Future of our Maui County with BioDiesel?

Summary & Transcript

Jason Schwartz discusses Environment, Local & National Politics, Bio diesel and the future of our County with KELLY KING of Pacific BioDiesel – 6 –9 – 2025

Detailed Summary

The conversation opens with a warm welcome to Kelly King, noted for her clear and honest voice in Maui’s local politics. Reflecting on her experience as a three-term council member and her mayoral run, she shares candid critiques of both local and national governance. Kelly stresses the importance of transparency, recalling how openness in government facilitates trust and sound decision-making, a stark contrast to recent trends she finds alarming, especially under the Trump administration. She critiques the federal budget priorities under Trump, pointing out the hypocrisy of claiming fiscal responsibility while cutting social services and spending extravagantly on military parades.

On a local level, Kelly expresses deep frustration with Maui’s current council, which she believes is heavily influenced by developers who prioritize luxury housing projects over affordable housing for residents. She recounts how during her tenure, the council was able to complete two affordable rental housing projects for low-income families, providing housing at rents as low as $511 per month. She questions why the current council settles for projects that deliver only a fraction of affordable units embedded within luxury developments, highlighting a failure to meet community needs.

Kelly also discusses the marginalization of community voices in public hearings, where overwhelming opposition to developments is often ignored or overridden by council votes. In some cases, councils bring in paid union representatives to testify in favor of development, muddying the authenticity of public input. This manipulation erodes trust and fuels community unrest, especially in South Maui, where long-time residents are increasingly priced out.

Election integrity is another critical concern Kelly raises. She details how thousands of legitimate votes were discarded by the county clerk under dubious claims, significantly impacting election outcomes. Efforts to observe ballot counting were blocked, violating constitutional rights of political parties to oversee elections. Kelly calls for greater transparency and citizen engagement to safeguard democratic processes from corruption.

The discussion shifts to solutions, with Kelly emphasizing the role of affordable housing in addressing homelessness and social problems. She highlights projects that have successfully moved homeless working individuals into stable housing, enabling them to participate fully in the community.

Kelly then introduces Pacific Biodiesel’s efforts toward fostering local renewable energy through regenerative agriculture. By growing oilseed crops like sunflowers locally, the company produces biodiesel and culinary oils, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and chemicals. This approach not only supports environmental sustainability but also strengthens local economies and food systems. She laments the lack of cooperation from Maui’s utility and planning authorities, which hinders the expansion of such initiatives.

Throughout the interview, Kelly stresses the need for broad citizen involvement and political activism to challenge entrenched interests and corruption. She points to protests and grassroots movements as vital expressions of community power. However, she also expresses skepticism about the current political landscape and the difficulties of mounting effective campaigns without substantial backing. She urges people to step out of their comfort zones and engage deeply with local and national issues.

The conversation concludes with reflections on the countywide policy plan, a 30-year vision document meant to guide Maui’s development but often overlooked by current officials. Kelly underscores that truly effective governance requires alignment with shared values and long-term planning, not just short-term political gains or catering to developers.

In sum, the video presents a comprehensive, passionate, and sobering look at the political, social, and environmental challenges facing Maui and the nation. Kelly King emerges as a knowledgeable and dedicated advocate for transparency, justice, sustainability, and community empowerment, urging collective action to reclaim governance for the people.

Highlights

• [01:56] Transparency in government fosters trust; secrecy and unilateral decisions undermine democracy.
• [08:33] Maui’s affordable housing crisis worsens as luxury developments dominate council priorities.
• [13:29] Community testimony is often disregarded; paid union voices are used to justify unwanted developments.
• [25:28] ️ Election integrity compromised by exclusion of vote watchers and discarding of ballots.
• [40:49] ️ Stable affordable housing is key to addressing homelessness and social stability.
• [46:13] Local biodiesel and regenerative agriculture offer sustainable energy and economic benefits.
• [55:48] Shared vision and values, as outlined in the countywide plan, are essential but often ignored.

