 This is Think Tech Hawaii. Community matters here. It's a special day, as everybody knows it's election time, as Think Tech has allowed us to interview, to talk to candidates of Democrats, Republicans, independents, and the Green Party. I can't forget them. So today, we are going to talk to Hawaii State Representative, Andrea Topola, who is also Majority Minority Leader, and she is running for the Republican candidate for governor. Can't forget that. So Aloha, Andrea. Can we call you Andrea? Yes, Andrea is fine. So we are going to explore your positions on any number of issues. I've heard you, I've read about you, and so first, before we go down that road, tell us about Andrea. Who are you? Who is Andrea? Tell us about your background. Well, I was born in Kahuku, and I was raised in Hoikai. I went to, we just talked about Hioni Elementary, I went to public school up till the 8th grade and then I graduated from Kamehameha School, after which I was able to get scholarships and attend college at Brigham Young University in Utah. Graduated with a bachelor's of arts in music education, and I also did a mission for my church in Venezuela during 2003 to 2004. I taught school in LA, in Arizona, in Utah. My husband played football in Texas, in Michigan, then we came home. I have two children, two girls, ages 10 and 11. They are 5th and 6th graders at Kulakaya Pune, Oweyo, they go to Hawaiian Immersion. And I, at the time, was a professor at Leeward Community College teaching music. I graduated with a master's degree in University of Hawaii, and I started the Ph.D. program when my children were first going to Oweyo. And then in 2014 is when I first ran for office, and I won my first time and was elected to be the representative of District 43, which starts in Ewa and ends in Mo'ili. So why did you run from there? You live out there? Yes. So we bought a home in Waianae in 2010. So you represented the lower part of Waianae. So where, if you know where Lokahi by the Greens is, or Ewa villages. So my area is Verona Village, and then I have Kalailoa Barbers Point, Campbell Industrial, Ko'olina, Honokai Halle, Narakuli, Ma'ili. Oh, huge. Yeah, it's like a little city. I have the power plant, a harbor, an airport, two military bases, and the only landfill in the island in my district. The landfill is Waimanalo Gulch? That's the one. And we also have... In Waianae. Yes. In Waianae, but it's called Waimanalo Gulch. And we also have another somewhat landfill slash recycling center in the area of Lualualae Valley, which is the PVT landfill. So we have quite a few things going on, definitely being knowledgeable of all of those things and knowing that I have a highway going straight through my district. And of course, the highway has a lot of things that come with it, from fatalities to safety, to water main breaks. I'm very familiar with the roads and the streets of my community. Yes, my goodness. Anybody, you know, you listen every morning and it's a two-hour drive to town. Oh, my goodness. Easily. Easily. I was in the car for two hours this morning. I left at 5.30, and I had to go to Hoekai to shoot a video, and I got there at 7.30. Yes. My daughter lives in Ma'ili. And yes, there's quite a—we have to plan pack for the weekend or something, you know. Once you leave, you don't come back. You don't come back. You don't come back. You pack for the whole day and stay out in town. Yes. So why did you do—now you're doing very well, and I must say for anybody that's watching, they know I'm a political junkie, and we need women like you in the legislature, and if you are a Republican, that's—I'm not going to hold that against you. We need you, people like you, women like you in the legislature. So why did you decide to give that up and run for governor? Well, I think two things. You know, first off is that I never got involved in this to have a career. And as soon as I enter the Capitol—and I'm sure you know, you testify there—it's a pretty toxic environment. It is. It is. I mean, no joke. That place can change you. So like when I first got into the Capitol, I immediately felt this different environment. And bear in mind, I'm a music teacher, so I'm a very artsy person, so I walk into this place that has this very different aura, this different feeling, and I thought that the majority of our conversations are going to be about community wellness, how we could serve the people, but a lot of our conversations within the Capitol are about positions and power and who gets this and why are we going to vote on that and who introduced this and why did he do that? Well, he said this about me and granted interpersonal relationships is part of every job. But I had taken to consideration, am I making as much of an impact as I thought I could make? Because I don't have a law background. I didn't go to law school. So being in the legislature is pretty tough. You know, when you see me in hearings and I'm asking questions about these bills, it's not because I just showed up at work five minutes before the hearing. I come hours before the hearing, read all through my bills, read everybody's testimony, make a copy of it, highlight it, bring my red pencil, put all my binders out because I want to make sure that I make well informed decisions and even