September 4th, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Adrienne King, 2010 candidate for Lt. Governor (R) Transcript:
Introduction: Aloha, my name is Adrienne King and I’m running for Lt. Governor on the Republican ticket. A little about myself–I was born in Detroit, Michigan; I came to Hawaii in ‘72 after graduating from college in law school. I came and met and married a local boy, Sam King Jr.–you may know his father, Judge Sam King, co-author of The Broken Trust. Sam and I got married in ‘74 and we have two sons–Christopher who lives in San Francisco and Sam Wilder King II who is just starting UH law school. I started my career in the Prosecuting Attorney’s office in Honolulu. I was the first woman in Hawaii to try a murder case.
Click image to view VIDEO of our interview with Lt. Governor (R) candidate Adrienne King.
Then I moved over to the City Attorney’s office and was named Chief of the Trials Division, replacing Duke Aiona, who became a family court Judge. Then I went and did family court work. My husband and I have had our own small business practice for about 25 years, focusing on family law. I entered this race because I was at the Legislature lobbying and saw there needed to be a different approach to things. I could see that the devastation that drugs, poor education, and our faltering economy was having on people that I was dealing with all of these years. So I decided that I had to do something about it and get involved in this race. I believe that we’re concerned about education, the economy, and efficiency in government. I believe that my 40 years as a trial attorney and the work that I’ve done has given me the executive management experience to assume this position. I intend to do all I can to help Duke Aiona fulfill his policies, and also if need be in the case of an emergency, to step in and make those critical decisions that need to be made if he is out of the state.
Puunene Prison: Are you in support of or against building a Prison Facility in Puunene on Maui? Answer: I’m very much in support of building a prison on Maui because I think it’s critical that we have a really modern, up to date facility here to house our people. We need to stop sending them to the Mainland. It’s breaking up families. We have these horrible stories of abuse and on the Mainland; and I know dealing with people that come into my office, the toll that it’s taking. So, I very much think that we need to keep our people here to help bring those families back together, so I think it’s a good idea.
Honoapiilani Hwy:The widening/realignment of the Honoapiilani Hwy has been discussed for years, yet only a small portion is currently under construction. How long will it really take and what alternatives do you envision to alleviate traffic now? Answer: Actually, it’s all tied up with the money. And I’m not sure that there’s any way to tell. There’s money for Phase 1, which they are working on, but there’s no money for Phase 2 and 3–It’s caught up with the Highway Act and federal funds, and there’s a lot of disagreement about which route, or how far. That all needs to be resolved, and that’s going to take a while–especially with the economy being the way it is. I just came back from Lahaina, and I saw the construction and the widening and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t take me as long as people said. And it seems that that is actually working. And from talking to people in Lahaina, that road widening that they are working on right now is helping to alleviate the traffic.
Water Rights:Re the water commission decision in East/West Maui: Do you think the State Water commission was correct in its decision on instream water flows at East Maui and at Na Wai ‘Eha? Why or why not. Answer: I can’t answer whether it was correct or incorrect, in terms of the percentages. What I can say, what I believe was correct, was that it was finally done and the process was transparent. Because there needs to be a community consensus, a community agreement, on where it’s (the water) is going to be diverted. If we are going to have sustainable agriculture, then plants need water. I mean, I don’t know how you grow vegetables and things without water, so it seems to be finding a balance between the needs of those farmers who can produce enough vegetables and other products for our local people to eat–I’m a big fan of local farmers–and development, so we can increase the tax base. That’s important. Also, the third party is the mono-culture of growing one particular product so we’ve got all of these competing interests. I think it’s a very good thing that the water was turned back on, and obviously the percentages and how it gets diverted is still open for much discussion, but I do think it’s a good idea that it be transparent. And I think all of the people need to be involved in it, especially people on Maui.
Furloughs: If elected to the post of Lt. Governor, what would you do to prevent a repeat of the Furlough Friday situation in Hawaii’s classrooms? Answer: I totally support Lt. Governor Aiona in his call for an independent, comprehensive, fiscal and management audit. I don’t think you can get to Point B, unless you know where you’re at with Point A. There’s a lot of like, “well, we don’t want anymore studies done.” But an audit isn’t a study. An audit is more of an investigative kind of thing to find out where all the money is going. We need to fund more charter schools. And we need to get more real power back to you in the community, to the parents and the principals, and more involvement by the parents in the local communities to show them what the problems are in terms of the money and the rules and regulations–I think is critical. I don’t see anything wrong with national standards or state standards, but how that’s carried out I think should be left to the local communities for their local needs. I think starting out with a real audit would be helpful. If you remember the last audit was in ‘73–that was before cell phones and the internet. So I think with skype and video conferencing, we need to re-look at the whole system and see if it will best serve our children into the 21st Century.
Superferry: If given the opportunity, would you support the return of the Hawaii Superferry? Answer: Yes, I would support a return of the Superferry, and I do believe that there are ferries available and being built that would be suitable for Hawaiian waters. Because we know our goods and services inter-island would be greatly enhanced and actually unite us even more than we are. We people on Oahu need to think of the other islands as our sister islands, not as somebody way out somewhere–and I think the ferry would serve a very good purpose. I think the right one would definitely work for that.
Closing thoughts: This is a critical election. I think the country is searching for its soul and I think Hawaii is at a crossroads. Are we going to give power back to the local communities, or is it all going to be dependent on government? I support liberty and freedom and giving power back to the people. Check out my website at adriennesking.com and vote for Adrienne King in the Republican Primary. Thank you.
Tags: Adrienne King, Broken Trust, Business Practice, Candidate Profile, Case Caption, Closing Thoughts, Commission Decision, Critical Decisions, Duke Aiona, East Maui, Executive Management Experience, Family Court Judge, Fater, Father Judge, furlough, furloughs, Governor Candidate, Hawaii Superferry, King Co, Local Boy, Lt. Governor, Poor Education, Prison Facility, Prosecuting Attorney, realignment, Republican Ticket, Sam King, San Franscisco, Small Portion, State Water, traffic, Trial Attorney, Uh Law School, Water Commission, Water Rights, West Maui
Posted in Decision 2010, MauiNOW | Comments Off
September 3rd, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Tasha Kama, 2010 candidate for State House District 8, Transcript:
Introduction: Aloha, my name is Tasha Kama. I’m a Democrat running for the State House of Representatives for District 8 which encompasses the communities of Waikapu, Wailuku, Waiehu, Waihee and Kahakuloa. We must remedy our reliance on imported goods and must think, behave and act sustainably for the betterment of our island state. Hawaiian of old looked to the ocean which served as their refrigerator and the land was their cubbard; and they looked to the mountain streams as their faucet. There needs to be a paradigm shift to be able to meet our future needs especially in times of natural or man-made disasters. We
Click image to view VIDEO of our MauiNOW interview with District 8 State House candidate Tasha Kama.
must take care of that which sustains us, for our whole existence depends on us taking care of that which takes care of us.
