 Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to another episode of condo insider. My name is Jane Sugimura and I'm your host for this show today. And we're continuing on my series on meeting, you know, meet your candidates for elected office, mainly because the state and local government. You know, laws that affect people who live and work in condominiums. And, you know, and, and sometimes, you know, what you need to do is, you know, call them and it's hard to call somebody that you don't know. So it's best that, you know, during this campaign season, while the candidates are out there, then you get to know them. And part of, you know, my job in doing these shows, my, the purpose of doing these shows is to bring you news about the candidates that are running and have them share with you their views in the hopes that you will vote for them. And I'm really pleased to have with me today as my guest. Michael IU, and he's running for the state house in district 32. Thank you for being on my show today. Thank you for inviting me, Jane. Michael, tell us so you know what areas is covered by district 32. Yeah, so district 32 is a new district, because of reapportionment this past year, and it represents Moanalua Gardens, Moanalua Valley, Foster Village, a portion of Iliumanu, a portion of Halava, and then a portion of the Pro Ridge, Pro Ridge area. And you're running for the state house as the state of Hawaii House of Representatives. Right. Yes, that's correct. And one interesting thing about this year, first time candidate who never run for political office. That's really exciting. Yeah, that's correct. This, this seat was previously held by Aaron Johansson, who has held the seat for about 12 years and I think is really respected in the community. So when I found out that he was taking a step back to take care of his paging parents, I thought that it was a good time to get involved and try to make a difference and try to bring more and better ideas to state government. Well, why don't you tell our viewers, give them some background. Tell us about yourself. Sure. So I grew up in Moanalua Gardens. I lived there my entire life. And I went to come to schools. I graduated in 2007. Then I went to school in Boston. Let's sell university. I got an accounting degree there. And I played men's volleyball. Division three NTA men's volleyball. After that, I worked on Capitol Hill for a congressmen from Philadelphia and Senator Hirona when she worked in the House of Representatives. After that, I came home and I went to law school at UH Richardson Law School, graduated in 2016 and then I've been pursuing my law practice since then. So I worked during personal injury law at Park and Park for a few years and then I went to Asher and Riston. I did commercial litigation for them. And now I'm the in-house counsel at NAMM, a construction company in Hawaii. And so what do you do as in-house counsel for NAMM? That's everything. It's a really great experience, but it can be, you know, we, some of our guys didn't have safety checks on their cars. So we get cited for that and I'll respond to those things. But other times it's coordinating with subcontractors for just the subcontract agreements. We've got some parcels of land. So that's some non-learning tenant stuff. And we're developing a high-rise tower in downtown Honolulu. So I've been very much involved in the development process and trying to figure out things like that. You name it for a business. I try to do it. Okay. Well, you know, I know this is the first time that you're running for office. And so why don't you tell me and the viewers what exactly why you're running for office? Of course. So I grew up in Honolulu and I have really deep ties to it. My mom really wanted me involved in the community. Any part you can think of, I played. And just growing up in the area, my mom, who is currently state senator Donna Mercado-Kim, she would take me to a lot of community events. So I would be very involved in the community. I'd go to the Honolulu Valley picnic and I'd go to events with her and graduation. So I really have a deep feeling for the community and I really wanted to make it a better place. So when I found out Aaron Johansson, like I said earlier, wasn't going to run anymore. I thought that, you know, I'm trying to get the younger generation involved. And, you know, if, if no one else is going to step up and do it, you know, I think I should do it and I'm hoping to rely on my legal background, you know, to really understand some of the issues and bring, you know, deeper meaning and a better sense of laws to the government. And, and, you know, in your district that you're running in, you have, you know, very, you have several condos, right? Yes, yes. And in fact, you told me when we were talking earlier that you own a condominium. So a few years ago, I purchased a condominium in downtown Honolulu on Keenow Street. I just wanted to, you know, move out and finally invest in something for the future. So I bought a condominium and I really like it, but there are definitely some, you know, concerns about it and it's, it's just as expensive as owning a house so. And there's some of the same issues about owning the house. Except you're dealing with an association and, and, and it's community living in the strictest sense of the word, because you have, you know, multiple families living in the same building and it creates some challenges. And, you know, there are benefits, you know, to living in that type of community, but, you know, there are challenges. You know, and, you know, there are issues that, you know, we, you know, that condominium people, I've been an advocate in this area for many, many years. And so we go to the legislature. So, you know, if, you know, what, what, I guess the question I want to put to you is, you know, how open would you be, you know, to supporting our issues, you know, if you get elected. Yeah, I certainly think navigating a condo is hard and showing up when the board meets or is difficult and time consuming so I'm definitely open to, you know, making it easier for condo owners to, you know, see their building get improved or if they want to see what needs for those things to happen. So one of the things I saw that you sent me before this was on EV charging stations. That's, that's something that, you know, I want to get an electric vehicle but if you don't have