 for Lieutenant Governor here on ThinkTech. I'm Jay Fidel. The nice lady in the other window is Louise Ng. She's an attorney with Denton. She had been doing community service as well as practicing law since 1912. Thank you for joining us, Louise. She's the moderator of the program, the program that we call, there it is, Who's Running for Lieutenant Governor, evaluating the major candidate. Louise, thank you for doing that, for being the moderator, and thank you for coming on the show today, so we could explain it in advance. It's very nice of you. Let's talk about who the major candidates are, who you're going to be talking with. Well, Jay, I'm very excited because I want to learn more about the Lieutenant Governor candidates, and so you can correct me if I leave anybody out, but we have, first of all, Keith Amemiah, and we have Ikaika Anderson, Sherry McNamara, Manor McNamara, and... Sylvia Luke. Sylvia Luke, of course. Yes. Yeah, so this is going to be interesting, and I guess you'll take them in alphabetical order, but you can decide exactly how you're going to do that and let them, you know, expound for a little while, and then you're going to ask them some questions in order to, you know, find out what they're really made of, so to speak, and why people should vote for them. So I guess the question is, you know, there's a lot of programs out there now on TV, on radio, in Civil Bee, there's programs streaming all over the place. Louise, why is this one different? Why is this one the one that people should look at? Why is this one going to give them a better handle on thing? Well, Jay, first of all, I don't think I've had heard of a program yet where all four of them have graciously agreed to appear, so that's one thing. We're going to have all four of them in the same virtual room, and we also have, do we have an hour and a half? We're going to have, I think, a substantial time to give them at least a couple minutes, two or three minutes to answer questions, both on general issues, as well as some more personal issues, personalized issues, and then if we have some time, perhaps give them a chance to ask each other some rapid-fire questions. Yeah, really explore. Well, that's the thing. You're a lawyer, a litigator, and litigators have a different view of asking questions, don't they? I mean, for one thing, you have a professional expertise, by definition, of forming a question that is clear and answerable. Secondly, as a litigator, you have an understanding of whether you are getting an answer or not, and the ability to ask it again. I remember when I was a litigator years ago, I would ask the same question again, and I would say, let me rephrase that for you, and then I would ask exactly the same question again. But as a litigator, you're going to know whether you're getting an answer that addresses the question. So I think it's very valuable to have you as the moderator and you as a community member and so forth. But let me ask you this. I mean, why is the Lieutenant-Governor important? We often see the Lieutenant-Governor as somebody who's marginalized in the press, who doesn't speak very much, who is on a leash of some kind by the Governor. Why is it important that we evaluate the major candidates for Lieutenant-Governor this year? Well, I think that the challenge for the Lieutenant-Governor is that the office is not very well defined. But that also means a candidate or the person who wins the spot can make of the office what they want, of course, within the bounds of working with the Governor and the law. But we've seen that, for instance, with Lieutenant-Governor Green, who has played quite a prominent role in public health and COVID prevention and response. And of course, if there's anything that happens with the Governor or the Governor is out of town, the Lieutenant-Governor becomes a successor. So it is an important role and it is also a way for us to get to know the person who has won and how they are using the office to best effect and to help the public good. Yeah, the other thing, which seems to me very visible on the national level, is that the Lieutenant-Governor succeeds the Governor. If the Governor is unable and willing, you know, is not able to perform the duties of Governor, then by law the Lieutenant-Governor slips in there. And so he could be or she could be the Governor any day during that term. So we're electing somebody who very, very possibly could be the stand-in. Indeed. So we want someone with leadership skills and, you know, a good overview of community and what the community needs and the ability to execute as well. So that's what we'll be exploring. And finally, and this also comes from an observation of the national process, is that when you get to the next term, and we have that here, now, where the Lieutenant-Governor is running for Governor and has the advantage of being a kind of semi-incumbent as the Lieutenant-Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor could very easily get to be our next Governor in the next election. I haven't made a study statistically. I'll have often that's happened, but I know it's happened very often, and it's happened very often on the national team. So when we talk to somebody who's running for, you know, Lieutenant-Governor, we're also talking to somebody who could very easily run for Governor next time around. That's very true. So this will be our chance to make an educated decision when we get to the polls, either by mail or, well, on August 13th. I think maybe our primary is all by mail this year. In any event, I think the ballots go out in late July and we should pay attention to them. Yeah. So, you know, all the candidates, the major candidates anyway, they're all running on the Democratic ticket. And I can't even tell you who's running on any other ticket. There are others. But the likelihood is that the one candidate who stands out on the Democratic ticket in the primary in August will be the Lieutenant-Governor going forward, right? That's what it's looking like, Jay. And those are the candidates that we are hearing most about these days. Yeah. So how do you plan to handle this? I know you're ready to go down the track with them to ask them, you know, about themselves and to ask them about policy positions and platform positions. And