Civil Unions: What is your position on civil unions? Should same sex couples be granted the same rights and privileges as legally married couples? Answer: Every day in schools across Hawaii Nei, our children, with their hands on their heart, recite: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God indevisible with liberty and justice for all.” And their education continues with the Declaration of Independence which says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unailiable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These rights–unailiable–are inherent. No one can ever take these away–no one–not even the Creator himself. It is the right of every human being to choose for him or herself. Civil Unions are couples of the same gender and in a relationship with eachother who are asking for the same rights, priveliges and benefits as legally married couples. What is society’s reasoning for not allowing this? On what basis do we withhold their liberties? Where is their justice? Are these couples not equal in status as everyone else? And finally, why are we prohibiting them from pursuing their happiness. The framers of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, after signing off, went on home and continued to be slave owners and traders. Have we not learned anything from our past?
Honoapiilani Hwy: The widening/realignment of the Honoaunailiablepiilani Hwy has been discussed for years, yet only a small portion is currently under construction. How long will it really take and what alternatives do you envision to alleviate infrastructure concerns now? Answer: According to the State Department of Transportation, Highway Modernization Plan, it will take six years and $4.2 billion. The plan will focus on 183 projects in the four counties of which Maui County has 36 projects that will cost $578,940,000–which is just a smidgen over a half-a-billion-dollars. Funding for the plan will be fueled by increases in the fuel tax, state vehicle registration fee, vehicle weight tax, and rental car surcharges. This increased revenue stream will generate $2 billion over six years–add that to the $1._ billion highway budget, and the $500 million federal stimulus bill, the $4 billion price tag will be met. So, fuel tax now is 17 cents, it will be 27 cents per gallon–annual revenue of $51 million on that tax alone. Vehicle weight tax are three-quarters of a cent per pound for vehicles up to 4,000 pounds–that would be raised to 2 and 3/4 cents per pound, generating $68 million. Motor vehicle registration fees would go from $25 to $45–this would generate $23.3 million. Rental surcharges from rental cars–from $3 to $5 a day, for an additional $32 million annually. Imact to us taxpayers, $170 per year. Now, the Honoapiilani Highway widening project will cost $4 million; Lahaina Bypass, $48 million; Lahaina Bypass Phase 1B, $58 million; and the Lahaina Bypass Phase 1C-Keawe Extension to Kaanapali Connector $69 million. A total of $179 million for this project alone.
Protection of Natural Resources/Water: The state commission on water resource management recently issued rulings on streams in East Maui and at Na Wai ‘Eha in the West Maui Mountains. Are the new in-stream flow standards sufficient or will they ultimately hurt the struggling sugar industry? Answer: If the issue is to save the natural resources, then the answer is no–the new instream flow standards are insufficient. If the issue is to save the sugar industry, according to Wailuku Sugar Company, then the answer is yes, because the water is critical to the survival to HC&S. I see that there are two issues here: the preservation of our natural resources, or the preservation of HC&S. June 13, 2010 Maui News quotes Isaac Moriwake as saying, “The Supreme Court ruling clearly stated that the health of the streams must take priority over economics.” And as stated in my opening statement, we live in an island state and must make every effort to protect our natural resources for the purposes of sustaining our future generations and beyond. We must take care of that which sustains all us, for our whole existence depends on taking care of that which takes care of us.
Education: What do you plan to do to prevent a repeat of the furlough Friday situation at public schools? Answer: The furlough Fridays were instituted by our governor to balance the state’s budget. And we had a $688 million shortfall. I want to read an article from the Hawaii Press–it came out Wednesday, March 17, 2010. It says, “Hawaii Free Press and others have over the past few months, identified millions of dollars of waste, fraud and corruption in the DOE budget. $50 million for software when equivalents were available free of charge. Up to $75 million in federal funds was lost to schools because the HSTA, DOE and BOE sabbatoged Hawaii’s Race to the Top funding application. Between $42 million and $57 million burned on wasteful personnel practices. A Hawaii state audit identified $21 million in waste on one DOE contract alone, as well as $1.1 million burned on cronie contracting and $2.8 million diverted from classroom salaries to fund more cronie contracting. Add it all up, the total is between $191.9 million and $206.9 million–and these are just minimum figures. The DOE audit sampled only a portion… in order to illustrate how business is done, thus the total could easily be ten times what the audit found, adding another $224.1 million in annual DOE waste, fraud and corruption. This produces a grand total of $416 millioin to $431 million in annual DOE waste, fraud and corruption out of the total budget of $2.1 million.” So the DOE budget is about $800 million of this. I want to urge everyone to go and visit this article by Andrew Walden in the Hawaii Free Press.
I think the way to never ever allow this is to be able to have an audit of the Department of Education, and see where all the waste is at and where all of the fraud is coming from, and the corruption. And I think if this is what’s happening in one state agency, I’d like to see in the other state agencies.
Closing thoughts: I beleive that the people in District 8 are looking for a responsible government that will be open, transparent, accessible, and ethical. They need a leader they can believe in, is decisive, and resolute. My role as your representative is to govern the affairs of our state and the well being of the citizens, and to work cooperatively with others to bring forth positive resolutions. I humbly ask for your very important one vote in this Primary Election on Saturday, September 18, or better still, vote absentee so you can spend your Saturday at your pleasure. Again, I’m Tasha Kama, running for the state House of Representatives for the are of Waikapu, Wailuku, Waiehu, Waihee, and Kahakuloa. You can reach me at http://www.tashakama.org/ (my website), or kamukama@aol.com (my email). Again, Mahalo, and please vote. Vote for Tasha Kama.
Tags: Candidate Profile, Civil Unions, Closing Thoughts, Cubbard, District 8 Hawaii House, District 8 Kama, East Maui, Eha, Flag Of The United States Of America, furlough, Hawaii general election, Hawaii Primary, Kama, Kama District 8, Kama Hawaii election, Kama Maui, Kama Representative, Kama state House, Liberty And Justice, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness, Life Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness, Man Made Disasters, Married Couples, maui general election, maui kama house, Maui Now, maui primary, mauinow, mauinow.com, Mountain Streams, Natural Resources, One Nation Under God, Pacific Radio Group, Paradigm Shift, Pledge Allegiance To The Flag, Pursuit Of Happiness, realignment, Rights And Privileges, Same Sex Couples, Small Portion, State House District, Stream Flow, streams, Sugar Industry, Tasha, Tasha Kama, Tasha Kama video, Tashakama, video kama maui, Waihee, Wailuku, Water Resource Management, Wendy Osher, West maui Mountains
Posted in Decision 2010, MauiNOW | Comments Off
August 31st, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Barry Wurst, 2010 candidate for the Board of Education-Maui Residency seat, Transcript:
Introduction: Aloha, I’m Barry Wurst. I am a teacher, and I’m running for the Board of Education, District 2. While we do have many great things happening in our school system, we also have problems that need to be addressed. I believe our main problem is the lack of clear focus. This is caused by poor communication between the Superintendent and the schools. A carrousel of changing priorities and programs, and an unclear vision of what children really need to succeed. I have a plan to address this.