Key Insights

• [01:56] Transparency as a Governance Pillar: Openness in government is not only ethical but practical, making it easier to defend decisions and build community trust. Kelly’s reflection on her council experience suggests that transparency is a safeguard against corruption and alienation.
• [08:33] Affordable Housing Feasibility vs. Political Will: The contrast between past affordable housing achievements and current failures reveals that barriers to affordable housing are more political and financial than technical. Kelly’s advocacy indicates that pushing for 100% affordable developments is both possible and necessary.
• [13:29] Manipulation of Public Input: The use of paid testimonies to counteract authentic community voices exemplifies how democratic processes can be distorted by vested interests, leading to decisions that do not reflect grassroots needs and priorities.
• [25:28] ️ Election Transparency as a Threatened Right: The procedural barriers and lack of oversight in local elections point to systemic vulnerabilities that can disenfranchise voters and undermine confidence in electoral outcomes, highlighting the need for robust monitoring and reform.
• [40:49] ️ Housing as a Social Determinant: Providing safe, affordable housing directly impacts multiple social outcomes, including employment stability and educational opportunities, illustrating that housing policy is central to broader social justice.
• [46:13] Renewable Energy and Local Self-Sufficiency: Pacific Biodiesel’s model illustrates how integrating local agriculture with renewable energy production can create resilient systems that reduce environmental impact and foster economic independence, a blueprint for sustainable community development.
• [55:48] Vision and Policy Disconnect: The existence of a comprehensive countywide plan suggests that Maui already has a roadmap for sustainable and equitable growth. However, the failure of elected officials to adhere to this plan signifies a governance crisis where political interests override long-term community welfare.

This conversation serves as a clarion call for enhanced civic participation, transparent leadership, and innovative sustainable solutions to tackle Maui’s and the nation’s pressing challenges. It offers both a critique of current failures and a hopeful vision grounded in community empowerment and environmental stewardship.

Full Transcript with Timestamp

00:00:00 – 00:01:31[Music] Good morning everyone. Aloha. We are in June of 2025. Isn’t that amazing? Welcome to the [Music] show. Good morning everyone. Well, it is June I don’t even know June 9th I think of 2025. I am looking at someone across the way here that if you’ve been watching our show or if you’ve been awake and you’ve been on Maui, you would know that Kelly King has been a I want to say a sane voice through uh an amazing amount of things going on both locally and in the world. And um welcome to the show, Kelly. Thank you

00:00:45 – 00:01:52so much. Mahalo and aloha to you and to Tony out there in techland. um really happy to be here and and talking with you today. Well, now that you’re a private citizen again for a while, you probably have an even more broad perspective, but when you were on council for three terms, correct? And you ran for mayor against Mr. Michael Victorino, so I remember. And um then there was another thing. And now we have Richard Bisson for a while. And I think it’s next year. Is it mayor come up next

