 This is State Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. I should join her. This is Community Matters. And today we are visiting with another candidate. And that is Tommy Waters. And he is running for City Council from District 4, which is huge. Tommy, thank you so much for coming. My pleasure. Thank you for having me on your show. Tell us who is Tommy Waters. Well, thank you. I will be 53 years old in just a few short weeks. Oh, really? Yes. I was born in September 27. I was born and raised here in Honolulu, actually in Kaneohe. Back in Kaneohe was a rural neighborhood before Winward Mall was built. And Polly Highway was brand new back in 1965. I lived three doors down from a cow pasture, believe it or not. It was awesome. It was a Sousa Dairy. And when I got accepted to the Kamehameha schools in high school, I moved to town and lived at 4830 Kolo Hala Street, which is in Kahala. One of the very few Hawaiian families in Wailai Kahala at the time, or even now. I stayed there all the way through high school. I went to the Kamehameha schools. I went to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I had a, or got a degree in political science and speech. And then from there I went to UH Law School, the William S. Richardson School of Law. And so now you are an attorney, a defense attorney, or a prosecuting attorney. What is it? I am a defense attorney. I've been practicing law for 23 years now, ever since I graduated from law school. I enjoyed very much. You know, but I tell you this, back in college I took a class from Marion Kelly. Do you remember Marion Kelly? Yes, I do. It was an anthropology class, but she made us go down to the capital and follow a bill. She said, any bill. Just go down and follow it. Write testimony. Get involved. And that's where I caught the bug. Back then I thought, you know, someday I'm going to be in a place in the legislature where I can make a difference in my home, Hawaii, N.A. And not until 2002 did I decide to run. And I actually served three terms in the Hawaii State Legislature. That's what I think where we first met. Yes, where we met, yes. Years ago. Yes. So now you are running for the city council. That's correct. Now that's a much larger district than the legislature. Huge. I think there's almost three senatorial districts in one house district. Almost five house districts in one council district, I should say. Yes. Now I have a question about that, but I keep asking and no one seems to know. 1908, when the city was created, there were eight what a, they're not what we call now city council people, but there were eight. Now, here we are with a million people and only nine councilmen. There's something, I find that absurd, but no one else seems to see it's like, Ernie Martin's district, have you ever seen that thing on the map? It's huge. It's huge, yeah. Even in my district, I've been walking door to door every day since January 10th. And it's almost impossible to knock on every door. It really is. Oh. I think we have over 100,000 registered voters in our district, and it runs all the way from Makapu Point on the Makai side, all the way to Alamwana Beach Park. And then on the Malka side, same Makapu Point along the ridge to the Sierra Drive, down to Wailai Avenue, cutting down through half of Kamuki, half of Kapuhulu, and all of Waikiki. So it's enormous actually. Well, yes it is enormous, but as a city council district, all of those areas have different needs, different wants, different issues. Yes. And kind of lumping them all together seems something dropped there anyway. So what are the issues, the different issues, because you have different issues in different districts? That's true. That's true. I'll just share with you what I've been learning walking door to door. But I will also share with you initially, in January when I was walking door to door, nobody wanted to talk to me, right? I'm talking on people's doors and introducing myself, and I say, hey, Marcia, I'm Tommy Waters running for city council. Can we talk about how to make our community a better place? And initially everybody said, no, it's okay, we're fine. But nobody was really thinking about it. And by the way, I was trying to make democracy as easy as possible by showing up at somebody's door, right? You don't have to call in. You don't have to email. I'm here, right? As we get closer to the election, people are starting to engage and talk about what's going on. And that's what I want to share with you. I think the number one concern has been homelessness. Did you know that in our district, council four, which I know you live as well, while the numbers island wide are shrinking, the numbers in our district homelessness are growing. And you can see them right across in Kahala, across from Wailai, excuse me, Aloha gas station, got people living under the bridge, panhandling across from Kahala mall, sleeping at the bus stops. Even I met a gentleman up at the top of Wilhelmina Rye saying there's homelessness up at the top of his mountain. In Hawaii, you got homelessness, right? I mean, it's just, it's grown in the last four years. And it troubles me that we haven't really, we've been trying, but our current council, you know, I think has been falling short. I think there is an area that they don't address. Now they say, all these people have mental illness or drugs. And then they stop there. Nobody talks about, if you are making $10 an hour, you can't pay $1,800 a month rent. And to me, that is the issue. That is the real issue. What happens to these people? Where do they go? Right. When a studio apartment costs $1,200 a month for rent, you know, you have working poor living in their cars. Still working, you know, contributing, paying taxes, but just can't afford to live here. You know, I was born a racer. I don't