 Okay, we're back. We're live. I'm Jay Fidel. We're doing political stuff this afternoon. And we have a candidate for lieutenant governor right here among us. Senator Willis Sparrow from the Hawaii State Senate. Welcome to the show, Will. Thank you, Jay. I'm very happy to be here with you. Yeah, great. So we have lots of questions. So, you know, how is this end of these days? I mean, we had a little discombobulation there last spring. What was the process involved and how will that play out in 2018? Well, after session, as you know, there were some changes. And then there was a major bill that was this sort of hanging with the rail. So we were recently able to pass a rail bill that will get funding all the way to all the morning shopping center. And it looks like the federal government is okay with our funding plan if I read the news correctly. And recently also confirmed some judges. That's part of our responsibility as a state Senate. And overall, things are settled now in the Senate. Next year is a big year. Half of the Senate is up for reelection. And some of them, some of us are running for other seats. But certainly I think a lot of the issues that we took up this year that didn't pass will probably be taken up next year. For example, Airbnb collecting taxes or not. Possibly debt with dignity. Oh, yeah. Mail in voting. I had some housing measures where we needed to fund some huge amounts into our infrastructure, especially now that the rail transit developments are going to occur. And the state is the largest landowner along the rail system. And hopefully that will help us with housing. And there's a slew of other issues we'll take up. HSTA had an education tax bill that would have raised hundreds of millions of dollars and earmarks strictly for education. So, you know, those and others will certainly come up. I had a measure to ban sunscreen that had oxybenzone and that has received tremendous, tremendous attention not only in Hawaii, but internationally. And so that and many others, I'm sure you will be hearing and some that probably haven't been brought up will be coming up. Yeah, you've been very productive in the legislature. You've been productive on many issues, including the issues you mentioned, but on others too. And I recall, forget where I saw this, but you've, 95 of your measures have been adopted by the Hawaii State Legislature. Yes, I've been fortunate. And that's 18 years in the state legislature, of course, not just, you know, a short period of time. So they all add up over time. And I've been fortunate to get some bills passed and be productive and see some of my bills become law. That's very rewarding and gratifying. Yes. And now I'd like to take that experience and knowledge and contribute, but at the executive level and use what I've learned to look at the state in terms of managing it from a different perspective. Yeah, that's really interesting. I mean, it's not dissimilar from Koleen Hanabusa going back from Congress and, you know, putting her, putting her, staking her political career on the governorship. So do you lose anything in terms of leaving the Senate in order to run for lieutenant governor? Well, I am in midterm right now. In other words, I won re-election in 2016. And so to run in 2018, I will have to step down when I file, which is in June. And then the election is August 11th in the primary and on to November 6th, which happens to be my birthday. Well, maybe that's a really good thing. It might be a good sign and some foreshadowing and we will see. But certainly, you know, after 18 years in the legislature, I feel that this is a good time to move on. I'm 56 now. I'll be 58 next year. And I want to leave a legacy that I'm proud of that I could work with my colleagues to improve Hawaii. You know, I am concerned that our state is becoming a state of haves and have-nots. Yeah. And you can see it in our homeless. You can see it in the price of housing. And we need to do more in government to improve the quality of life of our residents and make certain that our children and others don't have to move away to the mainland to have a decent living. Yeah. Not easy, though, because these these processes you've described have been in play for a long time and various, you know, initiatives have come up to try to deal with them and not quite successful, I think. So why is your administration, I mean, as Lieutenant Governor, what will you do to really hit these things head on and make them, you know, resolve them? First of all, as the Lieutenant Governor I'll be the partner of the Governor. And whoever wins that race, I don't think I'll have any problem working with that individual. And I hope that we'll be able to collaborate together and look at the issues that we feel are necessary in order to improve the lives of Hawaii's residents, our elderly, our children, the working men and women. But I've been as a senator working on many issues and I would hope to also continue working on those. And that includes, you know, prison reform, you know, heavy on rehabilitation of inmates, law enforcement reform. I'd like to see a statewide Academy and standard for all law enforcement officers, body cameras and