00:01:19 – 00:02:33year? It does. Yes. I ran when I ran for mayor, it was basically against Victorino and Biss. Yeah. So, here we are now. We’ve had quite a few big world changes that uh make my stomach turn in some ways. Um, our president, Donald Trump, although I agree with the sanity of balancing a budget, I don’t go in with a hatchet and I don’t do things without open conversation. That’s what I noticed when you were on council. You were transparent. Everything was on the table, clear, you could discuss things00:01:56 – 00:03:02clearly. Well, when you’re doing the right thing, it’s easy to be open about it. Um, I I would differ with you on the term balancing the budget because I don’t think that was Trump’s um ultimate goal uh with this budget because you don’t balance you don’t take away people’s health care and social security um go after illegal immigrants and then throw yourself a $95 million military parade and say that you have any interest in balancing the budget. Well, if we were talking about anything that00:02:29 – 00:03:34makes sense, we wouldn’t be talking about Donald Trump. That’s true. But I just like the idea when I I think it was Clinton, right? That was 25 years agoish when the b the budget was balanced. So, if anyone kicked it out of the line, it was Bush. Well, and we, you know, and we’ve had with the last uh with the Obama um years as well, we’ve had uh surpluses in our budget and then uh people like Bush and Trump come along and we’re in major deficit. This current budget that they’re trying to pass00:03:00 – 00:04:01surpasses any other attempt to um to basically corrupt our government and our budget. and the amount of money that’s being spent on the wealthiest people uh versus the amount of money that’s being cut from the most needy program, the most the programs that serve the most needy people. uh it’s it’s an abomination you know the the um and to put us in what something like uh I forget how many trillions additional debt the US it will be in after this if this budget passes besides all the00:03:32 – 00:04:26damage it’s going to do to the lives of right and we have basically to have somebody running this country who doesn’t doesn’t give a damn because he’ll be gone he’ll be rich he’s got all the people that are you know licking his boots voting his way I don’t understand why I don’t understand how they stay in office. Let’s tell the truth. I don’t know how people that have need think that Donald Trump is their golden boy. Just does not make any sense. It doesn’t00:03:59 – 00:04:54make a sense for the number of people and it and it happens locally too who vote against their own self the Christian right and the fact that religion could get their doorway into politics and they used him. It’s a it’s a white nationalist movement but it’s not Christian. There are Christian movements that are trying to beat down the white nationalist movement because they understand there’s nothing Christian about it. Um they claim to be uh behind Trump who doesn’t even go to00:04:26 – 00:05:20church by the way is not a Christian by any stretch of the imagination. And yeah, it does baffle the mind and we have that here in Maui too where people are voting against their own best interests. You know I’ve seen this the communities come out against some of this luxury development that the council is pushing through and you know you guys voted for them. you put them in office and we’re getting what I mean and and you know to be honest they weren’t telling the truth you know to the person00:04:54 – 00:05:47that I ran against for him to say he was for affordable housing when he’s never built a single affordable housing unit and he’s never instigated a single affordable housing project and then he’s calling himself an environmentalist when he cut the budget for the wetlands and for you know he’s against a lot of the environmental moves that we made when I was on the council. So, and it was just a few votes. Otherwise, you would have been sitting there now. It’s a few votes and they were votes that were there that00:05:20 – 00:06:21um were uh let’s see over I think it was over 1,200 votes that were thrown out by the county clerk. I remember that. That’s over four times the national average that she threw out based on phony accusations that their signatures didn’t match. So, you know, it was it was definitely contrived and had people look at the numbers and go over the voting roles and say, “Basically, you won, Kelly.” You know, you did win this election. Well, as they say, it isn’t over till the fat lady sinks. You’re still here in00:05:50 – 00:06:58a very, I would say, thick. You have been and still are an incredibly important, vitable, central voice in the community. I’m sure you have more phone calls than you know what to do with with you may not have the same power, but your visibility has sure shown off your ability to be transparent and deal with truth and good ideas in an open way. And you’re willing to change that environmental and climate committee that I so appreciated way back when was such an important thing right on the front00:06:25 – 00:07:37lines that we could be grabbing these technologies. You remember me a big fan of Michael Smith and Regenitech? Yes. Montana, they’ve got a fully functioning thing up there. Well, we did fund the the uh feasibility study and 1800%. Michael, I said 3,000. Michael, no, it’s only 1,800%. Increase in the microbiome in three months