remember seeing this problem when I was growing up. I don't remember seeing the problem. No. And years ago, the city and state used to build low-income housing, right? We don't do that anymore. And I think, as a result of that, we're seeing the negative side of that. You know, people got no place to go, right? They're living on the streets. And by the way, the Sit Alive bill, while it serves a purpose, right? I guess it does. Especially in Waikiki, we don't want people on the sidewalks defecating and urinating, right? Can't do that. That's unacceptable. But at the same time, but just moving people from one neighborhood to the other, that's a short-term fix that ultimately it's going to go wrong. Look what happened in Mother Waldron Park recently with a Japanese tourist. You know, it's bound to happen, you know? And if we don't do something about it real quick, it's going to happen more often. What amazes me is, like you said, the cost of moving these people, they could build housing, I think. Because it costs a lot of money. All of the maintenance people and the trucks and whatnot, which I'm sure they don't call that a cost. But it is. It is. Absolutely. And certainly we could build something. You know, part of the problem, too, is we have private citizens, like our churches and the community. I met with a gentleman, again, walking door-to-door and at a coffee hour, where his church wants to build these little modular units, right? Kind of like a dome thing. But he can't get the permits to do it. They've been waiting for over a year now to just get the permit to do it. And it's not going to cost the city or the state any money. This is private donations there. They're going to do it. They just can't get the funding. Or excuse me. The permitting. Well, it seems to me several years ago that that was supposed to be that one-stop place for permitting, you know? Supposed to speed it up. But it obviously doesn't. If your friend says it hasn't. No, over a year they've been waiting for a permit. And this is private money, you know? It's from a church that cares about our people and wants to help, you know? Well, where is the breakdown, do you know? What keeps the permits from... No, and if elected, that's one of the things I want to look at. If we could look through the permitting process and or the entire permitting ordinance and do a complete overhaul. You know, one of the things that people are telling me, well, I'm walking door to door again, right? If they want to just build an in-law bedroom or they have a new child, they want to build a bedroom. And they've got to wait a long time for a permit, right? But then what's amazing to me, which brings me to my next subject, is monster homes. Yes. How are these people getting their permits? Right? Look, there's a monster home. Oh, my God. That's cool. Yes. Oh, but you know, in Cooley O'Oil, there are a couple of monster homes. Two or three. Two or three. They're everywhere, yes. And that little street, where do they park? All those cars. Exactly. The street is that big. Where do they park? There's no place to park. No. Yes. And is it a walk-up? The monster houses? It's a walk-up. It's as if it's a walk-up, yeah, with those 18 bedrooms. You know, it's just ridiculous. Can you imagine 18 new adults there in that community on that street, 18 more cars? You know, it just doesn't work. Right across the street from Cooley O'Oil, it's near Summer Street. That is, yeah, back in Summer Street, yeah. Right. There's three of them that are built, you know, and they're monstrosities. They're three stories high, right? One, two, three. I hear they're the same owner. It looks, I would think it is because they look different except the color, the pink. Right. Oh, you know exactly where I'm talking about. Other than that, they look the same. Yeah, yeah, they look identical. That's true. You know, that troubles me. It really does. And the neighbors in that neighborhood, you know, are extremely troubled by it. You know? I would think so because that was such a quiet little neighborhood and, again, back to those streets being so narrow. And I've canvased that area years ago. And so many of those people have been there for generations. And now what? What happens to them? Right, right. I agree. And you know what's interesting though, this monster home problem seems to have popped up within the last three or four years. Right? Even four years ago, we didn't have this problem. No, I've never heard the word monster home much less. Right, right. And you know, I think the council has been short to act. They finally put a moratorium on it, right? But to me, I think, and that's why I'd like to work with DPP, Department of Permanent Planning, if at all possible, to see what's the problem. Where was the breakdown? Why did these homes get permitted to begin with? Or did they? Or did they? There's this one on Day Street, you're absolutely right, that has no permit whatsoever, you know. Councilman Ikeika Anderson, as a bill sitting on his desk, he's trying to get it heard in the zoning committee that would allow Department of Permanent Planning to tear it down. And again, walking door to door, talking to people, most people agree, just tear the thing down. There has to be a consequence for breaking our laws. Right? And if you let these guys break our laws, the next people are going to go ahead and do it too. You know? Well, we need to take a break. Okay. And we'll be back in a minute. And then let's talk about the other issues in those districts. Okay. We'll be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Hi, I'm Dave Stevens, the host of Cyber Underground. Every Friday, here at 1 p.m. on ThinkTechHawaii.com. And then every episode is uploaded to the Cyber Underground, that library of shows that you can see of mine on