how do you look at it? How are you going to handle it? Well, it's, you know, we're still working on that. But I think my our overview is that, you know, we'll ask, I'll ask some a general question first, a question for all of them to address and, you know, or maybe several questions like that, maybe give them about two minutes each to address the common questions. And then, of course, if there's a chance within that, we'll do some follow up. And then also, the next phase would be to ask some more personalized questions about their particular platform or issues or qualifications. And that would take up most of the time. And then we're hoping to have some need some minutes available to ask to allow them to ask each other questions, whether that not sure how, you know, we're still working through how that's going to work. Does everybody get to ask one question for one candidate or, you know, all four on a very quick basis, we're still working that through. And then finally, I believe that through the chat function, we'll have a chance to see if the audience has any questions that we can get through quickly and pose live to the candidates. Yeah, so this is not just a situation. I mean, to go back to the point about distinguishing this program from any others. This is not just the situation where they get to and tell you what their platform position is, tell you what their brochure says. This is not a brochure kind of presentation. This is an engagement and an opportunity for ThinkTech for you to ask them questions. Maybe they, you know, that should be asked, but they don't necessarily expect these questions. And I think that's very important. And there are a lot of areas out there where we need to hear from them about that, whether they include these areas on their brochures or not. Can you think of some of the ones that we are considering? Yes. What comes to mind, what comes to top of mind are issues like housing, homelessness, responding to climate change. Those are top of mind, Jay, but maybe you can remind me of what some of the other education perhaps is one of them. What else have we thrown around? I think you've covered the major ones. There are others, of course, but it strikes me that if you talk to the person in the street and you say, how do you think Hawaii is doing? Most people are not going to give you a really good answer. An answer that says Hawaii is doing great. There are a lot of concerns about how state government is working in the legislature. We've seen corruption this semester, this session, I think of everything in academic terms. And there are issues, certainly in the police department, which is theoretically a city function, but nevertheless, it's of great interest and it's a metric by which people judge government in general. I mean, confidence in government, is that a low ebb? Not only nationally, and certainly that's another conversation, but statewide. And so we want to hear, I think, from them on exactly what they want to do to rebuild confidence in state government. And it may not be on the list of specific tasks that have traditionally been undertaken by Lieutenant Governors, but we still want to hear them talk about it. We want to hear them talk as if they were going to be the governor. And what are they going to do about that? So this will be interesting in that sense. And I guess I could ask you this. I mean, this seems to me to be a formative year, even an inflection, historical inflection. Now, we know from watching television every day, any day and cable especially, that there's all kinds of inflection things happening nationally. But that kind of leaks over, doesn't it, to state government? Because to the extent that people are more aware, more concerned about, you know, in national government, and for that matter, international events these days, like in Ukraine, they are that kind of also affects your way of thinking about state government, about the confidence that the electorate has in state government and the expectations that people have about state government. Because if state government doesn't work right, we're all going to suffer. I mean, take one of the points you mentioned, climate change. We really haven't done much about climate change, sorry. And unless we do something about climate change, we are going to get court shot. There was an article in the paper yesterday about a storm that is forming, you know, east of Hawaii that may affect us and it may be more extreme because of climate change. Are we ready? And what do these candidates think about that? What are they going to do about that? You know, it's not only what happens if they get to be governor. They're going to see the governor. They're going to talk to the governor. They're going to say, governor, how about doing something about climate change? Don't you think that would be a good idea for our administration? That's what I'm talking about. Indeed. And we also hope that the winner will be able to work productively with the governor and make it a partnership where together they can affect change. Because as you say, Jay, especially as we see things going on nationally and sometimes things go on too slowly nationally if people disagree, I think that state and local governments and how those work are becoming have become much more important. You know, we're seeing that on the whole issue of reproductive issues and how it's the state laws that are going to really directly affect the people here. And you know, with COVID response, even though hopefully we're looking back mostly and assessing what happened, public health is going to be another important issue. How did we respond? How could we do it better the next time? You know, it'll be interesting to hear what they have to say on those issues as well. Yeah, COVID's not over. You know, whatever steps we took, it's not over. In fact, we were in a surge now. Thankfully, you know, it's not as serious for people who have been vaccinated. But the reality is we have more work to do on COVID. It's still an issue. And we need to hear from these candidates, I think, about what they would do, what they plan to do. And the other, you know, you mentioned a couple of things I think it's worth mentioning is that there are national issues that the state needs to weigh in on, take