if I vote against something, I better be able to articulate why I voted no, that I did my research, that I reached out to the people that knew more than me about it and then I have to stand up as minority leader, articulate my positions, you know, try to help my caucus members to acclimate into how we're going to speak on an issue and so I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it and I love speaking, however. You know, inside of me I got involved because I really wanted to make a difference. And as you know, the legislature has a pretty low rating because people don't like how little gets done. And that's why I was saying we need women like you and I'm sorry to see and for my audience, I know I've said this a million times, that leadership, I was brokenhearted on June 6th when I read the newspaper that all of the members of leadership had no opposition. That I thought, oh, well, everything will be the same. Right. Right. Well, and you go in there and it's 76 people, right, 51 in the House, 25 in the Senate and people are over there buying for these different things and you've got to remember this is going to be decades of people fighting and barely making change. So it's like, yes, like, did you see it? It moved. Yes. Yes. And then people fall asleep and then generations of people pass away. And so I started to realize one that I shouldn't stay stagnant. Once you stay stagnant in that place, you become complacent, you become jaded because you think everything can't happen or that it's going to cost millions of dollars to do it. The second reason why I decided to run for governor at such a short period of time is because these systemic issues of our state are no joke. I mean, we're talking about the low goals for housing, affordable housing, homelessness. When I see some of these proposals on the table and then I see how small these differences, even with our unfunded liability, we haven't paid more than the minimum since 2011. I mean, so we are just building debt over debt over debt every year. I started to look at these systemic issues and think, man, if we don't start getting at those, it doesn't matter what small difference I make in the legislature. This will lead to generational problems that we can't fix. Well, now let's look at the governor, not the current governor, but the position. The position. Okay. Now, as I have read, it is one, the governor of Hawaii is the most one, the most powerful governor of all 50 states. There are 18 departments that the governor is responsible for that you, 18 plus boards and commissions. 161. Yes. So when we look at, let's say the biggest one right now that everybody's talking about is the Board of Education, Department of Education. My question to you is, because you're knowledgeable, and we are talking about this amendment on the ballot, which, you know, anyway, we'll get back to that. When we look at the amount of money that the state every year in the budget for the Department of Education, why did the teachers not get a pay raise? Why are there 573 schools in deferred maintenance? Where does the money from the time it leaves the legislature, what, there's a stop someplace where? What happens? How do we, how do they not filter down where it's supposed to go? You know, and I would agree this past year, the budget was 1.9 billion. Yes. And so the questions you're asking is what everybody should be asking ourselves. Before we try to get more tax money and put this into this beast that we don't know why it doesn't shake out any money, shouldn't we be asking ourselves, where is it going? I mean, I was in, there's 258 schools across the state and I've been to almost every single one. I walk in, I talk to the principals, I ask them how are things going, what is your struggle, and what you said about this backlog of infrastructure repairs? That's serious. I've had principals show me on the books, these are how many things we need fixed, and I've been waiting for 26 years for this one to get done, and this, I mean, I believe that that is one of the biggest reasons why people don't want to participate, and they think, you know, that this overtaxation shouldn't lead to more taxes, is because we can't figure out where the money is going. Well, yes. So if it's 1.9 billion, then X amount went to salaries, X amount went to operations, then why are the schools still like this and or why is there inequitable funding for the public school students? Public school students 12,000, public charter 7,000, so why inequitability? Why not have both of the students get the same amount of per pupil funding, or why isn't it every year that we increase this per pupil funding knowing that that's how the schools are able to pay for their infrastructure repairs? You know that, everyone knows that. However many students you have in your population, you multiply that by 12,000, that's how much you have to fix the things in your school. Well, it just amazes me, the backlog of, and you look at the schools, and that includes the university, the maintenance, and how do students learn in a facility that's falling apart, and they talk about teachers leaving? 