YouTube.com. And I hope you'll join us here every Friday. We have some topical discussions about why security matters and what could scare the absolute bejesus out of you if you just try to watch my show all the way through. Hope to see you next time on Cyber Underground. Stay safe. Aloha. I'm Marcia Joyner, and this is Community Matters. Today, we are talking to my dear friend, and all of you know I only talk to dear friends, my dear friend, Tommy Waters. And he is running for Honolulu City Council District 4, which is huge. So, Tommy, speaking of huge, how big is the district? I don't mean in square feet. Well, there's over 100,000 registered voters. Over 100,000. And get this only, I think, in the last general election, about 40,000 voted. Or at least, yeah, 40,000 voted. So it's a dismal turnout. I'm trying to think of how we can get more people to come on and vote. Well, okay. So many people say, well, there's nothing to vote for. So you have to give them something to vote for. Absolutely. And again, I'm walking door to door, knocking on people's doors, trying to just encourage people to, number one, vote. And second, of course, asking people to vote for me. But just getting people to vote. I'd be really happy to get people out to vote. You know what I've noticed on the voting rolls? It's a lot of people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and I've even met people in their 90s. Young people, it's very, very rare. I come across people in their 20s that are voting. And rarely, if ever, teenagers, you know, 18 and 19-year-olds, you know, that troubles me. It does. And again, maybe because it's not on the tablet. I don't know. But that age group, they've been voting forever. So they keep on voting. And I think, and I've said this over and over again, it's not enough to vote. If you don't participate, if I vote for you, then I expect when I call your office, you return my call. Absolutely. And when I come to see you, we know who you are. Not just you, but all of the— because people need to be involved. You cannot say, okay, I voted for you. Now go do something. We have to be involved. So speaking of involvement, you have Waikiki in your district. Yes. Now, we remember when Waikiki was magic. And now, what have we got? Well, before we get to Waikiki, can I just address your initial comments? To me, it's vitally important that your legislator knows what's going on in the community. And how do you do that? You've got to be in your community, right? Right. Participating in events that are going on, whether it be neighborhood board meetings, association meetings, you've got to be there. That's number one. And then, number two, when people call your office, you have to return their calls immediately and promptly. And emails as well. It's vitally important. Because your elected official is your representative, right? Right. Keep in touch with them. I put my cell phone on all my walking pieces. And I hope people use it. They call me. Because it makes my job easier if you tell me what you need and want. Right? And what's important to you. I'm out there fighting for you, fighting for our community. Right? So back to Waikiki. Yes. Now, Waikiki is a beautiful, wonderful place. I surf there all the time. And I lived there for a year or two while I was in college on Tusa Tala Street years ago. When that was the jungle. Oh. Well, yeah. You remember the jungle. No, it's a beautiful place. But you know, the residents there tell me there's a big noise problem, right? You got those mopeds. Oh, yes. Up and down the street, the trucks backing up with their loud beepers, right? You got still homeless people on the streets defecating and urinating with signs, you know, saying money for weed. I saw a gentleman with a sign that said that. I mean, it's just not a good idea. There's an overcrowding with these unpermitted businesses on the sidewalks, right? That's not fair to the people who are paying rent to open their business on the sidewalk. That's a problem that people are talking about. You know, it's so sad that those pavilions that they had, they removed the roofs so that they wouldn't have people loitering there. How sad is that? You know, why can't we get the people who are loitering doing bad things, dealing drugs and everything, get them off the sidewalk? Oh, you mean the tops are gone? The tops are gone. You know, we want people to be able to enjoy that. It's a beautiful spot, you know, to go and have lunch. Yeah. It's just sad. It's super sad. It is sad. And now, and the crime, I don't remember crime before, but let's tell you how old I am. Another thing that they tell me, the residents there about the cabaret license is the 4 a.m., you know? Why does it have to be at the 4 a.m.? You know, if they're in a hotel or whatnot, it seems to be better contained, you know? And the hotel can have their own security and regulate this. But a 4 a.m. cabaret license seems to be problematic, you know? Where are they located, the cabarets? I thought everything was within a building. Is this separate? Yeah. Well, there were, remember there was that shooting recently on Cujil Avenue? It was just a business, a bar that was on Cujil. And they have a 4 a.m. license? They have a 4 a.m. license. I don't know the name of the establishment, but I'm reading it in the paper. I'm just surprised, that's all. But I'll tell you how long it's been since I've been away. But the local residents are concerned about that. Of course they are. But it appears to me that, you know, sometimes their, excuse me, their opinions are taken for granted. You know, they're telling people, we don't want 4 a.m. cabaret license, but yet they're still issued. Well, is it that people, our council people don't appreciate that there are real residents in Waikiki and not just tourists? You