 Merry Christmas everyone and happy holidays. Our Ohana and friends join us tonight so we can celebrate the holidays together. We want this to be a happy and thankful time. So we've brought Pastor Neo McPherson in for his special and inspiring Christmas blessing. I like the music. I'm looking forward to the Christmas carols by the carolers and Myla Gibson-Bandman. And I also want to hear what you're doing Sharon and serving our community. So let's start first music and then blessings from Pastor McPherson. Joy to the ten-ten-en-hich-er-sy-hich-er-sy. Joy to the many-hich-er-sy-hich-er-sy. I'm a Ho-Oli Makahiki Ho. Let us begin with a word of thanks to Senator Sharon Moriwaki. For her untiring service to the district she represents. And her deep commitment to the common good and well-being of all Hawai'i's people. Mahalo anui loa Sharon. We gather for this holiday program and I would like to just say a word about the word holiday before offering a simple blessing. For Christians these joyful holidays mark the celebration of the birth of the Christ child. Who's coming heralded good tidings of peace and goodwill in the earth. At the same time those who do not count themselves as Christians, but who embrace other traditions are invited to participate in this special season. The word holiday means holy day and indeed these days are holy days set aside from ordinary time. They are days when all of us are invited to focus on the things that make for goodness and wholeness in our community and our world. Things like neighborliness, peace, justice, a faithful stewardship of the earth and a strengthening of our relationships with one another. Our desire is that these life-giving values may remain with us as we enter the days of the new year. And so let us pray. Oh God bless this gathering and our time together. Bless these holy days when we are reminded of those things that make for life and wholeness in our families, our communities and in our world. We pray that even as we face the challenges of the lingering pandemic, homelessness, lack of affordable housing, the natural disasters that come our way, the environmental degradation we continue to witness and the injustices so many must face in their lives. In the midst of all of these challenges, we may still choose to embrace the love, the hope, the joy and the peace of this holy season that surrounds us. We pray that all that we hold dear during this time of the year will renew within us a desire to work for the well-being of all and the health of the earth all the days and years of our life together. Amen. Thank you to this pastor for inspiring us as we pause to take in the meaning of Christmas and the holiday season. We come together tonight to bring in the holidays. We love to hear from all of you and to share our comparative experiences from a year of being closed in and opened and then closed and then opened, had enough yet. And with the end of the program to toast out the year we hope would have ended sooner and toast in a much better 2022. So get your champagne or wine and be ready. But first, let's get back to our program. I'd like to show what Sharon has been doing for us as state senator. We've asked several of Sharon's friends to tell us. And of course, we've asked her to tell us what she's been doing. First, Dave Moskowitz, known to many in Waikiki as a former restaurant manager and then active caring resident of the district. Hi Dave Moskowitz here. You know, I wanted to talk to you all about my experience and my time and known Senator Sharon Moriwaki. You know, I met Sharon at a Waikiki neighborhood board and she began to run her office. We hadn't known each other before then. And we got to know her personally over a while. We started working together on issues. And I have to say, I've worked in politics since I was 18, 52 years ago, worked for a lot of noble U.S. Senators. We're hungry, down badly, made more so, I've been doing politics. And she is exemplary in her behavior as a representative for constituents anywhere in, especially in Waikiki and I've known the others. And she's done so much for people. She helped numerous, including my roommate, with unemployment funds. So many people had so many struggles and issues with obtaining their payments for unemployment. She really went out way and beyond what I would ever expect from anyone. And actually, I mean, I've helped about 15 people, and I know she must have helped even 10 times that amount. She's really, I got calls from people in unemployment directly and things were fixed really quickly. Thanks to Senator Moriwaki. A lot of people got money that had issues with various ways that they filed it properly. And she was a great help for that. And she also helped us with rental housing assistance. And quickly that was taken care of. She was amazing with her context. She is such a force. I don't know where she gets all of her energy. She's also very thoughtful. She helped with the Kapuna bill that she introduced, which increased funds for assaults on Kapuna. And what you know is an ongoing problem in Waikiki. And she also, you know, I was the guy who started out the safe neighborhood, what's called safe neighborhoods now. But I, I and Tom Brower called it three strikes bill and a bad name. But anyway, she's continuing her support party that the thing fixed, which is a bleeding seed program for Waikiki to ban people who create and do three different types of assaults or deaths at a certain level. And geographically, even though they could work and still work and reside, we just ask them not to do that. Otherwise they get banned from a particular geographic zone. We hope that again, maybe to share the way things are going that maybe this is the year it will pass. She also helped a lot in getting funding for removing derelict and abandoned vessels on the alloy made it look so much better. It's really coming along