 ThinkTech Hawaii, civil engagement lives here. Hi. I'm Jay Fidel back from a wonderful wedding on a big island. It was so grand. And I'm here to enjoy my Tuesday with Sharon Moriwaki. Sharon is an old friend of ThinkTech. Sharon has been the co-chair of the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum, in fact, the founder of it. And I have learned over the years so much with her, because I have worked with her. She was a long time already on energy matters with the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum. And now it appears that Sharon is taking the plunge. She is running for the State Senate, for the Senate District 12. And she joins us as a candidate to tell us about her candidacy. Sharon, welcome. Welcome to the show. Thank you, Jay. It's nice being here again. Yeah. Different roles. Easy-year-old stomping grounds here at ThinkTech. Yeah, my old stomping, stomping, stomping ground. And we miss you, but you've been busy running for the Senate. Busy, very busy. Yeah. It's been fun. So why did you do this thing? Why did you run? Well, for me, it's all started with kakaako, as you know, from way back. Five years ago, I thought there was nothing we could do about it, but buildings were going up. There was no green space. Infrastructure was really a mess. And a small group of committed people can make a difference. At that time, the board was run by a governor-run board of nine members, and we had no say in what happened to our community. But the small group of people, neighbors, got together, and we were able to take on the governor, change the law, be able to put community people now by law on the board. And today, we have a board that really listens to people. Oh, that's great. You know? And that's the kind of government I want. We need that so much in Hawaii. And public policy. It's the people. It's all about people. Yes, I agree. So I feel even more strongly walking the district and listening to people that it's a real disconnect these days. Yeah. Well, you know, it's so true that government and people aren't connected the way they should be, the way they were back when. And you're the kind of glue person who brings that connection back to us. And it's really wonderful to see you do that. And tell us about your experience walking, because I know you like to walk. I do. And it's not just for exercise, right? I do. I've been really enjoying meeting with people. And there are some really good people out there with real problems. I mean, I take people who are too afraid to walk out at night, the kupuna. There are people who are afraid about their parks and their streets and the sidewalks being taken over by homeless. But people who are not taking care of the property, some of them are complaining. Small businesses. In fact, just yesterday, I met a small business person who talked to her on the phone. And she said that the feces were all over her sidewalk, and nobody's coming to clean it up. Oh, gee whiz. I mean, it's that kind of thing happening in our community. It degrades everything when that happens, yeah. And there's nobody doing anything they call, they don't know who to call for help. And they feel that their legislators should be there to do something. The administration should be there to do something, you know? Never mind it's his problem or the city or the state, it's everybody make it happen. I'd want to do that. I think it should be done. It's about time. Well, you certainly learn how to make things happen in the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum. As a matter of fact, can we take a minute? Can you tell us about your career in the university, the public policy center, and otherwise where you can suggest to people that you know how to make things happen? Well, I think the main thing to me I look at is people, relationships, and making things happen for people. And at the university, when I first went there, the concern was that we didn't have the university connecting with the community. So we formed the public policy center, and it went through a lot of iterations because there's academe and getting to the community. And one of the big areas was let's find themes that really mean something to people. And at that point, if you remember, HECO was having problems with 138KW building on the Waheela Ridge, so they gave the university some money, and they said, formal a blue-riven committee, white papers, let's find out what it is that we can do to make things happen. It all started with that and through that over the years, I guess some 14, 15 years now, it's bringing adversaries together. It was an experiment in collaboration. So we had, you sit on it now, with we had the utilities, we had the oil companies, we had renewable energy folks, we had the university, all coming together and saying, okay, let's step back and see what's good for Hawaii. And I think that's where it all starts, is coming with some mutual respect, mutual understanding, and really caring about the place we live. Yeah. And the experience of bringing together almost 50 stakeholders on a regular basis who don't necessarily agree with each other, whose business interests may be different, and who wrestle with difficult community and technological problems, and keeping them friends and having them