action on. Two of them you mentioned is the Roe v. Wade and abortion, you know, finding legislation that will enhance Hawaii's position as a leader in that area. It has been a leader since she was, I think the 70s, right after Roe v. Wade. And also gun control. Likewise, you know, we need to take steps to avoid what the Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court might otherwise do. These are issues which are national issues, but which right thinking people in the states could and would and should want to take action on to preserve our leadership. Do you think? Indeed. Yes. Yes. Because as we've said, you know, it's the people's direct lives have affected directly with what the laws of the state and the county are. So you mentioned a minute ago, Louise, that it's important for the lieutenant governor to get along with the governor. And that has not always been the case. We can sit here and identify which administrations, which has not always been the case, but we won't suffice to say that the lieutenant governor has to get along. In fact, as I said, enhance the work of the governor, make suggestions, be a consensus, you know, argue the points if necessary, come up with, you know, agreed statements of policy and agreed initiatives to suggest to the legislature. And that goes to another point I think we should mention, and that is how well is this individual going to work with the legislation? Some of our candidates have long-term relations. Helia Lu, for example, long-term relations in the legislature, you know, been involved, seen the process from the inside for decades, actually. Some not. So, but don't you think that that is something we need to hear about? How are they going to make working relationships? Yeah, I think that's an important point, Jay, and one we don't often think about. But ideally, if the lieutenant governor and governor are working together, they can hopefully work together on, you know, working productively with the legislature as well. The lieutenant governor can be of assistance, we hope, in enhancing relationships with the legislature or continuing conversations that perhaps the governor, you know, doesn't have time to get into, but the lieutenant governor can fulfill that role. Yeah, and the administration has a bully pulpit. I mean, just for example, there was an article there two ago about the chairs of the various committees in the legislature and how powerful they are and everything they do, the members of those committees follow like lemmings. Sorry, I said that. But then there's this thing about I vote in favor of the bill quote with reservations. There was a piece about that. And it struck me that that's a you know, that's something sort of like a gut and replace that was reformed a couple years ago. And that that should also be reformed along with, you know, what is this with reservations. Come on, man, vote for it or vote against it. Let's hear it. And the same thing. There's been discussion about the way the conference committees work, and how, you know, it's really not as transparent as it might be. So we're talking about the possibility next session of reform in the legislature. And you need, you need the administration to lead the charge on those sort of things. It's so much more effective when they take a position and advance an initiative. So that is something maybe we should hear from these people also. That's a good point, Jay. And I think that is one of the topics that we have brainstormed on. So actually, with the help of the think tech crew, I think we've got a good range of issues and questions and your discussion of them, I think also helps point out how important they are. Yeah, you'll never get to all of them, Louise. I'm sorry. There are more that you possibly could have time. Yes. But even a smattering of them will take this to a level, maybe that other discussions, other media, other forums, or is it for I, for other forums will not cover. And so, you know, that is special, and it is also special that you will allow them to ask each other questions and the audience in this webinar format will have the chance to ask questions also. So, you know, it'll be amazing if you get to all of the issues that we have considered. But you will get to some. And I think in the course of that discussion, with all of those questions and responses, we will get to meet them. We will get to understand them. I hope we come away after that hour and a half with a better sense of who the candidates are and what they stand for, and also how they, you know, how we all interrelate and react. Yeah, you know, state government is more important than we think. State government, you know, governs the counties, for example, preempts the counties on so many things. So, if you're looking to the counties, you know, state government has some control over that. But also, I mean, all these things that we want to achieve, you know, the diversification of our economy, clean energy, transportation, the role of tourism and the diversification through things that are not necessarily tourism, the incentives. Incentives are really an important thing. And the lieutenant governor should understand and should compare notes with the governor about all these incentives. Some people just don't like incentives. They don't give my money away, sort of thing, you know. If you have extra money, give it to me. That's short-sighted in the sense that we have to direct the economy. We have to direct the way the state works. And now is the time. So, where do you think we are right now as a state? And where do you want to inquire about, you know, moving us in a direction that will avoid backwater, moving us in a direction that will avoid the brain drain and the doctor drain and all the drains we have. That's all in play, isn't it? It certainly is. And of course, we're coming to a point, well, we have always been to a point of being economically challenged. But as we face issues of inflation and rising interest rates and affordability, rising costs, my goodness, you know, just going to a store or a restaurant, you can see how the costs have affected businesses and consumers. So, you know, this is a critical point. How are we going to keep our economy and our people able to afford living here and have, you know, have a