on a little rag tag test without I mean, incredible technology that needs a market. Well, I want to create the global awareness in the global market. I always told Michael,00:07:01 – 00:07:55send people home from Maui with a, you know, with a gallon of Regenitech liquid or have it sent in as well. I’ve been I was trying to get some of the actual, you know, to test so I could I could verify what they were saying. And um I kept getting this uh um It’s hard to tell. Well, I was being told it it was going to You don’t know. Well, you know, and it was I was being told they were going to charge me5 or $10,000 just to get a sample and I like I’m not I can’t do that. But you accomplished the most00:07:28 – 00:08:32important piece. That little study really really cemented it in my mind that this is an incredible opportunity for the world and you know to be able to put carbon in the soil and have power and have extra food. Well, that’s what governments should be doing. We should be making decisions based on knowledge. And if you don’t have the knowledge, then you need to bring that expertise in. And that’s what doesn’t happen on this council is there’s so they’re uh they seem to be extremely aligned with00:08:01 – 00:09:06the developers who want to put luxury housing all over this island with only a smattering of affordable I mean we it’s it’s I think it’s an abomination to say this is an affordable housing project why 670 when it’s going to bring us 20% or less of affordable housing and most of it’s going to be luxury housing and trying to tell us that you’re not going to get affordable housing unless you take the luxury. When I was on the council, we we started and finished two affordable rental projects that were for00:08:33 – 00:09:32the lowest AMI. The folks making, you know, 25 $30,000 a year could get a two-bedroom apartment for $511 a month. That’s awesome. And we finished those projects when I was on and I we started other ones. All of the I have a list of like I think six or seven projects that we u were either started when I was on the council or I actually instigated them and they were they’re 100% affordable. So it shows we can do 100% affordable. Why is this council settling for less than what our people need? It’s00:09:03 – 00:10:03because of the you know there’s a they’re walking handinhand with developers and you can see them out to lunch together. You can see them during breaks going behind closed doors with the developers. Wow. I’m sure it’s hard for you to go into the room there and watch all the testimony. 95% for one thing and watch the council vote a different way. Oh, it’s so it’s hard for the community and it’s happening. We have no representation that cares about the the South Maui community. Um because you can see that00:09:33 – 00:10:38in the vote, right? When somebody can can watch for six hours testimony going against a certain development and they have no qualms, there’s no changes in the bail. Well, they push it through with little no conditions. Yeah. Well, I mean, I I have a real challenge in that uh people get into the seat and I don’t Some would say it’s because now they have more knowledge and so they vote differently, but that doesn’t appear. I mean, I I think Tasha Kama, I’ve known her for years and00:10:05 – 00:11:05years, wonderful lady, encourage. That’s what I mean. It’s like now in the seat that she sits, you’ve worked in some ways with her. I would think she’d be the strongest advocate for the people. They got their hooks into her early, Jason, and they the I mean, we watched it. The developers, the corporation council, they’d take her to lunch. They’d go have meetings with her in her office. Um the conservative members on the council would would form coalitions even though that’s illegal. And so I00:10:35 – 00:11:44think from day one the more progressive council members watched it happen from in in within three months she was not the person that was elected to office and she never has been. And you’ve watched the who’s funding the fundraisers who’s supporting the fundraisers. It’s the big corporations. It’s the developers. Um they’re they’re making her life is very cushy. They spent uh on both my race and and the race that that Caroli Kamik Kona ran against um Tasha Kama the um the packs and the00:11:10 – 00:12:08establishment and the conservative groups that wanted luxury housing because of the billions that they’re going to make off of it spent close to half a million dollars on each of those campaigns against us. Against us. Wow. Yeah. So this is um and you still became within a breath and some would say well and I think I won but it was corrupted by the I remember we had our thing here with Bruce I would say Bruce Douglas when we did that whole thing and we won in the state and then can’t make local00:11:39 – 00:12:30decisions and decisions are made up the line and that doesn’t care what you guys voted for we’re going to do this. Yeah. Yeah. That was that’s the GMO movement that that was like an amazing thing to see. It was an amazing thing. I was on the mainland. I mean, I voted before I but I was on the mainland taking care of my elderly father um when that vote happened. And I remember going to bed thinking that we had lost and waking up and realizing we had won. I mean, it’s happened, you know, it happened with00:12:04 – 00:12:58Alikica Thai with his race. He, you know, he found out he won the next morning. So, you know, there’s there’s