vehicle cameras, right? Because right now, each agency and the state and the county, they're all different than their piecemeal. And I think there should be one standard statewide for individuals who have arresting powers, who carry badges, who carry guns. I've been working on aerospace initiatives to build, you know, science, technology, engineering and mathematics jobs. Some of the low hanging fruits on there include building a small satellite launch area on the Big Island. Space tourism is looks like it's going to be coming. We're hoping to get an FAA spaceport license for the Big Island. Hank Rogers is working on that, isn't it? Well, Hank Rogers is working on that, but more more so on the moon base. Ah, that's right. Right. But Jim Christopher Lee, who was one of the key people in D-bed, was working on the spaceport license. That was my legislation. We're looking at building and growing Hawaii as an unmanned aerial systems test site. We're one of seven locations in the nation allowed by the FAA to do research and development on unmanned aerial systems. Drones. Exactly drones. And as you know, those have not only public use such as search and rescue or helping with beach patrols, looking at the forest and land, there's so many ways. But there's also the business applications, fisheries, agriculture, many uses for unmanned aerial systems. I can't even think of them all because there's so many. Nobody evokes in my mind a recollection of seeing you at the Pacific like communications conference you were two ago. And concluding in my mind that you are into technology or into the edge of the envelope in all ways. And that's why I think you've been so productive in creating legislation that meets the future. And I just trying to assimilate this. It just seems to me that as the problem with Lieutenant Governor is that usually he's marginalized or she, if there is a she, I don't know if we had a she, but usually Lieutenant Governor is under the shadow of the governor and never really sees the light of day. But you're such a valuable player and you've been involved in the substance of all this legislation. It's not just writing the bill and getting it passed. It's doing the research, engaging with the public, figuring out all the wrinkles and contingencies. This could be very valuable for any governor to have you there. Yes, exactly. Some people have asked me why do you want to run for Lieutenant Governor when you've been so successful as a state senator? And a couple have even called me an activist senator. But I tell them, it's not the position, it's the person. And I expect to be an activist, Lieutenant Governor as well, because I am elected by the people. And the people want our leaders to work together and to solve the problems of our state. And if you know my style and how I do things, I will continue that regardless of what title or office I hold. And I'm looking forward to having that opportunity. Yeah, and I would say in that regard that you're very approachable, accessible. And that in my view, and I wouldn't say this about everybody, I think you're a man of the people I do. Thank you. I think you can talk to you and you will listen to us and you will, we will see things through your eyes and you will see things through our eyes. This is a big connection support. I'd like to think that I'm very accessible and even on social media, I have my LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and I communicate with the public using those social media on many occasions, almost every day. We're gonna take a short break. That's Will Sparrow. He's a senator in the state Senate right now. He's running for Lieutenant Governor. And we come back from this break when I asked him about specific issues, some of the specific issues that he's been involved in or will be involved in as Lieutenant Governor. It's great to talk to you. We'll be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. We all play a role in keeping our community safe. Every day, we move in and out of each other's busy lives. It's easy to take for granted all the little moments that make up our every day. Some are good, others not so much. But that's life. It's when something doesn't seem quite right, that it's time to pay attention. Because only you know what's not supposed to be in your every day. So protect your every day. If you see something suspicious, say something to local authorities. Freedom. Is it a feeling? Is it a place? Is it an idea? At Diveheart, we believe freedom is all of these and more, regardless of your ability. Diveheart wants to help you escape the bonds of this world and defy gravity. Since 2001, Diveheart has helped children, adults and veterans of all abilities go where they have never gone before. Diveheart has helped them transition to their new normal. Search diveheart.org and share our mission with others. And in the process, help people of all abilities imagine the possibilities in their lives. We're here with Willis Barrow, Senator in the State Senate. And we're talking about his his run for Lieutenant Governor. And during the break, we had an interesting conversation. And I asked him, you know, do you agree with me that we are at