good choice of housing and jobs and the like and be safe? You know, crime is another area, although it's, you know, a county and a public, a police issue. Certainly, we're all concerned. We're all impacted by the rising crime. And how can that be addressed as well? Tourism is also, you know, we're at a point where the state wants to rethink tourism. I think there are a lot of things that people want to rethink now that we've had the challenge of a pandemic and the way it's changed our lives. How do we emerge from that better and allowing people to live better and to survive here? More than survive, to thrive. To thrive, yeah. Well, I think that's really right on and that we want to hear from these candidates about that. We don't want them to be wallflowers. We want them to be actively involved in these issues. But something you said made me think of this, you know, yes, we know there are issues and problems, which we know there are risks. We know there are, I want to call it threats and declines in the way our state works, the way our lives work in the state. But there's something else to, you have to, you have to project where all of this is going. I mean, for example, you said that crime is increasing. We have to project that. It's not a matter of solving today's problems. It's a matter of solving, of figuring out what those problems are going to look like in not just four years of five or six, but more, 10 years. What's that going to look like? And what can we do now to, you know, to solve it in advance? We have to be impression. We have to look to another time. And the candidate that I would like is the candidate that looks ahead and tells me what we need to do now and why it's relevant to the future. This is so important. And I think, I hope, I know that you're going to be asking them to weigh in on not only current issues, current problems, but how these are going to evolve and what we need to do now. You know, Hawaii has had a lot of trouble planning, you know, making plans. So the plans that you can elicit from these candidates will be very important to evaluate them, don't you think? Yeah, that's indeed true, because it's really, you know, a lot of the social ills we're facing now or will be in the future are things that we need to start now to address. And a lot of that, a big part of that is education and making sure people do get a good education and have the opportunity don't fall through the cracks. So that's a very good point that we need to, and our candidates need to be able to look to the future and see how we can design things now to make the future better. Yeah, and at the end of the day, they're going to have a chance to actually emote. Maybe that sounds more like a movie, but maybe it is a movie. You know, this is streaming, and it's streaming just as I can see your face clearly now. I can see and examine how you feel while you are speaking to me and vice versa. In streaming in our webinar, we will be able to have close ups on all their faces as they speak to us. We'll be able to examine their sincerity, their ardor, their passion, what have you as they speak to us. So this is a real good opportunity for people to get to know them as if you were sitting in the same room. That's the magic of streaming and it's better than other media. And the ability for the audience to pose questions to civil questions, of course, but to pose questions and hopefully we'll have a chance to get to many of them if not all of them. Yeah, okay, I think this is going to be very interesting. Again, Louise, thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for coming out with me this morning to talk about it. I look forward. This is only in a few days on July 1st and it's at 10 o'clock in the morning on Think Tech Hawaii. It's a webinar and if anybody wants to sign up and we urge them to do that, just go to our website, ThinkTechHawaii.com and right on the top it has registered for who's running for Lieutenant Governor, who are the major candidates we have to evaluate. And if you click that button, you'll be taken to a registration page. Once you're taken to a registration page, it will remind you in advance that you should come and sign in on July 1st and it will give you a survey after it and it will generally ask you, it will generally remind you that there will be a video of everything that is said a few days later on our YouTube website. That's a great part. It's the recording if you can't make the 10 to 1130 time frame. That's really good too. So thank you to ThinkTech for your work in raising community awareness. Well, we've been working on webinars for quite a while as you well know. Oh my goodness. From the beginning we've seen this, huh? You've been moderated in a number of our webinars and very well and this will be at least as good and maybe better because this is important and important for the public, important for the future of the state. So I look forward. No pressure. No pressure. I know it'll be, it'll be great. It'll be friendly but it'll also be very evocative and educational. So what is your, what is your last thoughts to people about what this is and why they should attend? Well, the, you know, the importance of voting is critical and having an educated vote knowing what you're voting for, not just the personality is important too because we're going to be living with the winner of this election for four years, if not more. Yeah. And what you said now is really, really resonates with me. That is this kind of conversation, this kind of forum, this kind of discussion, this kind of mix up on issues. This hopefully will increase turnout and it's so important that we turn out, when I say we, I mean the whole country but I also mean Hawaii. Indeed. So you're, you're doing, you're doing public service on a number of levels here, Louise. And thank you again so much for that. Louise Ng, a partner of Dentons, which is a international law firm, arguably the largest law firm in the world and we have her here with us. We are so excited about that. And she's been doing public service and these webinar programs for a long time. So we'll see her again at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 1st. Thank you, Louise. Thank you. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechawaii.com. Mahalo.