 Perspectives on global justice think the Hawaii program. This is your host Beatrice Cantelmo. So much is going on around the globe this week. As America celebrated 4th of July, violence and conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa have put in jeopardy the health of 24 million children in Yemen, Syria, Gaza Strip, Iraq, Libya and Sudan. Damage to health infrastructure is depriving children of essential health care, water and sanitation services have been compromised, causing waterborne diseases to spread, or preventative health care and nutritious food are insufficient to meet to meet the needs children. Today 20 of the world's largest economies are meeting in Hamburg, Germany to discuss issues such as trade, immigration and climate change that President Trump is attending the meeting. A few minutes ago we learned that the Hawaii bids to the narrow Trump administration's travel ban was rejected. It appears that the United States Supreme Court is sending a very clear message and it's putting its executive orders, discriminatory policy back into effect, thus allowing the beginning of ethnic cleansing in the United States. We are issues in the lower state as well today as a sad day for our state and for every organization that relies on state funding to provide free services to people who could not be able to afford it to pay for legal costs because of our state legislature cut every penny for free or low-cost legal services to Hawaiian residents in need of legal services. What that means for the state of Hawaii is that as of July 1st of 2018 fiscal year no money will be allowed towards these services in the judiciary budget and on that note today's program will deal with uplifting news which is the democratic state of our state. We have a special guest, George Frost, president of Pono Hawaii Initiative with us. We will examine the current status of Hawaiian democratic structure and talk about Pono Hawaii Initiative's mission and vision which is quite refreshing and needed not only in our state but also all over the United States. We need venues and organizations who are committed to empower and support people driven leadership for quality public policy and political engagement and this is a wonderful organization that supports political and is part of the political organization of Hawaii Alliance of Progressive Action both organizations were founded by Gary Hoser. George, welcome to our program. Thank you. In 12 years we'll do know who you are. Do you mind telling us a little bit about your background? Where do you come from? How did you end up in Hawaii? Ah, I'll give you the short version. So I moved to Hawaii about almost 15 years ago sort of on a whim just to try to you know figure out the direction of my life and I ended up staying. I fell in love with the place and the people and the culture and the weather. Where did you go from? Well I grew up in Kansas so about as opposite from Hawaii and so like I said I've been out here for about 15 years and got involved in local politics about 2006. And what prompted you to get involved with local politics? Well I had started to get into some politics generally. I watched the 2004 election. I did a little bit of work with the Democratic Party in 2004 and just wasn't really excited so I sort of took a couple years off trying to figure out my path and in 2006 I met some people, fellow progressives who were starting a new organization and it was right at my alley and I helped them. I joined them and we formed Progressive Democrats of Hawaii which was one of the first sort of progressive organizations that was working inside and outside the Democratic Party to try and move the party in a more progressive direction. Since then I am a co-founder of Equality Hawaii which you know worked for our civil unions and marriage equality. I'm an officer in the Democratic Party. I work at the Capitol and now I've with Gary have started Pono Hawaii initiative. So let's talk about Pono Hawaii initiative. So I know it's the sister organization of HAPA and so Pono Hawaii initiative was funded when it's a recent... So we started, well Gary and I and some others have been talking about doing this sort of organization for a little while. We officially sort of you know filed paperwork and became a C4 just a few months ago. So we're just now getting started. We held an event, a launch event on Oahu here a couple weeks ago and actually this weekend we're going to be holding an event on Kauai. So do you mind telling us about the mission and the vision of Pono Hawaii initiatives? Yeah, so what we want to do is we want to develop relationships within the community here and on the rest of the islands and really work with folks already on the ground, activists, people who are already active in their community on issues and elections and start to or continue the work that they've done and expand it in such a way as we can build or grow a movement. So and we're looking to do that in a couple of different ways. One is in the ballot, you know in the voting booth, we want to there are legislators at the state level and county levels who just aren't serving the needs of the people and we believe that it's time to change that. So we'll be looking at elections, supporting candidates next year, who are progressive, who have the best interests of Hawaii and the people of Hawaii at heart and who are principled and we think are strong enough to stand up against the incredible pressures that exist inside the legislature or the county councils. The other thing we're going to be working on is ballot initiatives, taking an issue that hasn't gotten traction or that politicians haven't done enough progress on. So you can think about housing, affordable housing, homelessness, environmental