councilmember
Donna Mercado Kim Donna Mercado Kim (born 1952 or 1953) is an American Democratic party politician from Hawaii. She is a state senator from Senate District 14 and was President of the Hawaiʻi Senate for almost three years. Education Kim attended, and graduate ...
in a special election. In the Honolulu City Council, Cachola served as chairman of key positions with budget authority. As Chairman of the Zoning Committee, he was considered one of the most powerful politicians in the
City & County of Honolulu Honolulu County (), officially known as the City and County of Honolulu (formerly ''Oahu County''), is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Hawaii, one of five counties in the state. The city-county includes both Urban Honolulu (t ...
following the mayor, managing director and council budget chairman. In 2003, Cachola was elected by his fellow council members as floor leader. Cachola was reelected to the Honolulu City Council on September 18, 2004. In 2005, the City Council approved a tax increase to fund mass transit, the largest and most expensive public works project in state history. In 2007, shortly after the tax went into effect, Cachola was the swing vote in a controversial decision to decide the train's route. Cachola insisted that the route go through Salt Lake as a condition of his support. Though the Council voted 5-4 to approve a route with Cachola's changes, some Salt Lake residents voiced opposition to the noise and property devaluation that they feared rail transit would bring to their community. After the following city elections and over loud objections by Cachola and some Salt Lake residents, the new City Council reconsidered the decision and decided to re-route the rail line to pass by
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
and the
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
, without a Salt Lake alignment. Cachola was fined $2,500 in July 2014 by the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission for state campaign spending violations and had to reimburse his campaign $32,000 for using campaign money to buy a new truck and allegedly use it for personal reasons. He admits no wrongdoing under the terms of the settlement agreement. In September 2014, the Honolulu Ethics Commission fined Cachola $50,000 "based on a number of aggravating factors in the case, ..including that the misconduct occurred over several years on a monthly basis, that Cachola knew the ethics laws and their penalties but 'blatantly disregarded' them, and that he failed to cooperate with the commission during its investigation." Honolulu Ethics Commission executive director Chuck Totto said in a news release that " is case is a perfect storm of public corruption," and that the $50,000 was the largest civil fine ever approved by the commission. In the 2020 Democratic primary elections, he lost his bid for reelection to
Sonny Ganaden Ernesto Montemayor "Sonny" Ganaden is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives' 30th district from 2020 to 2024. Background and education Ernesto Montemayor Ganaden is a second generat ...
in a 64% to 36% vote.


References


External links


City Council District VII

Representative Romy M. Cachola
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cachola, Romeo Munoz Filipino emigrants to the United States Members of the Hawaii House of Representatives Honolulu City Council members Living people People from Vigan Manuel L. Quezon University alumni 1938 births City council members of Asian descent Asian-American people in Hawaii politics Hawaii politicians of Filipino descent 21st-century members of the Hawaii State Legislature