there’s the will of the people and then there are things that are happening to squouch that will and it’s ongoing. Some of it happens during elections to quality elections and make sure that the powers that be keep control of our council and some of it happens on an ongoing basis which is what’s happening right now. You know when you see all the testimony going one way. I mean some of00:12:31 – 00:13:33us we’re trying to encourage people to keep testifying and really people who should know that that even if your voice doesn’t matter to our council it matters to our community and it informs the next generation. So, it’s really important for people to not give up, just keep speaking out. Again, you know, when when we see the amount of testimony that comes from the community going one way, and we know that the only ones against it are ones that have been organized by the union, by the carpenters union or00:13:02 – 00:13:56one of these packs. They’re not people who even live in Kihei usually. And and our council member knows that and still votes with them, you know. So, they’re trying to give themselves cover by bringing in um paid union employees or people who are paid to be there and testify. They’re trying to give themselves some cover saying, “Here are the people that want it.” And yet, they’re supposed to be doing the best for our community, which we’re not getting. So, there’s there’s a growing00:13:29 – 00:14:24unrest in South Maui for the people that have lived there a long time and the people who are attached to South Mau. I mean, we’ve got one real active young lady, local Hawaiian activist, who is living in Makawa because she can’t afford Kihei anymore. She desperately wants to get back to Kihei. Um, so there’s, you know, when you see people testifying for South Maui, they’re usually people who have either, you know, either lived there or have worked there or um want to come back to South00:13:56 – 00:15:08Maui. They’re not nobody nobody who’s testifying for truly affordable housing is getting paid to do that. Well, and they’re all local people that have lived here, many of them, their whole lives, and have seen Maui become unaffordable and a transition from a local place that a family would go on the weekend and now they find a hard way to find a parking space. Well, yeah, except this week because tourism is down. Well, isn’t there like a there’s a there’s a travel ban because of our uh00:14:32 – 00:15:27our president who thinks this is the best thing. You know, I mean everything is an attack on his enemies. So, we all know that. But, you know, what he says to the people who actually believe what he says is, you know, we’re trying to make it safer for you. Well, everybody who depends on tourism, which is, you know, more than half the country, uh, for their job or for their business, is uh suffering right now. And all of our businesses are challenged. I mean, when you go out and you’re in a restaurant00:15:00 – 00:16:04for an afternoon or Oh, yeah. There’s no service anymore. Well, there’s less employees, but there’s also less customers. Right now, it is a I don’t know how they tell us 20%. I don’t know how that number could be possible. It’s more like 80. people I know that own condos that not only do they tell you they’ve cut their their monthly and the month daily rate so down that even if they got full but they’re not full they are stuck in a real crisis which I mean the real estate thing is going to happen00:15:32 – 00:16:36we don’t know exactly whether the buyers or sellers whether it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out but we have a real crisis how when we don’t have luxury housing and we don’t have that revenue and you want to do affordable. You got to make a plan. I have a plan. I don’t talk about it except every time I breathe every but I have no you know that thing about power. That’s why I asked you that way. If you have an idea and you go to Miss or Mrs. X but you’re not on council. Do you have00:16:04 – 00:17:07as much attention from a group that backs one of those developer groups where you could say, “Look, we’ll give you a way to do this where you can have your cake and eat it too. You want that one? Listen, they at least listen. But do you have that kind of an ear of a developer? Maybe I do with a couple of particular developers who actually care about the community. I mean, when I was sitting through the the um really shattered process of the community plan for South Maui, I mean, it was it was a00:16:36 – 00:17:26almost a joke of a process in the beginning because it was changing venues all the time. They weren’t doing virtual accessibility even though all the other boards and commissions had it. They were giving us lame excuses for why they would have to cancel or move it or change the time or whatever. And then you had to be there. So of course all the development side was there because they get paid to be there. The citizens you know no we can’t show up at dinner time when we’re raising families and you00:17:01 – 00:18:05know trying to get ready for the next day and you won’t give us virtual accessibility. So that was a hard fought thing. But the other part of it is we need citizens to stand up for the community and the people that we put on that that CPAC while we appreciate all the work they put into it would not stop the process until it was correct. I kept asking them stop meeting just stop meeting because you don’t have