Hawaii will play a role in future<\/a> technological advancements and scientific discoveries benefiting all of humanity.<\/p>\nA new management structure will not ultimately be the solution to the perceived problem. What matters are the people selected to oversee the use of the mountain. Do they have Hawaii\u2019s best interests at heart, understand the value of perpetuating Hawaii\u2019s culture of skywatching, care about the economic benefits that would ensue from the promotion of this unique aspect of Hawaii, and believe all people should have access to Mauna Kea for cultural, spiritual, religious, academic and recreational purposes?<\/p>\n
Mauna Kea is a place of dreams and wonder, feelings borne out of the love we all have for that special place, whatever our reasons. It deserves pono management.<\/p>\n
4. What role should the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands play in reducing homelessness?<\/strong><\/p>\nHomelessness is a housing problem. DHHL has land and now an additional $600 million to build homes. DHHL needs to build more houses at higher densities and get those homes into the hands of its beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
A portion of those homes can and should be used to house homeless Native Hawaiians. Innovative solutions such as temporary micro-housing to transition people from homelessness to homeownership should be tried. DHHL should seek to cooperate with other state and city programs working on homelessness to address how best to house our homeless Native Hawaiian population, and OHA should help to facilitate that cooperation. But ultimately the key to resolving homelessness is to build more homes.<\/p>\n
If we do not build more homes in Hawaii, we are condemning ourselves to population decline and stagnation. This would be an historic travesty for Hawaii and Native Hawaiians. The population of Native Hawaiians in Hawaii has increased every year since we joined the United States and only today does that population risk stagnation and decline because of the lack of housing.<\/p>\n
5. Why do you think Hawaiians are disproportionately represented in our prisons and jails? What can be done about it?<\/strong><\/p>\nNative Hawaiians suffer the highest rates of poverty in the state and poverty is strongly correlated with higher crime rates. Furthermore, young Native Hawaiians are bombarded with negative messaging about our victimhood. This gives some young Hawaiian men excuses to justify their crimes in racial or political terms.<\/p>\n
Flipping this script requires numerous approaches. Effective early childhood education has been proven to reduce rates of violent crime. If elected I will work to shift OHA\u2019s resources to this bread and butter issue. I will also push back against spending more money on political fights about creating a race-based government. This attitude only exacerbates the victimhood narrative and provides more justifications for Native Hawaiians to commit crimes.<\/p>\n
As Trustee Akina has so artfully said in his 2020 candidate survey, the message for our keiki must be: \u201cYou are not a victim, so don\u2019t act like one. Remember our Hawaiian values \u2013 aloha, respect, caring, achievement. That way you won\u2019t go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
6. What are your views regarding Hawaiian self-determination?<\/strong><\/p>\nI want the best life possible for my keiki. I believe that the principles of government that will best protect their interests are democracy, equality before the law and religious freedoms. I believe that being a state of the United States best protects those principles. Where we fall short, we should strive to better adopt those principles.<\/p>\n
Hawaiians today live in the greatest democracy on earth, and are citizens of the greatest nation in human history. We exercise self-determination every day in our local, state and national elections. And I encourage everyone to continue to do so by voting this year, especially in the OHA election.<\/p>\n
7. Is OHA getting its fair share of ceded-land revenues from the state?<\/strong><\/p>\nI believe OHA\u2019s time is best spent focused on bread and butter issues like early childhood education programs, not fighting over ceded lands claims. The oft-cited 20% number is not in the Hawaii state constitution or the admission act, but rather is a creation of the Legislature. The Hawaii Supreme Court has determined that how much money that 20% represents is entirely a question for the Legislature, not a mathematical formula. Spending by state agencies that benefits all the people of Hawaii also benefits Native Hawaiians.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the kingdom that was overthrown was not a race-based kingdom. The first constitution declared all people are made of one blood, and citizenship was not race-based. No groups obtained race-based benefits. Thus, the overthrow is not a justification for race-based benefits.<\/p>\n
The most important thing OHA can do is to make sure that the money it is entrusted with to better the condition of Native Hawaiians is spent on the programs most likely to achieve that objective, like early childhood education programs. OHA can also work with the many Native Hawaiian-serving ali\u2019i trusts to better coordinate services. OHA must likewise ensure that the money it is entrusted with by all the people of Hawaii is not wasted, stolen, or spent creating racial division in our society.<\/p>\n
8. Is OHA fulfilling its mandate to serve the Hawaiian people?<\/strong><\/p>\nYes and no. OHA\u2019s programs that better the condition of Native Hawaiians do so, but OHA\u2019s expenditures on race-based nation-building do not. I am running for OHA in part because I think OHA has been distracted by political fights instead of focusing on bread and butter issues like education, housing and jobs.<\/p>\n
OHA\u2019s mandate is to better the condition of Native Hawaiians. The best way to do that is early childhood education. If elected, I would also encourage OHA to join the voices of pro-housing advocates in Hawaii, starting with legalizing homebuilding in Kakaako Makai. There is no legitimate reason Kakaako Makai cannot be developed in partnership with the other landowners (Kamehameha Schools, the city and UH) and local residents. Let\u2019s create a mixed-use, mixed income community where all people are welcome.<\/p>\n
I will also urge my fellow trustees to focus on bread and butter, salt and poi, issues that benefit not just Native Hawaiians, but all the people of Hawaii. When Native Hawaiians win, Hawaii wins, and when Hawaii wins, Native Hawaiians win. And when we are all winning, we are making the whole world a better place.<\/p>\n
9. Is Hawaii managing its tourism industry properly? What should be handled differently?<\/strong><\/p>\nYes and no. Without even discussing the billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs our guests support, the industry has enabled us to earn a living while perpetuating the aloha spirit that has always made this community so special. This includes opportunities for cultural practitioners of hula and mele to earn a living by sharing our rich cultural gifts with the world, perpetuating those art forms while putting food on their tables and a roof over their ohana. We quite literally export happy memories.<\/p>\n
But there must also be balance. Reservation and crowd control systems of our most popular destinations, like Hanauma Bay and Diamond Head, are reasonable and prudent. Educating visitors in a way that protects Hawaii\u2019s land, culture and people is a win\/win, as long as such education does not draw our guests into fights about local political issues, like the overthrow of the kingdom.<\/p>\n
I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to over 40 countries around the world and, without exception, everyone dreams of visiting Hawaii not solely because of the beauty of our home, but also the aloha spirit of our people.<\/p>\n
I pledge to be an ambassador of that aloha spirit.<\/p>\n
10. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed numerous flaws in Hawaii\u2019s structure and systems, from outdated technology to economic disparity. If you could take this moment to reinvent Hawaii, to build on what we\u2019ve learned and create a better state, a better way of doing things, what would you do? Please share One Big Idea you have for Hawaii. Be innovative, but be specific.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe big idea is effective early childhood education. <\/span>Effective early childhood education has been shown to provide an internal rate of return of 13.7% on the money invested. The benefits come from many things that are even more important than money, but do have a cost, such as reduced incarceration, increased familial stability and better health outcomes. This will transform Hawaii by empowering our keiki to diversify our economy and allow newly freed health and law enforcement spending to be shifted to investments in infrastructure, education and other community priorities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nIf you honor me with election as your next OHA trustee at-large, I will ceaselessly advocate, relentlessly promote and constantly campaign for effective early childhood education. I will work collaboratively with Kamehameha Schools, the DOE, our charter schools, nonprofits, ali\u2019i trusts, and the Executive Office on Early Learning. An investment in our keiki is an investment in our future.<\/p>\n