agree on things, reach consensus, and actually do stuff. That's the remarkable thing in my observation about the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum. You and Mike Hamnet have done really a remarkable job over these years. And I think, maybe you're modest about this, but I think that really does qualify you for bringing stakeholders together in other contexts as well. And I think that as I work over the years with different groups, different projects, from stream cleaning to citizen patrol to the Energy Policy Forum, or Kakaako and trying to get the community to understand, it's really important to stand up for what's important for where we live. It's all about people and they're good people in the community, all wanting to do good, and they just don't know how to come together to find a way to do it. So they need legislators who will welcome them. And listen to everybody. And it's not just who supports you. It's just everybody. Everybody has something to contribute. And you listen to everybody and say, OK, what's the best way for all of us to move forward? And that's what's lacking right now, I think, in that people don't feel they have a say. And so they give up. They don't vote. That's why we have such a low voting record. We've got in my district, my district. This is Sharon's district. This is my district. Can we get a shot of that? This shows. So where does this district go? This is Kakaako. This is Makalimo-Ili-Ili. And this is Waikalamoana, Waikiki. And so it's a diverse district. You've got the older district of Makalimo-Ili-Ili here. And you've got Waikiki here, which there are a lot of older residents and some newer ones. But it really is older residents. And then you've got the new Kakaako developing. Which is huge. It's huge. High-rise. Yeah. So when I talk to residents, they're all a feeling that they haven't been able to know what's going on. I mean, even I started that way. We didn't even know what was happening in Kakaako until I read it in the paper. And it shouldn't be that way. It should be prior to anything coming in, whether it's a high-rise or it's another establishment or it's big bikes. Hey, talk to the people first. This is coming, folks. How do you want it to come in? How do we want to be able to adjust to what your living style is like to keep the quality of life? We don't have that. It gets plopped in. And so, to me, that is the disconnect between people who are paid, we're paying their salaries to represent us, and they're not hearing us or working for us. So you're going after the seat that has been occupied for this district by Brickwood Galliteria. That's correct. So one thing that strikes me when you look at the map here is that your district is on the water. It's on the water in Kakaako. It's all shoreline and right through Waikiki. And we live in a time, and you're no stranger to this, because you've been covering sustainability and resilience for a long time through the Energy Policy Forum. This is exposed. It's vulnerable. It's very vulnerable. We're dealing with university people who study inundation, study coastal shoreline management and risk. So what can you do? What is your platform? What is your position on how to protect the property owners and businesses that are in that district along the water, yeah? I think one thing, the first thing is awareness. People are in their cubicles not realizing sea level rise, not realizing that our whole district has a high water table. And it's been that way for a while, and that developers are developing on it without a long-range plan that we're sinking. I mean, I think over the next 20 years, I will have shoreline, shoreline, a shoreline unit because the water would have risen that high. I'll just see right outside my window and see the water. So that's number one, awareness and people demanding that we do something about it, not 20 years from now and not, oh, climate change doesn't exist. It's here. It's here today. And we've talked to Chip Fletcher and we have the data. Chip Fletcher is a university in the Southwest and he has studied coastal erosion. And he's the one who showed us where my partner unit is going to be. And so it's a reality and we have to plan for it. I believe in long-range planning. I don't believe in just doing it for this session because it's a campaign year. I think it has to be that kind of plan forward. And the high rises are going up, all of these condos, they've got to put into impact fees that will sustain the shoreline and not just store it up after it occurs. It's planning ahead so that we don't plan too close to the shoreline. Now despite the city's project, which they recently got some federal funding for, to build infrastructure in Waikiki. Yeah. Resilient cities or something like that. Yeah, resilient cities, yeah. To build infrastructure in Waikiki to deal with the possibility of sea level rise. Some people think that we haven't done enough. There are other cities along the shore, coastal cities that have done much more, including New York City, for example, which is a much bigger project. So what's your position on that? I mean, have we done enough and how much more do we have to do and when should we do it? I think we should have done it yesterday, quite frankly. And there's not enough