The city outlined its revitalization plan for Kalihi last night, pledging to bring together stakeholders in the community and spend more money to bolster its work force, improve its parks and keep kids off drugs.

"This is an administration that cares about Kalihi," Mayor Mufi Hannemann told attendees.

More than 250 people gathered at the Farrington High School auditorium for the summit, which touched on a slew of topics, from improving business opportunities in the community to decreasing poverty and empowering poor families to become financially self-sufficient.

Hannemann, who grew up in Kalihi, said the key to the revitalization plan is making sure everyone who wants to be involved has a voice. "Kalihi is a special place," he told summit attendees. "We want to make Kalihi a special place forever."

The mayor said the city will work to improve maintenance at Kalihi parks and issue requests for proposals to keep Kalihi kids off drugs.

Many who attended the summit were optimistic about the future of Kalihi and said they hoped the revitalization would spur positive change.

"I have lived in Kalihi all my life," said Ilima Aylett, a 70-year-plus Kalihi resident. "I hope it can get better."

George Turner, housing development director for Kokua Legal Services on School Street, said Kalihi has been classified as the most "poverty-stricken community" in the state. "We need to address that," Turner said. "Kalihi has been overlooked for many years."

Kalihi-Palama is home to about 40,000 people, and about 18,000 people live in Kalihi Valley, according to 2000 Census figures, the most recent available. The community has the state's largest concentration of public housing projects and a higher-than-average percentage of families in poverty.

Despite the discouraging social welfare statistics, officials are quick to point to the downward trend in serious crimes. In 2005, the latest year for which Honolulu police statistics are available, there were 5,670 serious offenses in Kalihi. By comparison, there were 7,219 serious crimes in 2002.

The Kalihi summit was the result of more than three months of planning and scoping sessions between city officials and Kalihi residents, business owners and nonprofit leaders.

Cyrus Tamashiro, president of Tamashiro Market on North King Street, attended a scoping session in February and said he believes the city's revitalization effort shows promise.

"I think it's a great way to re-establish pride in the community and connectivity to each other, our neighbors," Tamashiro said yesterday. "I think what the city is doing right now is a great thing."

But he also said the most important part of the project is that it be sustained. "It's an ongoing process that we have to keep working at," he said.

The revitalization plan comes less than a year after the city held a summit in Chinatown to kick off a similar economic development project.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.