 I'm Rusty Komori and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, and it's about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today was the senior vice president at Island Holdings and current executive director at Central Pacific Banks Foundation, and he's running for lieutenant governor of our state of Hawaii. He is Keith Amemia, and today we are going beyond leadership. Hey, Keith, welcome back to Beyond the Lines. Hey, Rusty, thanks for having me. Keith, you've been doing such amazing things throughout your life, but can I ask you first if you can share about your background growing up? Sure, I was born and raised on Oahu, primarily in Hawaii Kai. I went to public school through 10th grade, Kamilawiki Elementary, New Valley Middle School, and Kaiser High School. My junior and senior years of high school, I went to Punahua, and that's where I graduated. I had a lot of friends. I still have a lot of friends in that area. I currently reside in Paoa with my wife and son. In my high school years, I was honoured by my best friend's family, and that had an impact on my life as well, the Kobayashi family. In fact, they're the reason that I got to attend Punahua School, my junior and senior years. After that, I went to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and I obtained a degree in business and finance, and then went on to law school at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii. I became a litigation attorney for seven years, and then I transitioned to running the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, where I was the executive director for 12 years, and that's how I met you, Rusty. And Keith, you did a phenomenal job, and you briefly mentioned your wife and your son. You have a beautiful family. I know Bonnie, your wife and your son, Chris, and did Chris just graduate college? So, no, he has one more year. He's at Claremont McKenna College in California. It's a little bit east of Los Angeles. He's majoring in economics, and he was supposed to graduate this past year, but he took like a year off for a gap year or a COVID year between his sophomore and junior years. And primarily, like a lot of kids who are going to school in Hawaii, classes were only gonna be via Zoom on our kitchen table, and he wanted to sit it out and experience the full college life when the pandemic subsided, and Claremont opened the campus back to students. So he's got one more year. He's here working in the summer and looking forward to one more year of college. Oh, that sounds good. And the time flies by. I mean, he's grown up so fast. And like you said, I know you from when I was coaching at Punahou, and you were the executive director of our Hawaii High School Athletic Association, and you made such a big positive impact during those years that you were executive director. Can you share maybe let's say two big reasons why you were super successful? Well, number one, I had a lot of support from people like yourself, successful coaches down the line from principal, high school principals, athletic directors, the coaches, the business community who helped support high school athletics across the state. And just the thousands and thousands of parents and student athletes, we all were on the same page. We all had the same goal. It's to maximize the high school athletic experience for our student athletes. There's approximately 35,000 student athletes statewide every year. And so again, to use a sports term, it was a team effort. I was lucky to have everyone on the same page, on board, and the results are pretty amazing. I mean, I'm proud to have been part of the amazing things that have happened, including your 22 straight state championships. I mean, that's a national record that I don't know will ever be broken in any sport. Simply amazing. We've had athletes who have shined on the national and international stage during my tenure, whether it's Olympic gold medalist into the Catholicathlon, Brian Clay, to Marcus Marriota, you know, Jocelyn Arlo, Oklahoma University, Sooner, who won two national championships, two-time national player of the year. The list goes on. And so it was a team effort. But secondly, I came from the legal world. I was a litigation attorney, the private sector, the business sector, if you will. And I tried to bring private sector values and strategies to high school athletics. You know, high school athletics, just like college athletics and professional athletics, it's a business. You need to generate revenue in order to maximize the experience for our student athletes to be able to run state tournaments. And so I think that was helpful as well, that I had business experience, legal experience and private sector experience. Well, that was for sure, Keith. And, you know, I was there. I saw what you did and how you really build relationships with everybody. And you don't just really have an idea. You really execute those ideas to really take things from maybe a good situation and really make it great. So very appreciative of the direction you really vaulted the Hawaii High School Athletics in. And I wanna ask you, Keith, why are you running for lieutenant governor? I'm running for lieutenant governor because we need change. I'm not a career politician or lobbyist like my opponents. I'm the only candidate, as you pointed out, with executive leadership experience where I've led large statewide organizations. I'm also the only candidate that's dedicated my entire career to public service. I've been out in the communities unlike my opponents. I've been able to visit all 98 high schools during my Hawaii High School Athletic Association tenure. I've been to all the surrounding communities. Those experiences forge partnerships, relationships. I know the communities as well as anybody in the state because of my background, because of my experiences. And that will translate well if I'm the lieutenant governor. And finally, of all the