the infrastructure to be able to charge it at home, like, you know, regular homeowners do, then it's difficult, it sets you back. So, you know, making it more feasible for condo owners to maybe put a charging infrastructure in their own stall or, you know, encouraging the association to make some of those investments is something I'm definitely curious about and want to learn more and see how feasible that is. Okay. And, but you definitely will give us a year. Certainly, of course, on your door if you get elected. Certainly, of course. Right. Sorry, sorry, I think a lot of things that I've been telling, or I think for lawyers in general, we're known a lot for fighting and, you know, the little very, we're very litigious and I think in my law career. I've been, my law career has been very much about negotiation and, you know, mediation and trying to mediate issues and learn as much so that we can find some middle ground and some common ground. So I very much want to bring that, you know, that curiosity and that, and that way to solve problems that you both sides can mutually agree upon and feel good about it at the end of the day to the legislature. You know, you're running in this, you're a brand new candidate. And so what do you see, I mean, you said you spent your whole life in Montalua. And what do you see as, you know, some of the major issues that affect your district that you would like to address if you're elected. Yeah, so the first thing has to be clean drinking water. A lot of my district covers Red Hill and, and those fuel tanks. And so the Montalua community and that whole community in general is one, you know, wants to make sure that we have clean drinking water and that the bill is not leaking into, you know, our, our water reservoirs. And so I want to make sure that I'm working with a congressional delegation and, and the Navy here to make sure that we're defueling, you know, safely as possible but also in a very time, as quickly as possible. But that's been the top thing that's come up when I've gone door to door so far people are, you know, want to make sure that, you know, water is not an issue and that's really a hot issue for them. The next issue is, is crime, you know, a lot of people are concerned about crime. People have told me their catalytic converters have gotten stolen in front of their houses and overall they're just worried that the increased crime rate is is affecting them so I definitely want to encourage more neighborhood community organizations that help prevent crime and getting the community involved to make sure that safety is a priority. The last thing I think the stadium is in my area so figuring out a responsible way to develop that area, which a huge part of that is going to be condos or affordable housing opportunities for individuals but making sure that, you know, the state is managing this project and in a really responsible manner. Yeah, those seem like very lofty, you know, goals and that sounds like a lot of work. Yeah, so I do have an opponent in the general election. And he's been actually talking about a lot of trying to break down the barriers of the two party system and trying to have, you know, he's trying to say that the party system doesn't matter. But I very much think that, you know, having a good team in the legislature can really help get things done and really help tackle some of these big issues that kind of span multiple districts so I've been already working pretty with Linda Ichiyama. She's a representative, another representative in the house that that kind of borders this area. And I have resources in my mom as a senator that also has you reach in this area. I've been working with Glenn Makai and Radiant Codero in the city council to try to solve some of these big issues. So I realized that, you know, it's only my first year and these issues are huge. You know, they, you know, they affect the state at a state level. But when you assemble a team that all has the same priorities in mind, I think you can really accomplish a lot more than by yourself. And, you know, recently David E. Gay, you know, he made a statement to the press, or at least there was a press release that said that he was going to change the plans for the stadium. So, you know, what was supposed to be a private public private partnership that would have resulted in the development of the condos and the, and the entertainment district so to speak. It sounds like he's breaking it up into two parts. And so what is your response to, I mean, and the problem is I guess he has to really come out with a with a definitive response he just says I'm going to change it, or I'm not going to, you know, do the do it that way. What's your response to that? Well, I think one that's really disappointing, you know, Governor E. Gay only has a few more months in office, and for him to make such a, you know, sweeping decision that affects planning that's been going on for years is I think just really disappointing. And I think we should have waited for the, you know, the next governor to really make some decisions on this issue. And I think when government, you know, changes their mind like this and gets involved, kind of oversteps. That increases the cost of, you know, the project as a whole, which ultimately gets passed on to the end level consumer and that and this probably means that those houses, those affordable houses we're looking at are just going to be more expensive in the long run because we've we've delayed the project and we've, you know, added all these additional costs and time that only makes it more expensive in the long run so I would hope that, you know, government tries to streamline a lot of these processes. And really are my companies developing a high rise tower in downtown Honolulu and just the permitting process and working with the city to get an affordable housing agreement, you know, done has has certainly been time consuming and we've had to push our timeline back for all these government regulatory steps that we have to step through. You know, adds on costs and time to the end user and I think that's really unfortunate so while I realize the government has these goals that they want to, you know, make sure that, you know, developers are building enough affordable housing. Ultimately, the cost is just getting passed on, because the government is being slow or changing their mind or, or any