and funding for improvements out of the harbor and funding for security services. Get rid of the bad people who were stealing from the people who either lived aboard or stored their boats on the alloy harbor. What a great thing it was that allies become a safe place and that people have a lot more time to rest and there's a neighborhood watch. She goes to all the neighborhood watches. She's consistently there. I don't think there might be a do will get the sheriff. She worked in mostly in the bills she worked with. Oh, the removing the magazine rats all over Waikiki that were empty from the COVID people weren't using them. And they were becoming havens for storing people to sleep in people to store drugs and lean out on and have a loiter around and she really was very, very instrumental in getting rid of some of the magazine racks and just everything he does really serves the interest of the people in the businesses in Waikiki and she deserves a whole nother time and many more. I love Sharon. I wish you Sharon a very happy Merry Christmas and thank you again so much for everything you've done for everybody in Waikiki. You are just a wonderful, rich, lovely person. Thank you so much. Mahalo Dave. And there's many more projects that Sharon has worked on, but not enough time for them all. Marilyn Matsunaga and Laverne Moore wanted to capture some of these in a video of the journey Sharon started in 2018, a journey that continues today and we hope will continue going forward. Quite a journey Sharon. Let's all stay tuned for more. Now Ron Iwami, an avid surfer has been working to protect Kakaako shoreline from luxury high rises, making sure that it stays that way. My name is Ron Iwami and my favorite surf spot is Kualos. I've been surfing there for, it will take 50 years because it is my passion. Because of this, I am a staunch advocate to preserve public access to the shoreline areas of Kakaako and Kualo shorelines. I know that Sharon Warwaki is a strong advocate too, and she has been working tirelessly to that end as her capacity in the Senate for Kakaako. She, like me, uses very important to do this. And she recently in the last session helped to block a bill that would have allowed a state entity to build residential high rises and the ability to sell the land in Kakaako Makai. She feels it's very important to keep Makai lands residential free and open for public use, rather than private use. And it also keep a balance with what's happening with the massive developments across the street, keep Makai for the people. In addition, she has engaged with the community with her weekly newsletter to tell her constituents what's happening and a source for information to go to if they have questions. This was especially helpful during this COVID time. And pre-COVID, I remember she used to do many, many community talk story sessions to further engage directly with her constituents. So with all these reasons, I will continue to support Sharon Warwaki or Senator of Kakaako. Mahalo, and thank you very much. Thanks, Ron. Now it's time to get into the Christmas spirit with the music of Myla Gibson-Bandman. I heard about this baby boy who came to our home to ya. Olds like this, the four-year-old's favorite. Most of angels let each one to. It was just as the angels said. Do you feel the feeling of Christmas? I do. Keep that feeling as we hear from one of Hawaii's most respected attorneys who's always working for the common good and the community. Ivan Louis Kwan. Ivan has worked with Sharon on many projects. My name is Ivan Louis Kwan. It is my true honor to see a few words about Senator Warwaki today. Recently I learned about a poll that was taken which identified the characteristics which the people thought were very important for leaders. The first characteristic was that the public official is a leader. Clearly Senator Warwaki is a leader. I don't know too many people who leads as she does, who is so well prepared in the sense that she has a PhD, a law degree, and I'm totally prepared for what she does. The second characteristic is trustworthiness. And I don't know anybody, quite honestly, who was as honest and trustworthy as Senator Warwaki. The third characteristic that people are looking for in elected officials was the person who is willing to take action, willing to make decisions, willing to take risks to improve the lives of their constituents. In this characteristic it's typical of Senator Warwaki. There are three things that I'd like to mention briefly which indicates her active, her action orientation, her willingness to work hard for her constituents. The first is the question of ownership of roads in the Kaka'ako district. As many of us know, there was an ongoing litigation between the State of Hawaii and the city county of Honolulu on one hand and Kaka'ako land company over who owns those roads. And it's really critical because if it's determined that this private entity and its members Kaka'ako land company owns it, then they will continue to ask for compensation from the property owners and from the business owners in Kaka'ako. This year in February, the circuit court determined that those roads are owned by the State of Hawaii. On that case is now, before the Intermediate Court of Appeals on appeal, but I can tell you that that decision that the court made was very much the product of the hard work of Senator Warwaki in very much being engaged. She went to all the CDA meetings, she went to all the corporate meetings. More importantly, she worked really closely with the constituents who were owners of businesses and owners of property in Kaka'ako, interfaced with lawyers for the state to make sure they were well prepared. And I truly believe that her participation in that case prepared the state to put on a really excellent presentation to enable the court to make the decision that it did, which is that the State of