 Unity Matter is here at the two o'clock block on a given Friday and we have a wonderful surprise. We are honored to have with us today Senator Sharon Moriwaki, formerly gosh, a lifetime of energy, the LI Energy Policy Forum and various other things in and around the university and government. But now she's a state senator, we are so happy to have this conversation with her high Sharon Moriwaki, Senator Sharon Moriwaki. Hi Jay, I'm so glad to be back here in this seat which we had for many years together and I miss it quite frankly, it's good to be back. Yeah, we know you carved your initials in the table. Yeah, yeah, it's right there. So you decided to run for the Senate. This is really important and I would like, I like how listeners and viewers to understand why you did that and what, you know, what were the factors that made you do it and what were the experiences that made you win? You have 30 minutes on this. For me, it had to do with Kakaako, where I live and I think all of politics should be local. It should be where you come from, what the concerns are of the community and we quite frankly felt we did not have a voice at the state legislature. Students were going up without control, sea level rise without control, we don't have control, but you know, without being able to do something about it. We were active in those issues for a long time. And a lot of the community felt they weren't being represented and so I did look around for other people to run for the Senate to get that representation. We have it in the House. Speaker Spikey is a really good representative for Kakaako. He looks out for us and a number of bills were passed in the previously. So I decided if no one's taking it, I'll take it for the team. So I decided after long and hard thinking about what it would take, how much work there would be, and I had a group of supporters, my neighbors, who said yes, we're in it to win it, let's go. Do you have an issue driven, your community driven, it's different than a lot of people who run for office actually. We had a lot of issues, we had the Kakaako development according to plan, have good people on the board, have them listen to the community, of course we want building, we want to have housing for our residents. We want to have commercial activity, we want a roast paid, we wanted all of that but we also wanted it to be done in the idea, the whole idea of it was to build housing for our people, build activities for our people, build parks and trees for our people and it wasn't being done that way. Project by project came on, some of them had variances that were passed on and agreed to without hearing the community. So that was the genesis of it, as we went along, I had to study the community, so it was more than Kakaako, it was Waikiki, it was Makali, Mo'ili, Ili, and I went door to door as where I could, because a lot of, I think this district is the most condo rich district, so it really was hard to get into a number of these condos, but where I could walk. Just knock at somebody's front door in a condo. Yeah, you can't go in, they think they're restricted, they aren't, because we were able to get into some condos and I sent postcards out and so on, to send a message out that we really need a voice and I will be your voice, basically, that was the message. We need to preserve the Hawaii we love and we need to take control back of our community. This is old fashioned campaigning. Actually, when you talk about that, yes it was because I had no money, nobody was contributing to me, so I had to do it the only way I knew how, which was knock on the door so high. Yeah, and lo and behold, as I knocked on doors, they didn't know who their senator was, number one, or two, if they did, and I said, he was representing you for the past 10 years, how come you don't know, and they said, oh really, well, rather than they're too long, you know, it was either that or the other, and so then the momentum started to build because people had a choice, and to me, that's what a good side of politics is, is to give people a choice, you know, if you stay on too long and you forget who pays your salary, basically, it really should not be a career. Yeah, it really should be some, I mean, if you're doing a good job and you're really representing your community and you don't lose touch with your community, I think you continue on, but if you do, and sometimes the politics at a different level and for different purposes, they may all kind of relate back to your community. If I'm a chair, if I do this, I do that, I might bring home some capital improvements that I did, but overall, you really need to look at what is it that people want and need in your community, and every legislator does that, you know, just different ways in which you're doing, yeah. But what about Waikiki? That's, you know, this, you have a huge big district for sure. I do. We have a lot of population, a lot of construction, a lot of capital investment, maybe more than any other actually in the state. Waikiki, huge, big. It's the engine of our economy, and that's your district. It is, it is. And even there, we've got a lot of the hotels, the resort industry, but there is a sliver of residential. And the issue, which was the touch point, was short-term rentals. And that's where the hotels came together with the community, looking at unpermitted short-term rentals that were taking not only housing that could be affordable out of the, out of the pool, the inventory, but also raising the average daily, daily revenues, yeah, spending for the hotels. So there was an issue that had we not step back and say, what is good for our community? The marriage of all of these different sectors, so to speak, would not have come together and seen, oh, my God, this is taking away our Hawaii. And thanks to the city council and the mayor approving Bill 89 and now his law, teeth were put into enforcement, into the department planning and permitting for neighbors to call on the department to say, hey, I see too many coming through my building. Can you take a look at this and have some teeth to make sure that housing that is permitted or short-term rentals is for short-term people. And residential is for residents. It's all about housing. And in Kakaako, it's largely about the homeless, I suppose, in Waikiki as well. So that's a huge burden. That's a burden that Josh Green has rolled up