candidates for lieutenant governor, I'm the only candidate with a real plan to address the problems, even the corruption, if you will, in the legislature. I'm pushing for term limits, banning any fundraising during the legislative session, banning any financial conflicts of interest that legislators may have, and also requiring legislators to comply with the Sunshine Law. Rusty, we have so many issues, so many problems facing our state, but until we can rebuild trust, reformulate the rules and ways decisions are made, how bills are passed, where funding goes, we won't make progress with the many issues facing our state today. I agree with you, and I like your ideas right there. And Keith, what are some of the best parts of campaigning? Well, one of the best parts, just like when I ran high school sports is traveling across the state and meeting different people, getting to know them and learning about their issues. Just like running high school sports for 12 years, I've learned that obviously we all know that Hawaii is a special place. Hawaii is a great place. There are so many good people across the state, and I wanna help them as great as they are, as much as they enjoy living in Hawaii. There are a lot of people that are concerned, especially working families, our younger families, because Hawaii has simply become unaffordable, and a lot of it is due to the lack of action, the lack of leadership in state government and elsewhere. And I wanna bring my experiences, my leadership, my passion to help people in need, to help the underdogs and make Hawaii the best it can be. Well, Keith, while you were senior VP at Island Holdings, and Island Holdings is the parent company of Island Insurance, Atlas Insurance, Tradewind Capital Group, I mean, a lot of companies, and you were the senior VP, and I wanna ask you, is it a major bonus, okay? Because you said you have a background in business, but is it a major bonus to really have that executive business experience for running state government? I think so, because state government is the largest company, if you will, in the state. It has the largest number of employees. It has the largest budget of nearing $20 billion a year. And so you have to have business skills, executive leadership skills to be an effective lieutenant governor. Lieutenant governor is the number two person in the state. The lieutenant governor's job is important because if the governor's unable to fulfill his or her term, you become the number one person. You're one step away from running the state. I also believe the lieutenant governor's job is more important than ever today because of the many issues facing our state. The issues, the challenges facing our state are far too great for any one person. So I look forward to whoever our next governor is to be a partner with them and help tackle the state's problem. Now, Keith, while you were seeing your VP at Island Holdings, we had reconnected. And you actually introduced me to my local publisher that published my first book, Beyond the Lines. And I want to ask you, Keith, what are some things that stood out to you in my books? Well, I first want to say it was a privilege to be one of the first people to talk to you about this just, it was just an idea several years ago about writing a book. And I thought it was fantastic because who better to write a book about leadership and life skills than you because of the thousands of people you've reached through your high school coaching and the amazing success that you have. So I want to just say that, that it's been great to see how far you've grown, how far you've progressed. In terms of your books, what I like about them is because they teach leadership skills, they teach you about life, and it's through stories that are very translatable, very identifiable. It's real life experiences that you've had as a coach that produced state championships but also built character. It helped further your student athletes' careers. I mean, many of them are far beyond college. They're successful business people in their own right. They have families, and I'm sure you're very proud of all your former players and how well they've progressed beyond the tennis courts where they were successful as well. Totally, and you were there for so many years watching at first hand and really seeing those stories that I highlight in the books and you know those players. And Keith, I want to get into some details about you sharing some of your creative ideas and solutions to some of the important issues that we're dealing with in our state. And I'd like to first get your thoughts about affordable housing. Affordable housing or the lack thereof is far and away the biggest issue facing our state today. It's the biggest expense for most families. It's the cost of housing, whether you own or you rent. The median price of a home in Hawaii is now $1.1 million. And Rusty, I don't know many people that can afford $1.1 million. It's crazy, it's unsustainable. It's gone on for decades and I go back to why I'm running. We've had a succession of failed leadership. We keep electing the same people into office over and over again. We need to switch, change course, bring in new people to get the job done. I'm the only candidate in the Lieutenant Governor's Race that has a comprehensive housing for all plan. It's a very detailed plan that sets forth the ways to attack the 65,000 unit shortage that we currently have across the state in terms of the number of units we need to build to meet demand. First and foremost, we need to focus all future development on development for working families, not rich out-of-state speculators who don't even live here more than half the time throughout the year. So let's start with that. Let's also enforce the illegal vacation rental law. And there are thousands of illegal vacation rentals that are still out there that need to be restored to the inventory so that local people have a