Kymberly Pine

Kymberly Marcos Pine
Member of the Honolulu City Council from District 1
Assumed office
January 2013
Preceded by Tom Berg
Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives
from the 43rd district
In office
2004–2012
Preceded by Romy Mindo
Succeeded by Matt LoPresti
Personal details
Political party Democratic (2017-present)
Republican (until 2017)
Spouse(s) LCDR Brian Ryglowski, USN
Website councilmemberpine.com


Kymberly Marcos Pine (born September 8, 1970) is the sitting Vice-Chair of the Honolulu City Council representing District 1. She is also the Chair of the City Council Zoning & Housing Committee, where she is working to build more affordable housing opportunities for local, working families. Prior to that she was a Representative of the State House of Representatives.

Biography

Pine is of half Caucasian and half Filipino ancestry. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1992 where she was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She earned with a degree in English.[1] She was a part time journalist and office manager for a Republican representative before becoming a politician. In 2007 she was named one of the nation's 100 most influential half-Filipina women by the Filipina Women's Network.[2] She was the youngest to be appointed as Director of Minority Research in the State House of Representatives.[3]

Early life

Kymberly Marcos Pine is the daughter of a Caucasian community college teacher and Oahu-born, mother of Filipino ethnicity, who is a nurse. Her maternal grandparents are a Filipino immigrant and a Maui-born Filipino plantation worker and her paternal grandparents are of Irish, English and Scottish ethnicity. She is directly related to Ferdinand Marcos on maternal grandfather’s side. He was her grandfather’s nephew. [4] Her grandfather served in the U.S. Coast Guard where he worked as a chef in World War II during the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led her to work for U.S. Vets – Hawaii, a non-profit transitional home for former homeless veterans, located in Ewa.[5] Kymberly was also an avid athlete. She completed the 42-mile Molokai Channel canoe race to Oahu and the Waikiki Rough Water Swim 2.4 mile competition. In high school she was a well-known athlete as a member of the Hawaii Olympic Development Soccer Team, and was chosen as the Oahu Interscholastic Association West All-Star MVP player. She was also a cross-country and track standout, placing second in the OIA in various competitions.

Political career

Pine was elected to the State House of Representatives in 2004 to represent district 43, defeating an incumbent with 60% of the vote.[6] District 43 covers the Ewa Beach, Iroquois Point, and Pu’uloa areas.

She served in the state house from 2004-2012 and was the first Republican to be elected to this seat since statehood. From 2010-2012 she served as the House Minority floor leader.[1]

One of Pine's 2012 priorities for the legislative session was to keep the community informed regarding the closure of the Hawaii Medical Center West facility in Ewa Beach in December 2011.[7] She also hosted a Leeward Job Fair to help the 1,000 people that lost their jobs from the HMC West and East locations.[8]

Kymberly Marcos Pine was a victim of Cyber Crime in 2011[9] and has worked to help strengthen the states Cyber Crime laws.[10]

Pine won a seat in the 2012 Honolulu City Council elections, representing District 1 and the areas of ’Ewa, ’Ewa Beach, Kapolei, Honokai Hale, Ko Olina, Nanakuli, Maili, Wai’anae, Makaha, Keaau, Makua. She beat incumbent Tom Berg by more than 25 percentage points. In 2016, she won her re-election campaign with a landslide. During her time at the Honolulu City Council, she has championed the improvement of parks throughout District 1, worked with the City to implement more affordable housing, and has allocated millions dollars in Capital Improvement Project funds to improve roads throughout the Leeward Coast. In 2017, Councilmember Pine spearheaded efforts in getting Kapolei/Ewa designated as a "Blue Zone Project" area. Councilmember Pine is also committed to improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety by working with the City Administration to incorporate Complete Street improvements throughout District 1.

Pine resigned from the Republican party November 2016, the day after Trump was elected stating "having a president who disrespects women so openly was something I could not support, after giving birth to a daughter. I just went back to my Democrat roots where my family started on the plantation.[11]

Affiliations

Kymberly is a member of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church where she is a lector and member of the Filipino Catholic Club. She is a former member of the Ewa Beach Lions Club, AYSO Soccer Coach and former Chairperson of the Ewa Beach Weed and Seed Neighborhood Restoration Project.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 VoteSmart
  2. ↑ Alana Folen (November 14, 2007). "Rep. Pine Honored Nationally As Filipina Of Distinction". West Oahu News/MidWeek. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  3. ↑ Gordon Y.K. Pang (August 16, 2004). "Traffic, a Key Concern for 43rd District". Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  4. ↑ She moved to Ewa Beach and added her maternal grandather’s last name, Marcos, to gain more Filipino voters. "Voices of Filipino America", Asian Journal, December 18, 2008
  5. ↑ "Darryl Vincent Interview with Rep. Kymberly Pine". US Vets, Inc. March 26, 2012. Archived from the original on June 6, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Election Results", State of Hawaii
  7. ↑ "HMC Former St. Francis Hospitals, Shutting Down", Star Advertiser, December 16, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Forum Tackles HMC Closure, West's Health Care". MidWeek. February 8, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  9. ↑ "If you have been a victim of internet crime", Hawaii Free Press, July 6, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  10. ↑ Daniela Stolfi (February 19, 2012). "From Rep Kym Pine to Techhui". Techhui. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  11. ↑ Staff (March 21, 2018). "Pine blames Trump for her departure from GOP". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  12. ↑ Meet Kymberly Marcos Pine Retrieved May 25, 2018.


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