of these number of steps that they want to impose on these developers. But you know with the city recently, they made an announcement that they're that they were changing their processes at DPP. And I guess one of the issues was people who submit their application that was taking too long for the city to review and return them. I guess. So now they're coming up with a proposal where people where we're, you know, they're going to speed that up. And they're going to, instead of using, I guess, plan checkers, they're going to allow architects to sign for the plans. Do you think that this is going to speed up the process. I think it sounds like the city, you know, recognizes that there's a problem and it's trying to, it's trying to move it in a, in a better direction. And I think being aware is the first step, you know, at least the it's on the city's awareness that there's a problem and, you know, we might need to address that problem for too long. I think we, you know, it was just a commonplace that your permit was going to take two years to even get looked at. So I think anything that we can do to allow, you know, working families to, you know, just make improvements on their homes, you know, so that the next generation can can also live in the same home is, is important and, you know, is only going to allow the state to be more prosperous and give individuals even more options for living. You know, from, you know, you work for the construction company that actually does the building. How much time, I mean, is it, is it, is it feasible to have the plan submitted by an architect, instead of having the building department. I mean, the DPP people have these check plan checkers, I guess that's what they're called to see if everybody's in compliance, because the idea, at least the way I read in a newspaper is if you have an architect submitting the plans the architects has got the architect has got the errors on omissions. The piece up and somehow allows these things to happen that are not allowed by the ordinance, and people can sue the architect for under the errors and omissions, right. Right. Yeah, so I think all of our plans that and I could be wrong. I'm not involved in the. An architect or, you know, not an engineer or anything like that, but I already think our plans get submitted as stamped with the architect that are architect or whatever that we use so it's all. So what I'm saying is it's already been reviewed by, you know, multiple eyes and multiple people with licenses and, you know, and they're they're on the hook if there's any issues with that so I certainly think shame on me in the process and making it easier for these builders to move forward is is the appropriate step because I, you know, I don't think we would ever move forward on a project if it wasn't designed properly and we had all the proper code we met all the proper codes or architect. So, yeah, that's my understanding of how the process works. You know, for us, you know, in condo land, I, you know, I hear so many complaints I mean because you know what you have all these condominiums that are over 3040 years old. So they need repairs and I'm talking, not minor repairs major repairs, you know, replacing their pipey. I mean that's a major infrastructure replacement. Or even, you know, upgrading their fire alarm. And, you know, we have something called life safety evaluation that the city is part of the city ordinance. And as of August of, of what that it's October to as of October, August of 2022 out of 275 buildings in Honolulu only 20 capacity sports. That means you have 255 high rise buildings that didn't pass their LSE that need building permits to do the repairs that need to be done. I mean, and, and, and we have three years to finish that. And I think grumbling to our city council people. Hey, we got to do something about there's no way in hell there. You know, we're going to be able to get all these buildings permitted and all the work done because I'm being told it takes almost a year to get a permit to do repairs. I'm not wrong. And these costs only get added on to your maintenance fee or special assessment that the condo association is going to charge so really streamlining the process and making government more efficient is definitely one of the things I want to tackle if I'm to be elected this November. Okay, and, and you know, talking about, you know, building plans. I'm not sure you know but you know the people who operate the shopping center program shopping center. The name of that group is Washington Prime group. And you have to own a lot where toys are us is located, which is right across the street from the seven condos over on coca loop. And recently because there's a bill pending in the, in the city council, you know, for TOD development. Transit oriented development. There was a bill that set the height limitation for that area that that lot as 60 feet. So Washington prime group went and they lobbied and they got an increase to 120 feet. Because they say they're going to build a four workforce housing in the parking lot. And so would you be, you know, supportive of that project. Yeah, I so I definitely one think that we need more just more options for affordable for housing for affordable housing and housing in general so I'm definitely supportive of, you know, developers tackling some of these major issues. I don't think the burden lines solely with the government to solve these problems we really need to make it we need to be really working with private enterprise to make some of these things happen. And really make sure that they're doing it responsibly and, you know, it's a reasonable project because I know that area already has congestion problems and traffic issues. So really making sure that, you know, the new development is going to fit in well and there's an overall plan to it. But I don't I wouldn't have any other objection to them doing that I think that's, that's a really primary and people could really benefit from living there. Right. And you know what other issues do you have what other goals do you have if you get elected for your district. Well, so this isn't a district only goal but for the last couple years here, I've been doing a lot of procurement law we you know we've been on a lot of government contracts. And I, I can't even explain to you how many times I've, you know, read a particular statute and the procurement