risk, the state is at risk, the people are at risk perhaps more now than before, about, you know, negative, negative vectors and possibilities undermining our quality of life and so forth. And how we deal with that? This has to be a point in any campaign right now. What's your thought? Yes. You know, Hawaii, in my opinion, we're going through this pivot. And it's going to be maybe a 10 to 20 year pivot. You know, statehood was here in 59. And from 59, 69, 79, 89, you know, it was about this new state and the opportunities for others on the mainland. And what commercial businesses will be here and what investments can be made. And that was part of the new part of being in the United States of America. Then we came to this part where the newness of statehood ended and and we went through the nineties and 2000 in like where, what direction is our state going? Where will we be heading? And how will our local residents in be impacted, especially as every 10 years, more people are coming here, and the cost of living is going up and tourism is becoming and has become our number one industry. And now we're close to 9 million people. And can we maintain that? What's our capacity? Now we're looking at these bread and butter quality of life issues that's going to impact Hawaii in the next 20, 30, 40 years. What's the transportation infrastructure going to look at? Who's going to pay for it? The cost of housing, which is impacting everyone today from the homeless to that first time buyer. And then what type of jobs, as I mentioned, tourism will always be our number one industry, but we have so much competition from around the world. And we need to be able to diversify and create more jobs and utilize technology to our advantage. Because with technology, you literally have the world at your fingertips and how we use technology, especially within our school system will be so important. And all of these issues are really going to determine whether the future is going to be a future where the rich and the wealthy control everything and are calling the shots, or can we maintain an idyllic quality of life? Like the old in days, although the cost of living was going to be a big factor, but how are we going to deal with just the social aspects of a growing population and everything else needed to live on an island state with limited land and thousands of people coming every 10 years? We have to recognize those things. We even really recognize them. And at the end of the day, we lose our best and brightest. They go to the mainland. At the end of the day, you have that dichotomy, that polarization of wealth and culture and attitude in general. And then you have disconnection from government, lack of confidence in government. All these things are on the, and the center of it, I think, is economic, don't you think? Because we have these unliquidated liabilities coming up in tens of billions. How are we going to pay for all that? To me, if we could solve that problem, it would help, would really help. Well, what's most important for any state, any city, any country is to have a strong economy and to have jobs for our residents so that these individuals can not only take care of their families and their needs, but can, you know, contribute with their taxes. And we have visitors who will want to come here because this is continually, continually being one of the most beautiful places to visit. And so, you know, how can we compliment tourism, for example, with a diversity of jobs? One area I like to see more government assistance and help is culture and the arts. We have very, very many talented and skilled individuals here. Artists, you know, painters, sculptors, writers, songwriters, singers, musicians, architects, fashion designers. This is what I use, creativity, the innovation of using one's mind. And we need to help promote these individuals in all of these endeavors. And with branding and marketing and the IT that Hawaii, the knowledge we have, we should be able to assist these people because the world is our customer, a billion people. And if we could promote Hawaii as a culture and arts destination, having the best in all of these, we should be able to bring tourists here, as well as allow individuals to possibly make a second income, part-time work, and for those that can, a full-time income. So, for example, Mary Monarch, that's one of the premier hula competitions and dances in the world. We have Pow Wow, which started in Hong Hong, and then got a base here in Hawaii that brings urban artists here. Recently, my friend Danny Kassler and his gang just celebrated their five-year anniversary of Pacific Ink and Art Expo, which is one of the best tattoo conventions now in Hawaii. And just last year, there was Honolulu Biennial that brought 90,000 attendees through seven art locations. Yeah, we covered that. And yes, and it was a combination of international artists, as well as local artists. And then you look at our fashion and Namba, the gentleman that just recently was in New York Fashion Week. Oh, yeah, sure. Right. Local guy. Exactly. And we have iconic shirts like Tori Richards, Zig Zane, Hilo Hattie. There's so much that we have to offer to the