Click image to view VIDEO of our Candidate Profile segment with Barry Wurst, candidate for BOE, Maui seat.
Lahainaluna Boarding program: There was discussion this year of a possible funding cut to the long-time boarding program at Lahainaluna High School. Are you in support of state funding for the program or against the one-of-a-kind expense? Answer: Aside from tradition, the Lahainaluna Boarding Program is a very big value to the school, particularly the students and thier families. To continue the boarding program, alternative funding needs to be found to keep it a viable program. Finding a way to make the boarding program self-sufficient will help it survive and thrive.
Library Closures: The state Library System faced a $3.6 million deficit in 2010 and threatened the closure of the Hana Library as well as a reduction in personnel. If elected what would you do to assure Maui’s rural communities are protected and continue to benefit from services offered in other parts of the state. Answer: This issue can actually become a positive move for our rural school communities. Lets move the public libraries onto school properties, eliminate the school librarian if one exists, and put them back in the classroom. The public librarian can provide services to the community as well as the school, brining people back to the school and keeping that ohana alive. Also, if adequate facilities are not available, we can bring in a large portable building that would fulfill the need and support a small community library. If done right, this could be a win-win situation.
Furloughs: If elected to the post, what would you do to prevent a repeat of the Furlough Friday situation in Hawaii’s classrooms? Answer: Now that the legislature has mandated a minimum of 180 days for students, this should not really be an issue. Also, our next governor, hopefully, will be wiser and not cut funding during the school year. Finally, if the DOE is forced to become more efficient, and financing should be more stable, and furloughs will hopefully be a black cloud that will never haunt us again.
No Child Left Behind: Even with Furlough Fridays, 13 Maui County public and charter schools met federal benchmarks for “adequate yearly progress” on mathematics and reading scores this year, five more than met the goals last year. Do you think the federal program is working or a waste of time? Answer: No Child Left Behind was a good wake-up call. If forced states to be accountable and to reexamine their priorities and practices. Unfortunately, some of the goals are unreasonable like 100% proficiency by the year 2014. Also, the entire system is based on a punitive model. No Child Left Behind needs to be reexamined itself, to ensure that it truly meets the needs of students and what they need to succeed in life.
Closing thoughts: I have more ideas that I’d like to share with you. Please visit my website at http://friendsofbarrywurst.weebly.com/ or email me at barrywurst@usa.com. If you give me the opportunity, I would like to serve your community. I am Barry Wurst; I am a teacher; and I need your help to serve on the Board of Education. Mahalo.
Tags: Adequate Yearly Progress, Answer Library, Barry Wurst, Barry Wurst 2010 Maui, Barry Wurst BOE, Barry Wurst Maui, Barry Wurst video, barrywurst, Benchmarks, Board of Education, Boe, Candidate Profile, Carrousel, Charter Schools, Closing Thoughts, Education District, Education Maui, Finding A Way, Fridays, furlough, furloughs, Library Closures, Maui County, Maui elections 2010, maui general election 2010, Maui Now, maui primary 2010, mauinow, mauinow.com, Pacific Radio Group, Poor Communication, Profile Segment, Program Self, Public Libraries, Reading Scores, Rural Communities, Rural School, School Communities, School Librarian, State Library System, Thier Families, Viable Program, Waste Of Time, Wendy Osher, Wurst, Wurst Maui
Posted in Decision 2010, MauiNOW | Comments Off
August 25th, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Justin Hughey, 2010 candidate for State House District 8, Transcript:
Introduction: My name is Justin Hughey and I’m running for State House of Representatives, District 8. I am a teacher, and I work a second job at a restaurant in order to be a teacher, even though I have a Master’s Degree. My predominant focus is on education. I’ve kind of been appalled by the educational system every year and now that we had the furloughs, I just really couldn’t sit back and see what happens next year. I’m also running on reducing the cost of medical insurance; Health insurance
Click image to view VIDEO of our MauiNOW interview with District 8 State House candidate Justin Hughey.
keeps rising; The foreclosure mess a big problem and I want to address, by working on keeping families in their homes; Hawaiian Home Lands–providing more infrastructure–getting people off the rolls; and economic development–jobs, jobs, jobs.
Civil Unions: What is your position on civil unions? Should same sex couples be granted the same rights and privileges as legally married couples? Answer: I feel that same-sex couples should have the equal right to be just as miserable as the rest of us. But, in all honesty, there was a time when a lot of communities though slavery was okay; there was a time when people thought that women shouldn’t be able to vote; there was a time when (people thought) minorities shouldn’t be able to vote, Native Hawaiians shouldn’t be able to vote. And I just really feel that the civil unions bill should have passed. It was also a bill for everyone. It wasn’t just for same sex couples. It was for everyone. When France incorporated it, they saw a drop in divorce by 25%, and I just feel that it’s a great stepping stone to the sanctity of marriage between you, God, and your community.
Honoapiilani Hwy: The widening/realignment of the Honoapiilani Hwy has been discussed for years, yet only a small portion is currently under construction. How long will it really take and what alternatives do you envision to alleviate infrastructure concerns now? Answer: I think this is a little bit–honestly–of a misleading question. I mean, it took 30 years for us to get the funding for it. And now, are we just going to do another Superferry and (did we not learn from the Superferry)? Are we just going to be paving over everything and disregard our community, and disregard what we might found under the ground? I drive from Wailuku to Lahiana to school every day and I do see a widening that is already happening there and I think we just need to, now that the funding is there and happening, now we just need to relax and let it happen.
Protection of Natural Resources/Water: The state commission on water resource management recently issued rulings on streams in East Maui and at Na Wai ‘Eha in the West Maui Mountains. Are the new in-stream flow standards sufficient or will they ultimately hurt the struggling sugar industry? Answer: That’s an excellent question that a lot of people are talking about. I believe in the public trust doctrine of the Hawaii State Constitution that water is not owned by any entity–it is there for the people. I’ve been talking to a lot of people and legislators about this and an interesting thing that I find is, we have to have balance and the companies–they really need to conserve. There’s a company that recycles municipal sewer water and turns it into ag water. So, there might be a way to produce jobs, keep more water in the streams and use this company to recycle sewer water into ag water–that’s what they specialize in.