chance to rent and buy a home. We also need to build more infrastructure as government. The federal government has given our state billions of dollars in money in terms of pandemic-related relief, including for infrastructure. There are many areas on Oahu and even on the neighbor islands that are ripe for development, but we don't have the infrastructure. So government needs to build the sewers, the water lines, the utility lines so that our private developers can start building more housing for our families across the state. And Rusty, if we don't do this, I'm very passionate about this. I have a 21-year-old son. If we don't reduce the cost of housing soon, we're gonna lose an entire, our entire generation of younger people because they simply can't afford to meet here. And that's a shame, that's a tragedy, that's unacceptable. I'll also add that we're losing Kubuna to the mainland and elsewhere because they can't afford to make ends meet. As you know, Rusty, many of our seniors are on fixed incomes, they're retired. They can't make any more money. They can't generate more revenue, yet their costs keep going up, whether it's their rent or whether it's their utility bills or gas, food, et cetera, et cetera. And that's really disheartening as well that people who've grown up here their whole life look forward to retirement are now being forced to move elsewhere because they can't afford it. Another reason Kubuna tell me why they're moving out of the state in nearly the same amount as younger families is because they're the only ones here. Their children and grandchildren are having to move away. So they don't wanna be that far away from their kids. They don't wanna leave Hawaii, but they also don't wanna be here alone. So affordable housing is far and away from the biggest issue we need to address. Now you're right, it's like a chain of reaction there and I totally agree with all of your points. And Keith, what are your ideas about how you would help and support small businesses? Well, it's a commitment from government to support small businesses. Perhaps no other segment of the business community suffered more during the pandemic than small businesses. And so we need to find ways to make it easier to run business. I hear from so many small business owners about the problems they have navigating through government bureaucracy, just to get up and operating, just to handle all the paperwork that they have to turn into government. We need to stop taxing our way out of any financial problems that we have because big businesses are better able to weather the storm of increased regulation and increased taxes. But every little expense that small businesses are hit with adds up and they simply can't sustain it. So government needs to be a better partner with small business and not a roadblock or an impediment. That's good points. And Keith, our state leaders, one of their biggest responsibilities is to provide safety for everyone in the state. And what are your ideas or solutions to reduce crimes and homelessness? Well, I've said this throughout the campaign trail. There's a lot of things that we can do. Number one, if public safety is one of our priorities, which I'm sure it is, we need to pay police officers more. They're leaving the state because they can't afford to make ends meet. I can think of no greater government service that we all depend on than public safety. So let's make sure that we pay our officers an appropriate amount so that they don't leave to work out of state and lower our police force, lower the amount of coverage that we have across the state in terms of a police presence. We also need to provide much, much more mental health treatment facilities, substance abuse treatment facilities. For decades, the state has neglected its obligation to provide a sufficient amount of services in that realm. We see the homeless out on the streets. It's clear they're not well. It's clear they suffer from mental illness and or substance abuse issues. We need to get them cleaned up and off the streets. It doesn't help them. And it certainly doesn't help us that they stay on the streets untreated. Yeah, you're totally right there, Keith. And Keith, in terms of COVID, we've all learned so many things through the last two and a half, almost three years now dealing with COVID. And what are your thoughts about mask mandates and shutdowns? Well, shutdown should be a last resort. I mean, we've all seen the economic impact of shutdowns. We've also seen just the impact on our mental health by not being allowed to go about freely like we have been before COVID. But having said that, I believe in trusting the science, following the science, I'm not a medical expert and listen to them. But it does seem that the severity of illness from COVID is going down and has been going down for a while now. And those who choose to, I urge, I recommend people to get vaccinated and get boosted if they're eligible for it. But government should be hesitant to impose the type of COVID lockdown restrictions that we had in the past. I believe that everyone should have freedom of choice. And so if you don't wanna wear a mask, you just be aware that you're running the risk of contracting COVID. Obviously, if you're sick, you need to do your duty and obligation to stay home and not get out there and infect other people. But I'm hesitant, as I said, Rusty, to go back to the previous lockdowns and I'm trusting that people will use their common sense and judgment moving forward. Keith, during the pandemic, what kind of drove me nuts and I'm talking to a lot of these small business owners is when, I think maybe it started with the federal government and then it kind of trickled down to the state governments where they would say, oh, only essential workers or essential businesses. Wouldn't you agree that every small business is essential because it's essential for that person and their family's survival? Of course, no