money being put in. I think if you talk to Ford for Chikami when he was with DOT that, you know, all of the building that's so close to the shoreline and we can't see it, every big coastal, every storm. You see part of that shoreline being eroded. You do. And then, you know, you've got to move the highways inland. You've got to build to see the future that this is coming, you know, coming in and you can't keep on building and building. You've got to plan forward. People don't realize that when you say infrastructure to protect the existing, you know, community, you're talking about A, a lot of money, and B, a lot of engineering in order to save the existing infrastructure, existing buildings. This means a lot of work. It means a lot of focus and planning. It means a lot of action. It means a lot of money. But do you do it today or do you do it in the future when it's too late and you've got very little land left, you know? Yeah. I mean, look at Easter Island. It could be like Easter Island, you know, you just really, you just let it go until it's too late. Yeah. And we're too precious a place to do that. So let's take a short break, Sharon. Come back. I'd like to get your views on other issues, specifically affordable housing, housing in general, the homeless, and dealing with the kupuna in our community. That's Sharon Moriwaki. She's running for the state senate, district, senate district 12, which is on the map here and we'll be right back for more of her platform positions in this race. Hi, I'm Dave Stevens. I'm the host of Cyber Underground every Friday here at 1pm on thinktechkawaii.com. And then every episode is uploaded to the Cyber Underground. That library of shows that you can see of mine on youtube.com. And I hope you'll join us here every Friday. We have some topical discussions about why security matters and what could scare the absolute bejesus out of you. If you just try to watch my show all the way through. Hope to see you next time on Cyber Underground. Stay safe. If you're not in control of how you see yourself, then who is? Live above the influence. Hi, I'm Ethan Allen, host on thinktechkawaii of Pacific Partnerships in Education. Every other Tuesday afternoon at 3pm, I hope you'll join us as we explore the value, the accomplishments, and the challenges of education here in the Pacific Islands. Welcome back to Community Matters. I'm Jay Fidel. This is Sharon Moriwaki. And she is running for the State Senate, State Senate District 12, right now. And in fact, the race comes up for a vote on August 11th. It's not far away. And so this is, effectively you're running against another Democratic candidate in a Democratic primary, which will be determined August 11th. Correct. Exciting. Not much time left, yeah? That's right. So you get support from the community, from people. What kind of support have you gotten, Sharon? Well, I'm really happy to have the Hawaii State Teachers Association, because the children are our future. So I have the HSTA endorsement for our keiki. And I also have the endorsement of the Sierra Club and the Hawaii Pono Initiative as well, which is a group that's really concerned about the environment and have been fighting for the environment. So I'm really pleased with those two very important, I think, groups of people that really are our future. Yeah. And you've always been a voice in that community. You've spoken up for the community over the years without running for office. So this is a natural—as I see it anyway—a natural transition for you to move to running for elected office, especially. Why the Senate, not the House, huh? Because the Senate is where we felt we weren't getting representation. Quite frankly, I would ask for help from our senator, and it wasn't seen as something I guess important enough that I didn't seem to represent enough of the community for anything to be done. So I think most of us felt that way, so we took it into our own hands. Yeah. When you say us, you mean a large group of people that you are acquainted with in the Kakaako and through the district. So let's talk about your positions on other things. Certainly if I lived in Kakaako, I'd be concerned—I think Kakaako in general is concerned with housing, affordable housing. How do you develop this neighborhood properly? It's a model for other neighborhoods to follow. It's a model for the future of Hawaii in many ways. So what's your view of housing and affordable housing dealing with the homeless as well? I think that for affordable housing, everybody is now realizing, which we've been saying for years, is that housing is not affordable for our residents. And while they may say it's reserved housing in Kakaako, you know, 140 percent of the area median income is not affordable for those people who are at the 50 percent level or below. And that's a lot of people. That's half our population, 50 percent and below. And so we've been fighting for a lower standard. The governor just signed off on Kakaako's reserved housing, supposedly for affordable housing rules, which I'm not so pleased with, because it still is an average of 120 percent, not getting into the weeds. But it still isn't low enough, and it's for a 10-year term instead of a 30-year term or a permanent term, because once you're putting affordable