world. Those are our products. We don't have factories, but we have intellectual products. We have cultural products. We have artistic and musical products. Right. And that culture and arts is something that that the state government can assist and help brand. And that's one area I want to do. And then you throw in things like the film industry and sports. And of course, you know, we have Academy of Creative Media, where we are now educating our children and students to become filmmakers. And those filmmakers can tell the story of Hawaii and as well as, you know, come up with fantasies, stories and dramas and mysteries that everyone likes to read and sports. You know, we have outstanding athletes, Marcus Moriota, who was a Heisman trophy winner, Duke Kahanamoku, who was an Olympic swimmer. And we need to promote Hawaii as a sports destination. We are a sports destination now, but we can do so much more. Yeah, I mean, in sailing, in golf, I was just on the big island and they just had the triathlon. That's our product. Exactly. The Honolulu Marathon brings 20,000 people, I believe. And we should do more with like X Games type of sports. And even these sports where you could easily put them in a convention center like maybe badminton or ping pong, you know, the Chinese are big on ping pong. They're about to make a huge investment on the west side. They bought some Koalina hotel lots and some existing land between Kapolei and Koalina. And so, you know, there is a market out there for the Asian Pacific arena. There's a market for the South America, the Pacific side and the United States and Canada. And we, being right where we are, need to take advantage of our location and become this gathering place, which we are, which is what Oahu is called, the gathering place. Yeah, that's great. Those are great ideas. I really totally agree with that. You know, not the first one who said that, but I certainly agree with the way you put it. So, how do you deal with some of the, you know, the cultural problems that we have? We have, you know, sovereignty issue. We have activists on so many issues, environmental issues, which are sometimes real, sometimes not. And we have, you know, TMT kinds of issues where people are resisting progress in science. How do you deal with that? How should the state government deal with that? It starts with a conversation. You know, we have to have our government leaders, our community leaders on a regular basis, as needed, to sit down and talk about these problems that are going to impact us. And if we can't sit down and talk and listen to each other, we're going to have problems. Understanding as well that there's going to be a point in time where decisions have to be made. And some of those are difficult, tough decisions. But regardless, I believe everyone has Hawaii's best interest at heart. And sometimes, many times, we're in agreement. And sometimes we disagree. And that's where we have to have conversations through our media, through the newspapers, through shows like this, through social media. We have to have discussions at the university level and at the school level, at the business level, the Chamber of Commerce, and have to understand that we need to be working together. And we need to understand that no one here wants to control everything and push people around. We have to treat each other with respect and dignity and understand that sometimes maybe a compromise is needed. And sometimes also you need strong leadership. You need leadership that says, no, I mean it, I mean it, I mean it, I'm not going to change my mind. I want you to follow me. Exactly. But you can't do that without that conversation. But I completely agree with you that there is a point in time where we need to be assertive in leadership. You have to have good management. And hopefully that decision is the right one. And sometimes you don't know until you implement it. But you know, I feel that I'm the type of individual that can talk with anybody. I like to listen. And I'm very open to issues and concerns that everyone has. And at the end of the day, the public has a good gauge of what's right and what's wrong. And sometimes it's just a matter of listening to the public and then making certain that what we do does not harm or hurt our local residents. Well, it goes to a problem that's happening nationally. And of course you have Trump in his base, which is unfortunate no matter what he does. And then you have the rest of the country who's kind of losing confidence in him. And this has been going on for a long time. Some say it's been going on since Vietnam. The public is not confident of the government. They don't feel that the government represents them or that they are part of the government, you know, which is actually the truth. And I wonder how you feel about that on a state level. There's a certain lack of confidence, if you will, things negative things happen in the press either accurately or maybe inaccurately reports it and people get discouraged and they begin to lose confidence in the government. And after a while I say, oh, I don't want to deal with this issue. I don't want to deal with my relationship with the government. This is