Education: What do you plan to do to prevent a repeat of the furlough Friday situation at public schools? Answer: There’s no way it’s going to happen on my watch. I want to make it a permanent, historical event, that will never come up again. First issue is fully funding education to make sure furloughs will never, ever happen. I am completely committed to that. Two, is that our state spends 40% of their budget on education, and yet we still have teacher shortages. So, we need to reallocate those funds to the front lines. How are we going to do that? We’re going to conduct a fair and impartial audit of the Department of Education, so we’re not demonizing it and cutting it with a hatchet. (Instead we are) taking scalpels, cutting it with a scalpel and looking at certain inefficiencies. We need to talk about Complex Area Superintendents–do we really want to spend $150,000 on that position? I see the Superintendent of Schools’ vision should go straight to the principals. The muck-up in between is a little iffy. Also, we need to ensure local decision making within the state-wide school system–through school community councils. We can give them some teeth with having them give final approval of the academic and financial plans. We have to end the wasteful contracts of outside consulting to private companies. We can be doing that for less than the $45 million that we’re paying right now, which will be over $140 million in two years.
I have a plan to effectively measure student and school performance, which a lot of schools aren’t getting their just deserves. A lot of schools had showed progress, even though they didn’t meet the Annual Yearly Progress. Eliminate repair and maintenance backlog–that is huge. There is jobs right there. At my school in 2007, there was holes in the roof. We had a $600 million surplus that the legislature allocated $200 million to education. Linda Lingle didn’t release it. At my school we had water falling in on the kids when they were taking the State Assessment–and actually the pieces of the ceiling were falling in on the kids. I was appalled. I took pictures of it, sent it to my representative. But I got that roof put on; I helped to get that roof put on. I had a schedule and you know, schools have to have safe structures, at the minimum. Make schools energy self sufficient–which is huge: solar panels on roofs. We shouldn’t have to be paying for the energy here. And fully staff schools for a well-rounded education. And finally, create teacher incentives to keep teachers here. I actually just met with Dan Inouye’s staff and they wanted to know what kind of federal funds they could bring. The DOE used to spend $20 million a year to train and recruit teachers to come here, of which 60% would leave in three years because, hey, it’s beautiful, but I only get paid less than $1,200 every two weeks after taxes. But we should be spending money on tuition waivers for people here–residents that are here, who have lived here and would like to work here, so that they don’t have to pay the tuition and go in debt to be a teacher. So that is my encompassing educational platform.
Closing thoughts: I’m just a common man that works two jobs in order to live paycheck-to-paycheck. I am doing this to keep the attention on education. I have no doubt that I can be very successful as a watchdog for education in the House, bringing over the bacon. I believe this because I’ve gotten up in front of and passed legislation in front of my teachers representative assemblies, debating issues in front of 500 different people. I then went to the National Education Association and passed legislation there in front of over 10,000 people, debating issues. And finally, my biggest one was, I passed a resolution this year– House Congruent Resolution 282–that petitioned Congress to separate the division between corporations and people. There’s just way too much corruption going on. That got me an interview on the Tom Hartman show–he has 3 million viewers. But honestly, it’s not about me. My race is not about putting my face in the paper. It’s about you the parents and every one in the community really needs to get out because when the furlough thing comes around, and I’m not in there, they’re going to look at the rolls and see how many people voted and if no one comes out, they’re going to say, “Hey, they didn’t care. We can do this again.” But I really feel that here in Hawaii, we can have an educational renaissance if we focus our resentment towards what happened and get out and vote. And vote for people, like I believe in myself, who can get in there and really truly reform education. At http://www.putateacherinthehouse.com/ you can find out all the information about me there.
Tags: Appauled, Candidate Profile, Civil Unions, Civil Unions Bill, Closing Thoughts, district 8 state house, East Maui, Educational System, Eha, Equal Right, foreclosure, furlough, furloughs, Hawaiian Home lands, Health Insurance, Hughey, Hughey District 8, Hughey state house, infrastructure, Insurance Health, Justin Hughey, justin hughey district 8, justinhughey, Married Couples, Maui Now, mauinow, mauinow.com, Medical Insurance, Natural Resources, Pacific Radio Group, Predominant Focus, realignment, Representatives District, Rights And Privileges, Same Sex Couples, Sanctity Of Marriage, Second Job, Small Portion, State House District, state house Hawaii, state Representative, Stepping Stone, Stream Flow, streams, Sugar Industry, Water Resource Management, Wendy Osher, West maui Mountains
Posted in Decision 2010, MauiNOW | Comments Off
August 23rd, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Leona Rocha-Wilson, 2010 candidate for the Board of Education-Maui Residency seat, Transcript:
Introduction: I’m Leona Rocha-Wilson. I was born in H-Poko, went to Maui High and Baldwin High. After graduating from Baldwin High, I joined the service. My mother felt that she wanted me to do something other than work in the fields, so we sat down together. I didn’t have enough money to go to school, so consequently, as Mom and I sat together, she said: “You know, if you join the service maybe you can get your education through the G.I. Bill. Indeed, I did just that. I went to school at night for eight years, and studied fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. While there, I designed a ruler called the
Click image to view VIDEO of our Candidate Profile segment with Leona Rocha-Wilson, candidate for BOE, Maui seat.
fashion ruler, and I ended up starting my own company called Fashionetics. Later, I ran the company; I became the first woman president of this national organization called The American Home Sewing Association, made up of executives of all the major companies like Singer, the pattern companies and so forth. So I had board experience in that I have worked in a national organization. What really started me off on running for this campaign is I was very aware of the high school drop out rate. For every 100 students that enter our high schools, 21 drop out of school. In Hawaii, its 21 out of 100; nationally, it’s 33 out of 100. These are our children. They’re not stupid. They’re bright kids. They need a curriculum that will serve their needs. My job as a board member is to see to it that we have two paths: a path for career, and a path for college, so that all children will receive a fulfilling education.
Lahainaluna Boarding program: There was discussion this year of a possible funding cut to the long-time boarding program at Lahainaluna High School. Are you in support of state funding for the program or against the one-of-a-kind expense? Answer: Yesterday, I went to Lahainaluna–this was my second trip to speak with the principal there. It’s my policy, that if there is a question that I need to have some refinement on, it’s to go to the source. And I went to Mike Nakano, who is the Principal of Lahainaluna, and spoke to him about this wonderful program. Lahainaluna is the oldest school west of the Mississippi. It’s going to be 175 years old. This is part of our culture. How can we do away with something that is so important–not only to our culture, but to our children. The 95 students that are there–boys and girls–are paying their way actually. I watched them yesterday–they had rakes, they were maintaining the property. They go to the cafeteria and wash dishes. And when they are in the community, in their dorm, they live as a part of a family. How can we do away with something that is so valuable in so many ways? These are some children who need additional support–either parental support, or support from the community–and they are getting it. So the students in this case, benefit enormously. We can’t and should not do away with this boarding program.