housing out there, you want to keep it in the pool. For a lifetime. You don't want people making a profit on it after 10 years. And a lot of the luxury housing that's going up are being marketed offshore. So you have offshore investors coming in and buying the property. And it's taking out of the market like the Airbnb problem. They're taking all this housing off the markets for our local people. And that's why we're suffering. And the homeless is just another, you know, offshoot from the housing problem, because if you have no housing for people who can't afford, at least to buy a house or to rent a house, you're going to have people who don't have that kind of income, who are off in the streets now. And so we've got to take care of the housing problem. That's key. You know, I always talk about the 50s and 60s when my uncle built our own house, my parents' house. And it was with a loan through Hula May Financing, low-interest loans. And when you talk to Peter Savio, who's one of the few developers who are building affordable housing because he wants to build affordable housing for residents. As such. You know, as such, not making a profit. He says, you can even build for equity, you know, so that you help these people. You put a little amount from the mortgage or from the rent as you were paying mortgage as if you were paying mortgage, so that you can't be enough for a down payment that you buy your own house. Or you give low-interest Hula May-type loans to anybody who has property, architects, contractors, carpenters like my uncle was. And they have property, they can build on their property affordable housing for people who live here. And that's what we're lacking now. You know, the legislative touts are coming up with 1,600 units of rentals. Hey, we need 20,000 units. So we've got to do something more, more. And I stole from Rick Blangiardi and one of his up, whatever, editorials. He says, we need thousands and thousands of houses. This is the biggest crisis the state has ever had. Why aren't we doing something? To me, we can do something. We've just got to bite the bullet and do something about it and put money there and get bonds and put it out to the banks to give the loans out to people to build housing for our residents. So I'm very, very passionate about that. I want to do something. Really, we need to do something and not just talk about it and not in an election year put a little money here. My view of this issue is eating the state. If there is no place for our own people to live, what then? Then, you know, you have disparity of income. You have homelessness. You have all kinds of unrest. And you know, you're cutting the future off because people, if they can't find housing, they're going to leave town. Their children aren't going to hang around. Good people are leaving. And do you know they tout rentals? I believe, yes, sure, rentals. But rentals are also not stabilizing our community. You rent, your salary goes up, your rent goes up. So you have very little discretionary income to want to keep it up and then you may be off the streets when that rent goes up. I mean, that's what's happened to my graduate, you know? So what you need is some way that you can rent to own and some way that the government should be helping in that so that you stabilize, you keep good people here, you stabilize the community. Yeah. If you take all of the land in Hawaii and put it into a tourist destination, high-priced condominiums and you don't make housing for the local people, you can imagine what's going to happen here. Somebody has to attend to that. And if you're saying that nobody has, I certainly agree. We have not attended to this issue. And I sure hope you can do something about that, Sharon. It's critical to the future of the state. I believe so. Let's talk about the kupuna. What's your view of the kupuna issue? So I've talked to a lot of kupuna and they are struggling. They are struggling. And to stay in their own homes, to keep up their own homes, you know, to renovate their homes. Also, they're afraid to walk out at night. And some, like I call this one moment, and she has her long-term care insurance, but she didn't know who to call, how to get help. She has Parkinson's, her husband is hard of hearing. They don't have that kind of help. We used to be able to have information referral. I understand there is, with the Waikiki Community Center. We should have more of that to go out and help them. We have a kupuna caregivers program. The legislators bragged that they put $1.2 million into it for our kupuna caregivers. Well, do you know how much that serves? That's 330 people. You know how many thousands need to be served? It's a drop in the bucket. It's a drop in the bucket. And not only that, it was $70 a day. They were giving these caregivers, well, it's $70 a week because they want to spread it around. What does that buy? So you have to be honest about it. You have to put your money there because we should honor our kupuna. We should really care for them. And I really believe that the only way to do it is by putting the money, working with caseworkers in the various communities that they know, and the kupuna know where to call and can get help. And we need to put the money there. We really do need to support our