question. And what I didn't like about the restrictions early on in the pandemic is the big box, mainland based grocery stores and retailers were allowed to operate, but the smaller mom and pops weren't. And if anything, it should be the other way around because the smaller mom and pops, the locally owned businesses, I mean, they're much more susceptible to economic downturns. These multi-billion dollar companies can far better weather the storm than our local mom and pops. And that's one thing I really didn't like about in terms of the disparity and how businesses were treated during the pandemic. Keith, I wanna ask you this about education. I mean, people have different thoughts about our education system, but I look at it in two ways. There's the education and then there's athletics. You, as the leader of our Hawaii High School Athletic Association, wouldn't you be able to really bring a lot of those same concepts over to the educational side to really make those necessary improvements from top to bottom? I think I could add value in the education portion of it. And for several years, for four years, I did serve on the board of education. So that helped broaden my resume, my knowledge, my network of contacts in the education field. And yes, I do believe that some of the principles that worked in running high school sports statewide can work in the education realm as well. Number one is more public-private partnerships. There's simply not enough money to fund athletics. And I learned that early on. And so I knew that I'd have to get money from other sources. And I knew that there were people in the private sector that believed in high school sports. Their kids played high school sports. They played high school sports. And so we got a lot of financial support from the private sector. We can apply those principles and concepts to the broader public education system. I really feel there's money out there from the private sector, but we have to assure them and prove to them that it'll be money well spent. And I think we can. There are large national foundations that have money. And so it's a matter of asking for that money to show them a plan to prove that it'll be well spent. And I think we can help our public schools tremendously. I also believe in as much decision-making being made on the local level. We do have a statewide public education system, the only one in the country, and certainly there's some benefits to economies of scale and uniformity of procedures. But Rusty, you know very well in sports in Hawaii, there's five leagues. There's the Oahu, Oa'e, the ILH, the public and private school leagues on Oahu, the Kauai Interscholastic Federation, the Maui Interscholastic League and the Big Island Interscholastic Federation. I cannot imagine high school sports falling under just one umbrella with ILH. It falls under the same rules as the KIF and the MIL. And they can't fathom that either. So there's something to be said about regionalizing education just like athletics is. I'm glad you brought that up because yeah, people don't understand how difficult it is to get all five leagues to really work together. And you really did that, Keith. So I was really impressed watching you during those years. And Keith, I wanna ask you, when you reflect back on your life so far, what's an important lesson you learn? I learned that you have to be passionate in whatever you do and you have to have perseverance. I mean, it applies to the sports realm as well. You know, Rusty, that you have to believe in what you're doing. You have to enjoy what you're doing and you have to keep fighting and never giving up. Just never give up. Just like in life, just like in sports, you're gonna have ups and downs, you're gonna have wins, you're gonna have losses. And when you have losses, you learn from them, you pick yourself off the ground, dust yourself off and you keep moving forward. And that's something that I think has kind of gone by the wayside in terms of our government leadership that there's not this will, this desire, this passion to keep fighting for our working families. They're getting lost in the shuffle and that's why I'm running for Lieutenant Governor because I've spent my career fighting for those without a voice, fighting for the underdog. And I'm gonna bring those same values and passion to the office of Lieutenant Governor. Keith, I wanna ask you one more question before we wrap up. What gives you fulfillment? What gives me fulfillment is making our communities a better place, doing my part, seeing our younger generation in particular grow and develop and prosper. That's something I really enjoyed running high school sports. That's something that I wanna expand to a statewide level. It's making our communities a better place just like what you're trying to do as well, Rusty. That gives me a great sense of fulfillment and joy. And that's the passion that's behind my run for Lieutenant Governor. I totally believe that, Keith, because you've been super successful everywhere you've been throughout your life. And to be in the public eye like this, I mean, I know that you are very passionate to really try to improve our state. And Keith, you're a man of great character and I really wanna wish you the best of luck in this run for Lieutenant Governor. And thank you for taking time to be on the show today. Well, thanks again for having me, Rusty. You have a great show. You're a great person. The communities across the state are lucky to have you. And all I can ask of your viewers is thank you for your time. Thank you for listening and I humbly ask for your vote and support come this primary election. Thank you, Keith. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. For more information, please visit rustycomory.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Keith and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. 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.