code and I don't understand it and it's just not comprehensible and it's it's making the process more complicated and as an attorney, I, I feel like I should be able to read it one time and and understand it and be clear but it's anything but clear so I think one of my main goals is, you know, just trying to make the laws understandable and readable and clear so that we're not running into confusion and the public doesn't feel like you know there's the capital of some ivory tower where it has all these high market market intellectuals or anything like that I think the government needs to be clear and the laws need to be approachable so that people can feel engaged in part of the process. And that's my second priority just getting more engagement in the process, going door to door, half of the people are excited to see you and they want to talk to you and they have things to share. And the other half of the people, you know, are too busy or they're they're like why are you at my door, you know, that's my time I'm at home. And they're not really engaged in the process and getting more of these individuals involved, especially our young, you know, our young people who really need to take over and and be the next leaders of Hawaii involved in the process and and just have their input and have their say in where the state should be going for the next 50 to 100 years. And that's an interesting point because I totally agree with you, because even in, even in my organization, I keep asking, you know, you know, my, you know, my group leaders as you know, you got to get some young folks up here because we're all getting old, you know, and, and you know, we're going to be retiring or you know, you know, we're not going to be around forever. You know, you got to get us some young folks so that we can, you know, kind of turn over the, you know, the, you know, the range to them so that they can take over. And so how are you, I mean, what is your feeling when you're talking to, you know, your, you know, your generation about getting involved in in government and in in public in public works. Yeah, so I think the first thing is, this is my mom's 40th year in elected office. And I just wanted to be able to, you know, learn from someone who's done it for such a long time and figure out the tools of the trade and what's worked and what hasn't worked. But what I've started to notice is that to get young younger people involved I think moving to some of these alternate forms of communication you know having community committee hearings available by zoom. And being on YouTube, some of those things can really help younger people get involved and get engaged and, you know, is more their speed, you know, if texting is a is a bigger medium for them or or Instagram posts or something to at least get on their radar. And at the same time, I recently went to a senior, a community senior event where they were a lot of them said, you know, they couldn't even sign up for the events because it was all online so trying to try to get multiple mediums. So people can interact with the government and interact with me, and, and get the word out is, I think, something that we need to be sensitive about and but also try to push going into the future so that you know all generations can feel like they're part of the process. Well, you know, I think that's very, you know, they're very, you know, good goals, I mean, to make, you know, to make everybody to make the process inclusive, rather than exclusive because I think, you know, some people feel that there's a separation between them and elected officials. And I keep telling people anybody who will listen, you want to be best friends with your elected officials. I, and I talk from years of experience because when I pick up the phone, and I say my name. I get, you know, results, and I tell people, elected officials have people who just answer the phones to do constituent concerns. All you say is my name is so and so I'm a constituent I live in your district. And you know, they will, they will, you know, they will do stuff for you. Things that, you know, you may not realize but you know that's what they're there to to offer you if not what they do is they'll refer you to somebody who can help. And you know, so that's why you know I'm doing this show because I have people calling me up and grumbling. I says you know what you got to do is you got to call your city council member, or you got to call the mayor, or you got to call your representative. And they, they don't even know who these people are. I says, you know, that's really disgusting. You know, you guys got to get in line. And you know, so you can't come to somebody like me, you get to learn to pick up the phone and call your government. That's what they're there for. And that's why I encourage people to, you know, meet their candidates, find out what they stand for, ask questions, and, and actually go out and vote for them. Right. Yeah, of course. You have to do, or you know, I, or what I tell them is, you know, vote, don't crumble. Right. And you hear a lot of people grumbling. Oh, well, no, I was busy. Well, that's too bad then, you know, you really can't don't have any right to grumble if you're not going to vote. I didn't even imagine how many people aren't registered compared to all the houses out there. We have to skip a bunch of houses when I'm walking door to door or sometimes when we're only going to register voters houses because some people aren't even registered to vote. So that's concerning to so I appreciate that. Thank you, Jim. Yeah. Okay, well, you know, we've kind of run out of time. Thank you, Micah IU for being with us. I wish you good luck on your campaign. And now we know that if you get elected, which we hope you will be that you will be a gear to listen to our concerns. Thank you so much. And for you viewers out there. Like I, like I've said over and over again, you want to be best friends with your elected officials. So now is the time to meet them when they're running for office and they're all over the place. So please, please, please reach out and meet your candidates, ask good questions and then vote. Please vote. Thank you again for joining us this afternoon. And please tune in next week Thursday for another episode of Condo Insider. Mahalo and Aloha. 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 thinktechHawaii.com. Mahalo.