kupuna. We have to take care of them. You know, in the old days, this was more purely a state of immigrants. We had families and neighborhoods. You know, structured families, families that were so close. Now, and partly because of the housing problem, it's too expensive, and people cannot take care of their kupuna the same way, and the kupuna are being marginalized, and we have to take, we have to collectively take care of them. So that's a big plank for you, eh? It is. It is a big plank. I even met one homeless man, because I was sign-waving, and he said, you know, he says, oh, you've got to take care of the elderly. And I said, yeah, I said, so what's your situation? He said, oh, my kids, they all live, oh, they're having a hard time, they cannot take care of me. So he's walking the streets. That shouldn't be. That should not be. Right? Yeah. There must be facilities for them. Yeah. And through your district, especially. It's in the urban areas. It's in the urban area, really, that we need to work on. Okay. What else are you seeking? What else do you want to change? What else will you do as elected into office? You know, as I talk to people, they're very disenchanted with government. I think that's why my district has 20,000 registered voters and only 7,800 voted in the last primary election. That's just too low, and people feel disconnected, they feel it doesn't matter. It does matter. And I hope that people will feel that if we give people choice, if we give them accountability and performance of people in office, that they will be much more vigilant, they'll be much more aware of what's happening, of things that matter, and that they'll vote and speak up because people do matter. It's not the money. It's not, oh, because, oh, they already got the funding. Oh, they've got all these people, the big boys are helping them, blah, blah, blah. No, that's not right. Every single vote counts, and people have to remember that. So for me, I'm trying to tell people that you've got a choice. If you don't like me, you would vote me out. If you pay my salary and I'm not performing for you, you would teach me how to do it right, or you'd say, bye-bye, right? You have a choice, and people are forgetting that they're in the driver's seat, not the elected officials, and they have to remember that and see what has been done. What have you done for me today, but in a long run, what have you done in the past ten years that you've been in office? So you've had issues, you've had concerns about the community for a long time, and it's sort of bubbled up here, didn't it? And all of a sudden, you're an altruist and you're an outreach person. I talk about the energy policy forum. You didn't wait for them to come to you. You went to them. You know, come on, you guys. Let's get involved. I suspect you would take the same view of dealing with voters. Come on, you guys. Come on. Get engaged with the government. Get engaged with my office. Get engaged with the issues, and certainly vote, participate, speak up, all that. This is what you did in the energy policy forum. So it was totally altruistic, really. You're not in to make a lot of money. You're not in to stay in for a career. You just need to express yourself on all of these issues that you've been watching and saving up all these years, you know? So what does the rest of the time look like between now and August 11th? You've been sending out flyers. Here's some of the flyers. Looks like you're sending out a lot of flyers now. Okay, let me tell you. This is a 70% condo-dense district. I walked whatever I could walk, and that's not much. And it's mostly in the older district of Makalimo-Ili-Ili. The rest are in condos. There's no way you can get into condos, except if you know somebody in the district, I mean in the condo. It's hard, yeah. It's hard. It's the only way you can go into a person and talk to them is when they come to you. So I've been sending many flyers like this. This is for Waikiki. This is the one for Makalimo-Ili-Ili. And this one is, oh, this one is Makalimo-Ili-Ili. And this one is for Kakaako. So this is the only way that I know of getting my message out and letting people know who I am. And other than sign-waving, and now, if you look at our signs, we have messages on the sign, like endorsed by the Sierra Club or endorsed by HSTA for the Keiki. I'm for parks and oceans, you know, things like that that represent my platform and what I want to do. And then one that I carry all the time is I will speak, I'll be your voice in the Senate. And that's how I feel, is that it's not about me, it's about us. And I really, really feel that way, that it's not about me. People ask me, all right, when you get in, are you going to just forget us, like, you know? A lot of legislators do just that, you know? And I said, no. I said, I'm going to come back and it'll make you work. You're going to have to tell me, what are the problems, what are the solutions? Not just problems, but solutions. Well, that's what you've been doing with the energy policy forum. There are 50 stakeholders, you've got them all working. Sharon Moriwaki, running for the State Senate in the Senate District 12, which is Waikiki through Kakaako and Boya Ili. Thank you so much for coming. Okay. Nice to be here again, Jay.