his sleeves about. And I suppose that's one of the most important issues in our state. So now you get into the legislature. And you won, handily, as I recall. I was at your party, what do you call it? Fiction party. Yeah, and there were some people there. And I tell you, they love you. They come from all sides. They love you. And I guess the question is, so now there's the opening day in January this year about the middle of January. And people lining up at the door, well-wishers and all this. So what happened from that day till now in your experience in the ledge? So interesting, because you know what? We're there with you, Sharon. Thank you. We see it through your eyes. I need you there, Wendy. I need you there. That's what I tell people is that I'm working on your behalf. You have to tell me what you see as problems, what you see as possible solutions, because I'm one person in the legislature. But I can talk to other people if I have you behind me and saying, this is important for us. And this is important not only for our district, but across the board and other districts facing the same problems. My call was like the opioid epidemic and looking at me monitor that. So there were a number of bills that I was successful. I passed four bills. Really? Let's talk about that. OK, and then I had support because I sit on the housing committee. We got a number of the housing bills to get affordable housing continuing. And a lot of older people in my district. So we have a number of bills that are for the elderly to age in place passed. So on those issues, it was a banner year. And on some others, it takes more work. So we go back next year to work on those. So for me, it was rewarding to see that there are good people in the legislature. When you're on the advocate side, it's always so easy, because you just have one issue. You can go pull on, do all the work on getting it passed. On the other side, you've got other people have the same problems. And if I did something in my district, oh, it's going to impact the next district, because a homeless are going to move into my district. So you know, you say, oh, OK, let's go back to the join board and see what can be helpful to all of us on solving the homeless issue. Collaborative going on. It really is. And I was very pleasantly surprised that there is collaboration. And there is trading and all of that. But they do defer, at least in the Senate, they do defer that you come from a district. So when we rise to speak, I'm the senator from Kakaako. Of course, I want to say Kakaako, Waikiki, I want to come a colleague more early. You got to say it all in one piece. So I am the senator from Kakaako. So when things happen in Kakaako, at least I can voice my concern or my support, because that is my district. And it's a big district. I mean, I forgot to mention population. You have a huge number of people in your district, too. So you speak softly, carry a big stick. It's pretty diverse. So I see my district as having three communities. There's the Makalimo Ili, which is an older community. And then there's Kakaako, which is a younger professional. And some commercial people work and live there. And then there's Waikiki, which the residents are older. And they're more stable. But you have the resort area that you also need to balance with the residents. Yeah. So as your district goes, my view goes to state. There's so much economic activity and population in there, so much action going on. So there you are, January 15th or so, until now. And you sit in your office, a splendid senatorial office there in the legislative building. I humble a boat. People come in. They come in from your constituents, from the people you knocked on the door about. They come in from industry. They come in from other senators and representatives. They come in from all walks of government because you're oversight on so many agencies. What's it like? What do they say when they come in? Do they make demands? They say, Sharon, you promised me this, that. The other thing, deliver. What do they say? I do. But for the most part, I think people come with their stories. This is why it's important to me. This is why it's important to my clients. And they all come. And I think as an advocate, the easy job, as I said earlier, is you've got to know this is the right thing. But when you sit on the other side of the table, you hear all sides of everybody being right. And you want to. And you listen to that. So I think the hardest job is listening and making a decision in the end of what is the best for the largest number of people in our community. And there are a lot of different sides to the story. Well, you have special life experiences that led you to this place. I mean, one of them is you have multiple graduate degrees, including a law degree. You spend a lot of time at the university in public policy. You are familiar with the business community. You are familiar with the governmental community. I can't think of anybody really. I know who has been all around the state this way over many years, rubbing shoulders and making deals and motivating people to do things as you. So these skills have to play into the way it works as a senator. Tell me how that works. Again, this is just my first year. So I'm just learning. So for me, it's listening and learning. It's seeing what's important and hearing as many people as possible on the issues. There are many, many issues. And trying to make the best decision that will help the most people. So the difficulty is you don't hear from everybody. I get lots of emails. I get people walking by and people who pay people to walk by. And you have to weigh, because not all of the lobbyists are bad, right? They represent different groups that speak. Necessary part of the governmental structure. And going past that to, OK, when they come in and talk about an issue, I'll ask them, what is important then? What is the interest? How are you serving? What is a compromise? So I always ask them, what do you live with? Because in the end, you're not going to have all this or all that. But what can we work together on? And a lot of times, the advocates from the community, they don't have as much experience as the lobbyists who speak on behalf of their clients. They don't know. All of this or nothing. All of this or nothing. And it's educating as well to say, well, what if it wasn't all or nothing? What