411, to be exact, last year. So what can we do? Other than, okay, give them more money. I think that teachers should be the number one in the hierarchy of payment because they influence the next generation. So they should be number one on the hierarchy of who gets paid. So what happens? Why is that stagnant? As you can tell I'm lost, because these questions seem so obvious that they need fixing. Well, I can answer a few of them. So first off, when we're talking about teacher salaries, there's a whole pocket of money that is used for collective bargaining, and could that be increased to get teachers more paid? Yes. Do I think that teachers should be prioritized because of their influence on the next generation? Absolutely. The second part of your question was in regards to the productivity, which of course I believe the Department of Education should be audited, and then when interviewed by University of Hawaii, I was interviewed first, and then the sitting governor second, he said, oh, there's been plenty of audits on the DOE. And let me give you one more thought, is that if there are so many audits on the DOE, have we implemented those suggestions from the auditor? Because he's right, there are many audits that exist that actually sit on the shelf, and nobody... Nobody reads them. Yeah, who reads it? I read audits all the time. I read all the audits of Mauna Kea. I read all the audits of UH. Because I want to know how to fix some of these problems. Well, we need to take a break. We will be back in 60 seconds, and then let's talk about the rest of your proposals. Okay. We'll be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. When I was growing up, I was among the one in six American kids who struggled with hunger, and hungry mornings make tired days. Grumpy days. Beck. Kind of days. But with the power of breakfast, the kids in your neighborhood can think big and be more. When we're not hungry for breakfast, we're hungry for more. More ideas. More dreams. More fun. When kids aren't hungry for breakfast, they can be hungry for more. Go to hungeris.org and lend your time or your voice to make breakfast happen for kids in your neighborhood. 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. Aloha. I'm Marcia, and we're back. And this is Community Matters. And we are talking to my new best friend. And of course you all know I only talk to my best friends. Andrea, representative, Andrea Topola, is running for governor of the state of Hawaii. And yes, she is a Republican. And the last time we had a woman governor, it was a woman. And that was Linda Lingle. So it's possible. I'm not going to rule it out. Now let's talk about the Jones Act, because we hear a lot about that. And most of us have no idea what in the world is a Jones Act. And why should we change it? What does it do? What does it not do? You know, so specifically the Jones Act is a compilation of what they call maritime cabotage. It's different rules, regulations in regards to the shipping industry. And so it was made, I forget what year, but you know, when it was created, the idea was to try to make sure that there is an in-house type of oversight for shipping so that the US could benefit from the use of these ships as well as how it's built to make sure that there isn't other countries that perhaps are going to sabotage us and build our Navy ships. There's a lot of different thoughts, but the long of the short story is that now, these many years later, how many Jones Act ships have been built. And what states specifically are affected by the Jones Act? Because it's not all. It's those who have to actually use the ocean to access their resources, which would be us. So all of the non-contiguous states are aware of the Jones Act and whether it is or isn't helping their industry. Take, for example, Puerto Rico. When they just had the hurricane, they actually had to lift the Jones Act because they had to get more supplies and they had to get some immediate help, which goes to show one, that it can be lifted, and two, that for islands that are not contiguous to the rest of the United States, that it could be an issue. Now, there are parts of the Jones Act that many people feel like should stay intact because it helps us to secure that our military forces are not going to be sabotaged by other countries building our ships and our boats, but there are other parts of it such as where and how these boats are built. When I talked with the head of shipping, Michael Hansen, he's part of the Shippers Council, one of the things that he brought up to me was the fact that maybe the US isn't good at building Jones Act-qualified ships because on a regular, I do believe he said it was within 100 something ships a year where other countries are building thousands in a year. So one of the questions in making the requirement that these ships be built in the US, the question should be, are we building enough? Because say, for example, there's only one or two companies that build Jones Act-qualified ships. Is that enough for the non-contiguous states? And does that raise costs because it actually is not an industry that we are efficient in? So the Jones Act trade reform, meaning instead of repealing it or just cancelling it all together, maybe reforming part of it, the Reform Act that they've been discussing with the non-contiguous states is in regards to the ship-build requirement. Should