issues, economic justice issues and take it directly to the people. So the easiest example to understand, although the law doesn't allow us to do it, would be a $15 minimum wage. The legislature has failed to do that, not really moving a bill this year. And so basically putting it to the people, would you support a $15 minimum wage? Now, like I said, the law doesn't allow for that, but we can look at potentially zoning issues, defining what affordable really is at the county level and then putting that to the people and letting them vote on it rather than giving it to politicians who are paid for by lobbyists or the building trades or whatever. So it sounds like it's a venue to empower local residents who are engaged, but those who may need that support through a little bit more of that training with civic engagement, but also information to become more active and support to have more of a voice in that democratic process that we are supposed to have, right? Exactly. So we want to work with people who are already engaged, but we also want to empower people who either just don't understand the system or haven't been involved before, or they're just hopeless, like why should I bother and really bring those people into the discussion. So how about if you understand, it sounds like there are a couple of different things that you'll be focusing on with regards to the grassroots build up and empowerment development. So why with public officers who are interested in becoming part of the legislature process, but also the public at large. So what is the vision to support the two constituencies in the two groups? Well, so they're really overlapping or parallel tracks, right? We want people who might not care for electoral politics and want to work on issues. You know, doing the ballot initiative or working on issues at the county level or state level will be developing and growing a movement to help on that front, but parallel to that is finding and supporting candidates for public office who share our vision, who share our values, right? So people who will be strong advocates for truly affordable housing, right? People who will truly be supportive of a $15 minimum wage. People who really will push for the local food production, right? And regulation of pesticides and all of those things that our politicians for whatever their motivation have been unwilling or unable to move the ball forward on those issues. So we want to empower the community and we want to bring new blood into the process. And how the build up of the accountability of this new chipped up perhaps of Hawaiian political arena. Because, you know, we do have current politicians who when they started in their journey, they were very adamant and had a commitment with their constituents that they would support, for example, living wages in affordable housing and things didn't all happen the way that the premises were made. And it seems like year after year there is more and more dissatisfaction from the public who will go through the trouble of writing testimonies supporting certain measures and public private interests or lobbyists or the decision making factors take priority and then things go sour and the voice of the people are not really hard or their interests. So what changes with Pono Hawaii initiative? Right. Well, so it's true that the, you know, again, at both the county and the state level, the system is designed such that you have to work within a structure, right? And there's a certain amount of trading and there's a certain amount of compromise that takes place. And it has to, right? In a democracy there are opposing views and we have to work together. I think the problem is, one, I think a lot of the public has just sort of given up, right? They don't see the point in voting, they don't see the point in engaging because more often than not, I think they feel on the losing end of an issue. And so they've just checked out, right? We have one of the lowest voter turnouts in the country. And so one, and try to reinvigorate people and reengage people in the process, give them hope, let them know that there are people who are really trying to serve their interests and then bring them along and try to get them engaged directly, right? Whether it's testifying, whether it's calling and writing legislators, whether it's campaigning, whatever it is. And then two, it's finding and supporting candidates who will be able to sort of withstand the incredible pressures that exist inside the building, right? And the way we do that is finding people who we feel have strong conviction and strong moral character to begin with, but then as if they get elected, then continue to support them, continue to give them strength so that they don't feel like they're in it alone, right? So when they take a strong position inside the legislature of the county council, they know that there are going to be people outside who have their back, who will support them, who will thank them for taking that position. And I think if more people did that now, we'd have more legislators and more elected officials who were willing to stand up. And so helping raise the public debate and engaging the public in the process is part of what we're going to be trying to do. Well, that's really wonderful that there is this need, but also a venue to make it happen. So in many ways, Pono Hawaii Initiative is a bridge, a builder in many ways. And also what kind of support are you providing in terms of training to people who are interested in becoming public officers in the state of Hawaii? Okay. So Pono Hawaii Initiative won't really be involved in training, but as you say, the two organizations aren't related, but they sort of are working on parallel tracks. You've got Pono Hawaii Initiative