a consistency and uh virtual participation. We don’t have a um a South Maui. We didn’t have uh for I00:17:33 – 00:18:22don’t know how many years we didn’t have a South Maui member on the Maui Planning Commission. And so we were trying to get them to stop their process. We we just had so little representation and the process kept moving ahead because, you know, basically in our county government, our planning department is not a planning department. It’s a development department. They should call themselves the permit department because all they do is give out permits to wealthy developers. That’s basically what they00:17:57 – 00:18:53and they and they walk hand in hand with them. So I watched uh when I was going through that process, I watched the process not work. I watched the people that were the couple people who were trying to stand up for our rights in South Maui. People like Daniel Kahel and Cody Nett try to make a um you know try to give an opinion and say what should be done and be totally ignored by the other and everybody was the South Maui resident. So we had a couple of people we put on there that we thought would be00:18:25 – 00:19:17advocates that you know didn’t take them too long to start supporting the developers. And so um while I was watching you know and the developers were giving given an opportunity to make presentations to that committee whereas none of the environmentalists were invited to come and when I when I challenged that to the chair and I said why aren’t why aren’t you inviting the environmentalists to come so we could talk about the wetlands so we could talk about preserving the the turtle hatchlings and things like that. Well00:18:52 – 00:19:42they know where we are. That was the answer I got. They know where we are. Yeah. And so the answer was since the developers reached out and wanted to do these presentations, we’re going to let them do it. But since the environmentalists didn’t bug us in the same way, they don’t get their their um time at the table. And I’m thinking, well, the developers are doing it because there’s money in their pocket, so of course they’re doing it. You have to realize these you have to be in a00:19:17 – 00:20:10position to realize these things and stop the bad acting, you know, the bad actors. So part of what you know when I was when I was I was trying to I was still on the council when this when the CPAC started the the community plan um advisory committee and so I was trying to give them a lot of advice about how to run the committee because this is a a community committee. This is not the planning department’s committee. This is not the planning commission’s committee. It’s the CPAC committee. They’re00:19:44 – 00:20:30supposed to support you. The planning department is supposed to support you. But you’re letting them tell you what to do. Right? you know, if I was the chair of that, I would have just said we’re not having any meetings until they’re virtual and then we can go forward and and you know, other things too that happened. So, that was really disappointing and it’s it’s it’s part of the history of Maui that I think we had set aside for four years when we had a progressive majority on the council. We00:20:07 – 00:21:05actually started looking at what was best for the people and what the people wanted and needed and getting that getting the votes for those things. Um so while I was sitting through the developer um presentations and all the things that they were going to do to our community with all of their luxury housing um there was one developer and I I won’t name him but I um he his presentation was basically what does the community want in need and I just went wow that I’ve never seen that from a00:20:36 – 00:21:35developer before. So, I’ve been meeting with him and for his projects that his housing projects, um, I’ve gotten him from the 20% affordable up to 35% to commit to 35%. So, that’s a huge, it’s almost double the amount of affordable housing. And it’s kind of interesting because, you know, I’ve met with him several times and just talked about sustainability and aspects of the project that could be made easy, made better, uh, make the community better, but it’s got to be more. It can’t just00:21:05 – 00:22:00be WA. it’s got to be for the whole community. Uh which he agreed with. But it’s kind of interesting to to be talking to someone like that who seems to really have a heart for the community and he’s wants to start a nonprofit to um address children’s needs, but he um you know, we were talking about trying to get the affordable housing up and at one point it was 50%. You remember that? Um there were some people in the community that said, “Yeah, that might be a bit much. We should lower it to00:21:32 – 00:22:3535%.” And we couldn’t get that. they put they pushed it down to 25. Um but uh you know when I was talking about that with this um developer who’s now become a friend, he said you know it is really hard for developers to um to put that into their um their model. And I said you’re doing it. And he went well that’s true. So, you know, I mean, it can be done and maybe part of what you have to do is take a little less profit, maybe not make so many billions of dollars if you really care about the community. And00:22:04 – 00:23:15most of these people that are developing in South Maui don’t live there. They live outside of uh and some of them don’t even live in the state. They come over for As