really tragic all over the country. Do you see a parallel there? You see this as a, as a, you know, a kind of phenomenon happening in Hawaii. And how would you make the public, you know, adequately confident? How would you make the public feel that they are part of the government, that the government is part of them, that we're all in this together? Yes, well, what's happening at, at the federal level in Washington DC is, is so unique and unusual to use a euphemism. It's certainly a style and we have leadership that we've never seen. And that certainly raises questions and concerns. But that being said, I think it's important that as a leader, you have to be out of front and you have to be honest. And you have to be able to, as I said earlier, have a discussion and listen. And then when you make a decision, you have to be able to explain it properly and make certain that people understand your rationale. You expect that based on your conversations and the expertise around you and the public, and all the other data and information you're making the best decision. But certainly the residents and our constituents need to understand the process. I think that's a big part of it and that they are a part of it and that their input is necessary. And that's where I feel that I can contribute and I'm willing to do as I'm doing now. It's just going to be hopefully with if I have the voters support at a state and greater level as the Lieutenant Governor. I feel that I'm going to be okay between now and my elderly years. But I'm concerned about that child being born today, that high school senior right now, that college student that has 30, 50, maybe even $100,000 worth of debt, that these individuals are going to get a good paying job, that they're going to be able to afford a house and that government is going to make the right decisions that's going to help them. I want to be a part of that discussion and conversation. And that's why I've been in office for 18 years. And when you add my time with Mayor Frank Fossey, I had eight years. So I've had 26 years of government experience. You don't look that old will. Well, when you don't have any gray hair, that hides a lot. Well, I think it's great. And I want to ask you one more question before we're running out of time. And that is, you know, talk about confidence in government. We have this kind of scandalous affair going on with the police in the city. Now, of course, that's not a state issue. But I wonder if you have any comments on how we can achieve confidence in that regard and finally get a new police chief and feel that everything is under control. Well, yeah, that was an area that I was intimately involved in when I was the Public Safety Chairman. And one thing we need to do as a state is have a state law enforcement academy. We don't have one where all of our state law enforcement officers are trained properly and the same so that if they move from division to division or agency to agency, we know they have the skills. That includes our our Department of Transportation officers, our deputy sheriffs, our Harbor police, our DLNR officers, Attorney General has some police officers. And then we need to have good and better oversight of law enforcement, especially at the county level. Now, I feel that it was lacking in the past. And that's why we've had some of these problems at the county level. And I'd like to see more oversight and more public input at their meetings. And then look at areas like body cameras and vehicle cameras and look at maybe some of the bargaining contracts of our law enforcement officers where sometimes they might commit a crime or do some bad behavior misconduct. And then they are terminated. And then they have possibility of coming back if they grievance. But so there's a lot of areas. And that's probably another show that we can talk about. But, you know, this new chief that they're about to hire needs to be a chief that's willing to make reforms. And I believe that there are a couple candidates that can do that. And hopefully the right decision will be made there. But certainly there are areas in law enforcement statewide where we can make some changes and make it better for all of our residents, as well as the officers themselves, of which the majority of our officers are professional law-abiding citizens. So we want to improve their law as well. Your experience is showing. And it counts. I mean, all the years of the legislature and the government in general help you understand these issues and find a better path. And it sounds to me that you would not be the ordinary kind of lieutenant governor. You would be more proactive and you would, you know, take a role with the governor to establish a joint policy on some of these things. But one thing is clear that you and I have to continue the conversation. I hope you don't mind. We have to drill down some of these issues you've touched on. Yes. And I hope you'll come back for that purpose. Certainly we'll do. Thank you very much. Thank you. Senator Willis-Sparrow running for lieutenant governor and joins us today in discussing the issues in the legislature and in the state in general. Thank you so much. Thank you.