that will work on elections and lobbying, and then you have Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, HAPA, which has been around a few years now, that is working on, it's a C3, so it's educational. So they threw their Kuliana Academy, which is designed to identify potential candidates and give them the tools and skills and resources to run effective campaigns. That training program, I came out of it earlier this year, there's a whole group that came out last year, and HAPA is gearing up to have a class again this fall. So we'll be looking at people who participate in the academy and to see not only where there are people who might want to run for office, but where there may be people who can be supportive. So we don't just need candidates, we need people who are campaign managers, who can help with fundraising, who can help organize volunteers. We need that infrastructure to support candidates who are running because you can't do it by yourself. Exactly. So we're going to take a quick break, and when we come back, we're going to continue with this conversation, and we're ready. Excellent. Welcome to Sister Power. I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, where we motivate, educate, empower, and inspire all women. We are live here every other Thursday at 4 p.m., and we welcome you to join us here at Sister Power. Aloha and thank you. Welcome to Perspectives on Global Justice. I think the Hawaii program, this is your house, Beatrice Kuntavo, and I'm back with the George Frost of the Pono Hawaii Initiative. So we were talking about how HAPA and Pono Hawaii Initiative work in a separate but interdependent way to build up the education and the infrastructure, the foundation to support a public officer, but also those who want to support someone in that position. And then once they got that foundation, they can come to Pono Hawaii Initiative and say, all right, I'm ready to go. Yes. Yeah. So we will, I don't know the timeline exactly, but we will be establishing a process to endorse candidates, and those candidates will hopefully get money from us. But equally as important, they'll get support. So our goal is really to help them with staffing, help them with volunteers, and just overall in their communities try to get people out to support them. And like I said, the timeline is still a little fuzzy, but I'm hoping by early next year we will have a better idea of, you know, what races we're going to be getting involved in and who the candidates that we're going to support will be. So for the full, it taught me that that may be a new Kulian Academy class in place. And the students are not coming just from the island of Oahu, it's from already on the islands. It is. And it's a non-partisan program, right? So they're looking for people from different islands, from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different points along the political ideological spectrum, and really bring them all together to learn together, to share ideas together, and learn from each other. Do you mind sharing a little bit of view experience as a recent graduate of the Kulian Academy? Like I know that you were working with public policy for a few years already before you started in the program. So what did Kulian Academy provided you in terms of additional foundational skills and what points that you feel were cemented already, you know, reinforced from what you already knew? Yeah. I, at the time that I applied and went through the program, I thought that I might want to run for public office. So even though I've done some organizing on issues, and I've worked on campaigns, I felt like I needed additional skills as far as fundraising, which I've never had to really do before. And then using social media and networking and that sort of thing, those are all things that I felt like I needed improvement on. And Kulian helped with some of that public speaking, talking to the media. But it covers the gamut. I mean, what you need to do to run a successful campaign, how to fundraise, how to develop maps to walk your district to knock on doors. The program provides educational resources for all of that stuff, as well as just sort of general leadership training. And it was, for me, it was really useful for fundraising and some media training and things like that. But because I worked on campaigns and because I'd done issue organizing before, a lot of the skills that Kuliana gives to people, I sort of already had the foundational experience. But it's also good because there are people from Maui County, from Kauai, from the Big Island, who I got to know really well, who otherwise I might not have ever met. And for me, it was an excellent networking opportunity to get to know people and I'm going to Kauai this weekend and I'll see some of them. When we go to Maui, I'll definitely be seeing some of those people from the Big Island too. So I would say anyone who thinks they might want to run for public office, but also thinks, maybe I don't want to be a candidate, but I want to be a campaign manager. And I want to be a supporter because we definitely need that infrastructure too. And so for me, it was helpful because it's through the course of the program, I realized that I don't really want to run for public office. That's not where my strengths are. But organizing and helping other candidates run for office is really where I can be the most good. Right. So I sort of set aside that ambition and really am focusing on now with Pono Hawaii Initiative. I'm hoping to do that on a larger scale and being in support to numerous candidates across the state. That's great. So let's talk a little bit about some of the hard policy priorities that Pono Hawaii Initiative hopes to bring to fruition or to help reframe the narrative