we allow parts of this ship-build requirement be adjusted and or address it in the fact that maybe we need more people building ships? And if we don't, then we should lift this so that we can get the ships built at more economic prices, quicker and faster, to bring down the cost of shipping, which for us actually would also affect the amount that we pay for goods incoming to Hawaii. Wow, that's quite a bit. And I don't know too much. I mean, I've read a lot, but... We'll come back to that, but I want to talk about tourism. When we've had candidates on the show from every island all 20 different districts and every one of them, every one complained about tourism on each island. There was not one that didn't complain that... So how it is like, okay, people come, but there's no plan. There's nothing that they just sort of roam around. There's nothing that says what, you know, and the legislative representative that represents Hannah, she said the highway is terrible with all the rented cars. Oh, they love driving there. Oh, gosh. And you know, the Hannah Highway is bad anyway. And every island, every island. So tell me, what is it about, what can we do with tourism? We need it, but how can we... So is your question in regards to when people complain about tourism, you mean that they complain about the impact that tourism has? Impact. I see. Okay, well, the thing that we should remember is that the TAT, the Transit Accommodation Tax, was actually originally created to pay for tourism impacts. And so back when the TAT was first created, tourism was bringing money to the state of Huy. So they said, well, the counties bear some of the tourism impact. The state bears some of the tourism impact. So let's figure out how we should divvy up this money. The counties were giving 98 million divided four ways and they said this should be enough for each of the counties to pay for tourism impacts. During that time, when it was first created, maybe it was 100 to 200 million dollars coming into the state for tourism. This past year, we brought in 560 million. And that amount for the counties is still at 108. So it's about a little bit over 100 million. So 100 million divided four ways to all the counties and they say, here you go, this is to take care of tourism impacts. Beaches, streets, roads, this is for the counties. And they've been coming back to legislature year after year saying that this is not enough money because we have so much more tourists coming in here, but we still have that same little pocket of money that we were given from years ago when now, like you said, there's more tourists but there's still less money. Should the TATV redistributed fairly? It's a real question because the way that it's distributed now it has a count for the counties. There's a portion that goes to the Turtle Bay preservation fund. There's a portion that goes to the convention center and the rest goes to HTA. So it is for tourism. But with the amount of money that we're bringing in for tourism and getting the fact that we're still not giving enough to the counties to bear that burden, we really have to think about the fact that the money intended to handle tourism impacts is not going there. And so there was a working study done in 2015 and in the working study group, they brought together state and county employees and they came up with a breakdown that the county bears about 45% of tourism impacts. The state bears about 55% of tourism impacts. So the suggestion was to redistribute it using a percentage. If there's more tourism money, then you get more. If there's less tourism money, then you get less. But right now to have a solid cap, it doesn't allow for that expenditure when there is more tourists that come through the state. So that's one of the many suggestions that I would put on the table because if we intend to have the counties improve their permitting or their parks, then we need to fund it. Yes, because one of our legislators from the Big Island, she says the roads are so bad in one area that an ambulance would take an hour. Oh, it's true. That's important. Yeah, the roads are so bad. And so when we look at these issues that as the governor you need to face, somehow they seem to get lost. Oh, yes. Oh, they just get lost. I'm not, I don't want to talk about the governor but when that is a part of the department that the governor oversees all of these departments and somehow the director of these different boards, departments, somehow that just sort of well, they'll take care of it. And we look at transportation, it isn't Hawaiian homes returning money, millions of dollars. 