Hawaii owns those roads. The second area is her district is Waikiki, as well as Kaka'ako, and she has been very actively involved in the question of impact of sea level rise. So she's engaged, she's about to produce or introduce legislation, but she's been very actively involved in bringing together all of the stakeholders, including the land use officials in the state of Hawaii. Land use officials from DPP and the city county of Honolulu, and experts such as people from the University of Hawaii, professionals who are dealing with sea level rise, and more importantly, the stakeholders, the constituents, the people who live in Waikiki, the businesses who were there. And so that activity has been ongoing, being driven principally by Senator Moriwaki. The third area is we're all familiar with what's happened over the past two years with COVID, and indeed at the height of COVID at a pandemic, Senator Moriwaki was on the committee by the state senate, which was assessing and monitoring the impacts of the pandemic, and in that they determined that a portion of the issue in controlling the spread of the virus was that a lot of the short term rental activities weren't being processed through the official channels so that the testing could be effectively accomplished. And so they worked really hard on legislation and on activity by the administration to address that. So these are just a couple of things which show really clearly to me that Senator Moriwaki is really a fantastic legislator, being a leader, being totally trustworthy, totally engaged in wanting to help improve the lives of her constituents and the people of the state of Hawaii. Well, how am I for that to me see a few words about my good friend Senator Moriwaki. Okay, Sharon, time for you to tell us what you've been doing and what you plan to do. Again, thank you for joining us. It's so great to see you, even on zoom to share a few moments together during this holiday season. You know this past year the capital was only partially open, but our office was busy, helping the unemployed get benefits, joining HPD and citizen patrols, passing bills to protect Kupuna from physical and financial abuse, protecting our small boat harbors, preserving our beaches, and saving our kakaako shoreline from high rise condos. As government operations chair and ways and means member, I helped pass bills to increase government efficiency with technology, save the state money by consolidating office space and state buildings, and help save the environment by requiring that all new state vehicles be electric. Next year I'll work to address affordable housing, homelessness, crime, noise from souped up motorcycles, city level rise impacts, and move to a more cost effective state government. We spend millions to deal with the state's biggest black eye. But the numbers don't come down. Our office gets complaints every day about assaults thefts and the growing numbers of homeless in our parks, streets, doorsteps, you name it. I called state county and community agencies together to ask why 14 agencies and all police prosecutor public defender the courts, state and county agencies homeless coordinators, the prison director, and the homeless providers. After many meetings, I learned they're doing a lot. The problem is not resources though, it's that no one agency has buck stopping responsibility. We have to fix that. The homeless woman running about nude in the district finally cried out during one of those meetings. All these agencies took almost an hour to find her shelter. That was way too long. The golden moment of clarity for those with psychological and drug problems I learned is far shorter. 10 minutes. We don't have rapid response on housing either. And we lack the long term commitment to move our homeless to a better place. Next session I'm introducing bills to close these gaps. I'm grateful to you for your support and the privilege to work on these problems and find workable solutions. Our office does its very best to help everyone who calls, and we will always continue to be here for you when you call. Write my number down 586-6740-586-6740. Now, let's enjoy our time together and let's have a toast for 2022 for a new year that is better, more fulfilling for all of us. Mahalo Sharon for sharing what you've been up to and your plans for next year. Keep it up. We want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a very happy new year. To leave 2021, thank goodness, and to bring in a much better 2022. You can sing along and you should. Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be love Christmas. Now you should raise your cup of whatever it is and your cup of kindness and hopeful expectation so we can all welcome in 2022. We have some time left so we can all wish each other a merry Christmas and warm aloha for a very happy new year. So we're unmuting everyone. You can ask Sharon questions now or just wish each other the best of the season and for 2022. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas everybody. There's your glass. Hi, Gailen. It's going to be a better one. The last one will be a better one. Merry Christmas Mahalo. You're looking at the sea level of ice. You have any questions you want to talk? You want to chat? This is a little time to chit chat. So Sharon, I heard you singing along with Myla. That was very impressive. And I have a list of adjectives to describe you if you don't mind. A lot of them begin with the letter D. Just so happens. So the first one is diva opera diva. I heard you singing. The second one is doctorate. As Ivan mentioned, Sharon is very smart and she has a doctorate. Let's see, the third one. I wrote them all down here. She's a democrat. But she's also democratic. That's very important. Gailen would rather you say I'm democratic than a democrat. And she's totally decent. This is very important in our time. She's diligent. She's