and the structure in the upcoming years for the state of Hawaii. Okay. Yeah. The one that immediately comes to mind is $15 minimum wage. And partly because it's been on the national stage, it was a major issue during the presidential election. And this past legislative session, there was some effort to try to get a $15 wage law passed. It didn't get very far this year. But what happened there? If you recall. Yeah. Well, there, I mean, there's lots of potential reasons. And I think two, well, so there's a couple that I think are easiest to lay out. One, Hawaii, the legislature passed an increase in the minimum wage in 2014. And it was set to go to 1010 by January 1, 2018. So the last time the legislature passed an increase, it had that, that increase hasn't even reached its limit yet. And so the legislature this year said, well, we're still not where we said we were going to be when we passed the last one. So come back later, basically. And we kind of knew that that was going to be the outcome. We did get one hearing, two hearings on minimum wage bills, which was good. So at least we could get people to come and testify and start that conversation. But we knew it was going to be a multi-year process, because that's just how it is. The folks that were involved last year are coming together again, starting to plan for the next session, and really hope to push in 2018 a $15 minimum wage bill. But that's not the only, I mean, it's, that one's good because it's easy to understand and it has sort of overwhelming support. But there are other economic justice issues. You know, this state advocates have been working on a paid leave bill, a paid family leave bill for, I couldn't even tell you how long. And they continue to struggle to get something passed. And so we'll be working with, you know, community advocates and partners to push forward a really good, or just, just something mediocre even, just to get the process started on paid family leave, paid sick leave, so that right now, if you have a kid and they get sick, the law doesn't provide a lot of support for you. If you've got to go home and take care of your kid, you know, it's left up to the employer. If you yourself get sick, a lot of employers don't provide separate sick leave from your vacation, right? So maybe you get a vacation, but it's also, if you get sick, well, there goes your vacation time, right? And so we want to, especially people who are working two jobs or working minimum wage, if they lose a week of work, because they got to take care of their kid, or they got to, you know, they're sick themselves, that's the difference between being in a house and being on the street. And we need to work to change that. Absolutely. On the note, you know, one of the biggest issues that Hawaii has, we're the state with the most homeless children per capita integration, and affordable housing is really definitely a big concern, a big issue. I think we are short of like 23,000 homes. It's a ridiculous memory. So is this an area that candidates in the Pono Hawaii initiative in this committee to work with? Absolutely. Yeah. The affordable housing is far more complicated because there's so much to consider, right? You've got to be able to build, right? Which means you need construction companies that are willing to do it. But then there's also the Hawaii market, which is just really expensive. So finding creative solutions that provide truly affordable housing, not affordable housing that the county is providing, which is not like, I do okay, but I couldn't afford my own place now. I rent, right? But so people making minimum wage, you know, certainly, even at 10-10, you know, won't be able to afford their own place. So finding creative solutions is important. I'm really mentioning the ability to purchase your home or apartment unit. It's really the ability to rent or maintain and or film come away. Yeah. Not only didn't come, but the percentage of affordable housing wouldn't allow in different states so that you can have access to housing. Because I think that's one of the things we like here, not only the units, but also the structure and the ability for people to be able to actually even have a place to move in. I mean, 43% of people who are homeless in the state of Hawaii have a job. Yeah. So it's not like, you know, there's no generation of income. It's just not enough money. It's not enough, right. So finding creative solutions, I don't believe that there's one answer. I don't believe that there's a quick fix. It will require working with developers that will require working with, you know, elected officials to come up with different ways to address the issue. And the ballot initiative is one way that we're going to look to do that, whether it's, you know, to set the definition of what affordable is, to set aside zoning so that this is only for rental affordable housing, that sort of thing. Well, that's exciting, you know, that the conversations will happen and hopefully a team of people to be able to support moving strike in other career status quo. On the note, I can't believe how quickly are you. I hope that this may be, you know, the first of many visits that you will make to our program so that we can continue to keep up with news from your neck of the woods and learn how the Kansas are doing and how the program is doing, how our viewers can support and be engaged as well. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much for being here. Thank you. And on that note, that concludes our program for today and I'm very grateful for opportunities and for the vision and the passion and the mission of individuals that come together and organize, you know, for a new and brighter chapter of our Hawaiian democratic process. Until next Friday, we hope.