would work as a small step forward and test it out and see what happens? No. So that's kind of where I was this past session, not knowing a lot of the people who came before me. Just trying to see if there's common interest. And the interest has to be the public interest. What's your favorite part of the job? The people. It's the people, because you really like people. Yeah, it's the people, but it's also solving problems. It's looking at solutions and solutions that work. It's not all legislating. It's using the position to actually work out with communities and people who've not had a voice and working with who is in power or who has seemingly the upper hand to work together and see that you're serving these people. And having that conversation. And it may not always work one way or the other, but at least there's a conversation and understanding that, hey, you're here and we're giving this money to you or we're supporting you because you're supposed to be serving those lesser than we. You're having fun. I know you are. Yeah, partially. Yeah, I am, I am. I am because I feel that as an advocate, they can say, oh, that's just Sharon, right? And now, at least when I ask them to come to meetings and we discuss it, we can try to work on solutions. So I'll ask you a question that you always ask people in our programs on the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum. You should know the question I'm gonna ask you. What have been the most notable challenges for you in the past session? The challenges are challenges of any new environment. So the challenge for me was knowing what the environment was like. I mean, I had people telling me, oh, this or that, but I had to learn from myself and some were positive, some were not so positive, but you sort of work on it. And for me, if someone won't talk to me or they say, oh, you're lobbying me and I say, okay, and I will go back and say, okay, maybe there's another way to get there and through, and I won't name names, but through other people, the community saying, if you want this, you've got to get the data, you've got to do this and go talk to these people, not me, but you. And I think it's working with people who have the heart but don't have the know-how or the process or they're so passionate, they can't see that the endpoint is really more important than being right today. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so you learn more about the community this way. You learn maybe more than you knew even on how it works in these islands, but you also have the possibility of teaching people who come to you as one position or another about how it works and you become a facilitator in a very large sense. When I say become though, I want to ask you another question about becoming. How in the past, what is it, it's now seven months? Yeah. It was more than that almost a year since you actually ran in one. No, it's about seven months. How have you changed? Because this is all dynamic, Karen. You know, at any time in your life when you have this kind of transition, it affects you. So my question is, I guess it's semi-personal, is how does this affect you? How is it affecting you? You know, that's an interesting question because I don't think I've changed. Doesn't look like you've changed. Seemed like the same person to me. Yeah, I don't think I've changed. And I don't know, what is a senator, right? A senator works for the people. I was doing that before. A senator is there trying to get legislation through, I was doing that before. A senator has to listen, facilitate what the community interest is to try to get something through, whether administrative or legislative. I was doing that before. I don't see that I'm any different. I think I'm learning protocol and how to, you know, do the- Political correctness, so to speak. Yeah, and in the Senate, you know, you just don't stand up and speak, you know? I mean, there's protocol and so on. I need to learn that. And, but I don't think that I've really changed. But you knew a lot of legislators. I mean, for years and years, you dealt with them. On legislation, you appeared at committee meetings, you talked to them on and off about so many things. And they were not lofty like that because you knew them. They were your friends, your business and associates of one kind or another for years. So the question is, you know, now you're in similar relations with those same people who are still in office and with the people who come before all of you and my guess would be, subject to confirmation, my guess would be is it's kind of the same thing. There's a democratization and equalness, at least in the way you conduct yourself with those people, am I right? I think so and I think for most of my colleagues in the Senate, and well, I don't know the house. I mean, I know the Senate because that's where I was for the last seven months. There is that kind of collegiality, that kind of we're trying to do what's with our community. So, you know, some you're closer to than others. I mean, in terms of relationships. So you can talk, you know, I need to really discuss this matter or not. You know, I've got to get to know better and hopefully that will happen. Optimism rants. But I think everybody is there to do good. And that's what I think I've learned is that you can hear people say about this person or that person, you know, but when you're there and you're actually voting or deliberating and everybody is trying to, in their mind, it's doing good, you know? So it really is different being on this side of the table because you can see how hard the work is that you don't see on the other side, you say, oh, it's easy. How come they're not doing this? How come they're not doing that? And you can see where you get something in from the administration, you get something in. And you listen to the community. We do read the testimony. So I tell everybody, if you have anything to say about this bill, write it in in testimony because it's on the record. We read it and we try to adjust and make changes to the bill. And that's what the whole process is about. Make changes to the bill to address the concern that we're trying to correct with that bill. So right in, don't just say, I like it or I don't like it. It's why you like it, why you don't like it and what things can you correct. Your experience counts on that sort of thing for sure. The other