dedicated. She's devoted. She's dear. She's determined. She's fun. That's not a D. Sorry. David Moskowitz said she's sweet. That's not a D either. But we heard it here tonight. And I have some of these. One is vivacious, vital, okay. I want to talk to everybody else. I'm done. I want to start you guys off. You gotta have some comments and questions for Sharon. I have some questions or. And you're a Christmas. Gail and Merry Christmas, dear. Merry Christmas to you all. I hope that you have really happy holidays season. And we really hope for a better new year for all of us. It's been really tough past two years. So appreciate all of you. And all you folks do, each and every one of you is really important. And so I thank you all so very much. I wish you all the best of bests. And if you have questions, I'm always open to answer questions and I'll make it short. What is Santa bringing you? Oh, I don't know. It's still not the 25th. So I won't know until the 25th. Oh, idea. I have been kind of nice. So maybe. I like a girl who tutors her own horn. And everybody having fun during the holidays, I hope and healthy, staying healthy, safe. I know with the Omicron, everybody's getting kind of crazy. But hopefully we'll get past that everybody has to just be careful. You know, you mask up and social distance and, and not get carried away, because sometimes we get carried away and then we lose sight of the as Neil says of the real importance of life and and meeting and, you know, enjoying each other and not forgetting that. So, and thanks Neil for those inspirational words. Thanks everybody really for all you folks do. Sharon, it's really great to see some faces that I have not seen for many, many years. So it's great to see everybody. I haven't seen Ann Koliasha either. Oh yeah, hi Ann. Merry Christmas. Nice to see you. Well, thank you for joining us. I wanted to join because Sharon Moriwaki is just everywhere. I mean, if there's a problem in the district anywhere, she's there. She cares and it's not because she has a lot of energy. It's just that she cares about all of us. And I really appreciate that. Thank you, Senator. I learned from you, Ann. You had mentioned two things. One about the homeless naked lady on Pia Kori on King Street. She still lives there in the middle of by the other day. And she cannot help it. She has to the bathroom right there in front of everybody. She put down her pants and then to the bathroom. And my wife said, but she was here last year and I remember the police came and tried to talk to her, but the police cannot do much. She sits there. She is well known at area, but what can you do, right? There was that one is that when she was ready to go, but we just didn't have the place to place her at that moment and that's that's a tragedy, you know, the connection. She was still there about three days ago. Yeah, she came back or whatever. The second thing is tomorrow, our group will be in your area again for the Christmas giving to the homeless. You may not like it that we do it, but people are there, so we have our Christmas back. We go on to them. So we will do our best again. Okay, we're going to take a picture. Everybody raise your glass toast in the new year wave shocker. This is Sharon, Sharon Moriwaki our hero. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. It's going to be a better one. We'll pray for that right now. Any other comments, because the comments and questions, this is your opportunity after that we're going to conclude the program. I just wanted to add to the comments by was that Jay earlier, and I have to say that Senator Sharon Moriwaki is one of those that I have to, I really appreciate and proud of that when you bring some issues to her attention she takes action right away immediately. And in fact, sometime last year I brought something an issue or concern to her office, and lo and behold, she even came to my my building, and right there to see firsthand basis what was going on to address the issue. And I was very appreciative of that, and I support you all the way. And thank you for supporting our district our neighborhood. And if it's this, I know that I want to say vice versa not only you supporting our district your constituents your neighborhood but if there's anything we can do to support you in all your endeavors and actions please let us know don't hesitate. Thank you. Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you. I know how you can support Sharon. Donate. Thank you. You can come sideways. But thank you everybody so much. She doesn't mind. I like to ask our Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Carol Marley joins us from the mainland today she's on the screen and to make a comment on behalf of think take away. Thank you, Jay. Thank you Sharon. We love supporting you every year Sharon and all through your many years and what what Jay mentioned was your PhD but I also know you have a law degree so you far outstrip everybody in terms of education, and the way you support your community we all admire you greatly so thank you very much and look forward to all that you do for our community for next year too. Thank you Carol. And I put a plug for think take away because they do all the different programs policy even cooking and environmental issues everything is on think take so thank you for your community service to with but think that thanks Carol, thanks Jay. We have we have something in writing here on the chat box from Catherine Lee Mahalo for organizing this wonderful event. Sharon, I wish you the warmest holiday season below hot. Thank you Sharon Sharon Moriwaki for setting it up is and thank you all for attending. I keep drinking. It's been great. Time to say farewell for now, but let's stay close and let's stay close to Sharon for the holidays and over the next year. Goodbye and good night my dear friends Aloha and thanks so much for coming.