Library Closures: The state Library System faced a $3.6 million deficit in 2010 and threatened the closure of the Hana Library as well as a reduction in personnel. If elected what would you do to assure Maui’s rural communities are protected and continue to benefit from services offered in other parts of the state. Answer: I’m very aware of the fact of the role that a library plays with regard to our students. The library staffs a teacher, not just a librarian, but a teacher. That’s really important, because it is through that teacher that the child goes to the library, seeks some help–not just to find the items that they are looking for–but indeed to be guided, and to be taught by this librarian. I would find the funds. I will be creative and try to identify areas in which we can perhaps save the libraries. Not perhaps–forget perhaps–I will save them. I mean, I feel that strongly about it. I think that what we need to do is to think outside the box and try to come up with ways. Maybe the funding can be found from someplace else, and eliminate something from there. As a business woman, and I’ve been a business woman, I know what it is to handle budgets, and so looking at the budget, and feeling and understanding the importance of these projects, then you look to see, is there something else that I can cut. It’s no different than in a family. You look to see what is important and you allocate those funds towards that importance; and try to eliminate those other areas that may not very important to you. And so, work the funds so that you maximize the use of your monies. I support the libraries.
Furloughs: If elected to the post, what would you do to prevent a repeat of the Furlough Friday situation in Hawaii’s classrooms? Answer: Just recently, it was signed into law, that you must have 180 school days. So the furlough days–the chances of that happening is non-existent, actually at this time. However, that being said, I’m always planning for something that may be unexpected. And in the unexpected, I thought that perhaps what we should do, is set aside a small percentage of our tax dollars to go into a fund–a school fund–for emergencies. You know, recessions will happen, and will happen they tell me every ten years or so; and if that’s the case, though we have it into law that it’s not going to happen again, it wouldn’t hurt to have an emergency fund set aside just for schools to protect our teachers and our principals, and our students so that they will not be subject to a recession.
No Child Left Behind: Even with Furlough Fridays, 13 Maui County public and charter schools met federal benchmarks for “adequate yearly progress” on mathematics and reading scores this year, five more than met the goals last year. Do you think the federal program is working or a waste of time? Answer: First of all, congratulations to all the schools that passed, and all the other schools that are working so hard. And believe me, I know how committed the principals and the teachers are. I have been to schools from Hana to Molokai. I have been to schools in the Central (area) and Upcountry. I’ve been to Haiku. You name it. And I’ve talked with every principal I can talk with, because they are on the firing line. They are working hard to see to it that our children are well taken care of and well educated. With regard to No Child Left Behind, what is interesting about this No Child Left Behind is that the test has been created by each state. The reason we rank so low is our test is probably the hardest in the nation. So when our children are meeting the goal, then you’ve got to know we’re up there with the best of them. If you look at the numbers, we’re down with regard to 47th or 48th, however, if you look to see our test and compare it to Mississippi, which is in the top 10, our test is by far harder. So you know, it’s not a fair comparison. That being said, I think if our tests were easier, all of our schools would pass, no question. So, I’m for the No Child Left Behind–I wish they had funded it a little bit more to give the teachers more help in having our students work with or certainly be tutored further with regard to math and reading. Those are two skills that the more we have, the better we are at it, it serves us for the rest of our lives for sure.
Closing thoughts: (this is your opportunity to give contact info or upcoming campaign info for Maui constituents). Answer: I think what is really important for me, is for the audience that you know that for me children come first. And I know you’ve heard this said before many times, but I will not on the board–I will not vote for any project or program without getting full understanding how it impacts the principal, and how it impacts the teacher, and how it impacts the student. I don’t have all the answers, but I know where to get it, and I will fight for Maui’s children. They are in my heart. My mother taught me–she said, “you know, education is the foundation for life.”
Tags: Adequate Yearly Progress, American Home Sewing, Answer Library, Board Experience, Board of Education, Board of Education Maui, Boe, BOE Maui, Bright Kids, Campaign Info, Candidate Profile, Charter Schools, Closing Thoughts, Constituents, Decision 2010, Education Maui, Enough Money, Fashion Institute Of Technology, First Woman, furlough, furloughs, General Election 2010, High School Drop Out Rate, Home Sewing Association, Leona, Leona Rocha, Leona Rocha Wilson, Leona Wilson, leonarocha, leonarochawilson, Library Closures, Maui County, Maui election, Maui Now, mauinow, mauinow.com, National Organization, Pacific Radio Group, Poko, Primary Election 2010, Profile Segment, Reading Scores, Ruler, Rural Communities, School At Night, State Library System, Two Paths, Waste Of Time, Wendy Osher, Woman President
Posted in Decision 2010, MauiNOW | Comments Off
August 17th, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Maui’s plastic bag ordinance is the subject of a public hearing today in Wailuku. Officials from the Department of Environmental Management will discuss proposed administrative rules that outline what types of bags are permissible and guidelines for compliance.
Maui’s plastic bag ban is set to go into effect on January 11, 2011, prohibiting businesses from providing plastic bags at the point of sale to transport groceries or other goods.
Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares is pictured bagging groceries during an event at Pukalani Superette, highlighting reef protection and encouraging decreased use of plastic bags. FILE PHOTO: County of Maui, August 2008
Today’s meeting starts at noon at the Kalana Pakui Conference Room (Planning Department, First Floor) on South High Street. Today is also the deadline to submit written testimony via email at recycle@mauicounty.gov or by postal mail to the Solid Waste Division at: DEM, Solid Waste Division, 2200 Main St., One Main Plaza Ste. 225, Wailuku, HI, 96793.
The plastic bag reduction ordinance, which prohibits businesses from providing plastic bags at the point of sale for the purpose of transporting groceries or other goods, will take effect January 11, 2011.
A copy of the proposed rules may be viewed and downloaded free of charge from the County website at www.mauicounty.gov/solidwaste (click on “Plastic Bag Ban”).
The proposed rules may also be viewed free of charge at the Solid Waste Division located at 2200 Main Street, Wailuku (One Main Plaza), Suites 175 and 225 between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays and furlough days.
For more information on the public hearing or the proposed administrative rules, call the Recycle Maui County Hotline at (808) 270-7880. From Molokai, call toll-free 1-800-272-0117; from Lanai, call toll-free 1-800-272-0125. Toll-free callers should request extension 7880.
Tags: Administrative Rules, Charmaine Tavares, Compliance, County Hotline, Email, Environmental Management, furlough, Groceries, Kalana, Maui County, Maui Mayor, Molokai, Monday Through Friday, Planning Department, Plastic Bags, Point Of Sale, Postal Mail, public hearing, reef protection, Solid Waste, Solidwaste, Superette, testimony, Wailuku Hi
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August 13th, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Today is the second furlough day on the county’s schedule for the new fiscal year. Closed today are the county building in Wailuku, the Kalana Pakui Building, the council district offices in Hana, Lanai and Molokai, the Old Wailuku Courthouse, the DMV service center at the Maui Mall, all payment windows and counters, as well as permitting offices, senior centers and the county’s fire prevention bureau.
While emergency services will continue uninterrupted, Chiefs from the Fire and Police departments were not exempted from the furlough schedule and will not be reporting to work.
The County’s furlough schedule for Fiscal Year 2011 (all Fridays) will be:
Year 2010: July 16, 2010; *August 13, 2010; September 24, 2010; October 8, 2010; *November 5, 2010; December 10, 2010.
