Newsmaker
Monday, December 7, 1998
Name: Ramona K. Mullahey
Age: 53
Education: Master's degree, UH-Manoa.
Occupation: Community builder
Hobbies: Photography, alternative healing
Some people might think Oahu is so built up that there's not much real planning left to do. Blending bricks, people
That's not the case with Ramona Mullahey, who recently was appointed to serve as a community builder in the local office of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"I think the problems and challenges of an urban environment are much more exciting because you have to take a look at how to address potential problems in the community and make things work," Mullahey said.
"How do you blend bricks and mortar with people?"
HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo is dubbing the Community Builders program the "Urban Peace Corps." The 217-member fellowship program is designed to bring the agency closer to state and local governments, businesses and nonprofit groups in order to create more jobs and housing opportunities for citizens.
Mullahey will serve a two-year term, capitalizing on her years as a city planner. She is co-founder of the nonprofit organization Center for Better Communities.
Her specialties are urban design, sustainable community development and cultural preservation.
Among the projects she's been involved with are the development of the Family Center at Kapolei Elementary School, the Greater East Honolulu empowerment zone region and Kaimuki's Top of the Hill program.
Cheryl Soon, city transportation services director and former planning director, said Mullahey's greatest contribution has been as an educator.
Mullahey has taught an undergraduate class in urban and regional planning at the University of Hawaii-Manoa for the last 10 years.
"She teaches them about planning and makes them good activist citizens as they grow up," Soon said. "I can't think of a more ideally suited person for such a program."
Gordon Y.K. Pang, Star-Bulletin