you’re talking, it’s very clear that you are still a South Maui focused advocate and I get that. But like you say, some of them don’t live in Maui at all. Yeah. And it’s nice to hear a developer think and to broaden his vision from only Kihei, right? Or people now when they think about we had a crisis in Maui. Lahina is only part of00:22:39 – 00:23:44Maui. All of Maui has all of Maui was affected by that fire and all of us are affected. if you lost your place in Lahina, if you were close, I know so many people that are massively affected and aren’t getting help now. Yeah. So, it’s created tears in homelessness now. And you know, I honestly think that had we had a more progressive progressive council that we had before, we would have had a lot quicker help for South for uh West Maui and more involvement and more uh attention to the testimony00:23:12 – 00:24:08that was coming in because this council um not only do they ignore the testimony, but they try to shorten it. They don’t want to hear what we have to say because they know they already know how they’re going to vote. I saw that in the committee, Tasha Kama’s committee, her housing committee when she first brought up the YA 670 project and then she proposed cutting our testimony to two minutes from three two plus one that was today. And um that what you Yeah. And the four others were like no, you00:23:41 – 00:24:33give these people the three minutes that they deserve. Well, you know, we all it was basically you could they didn’t they didn’t mouth the words, but they this is what they were saying was we know what they’re going to say. we’re not going to listen to them anyway, so why should we have to sit here for 6 hours? Um, even with the twominute uh cap on the testimony, we had like six hours of testimony all the way through the end. Is there anyone translating all the volumes of written testimony that I00:24:07 – 00:25:00mean, well, it’s there. It’s in the record, but there’s nobody looking at it and they certainly the council members certainly don’t look at it or give any credence to it because nobody else knows about it. When when I was council chair, um I was trying to instigate a process that um and I think Keani Rollins Fernando was the only one who did that for a little while. She stopped doing it, but uh this is what the state legislature does with testimony. When you send in written testimony, the the00:24:34 – 00:25:21meetings that I’ve been to, and I don’t know if they’re still doing this, but when I used to testify a lot at the state legislature, they would actually put all written testimony in a folder, and that folder would be there when they had the committee meeting. And then when they went through testimony, uh they would take the live testimony and then they would go through and they would read each person’s this person testified in favor and they would read their name and maybe their position. Then this00:24:57 – 00:25:57person for against so you knew how much extra testimony there was that came in writing. You knew if it was all for or all against or what the mix was and you knew who was testifying. I mean that’s that’s I thought that was a brilliant way to do it for a transparency and so we tried to I tried to instigate that and I couldn’t get in our age of AI we could feed it all in and see what they decide the big AI brain we could figure out what Trump is doing they say stop them we’ll here’s our road map how to00:25:28 – 00:26:30stop them here how do we stop things locally from the direction you see it going vote I mean let me show you my shirt um that’s how we stop it. And we demand and we demand transparency in our elections. When we when we went in uh well, we can demand the transparency up front and make sure we have watchers because when I realized what happened with um the county clerk throwing out over,200 votes and that only a couple hundred votes had been um you know they oh well they have five days to go in and00:25:58 – 00:27:04fix their signature or whatever it was. Well, people that live in Hana are not going to come in. All the people that are going to come in to fix their vote are the ones maybe in Wuku, which you know is is basically union territory that’s for the builders and developers. And so you don’t have people coming all the way from Kihei and Lahina to fix their vote. So only so there were still over 900 votes that were not counted. Um and and when we when we understood the date that they were going to actually um00:26:30 – 00:27:40count the um rectified votes, the cured what they call cured ballots. Uh we tried to get in to watch the counting. We were not allowed to um even as a candidate. Uh we we um talked with the Green Party. They asked to get into count. They were not allowed to. And it says in our in our in our um state constitution, it’s written there that every political party is allowed to be present at the counting of ballots. And so they are a bonafide political party. And what what they were told was, well,00:27:05 – 00:28:00you didn’t request it early enough. And they were using a state statute that was a totally about something else. It was not about the recount because you only don’t have you only have five days. So, how do you even know to ask two weeks ahead of time, right? So, the corruption and the the stuff that they’re getting away with is so blatant that that’s the kind of thing we have to stand up to before it happens, before the next election. And I