Year 2011: January 28, 2011; *February 11, 2011; March 11, 2011; *April 8, 2011; May 20, 2011; June 24, 2011.
* Note: The State of Hawaii’s Business Action Center, housed in the Maui County Business Resource Center at Maui Mall, will be open for business registration services.
Tags: Business Action Center, Business Registration, Business Resource Center, County Business, Emergency Services, Fire Prevention Bureau, Fiscal Year, Fridays, furlough, Hana, Kalana, Lanai, March 11, Maui County, Maui Mall, Molokai, October 8, Police Departments, Registration Services, state of Hawaii
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August 12th, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Joe Souki, 2010 candidate for State House District 8, Transcript:
Introduction: My name is Joseph Souki. I am currently an incumbent member of the House, 8th District. I am from District 8 all the way from Kahakuloa to Waikapu. This past year, I’ve been part of the leadership and the chairman of the Transportation Committee. I have a title they’ve given to me (I don’t quite know why they call me) Speaker Emeritus, I guess from my term when I served as Speaker of the House. As far as my goals for this coming year, the broad goals of course is to see how we can increase the income stream coming into the state of Hawaii. And looking into all of the programs that we have–which ones we
Click image to view VIDEO of our MauiNOW interview with District 8 State House candidate Joe Souki.
can merge and make some adjustments within the particular programs. Because the income and money and funding is going to be detained again. Because a lot of the way that we balance the budget this past year was one-time funding, and that’s going to be over in one year. So we need to look at how we’re goning to have a continuum of funding for all programs like health, so that we can maintain the quality of life for Hawaii.
Civil Unions: What is your position on civil unions? Should same sex couples be granted the same rights and privileges as legally married couples?
Answer: I voted against civil unions and historically, I have been pro marriage for heterosexuals. I led the debate for the House against same-sex marriage in 1998 (I believe) when it came about where they had a Constitutional Ammendment giving the Legislature the right to determine whether we should continue to have heterosexual marriage or to allow same-sex marriage. Now, it’s not that I have anything against the gays–I believe that they deserve the same civil rights as anyone. And that is why back in 1998, we passed the Reciprocal Beneficiaries Act. That is to provide civil laws that was not allowed previously, both for the gays and for others. I would want to look at that law again, and if we need to ammend the law, and if I can use a term to make it more ‘civil’, and to provide more rights for the citizens of the state of Hawaii, I would certainly look at that. I would want to propose that those that are in favor of the civil rights, do come and, If I am elected, come and see me and I’m willing to sit down and talk to them. I have always been in favor of civil rights for all of the citizens of the state of Hawaii.
Honoapiilani Hwy: The widening/realignment of the Honoapiilani Hwy has been discussed for years, yet only a small portion is currently under construction. How long will it really take and what alternatives do you envision to alleviate infrastructure concerns now?
Answer: Yes, that is a problem. These past two years, I’ve been trying to pass legislation called the Highway Modernization Fund. That’s $4 billion in funding to provide highway improvements both for highways, roads, dams, levies, and the whole thing. But if we can pass this–the last it was a House bill and the Senate approved it–unfortunately, I couldn’t get the votes in the House in the end because it would require an increase in gasoline tax. And none of the members was in favor of that, of course in an election year. But I believe we have no alternative for the state of Hawaii, other than to look at the Highway Modernization again. It’s a $4 billion program. It could take care of the Lahaina problem that we have on the Honoapiilani Highway and also the problem of going from Kahului all the way to Paia and on after that. Because there it is terrible also. We need to look at that also. So Maui is behind on highways even though I must say, I’m very happy with the ones that we’ve built recently–at Haleakala Highway, and at Kihei, and of course we’re finally working on the bypass in Lahaina. And with some improvements there is some work going on in Lahaina now. But this Highway Modernization would resolve the problem and hopefully we’ll have the spirit of the legislature to pass the bill this coming session.
Protection of Natural Resources/Water: The state commission on water resource management recently issued rulings on streams in East Maui and at Na Wai ‘Eha in the West Maui Mountains. Are the new in-stream flow standards sufficient or will they ultimately hurt the struggling sugar industry?
Answer: I believe it will hurt the sugar industry. It was a compromise position and I think the sugar industry is looked upon as they probably have no choice but to accept the compromise–looking at the mood of the DLNR at that particular time. There’s a lot of water that’s going into the ocean now, and I think have to kind of re-look at that again. I know there’s feeling among many people that we need the excess water running into the ocean because it will increase the aqua-system within that water and provide for a better fishing situation where you get different kinds of fish that thrive in this salt and fresh water mixture. I believe the ultimate solution is to build more reservoirs. We need to invest in more reservoirs. I think our aquifers are running dry. And so we need to look at an additional reservoir in the Waikamoi area. And we need to look in Hana where we can capture some of the water, because it rains almost every night over there. Be we have to make some tough calls, because if we don’t do anything as far as increasing the water capacity, we will not have enough water for housing… And also if we want to keep the sugar plantation going, that’s 800 employees, and you put the multiplier effect on that, you’re going to have them shutting down. They’re loosing money right now, and it’s only through the generosity of A&B that they can continue at this point. Because nobody wants to run a business where you’re going to lose money. And what’s going to happen to all of that land. You’ve got over 50,000 acres. It’s going to turn into a desert. I don’t think we want that. There’s no crop presently that can take the place of sugar.
Education: What do you plan to do to prevent a repeat of the furlough Friday situation at public schools?
Answer: Again, it all goes back to money. If we don’t have an increase in revenue, and in these past months we’ve had the Council of Revenues come in with some positive signs. And if we continue to have these revenue increases, then we can look at not having furlough Fridays continue. But we have to remember, as I mentioned previously when we began, a lot of the funding that we had that we did to balance the budget, was one-time funding only. So unless we have a corresponding increase in revenue someplace else, you’re going to have to continue to have furloughs. Or the unthinkable, which is making cuts, which we’ve made a lot of cuts already. Members last year, we had to make a $1.2 billion adjustment in the budget. And the year before also. So that’s a lot of adjustments to make. So right now, you’ll find a lot of the programs are running at one-half speed or three-quarter speed. They are not running at the full capacity. I cannot tell you that things are going to be hunky-dory. We need to make the tough choices, maybe more cuts, or look at some revenue enhancements.
Closing thoughts: Right now we are campaigning very hard. I have some very tough competition. I have a facebook. You can write me in facebook. Infact in facebook, I have all of my priorities for the year. I don’t have any campaign headquarters but feel free to call me anytime. We look forward to hearing from you.
