Peter B. Carlisle is serving in his first term as Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, the 10th largest municipality in the United States*. Carlisle is the Chief Executive of approximately 10,000 employees in over 20 departments. He was elected in September 2010 to serve as Honolulu’s 13th mayor. Carlisle ran on a platform of political independence and fiscal responsibility.
The administration’s first proposed Capital Improvement Program to the City Council is the leanest in seven years. Carlisle’s long-term budget strategy is to decrease the amount of borrowing and drive down the amount of debt service paid through tax revenue. Not a member of a political party, Carlisle brings non-partisanship to the City administration with a new cabinet composed of experts from their industries, veteran City employees, and directors from the prior administration.
Peter Carlisle is serving in his 25th year as a City and County of Honolulu employee. From 1997 to 2010, Carlisle served as Honolulu’s elected Prosecuting Attorney. In 2008, he was elected to an unprecedented 4th term as Prosecutor. From 1990 to 1996, Carlisle was a partner at the law firm of Shim, Tam, Kirimitsu, Kitamura and Chang. Prior to that, he served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the City and County of Honolulu for 11 years.
In 2009, Carlisle was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers which is composed of the best of the trial bar in the United States and Canada. Membership is by invitation only and can never exceed 1% of the total lawyer population of any state or province.
As Prosecuting Attorney, Carlisle has personally handled the trials of several high profile cases. Carlisle was the lead attorney in the trial of Byran Uyesugi for the Xerox massacre, the deadliest mass murder in the history of the State of Hawaii. Uyesugi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Carlisle’s administration as prosecutor was distinguished for its political independence and advocacy for common sense in the justice system, where among other things, he along with the law enforcement community, successfully pushed to implement Information Charging which created a more efficient way to initiate felony cases. During Carlisle’s administration, Honolulu experienced historically low crime rates which he credits to inter-agency cooperation and collaboration efforts.
After graduating in 1977 from UCLA Law School, Carlisle came to Honolulu, Hawaii where he met his wife Judy and raised his daughter Aspen and son Benson.