know, people look at Waikiki and think, oh, there's nothing but tourists in these hotels. Yeah, a lot of people live in Waikiki. Do they not know that? Do our city council people not understand? I can't speak for them. I mean, I can speak for myself and I know they're there, you know. I go to the neighborhood board meetings and I see their concerns firsthand. And they're good people and they care about the community just like every other community. They care about Waikiki. They want to make sure it's a safe place. By the way, Marsha, did you know that HPD is over 200 police officers short, island-wide? Over 200 officers. Why? Well, I think there's a number of reasons, right? They were, for a long time, losing officers to other jurisdictions. They're paying more. But you know we're finding out that while the pay is better on the mainland, for example. So it's a risk. The retirement, well, yes, true, it's more dangerous. But the retirement wasn't as good. So that's part of the reason why we were able to retain some. But just people are retiring, you know, they're getting older. You know, we have a system of 25 years and out. But let's see, over 200 officers short. To me, the best deterrent to crime is a patrol and police officer. Even good people will change their behavior when they see a police officer driving behind them, right? You could be going to speed limit. You change your behavior. And criminals will, too, if they see a police officer. So one of the things I want to do is try to help them achieve. I love, I think she's wonderful, by the way. Have you met her yet? Yes. Chief Ballard, yeah, she's great. One of the ideas, and I'm sorry to keep talking, but one of the ideas she has is shortening the length of time for the police academy from a year to six months for those who have a college degree, for example. That way we can get more police officers. I hadn't thought about this before, but there's so many military people that have all that same training. Can't they? Wouldn't that shorten the time in the academy? I don't know. Yeah. Just once you mentioned it, I think of looking at other places for people. Even if we do that, apparently, it's still going to take four years to get caught up. But we have to start somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What else, the alloy? Yes. The pollution? Yes. So I'm a canoe paddler. I'm sure you know that. Yes. I was the president of Hui Lanakila Canoe Club way back in the 90s, and I paddled Molokai Channel a number of times, but we practiced it in the alloy. And yeah, oh my goodness, it is really dirty. It is. It's not healthy, right? For our young people, we've got a lot of kids paddling in the alloy. Jeez, there's got to be at least one, two, three, four, five, five, at least five clubs that paddle out of the alloy, you know, practice in the alloy. And it needs to be dredged, you know, on a schedule, you know, rather than once every 10 or 15 years. You know, I think it's a good idea to do it more often. Now the water comes from where? What are the headwaters to the alloy canal? Where does it start? Jeez, everything mocha from the alloy, if you look at it, feeds down into the alloy, especially Manoa, though. Manoa is a big feeder into the alloy. Well, we had a candidate who said the stream up there was polluted, so it's coming all the way down. That's, in Hawaii, it's just hard to imagine as beautiful as it is that it would be polluted. That's unacceptable. Well, initially, you know that the alloy was supposed to connect back to the ocean over where the Kapuhulu groin, right? And that was just never done. That way the water can better circulate. So, I mean, that's always going to be a problem, right? Because it's not circulating. So the idea is you have to dredge it and clean it because all that soap coming down from the mountain just fills up. And then the pesticides and everything else that comes off from people's yards that are feeding into that. When you wash your car, all the soap going into the drains coming down. Something as precious as we are an island, as precious as water, you would think we'd take better care of it. So is that the city, that is the city or is that the state, the alloy and the waters? Are they the city or the state? I think this, I was at the neighborhood board recently and they were talking about the state putting money in the budget for the alloy. I think it's all of our responsibilities in one way or another, but I think the state, through the Department of Health, well, they monitor the water quality, if that's what you're asking about. Okay, they monitor it, but do they do anything? Well, I think, like I said, the state is the one who is going to go in there and clean it out. Don't hold me on that, but I'm quite sure it is. Yeah, so what I want you to do, I want you to look into the camera. Okay. And I want you to tell us who you are and why we should vote for you. Okay, well, thank you. I'm a former legislator. I did three terms in the Hawaii State Legislature. You know, I used to be the chair of the Higher Education Committee and the Judiciary Committee. I know what it takes to do a good job. I'm willing to put the time and effort into it, and I'm a good listener. I think that's the number one thing that you can count on. Although today I seem to be talking a lot, but that's my job. I'm a better listener. And it's important because your opinion matters. I'm a hard worker. Everybody who knows me knows that, you know, I work long hours, and I would just be so honored and privileged to be your legislator and your councilperson. For District 4, from Hawaii Kai to Waikiki. Well, thank you so much, and we look forward to hearing from you after August 11. All right. So keep in touch. Thank you so much. Aloha, and we'll see you next time. Aloha.