thing that flows out of this is, gee whiz, you're a state senator. I mean, I mean, you know, when we came in the door at the studio, everybody stood up. So, because I made them stand up, Sharon. You made them stand up. You don't stand up, you gotta go. But you do have epaulets. You do have a title. And, you know, a lot of people who used to call you Sharon, they'd call you Senator Sharon. They'd call you Sharon. So that helps you get things done too. It does. It's not just a matter of respect or genuflection. It's actually helps you get things done. Can you talk about how that works? Yeah, I said previously I would call them and, you know, I get a call back or I don't get a call back. And the most part was I don't get a call back. You know, I keep trying and trying and I, you know, get a call back maybe, you know. Well, that's different now. At least they call me back. And if she calls you, you better call her back. At least they call me back now. At least they still get the same answer. They call back. I think there is something, especially people who have to work with the state and state agencies. I see state agencies needing to work faster, they need to not lose focus about why they're there. And I know that side of the house as well about how you can take the tank down the road saying you can't do something. Or you can say, this is our mission central and we need to get this done. So I think that. It's very important for state government, especially in Hawaii. It is, yeah. And for example, affordable housing and the Singapore model was really something that, you know, they say, well, we can't do that because it's a, you know, they do things differently. They're autocratic and so on and so forth. The fact of the matter is, when you look at the operating mechanism, sure it could come from the top and Li Kuan Du has already passed. But the fact of the matter is they had mission central. They had a goal. We're going to house everybody in the 60s. They had slums. They had no place for people to live. 50 years later, everybody has a roof over their head. It may be differently done than we would do, but it was mission central. So when we went to talk to these different agency heads or even not the agency head, it would be some staff at a lower level. It was the same message. This is what we have. We have to have so many thousand homes this year. The target is this. Everybody is going to have a resident will have housing. And they have now a real integrated way. So they've got housing development board builds the housing within this amount of the cost. And then the central provident bank, the fund, they make the employer pay 17%, the individual pay 20%. And you have now a fund that pays for healthcare for your retirement and you can use for mortgage for your down payment pay for your housing. It's all integrated and it's long range plan. But not only a plan, we all have plans. It's the plan is implemented, implemented. And it has a huge effect on the people in Singapore and Singapore's economy. And the whole thrust of what they do is that they are doing this for the people. We kind of lose sight that we're building housing, not the cost of the housing, but we're building housing for people. So what do our people need? And we lose sight of that because we're looking at cost and we're looking at the building and so on. But all of that is in Singapore was all focused on, we've got to do this because the people need it. So glad that Stanley Chang organized that trip. He's done a great job. So glad you went with him. There were 40 plus people that went all with the commitment to building affordable housing. Well, and you came back with lessons. You saw what they did, what Lee Kuan Yew organized there years ago. Great success, maybe a global success and now you're back. And it's in between right now, it's time to- And people who went, they're still working on it. So there will be, Senator Chang is holding a conference, I think sometime in November. And hopefully there was this last session, a bill that was passed to and signed by the governor. So to provide $150,000 to HHFPC to do a study to see what of that Aloha Homes concept that was in Aloha Senate Bill One can be actually developed and really get to 65,000 units, housing units by 2025. So there is some momentum building and hopefully it will continue in next session. Maybe you'll see some legislation and more, more people, more critical. To incentivize and to structure the construction of housing. Because other than, well, to me employment and housing are the two major problems of the state that we have to tackle. It's not tomorrow, it's already behind us. And you could talk about all the other areas. Education is important of course. And so is dealing with abuse, mental health and crime and so forth. But if you don't house people and you don't have jobs that keep our young talented people, you know what, our economy is slipping already. Yeah. Wow. You have a huge burden and you undertake it. On the other hand, you actually look more relaxed than I remember. So something along the line here is working. Well the session is the first session is over. I got past the first session. Go, pew! That's great. It's great to be able to talk to you and I hope I can come around at the opening January 15th. We're waiting to do this and come into your office and schmooze for a minute, you know? And also to follow what you're doing. I hope you can come back and give us the steps in the dynamic so we can understand how these issues are being addressed and handled in policy and implementation. And part of it is, I say, we only do the law, the policy. And so part of what doesn't happen and we really should do more of is to look at the law that was passed and go back to the agency. We passed this last year. What did you do in there? And we need to start asking more of those questions so that they really, the agencies have to implement what they get money to do. So I hope to do more of that. Yeah. And to remember how it all came about and connect the dots so you can move forward. I'm so glad you're there. I've been thinking about moving into Kakaako. Oh, good. You can come now and take my role on Kakaako United. Thank you, Sharon. Thank you for coming down. My pleasure. Sharon Moriwaki, Senator Sharon Moriwaki to you guys. We'll see you in the next session. OK, thank you. Nice being here again.