30 million to be exact. Yes. And we've got Hawaiians living on the beach. It just doesn't make sense how, and the Department of Health is horrible, just horrible. Have you been over there? Oh, yes. Have you ever tried to look up anything? You mean like a vital record? Yes. Have you ever tried that? Yeah. And they close at two o'clock. Everybody leaves the building at two o'clock. What, why? You know, we've had over this past four years two different, you know, health directors and I think many people are frustrated and that's kind of what I shared with you and when you brought up that our state is highly executively controlled, you're right. You're absolutely right. The effectivity of these departments is contingent upon the governor's ability to manage and lead. Managing and leading are two different things. Managing is your ability to actually make sure that everyone that works, one, knows their job description and two, has the resources to fulfill that job description and three, that they can do what they do best every day, put the right people in the right places. Your ability to lead means that you have a clear vision and that you're able to cast that vision forward to lead these departments in one direction. I would ask you, which is the same question I asked everyone in Hawaii, what is the vision of Hawaii? Where are we going? What are we doing? Because even as a legislator for the past four years, yes, we passed this law, that law, we talk, we debate on the floor, okay, where are we going? Because if you don't have a clear direction, then you cannot set goals that will get you to that direction. So the vision that I have for my campaign is to help keep more local families here for generations to come. So I will be setting that clear direction then as I work with each of the departments, I'm gonna be asking them, how does your decisions help more local families stay here? Or how does your lack of decisions? Okay, let me throw this little one at you. I mean, this is just one of those many things I talk about with lots of people. We have 360 degrees of ocean water, right? Why do we not have an oceanography academy? Why do we not train young people here? Like they were trained for the Hokulea, but for real ships, why don't we have a shipping industry that young people can grow into and stay on? Why don't we have an academy, like one of my sons graduated from the California Maritime Academy, he got the scholarship in Hawaii. And that's what they do. They turn out civilians to work on in the shipping industry. I would love to answer that question because I have a hover in my district. Please. So what you're talking about is vocational trade schools. You're talking about actually training students for a specific job, such as shipping industry. So I have a shipping industry in my harbor. I work with a company called Marisco and they actually have the biggest dry dock in our state. They drop that dry dock, they bring in ships and they repair them. Some of these ships are Navy ships. Some of them are from the contiguous U.S. and some of them are from the Pacific. Long story short, I had to work with them on getting a permit from the state so that they could do work because the state not giving them a permit didn't allow them to get in the water and do the repairs they need. Long story short, we got the permit unfortunately they had to lay people off because of how long the state took. I definitely am going to address the long permit time. The second thing though is that they told me we have more jobs to offer, but the kind of work we do we cannot train on the job, this is dangerous. We need people to actually train and get ready to take these vocational jobs but you can't do it at a college. We have to actually have a specialty trade school. Well that's what I'm asking. Why can't we have a Maritime Academy right here, right there in your district? I was going to say my answer would be yes because they are definitely in favor of it and when you have employers that have jobs and they're willing to pay for a training school we should be all about that. Yes, tomorrow, let's get started. Let's do it, let's start going tomorrow, yes. I'm connecting them with Waini High School because they want to integrate it into their curriculum. They do have a good, Waini has a good curriculum. Right, and so my thing is that as a representative I will be doing something very similar as governor which is putting those pieces together and addressing the gaps so that we can build more jobs and keep more local kids here. Okay, now, I want you as we close, I want you to look right over here and tell us why we should vote for you for governor. Well, my name is Andrea Tupola. I'm running for governor for the state of Hawaii and my vision is to help more local families stay here. We are being priced out of our homes and there are more families leaving our state, doctors, teachers and if you're not leaving the state then there's families becoming homeless. This is a real epidemic. The crisis that we're in right now for affordable housing is much more than what people think and if we don't address these issues like it's a crisis then we will have more families leave or become homeless and my goal and my vision is to leave the state in such a way that more local families can stay here and that's why you should vote for me because I'm gonna have a clear vision and work very community minded so that we can actually get this done in a short period of time, raise that standard, raise that bar and let the people of Hawaii know that they have someone that truly works for them. Aloha my dear and good luck. That's what we have, what, a week, two weeks before the election? It would be two weeks and six days. Okay, well good luck to you my dear and it's been a pleasure meeting you and come back and talk to us again, will you? Sounds good, thank you Marcia. Thank you and we'll see you next time.