Weekly Roundup: Sunday, December 25

Weekly Roundup: Sunday, December 25

Join us on the Kona Echo Podcast as we discuss the latest news with Bronsten and Michael. Stay up to date with Big Island Daily for daily news updates.

Weekly Roundup: Sunday, December 18

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Lono Mack for State House District 6 (Kona)

Born and raised, In a Multi cultural household in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, a young Lono Mack grew accustomed to island life, as well as the long hours his mom worked to keep a roof over their heads. After high school, Lono’s path forward was uncertain at best. But thankfully, he had parents who stuck with him, and met a mentor that showed him the knowledge of business. Through their belief and his own determination, lono got his life on track, graduated, and eventually built his own successful business. Through the lessons taught by his mentor, Lono developed his mission statement: to positively affect the lives of the people of Hawaii. That led him to public service, where he is today running as a democrat for the Hawaii House of Representatives.

Ilya Barannikov State House District 6 (Kona)

Ilya Barannikov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, during politically unstable times.  His uncle, a painter who was critical of the Communist Party, helped his family flee. His family arrived in the United States when he was seven years old. As an adult, Ilya moved across the country until finally settling and falling in love with Hawai’i several years ago. His tumultuous early life contributed to his deep desire to understand politics, history, and the philosophies that shape the way people live and work.   His parents were trained as engineers, but they had to find whatever work they could to raise a family in their new country; cleaning houses and driving taxis. Ilya became familiar with life for the less fortunate, and the experiences of immigrants. His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother was left in a new country with three children struggling to pay bills. Ilya  took it upon himself to contribute to his family's living and took any jobs he could. Growing up in public housing while surrounded by wealth led to young Ilya learning the impacts of wealth inequality.     Though Ilya excelled in studies in his youth, his family’s debts led him to leaving formal education in his early adulthood. He pursued his first career in design and building. By age 22, Ilya ran his own successful cabinetry business. When the world's economy collapsed in 2008, his business saw a reduction of work by over 90%. This led to Ilya becoming determined to find solutions so that smaller businesses would not be destroyed in the wake of larger businesses being bailed out by government funding.   After the economic collapse, Ilya spent time focusing on art and music, becoming a working artist, traveling to over sixteen countries and creating large art installations for numerous public events and private owners. He also received grants to install intricate, educational art throughout the world. When Covid hit, Ilya returned to more local work within the community, getting involved with designing low-income housing projects, solar installations and electro-chemical technology for storing energy.   Ilya currently runs a non-profit arts-based mentorship program in Hawaii called Hawaii-Fi, which is now running it’s pilot program on Hawai’i Island and aims to target young underprivileged youth and give them access to inspiring local creatives.

Patrick Branco for Congressional District 2

Patrick Pihana Branco is the current State Representative for Hawaiʻi House District 50 (Kailua and Kāne‘ohe Bay). He was born and raised in Kailua, and spent his summers at his great-great grandfather’s small farm in Kurtistown on Hawaiʻi island. Patrick graduated from the Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama and received a full scholarship to Hawaiʻi Pacific University, where he served as Student Body President. After graduating, he earned a Congressman Charles B. Rangel Fellowship that fully funded his Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. While studying at SAIS, he earned fellowships at the United States Embassy in the Republic of Korea, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and in the U.S. House of Representatives. Drawn to public service, Patrick joined the U.S. Foreign Service as a commissioned Diplomat in 2012. Around the world, Patrick dedicated himself to promoting the values he grew up with in Hawaiʻi: aloha, mālama, and kuleana. He served tours in Colombia, Pakistan, the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Secretary of State’s Operations Center, and Venezuela.  Patrick is running for Congress to help Hawaiʻi meet this critical moment in our history. He has a plan to diversify Hawaiʻi’s economy beyond just tourism by creating good-paying jobs in clean energy and cybersecurity, and boosting federal support for Hawai’i’s farmers to reduce Hawai’i’s food supply dependence on the continent. He will also work to bring federal funding back to Hawai’i to build housing and infrastructure that will allow people born in Hawai’i to be able to afford to stay in Hawai’i. Hawai’i’s new challenges require bold new leaders. Patrick believes that if we work together in service of our communities, we can honor our past, and deliver for our future.