Tags: Candidate Profile, Civil Rights, Civil Unions, Closing Thoughts, constitutional ammendment, Continuum, East Maui, Eha, furlough, Gays, Heterosexuals, Income Stream, infrastructure, Joe Souki, Kahakuloa, Married Couples, Natural Resources, Quality Of Life, realignment, Rights And Privileges, Same Sex Couples, Same Sex Marriage, Small Portion, Speaker Emeritus, Speaker Of The House, State House District, state of Hawaii, Stream Flow, streams, Sugar Industry, Transportation Committee, Water Resource Management, West maui Mountains
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August 10th, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Ray Hart, 2010 candidate for the Board of Education-Maui Residency seat, Transcript:
Introduction: Please introduce yourself, give your name, the race you are running for and briefly name the key issues you plan to address in your campaign.
Answer: Hi, my name is Ray Hart. I’m running for the Board of Education. The major issues that I am looking at as a retired teacher and a parent is that everything that’s going to happen decision-wise in the Board of Education needs to be related to how it
Click image to view VIDEO of our Candidate Profile segment with Ray Hart, candidate for BOE, Maui seat.
affects the children/students. Every decision needs to have that as its main factor, and there’s a lot of decisions. And the importance of having a teacher and a parent on the Board of Education means that I can provide that perspective to the other members of the board that will allow them to think about the issues from a different point of view.
Lahainaluna Boarding program: There was discussion this year of a possible funding cut to the long-time boarding program at Lahainaluna High School. Are you in support of state funding for the program or against the one-of-a-kind expense?
Answer: I’m definitely in support of it. In fact, I wrote a letter to the editor–which I never do–explaining (that) in a year in which Hawaii was embarrassed by the furlough program, one of the most important things nation-wide is our Lahainaluna Boarding Program. It made Hawaii famous. Why would you cut the one good news. Plus the success of the program. The people that I have talked to who have worked in the program and have gone through the program (speak of) how great it is. And the expense is not that great.
Library Closures: The state Library System faced a $3.6 million deficit in 2010 and threatened the closure of the Hana Library as well as a reduction in personnel. If elected what would you do to assure Maui’s rural communities are protected and continue to benefit from services offered in other parts of the state.
Answer: First thing is, my wife is a library tech–she’s the lady at the counter. I heard about this situation on a regular basis, and the library is an extremely important part of our system where ever you are. And if you are in the rural country, particularly in Hana, which is a combination of a public library and a school library, that’s the last place you should cut. You need the communications available for people so that they can go find out what they want on their own. As a teacher, if I was successful, my students used to go to the library regularly. That was an important thing. That’s how I judged: Do you have a library card? Do you use it? Not the reading test scores, but what did you do about reading. And so, there’s no reason to make the cuts in that program. There’s other places to make cuts that are not going to impact the community and the students the same way. We believe in education (and) that’s a major part of education. They also made decisions cutting library positions out of all of the schools for the staff actually–they had to cut money, so that was one of the places they cut. A librarian is a trained individual that helps the students to know how to research, how to learn, help them read a book. It’s not a volunteer program that somebody stands there and checks out a book. There’s got to be skills and knowledge taking place, so it’s important.
Furloughs: If elected to the post, what would you do to prevent a repeat of the Furlough Friday situation in Hawaii’s classrooms?
Answer: Going back to my original statement, it’s about the children. If they looked at it from the standpoint that it’s about the children, furlough Friday’s could not have happened. The question wouldn’t have even come up because that has the greatest impact on the children. That’s not the place to do your cuts. Cuts are not easy; nobody likes cuts; and every thing that’s going to be cut has a purpose, but the things that immediately affect the children are the last place you would have a cut. Furlough Fridays should not exist. It also works true even now, the furlough Friday is cutting into the program where teachers get to work together and help plan and make a good program for the kids. That’s sad to lose the planning time to the furlough days that the teachers have to have, because they were doing some tremendous work–working together. Everybody always dreamed that teachers would work together instead of getting all those assignments on the same night. If teachers plan together they could have more effective learning.
No Child Left Behind: Even with Furlough Fridays, 13 Maui County public and charter schools met federal benchmarks for “adequate yearly progress” on mathematics and reading scores this year, five more than met the goals last year. Do you think the federal program is working or a waste of time?
Answer: When the federal program first came in, the original design of making education a national priority–to measuring what was happening, having goals, having objectives–that was wonderful; and then when they started to put criteria in that was unrealistic–that every child, no matter what their disability, would magically be at grade level I believe in 2014–that’s not realistic. Some children, they reach their maximum wherever they reach their maximum. It allowed people to stretch first thing, but what it did was it made an emphasis on testing, and life is not about testing. Life is about performance. A person who can write a paper to convince someone to do something, that’s a valuable skill. That’s not a test item. So they got carried away. They thought that it was going to be the cure-all for everything. Now, one of the things is, with the type of testing program that we have nationwide–it’s geared to those kind of things that dwell in practice, and help the students. Not do well on the test. That doesn’t mean that it improves learning. It improves their ability and their test scores. To me the most important thing is the improvement of learning. So I think using part of that, or the idea of standards and measurements–and then combine that with things like portfolios, evaluations of how the student is doing as a person, how they work with others, all of that–put that together and information that can be used. Cause one of the problems with the testing program that we have–we know how every school is doing, but when I ask the question: does that data also tell me how each individual child is doing, no, it’s not set for that. It’s only set for schools. How can you help a student if you’re not sure how the student is doing? And with the model that was being used for so long, you didn’t know until the next school year how that student was doing. It’s too late for the teacher to do anything then.
Closing thoughts: (this is your opportunity to give contact info or upcoming campaign info for Maui constituents).
Answer: One of the problems of being a retired teacher is, I don’t have any money. I’m on retirement and social security, so I don’t have too many campaign things planned. But, I plan on going over to the Big Island at one point for the League of Women Voters, and I’m planning on visiting the charter schools around the state that are under our area, which is Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, the Big Island and Maui, because of my involvement in the creation of the charter schools. All I really want to do is get the message out that I feel there needs to be a teacher on the Board. My background, after 40 years of being involved and working with school boards–I even served as chair of the Board of Education for the College of Education for the University of Washington–trying to help make changes in teacher education. My whole life has been dedicated to it and I want to continue my life being dedicated. I miss being away from the kids. I’ve volunteered since I’ve been out, but I really want to make a difference. I have all of this sitting inside of me that I want to use. I could write a book, but I would rather make changes and help people–provide them information. That’s been my specialty. I want to use it. My email: rrayhart@hawaii.rr.com. I have a web page too, but you’re better off with the email.
Tags: 6 Million, Adequate Yearly Progress, Benchmarks, Board of Education, Boe, Campaign Info, Candidate Profile, Charter Schools, Closing Thoughts, closure, Constituents, Decisions, Different Point Of View, Education Maui, Fridays, furlough, furloughs, Great Library, Hana, hawaii, Important Things, Left Behind, Letter To The Editor, Library Closures, Long Time, Maui BOE, Maui County, perspective, Point Of View, Profile Segment, Ray Hart, rayhart, Reading Scores, Rural Communities, State Library System, Waste Of Time
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August 9th, 2010 by MauiNOW staff
Gary Hooser, 2010 candidate for Lt. Governor of Hawaii, Transcript:
INTRODUCTION: Aloha, I’m Gary Hooser. I’m a candidate for Lt. Governor. And I’m focusing on the issues (there’s lots of important issues of course, but) energy independence, educational excellence, environmental protection and sustainability are my key areas of focus. I’ve been in the Hawaii State Senate for eight years, I spent four years as the majority leader, I was on the Kauai County Council, and before that, I was in small business.
Click image to view Candidate Profile VIDEO of Gary Hooser, candidate for Lt. Governor for the state of Hawaii.
I’m the only candidate for Lt. Governor who’s from the neighbor islands. I spent 30 years on Kauai–raised my family there, went to school there, and ran my business there. I happen to be here on Maui talking about issues that are important to the people of Maui.
Puunene Prison:Are you in support of or against building a Prison Facility in Puunene on Maui?
Answer: Well, you know, as Lt. Governor, you don’t have direct control or direct influence if you would, over those kinds of decisions. In general, I would say a couple of things in terms of underlying philosophy. I think we need to bring our prisoners home from the mainland. That means we’d have to find places for them here in Hawaii to live and to house them here. I think it’s better social policy, it’s better economic policy (to keep the money here), it’s a lot easier to rehabilitate prisoners if they’re closer to their families. As to that particular facility, I would leave it up to the community. I think it’s clear that the communities–we have to find a place to put our prisons. They are a part of our ohana, if you would, whether we would like to admit it or not. That particular facility, I think is under development in terms of the overall plan. We have to find a place to put them. I would say Maui should not carry any more than its fare share. But it should be in proportion to the rest of the state–which most of them would be in Honolulu. That’s probably the best answer (I have). We have to leave it up to the community. I don’t think we have to force it on the community. We need to find an appropriate place to house our prisoners. We need to take responsibility for them.
Honoapiilani Hwy: The widening/realignment of the Honoapiilani Hwy has been discussed for years, yet only a small portion is currently under construction. How long will it really take and what alternatives do you envision to alleviate traffic now?
Answer: Well, you know this is a problem for every island. I know, I’ve been on Kauai for 30 years, and we also have our fair share of traffic problems. And we have bypass roads that have been planned and talked about for 20 or 30 years. Money is the underlying issue for all of our highway improvements. So, I would say quite frankly, it’s not going to happen quickly. I think the way to make it happen is to get the Maui delegation in the state legislature together and focused, and this would be their number one highway priority, and then push for that. Maui does have some very influential and very hard working senators. When I served in the Senate with Senator Shan Tsutsui as the Vice Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, he holds a very important role, and hopefully he will stay in that role. I’ve worked with Senator (Roz) Baker, and Senator (J. Kalani) English, as well as the house members. If they are united and stay focused on that project, I think that incrementally, we can get the funds together for it. I know it’s an important road. I know it’s a lifeline to that area, and when there are fires or accidents, it costs a lot of money and it’s a big inconvenience, and so we need to fix it. But I would just say that we need to persevere and be persistent and stay focused on it.
Water Rights:Re the water commission decision in East/West Maui: Do you think the State Water commission was correct in its decision on instream water flows at East Maui and at Na Wai ‘Eha? Why or why not.
Answer: I think the short answer is yes. I wish they would move faster. Part of the problem is that the water has been promised to be restored to the steams for many, many years around the state. And it’s a balance between jobs, agriculture and our natural resources. And I believe we need to put the resources ahead of everything. And we don’t need to do it all at once, but we need to phase it in and have some concrete, specific commitment, long-term to restore the water to the streams. So I’m glad that a significant amount of water was restored–I look forward to the day when an increasing amount is restored to the streams and we can get water to the taro farmers and restore the life of those streambeds.
Furloughs: If elected to the post of Lt. Governor, what would you do to prevent a repeat of the Furlough Friday situation in Hawaii’s classrooms?
Answer: When it happened, when the state issued the furlough Fridays, when the Governor announced it, I’m proud to say I was the first legislator to step up and say, this is intolerable, this is a travesty, and we need to fix it. And I actually proposed a solution of using the Hurricane Funds. I’ve been through two hurricanes. I survived two on Kauai, and so I don’t do that lightly, but we should put education first. We should pay our teachers a fair wage. We should provide smaller class sizes. We should provide more technology. We should in no uncertain terms, put education first. Never ever again should we balance our budget on the back of our school children. I was walking door to door in some neighborhoods in Honolulu and there were some men that I was talking to from the Philippines, and they told me, they said, ‘Senator, you know where I come from, we come from a poor country,’ and they said, ‘but we’ve never ever closed our schools to balance our budget.’ And we should at the minimum have that high standard. We did pass a law mandating a minimum number of school days and school hours, so by law we should be able to avoid furlough Fridays. But the bottom line is we need to put our money where our values are, and we need to pay the money that we need for teachers and for schools.
Superferry:If given the opportunity, would you support the return of the Hawaii Superferry?
Answer: You know I have to say, I would not want to support a return of the Hawaii Superferry. If there were other inter-island ferry operations that chose to do it properly, to follow the law, to do the proper Environmental Impact Statements, and to have a business plan that works, and not have the state subsidize it, certainly, I would be supportive of a plan like that. If we’re going to do it, we need to do it right, and need to take into consideration the protection of the environment, the cost to the state and the taxpayer, and yes, most certainly–as the only neighbor island candidate running for Lt. Governor, I know first hand. I fly all the time. I know the expense. I know the inconvenience. And I would welcome to have other alternative modes of transportation, but the Hawaii Superferry chose to circumvent the law–that’s the bottom line–in working with the Governor. And the law, in the end won. Thank goodness we have a Supreme Court. And the Supreme Court ruled twice, that it was wrong. So I would welcome a new company doing it the right way, absolutely.
Closing thoughts: (this is your opportunity to give contact info or upcoming campaign info for Maui constituents)
Answer: I’m right for office to be your Lt. Governor and the Lt. Governor for all of the people of Maui and the state. I’ve served eight years in the State Senate, again on the Kauai County Council. I want to do more. I’ve been out in front of the issues. I don’t sit in the back of the class if you would. I believe in leadership is getting out in front. I was out in front on the Superferry issue. I was out in front on the Furlough Friday issue. The recent civil unions issue–I’m very proud to have stood tall for equality for all of Hawaii’s people. And so I believe that leadership should take risks. Leadership should get out in front and not just follow. I encourage you if you want to find out more about me, the best way is to go to garyhooser.com. There’s a short video there called the Hooser Story. It tells you a little bit about who I am. I’ve been in Hawaii 40 years, graduated from Radford High School and UH West Oahu, my business and family background. And all the information on me is there. I’m fully transparent. My phone number and contact information is there. I’d love to have the help and support of the people of Maui. And I promise you that you can count on Gary Hooser. I have the experience and you can count on me.
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