know there’s been some reform at the state legislature,00:27:33 – 00:28:30probably not enough, but at least it’s moving in the right direction. But but the people who are upset about the last two years on the council need to step forward and demand transparency, demand to be watchers. They didn’t they didn’t really let people watch the count. They let them watch the process of the votes going through the machines. And I I know a couple of people who were who were named as you know watchers for the first election for the election and they said we were not allowed in to watch the00:28:01 – 00:28:54count. So they don’t even know who was there. We don’t know who was there from the Republican party or the Democratic party because I asked and they wouldn’t tell me the names. So, the lack of transparency should scare people. I mean, I got I gotta tell you, gez, I I put it off for a long time. My sister kept telling me, Kelly, you got to watch The Handmaid’s Tail. And I mean, I actually went through that whole six seasons of that and I it’s horrifying, but that’s where we’re headed if we00:28:28 – 00:29:23don’t wake up and stand up. And that’s why you see all these people at the protest because hope you guys all hear that and are realizing it’s you we’re talking about. That’s right. Yeah. Because and you and I’ve been at the last two the two April protests. Um there were people there were um pe um probably three or four people at each protest dressed up like a handmmaid, you know, in the in the red guard because, you know, we are afraid that that’s where we’re headed. when we can have00:28:55 – 00:29:49people running for office like the North Carolina guminatorial candidate saying we should bring back slavery and this is a black person who’s saying that if they did he would probably buy a few slaves. I mean there’s that is the gro most grotesque thing I’ve ever heard. And then to have the president guy running for president support that guy and say what a great guy he is. That should scare the beebies out of all of us. I mean come on wake up people. We’ve got to So there’s another protest coming up00:29:22 – 00:30:14next Saturday. this Saturday on the 14th and it’s called the no kings. It’s just is ironic because I talked to a lot of people at the last one and people were like, “Well, no kings except Kelly King.” But, you know, it’s just it’s an ironic thing for me personally because my last name is King. But it’s true. You know, we created this country to get out from under the rule of a king, of a dictator, of an authoritarian. And now there are people in this country that are actually supporting the rise of00:29:49 – 00:30:55authoritarianism and fascism. the fact that his birthday is June 14th and he’s doing this big expensive show. Yeah. How many people could you feed? How many people could you help? Just absolutely everything that I see him do. Uh I really I’m There’s not one good thing. There’s not one good thing that he’s done. Well, it’s scary that that the troops behind him. Uh, I’m more concerned about J. D. Vance than I am about Trump because I don’t think that J. D. Vance has uh quite the00:30:21 – 00:31:24communication skills. Well, I which is good actually because the communication skills look what they’ve helped Trump do. You know, he’s he’s the corruption in our in our um federal government and the corruption on the Supreme Court. I mean, that’s what’s happened. So, um I you know I think I think uh I don’t like either one of them and it would be interesting to see what JD Vance would do as vice president because you know both of them have immigrant wives and you know they’re and they’re um they’re00:30:54 – 00:31:52saying they want to get rid of all immigrants legal and non-legal. They’re both their wives are immigrants. Elon Musk is an immigrant. I mean, all the people that they the the hypocrisy in the federal government is so blatant that it’s it’s hard for people like me who have always stood up for people’s rights to understand how anyone could vote for that and still be how he could have any sort of support left after the things that are happening. And you know, you you read stories about um and it’s00:31:22 – 00:32:07and it’s like I think he’s he’s he’s glorified um greed and self-centeredness. And so you see people saying, “Well, as long as they don’t get rid of my immigrant gardener and the guy my housemate or whatever, then I’m good with it.” Well, that’s what I’m talking about. It’s coming for you, dude. You know, how do you think that that’s okay? You know, when you know, and maybe it’ll take for you to have your social security cut or you try to go to the00:31:45 – 00:32:35doctor and you have no Medicare or Medicaid. Maybe that’s when you wake up. But look at all the people who are, you know, even if you don’t need those things. Look at all the people who are dependent on it and the number of lives that that are going to be um ended or made miserable by the lack of health care, the lack of I mean people have to decide between their medicine and their food because they’re not getting that’s so clear when we’re saying that it’s almost like how could any how could00:32:10 – 00:33:19anybody who is a living breathing human being not care about other human beings? And then you you think about the the um you know all of this all of this heartache and destruction and then all these fat cats sitting back. I mean God bless Bill Gates. I just read today that he has pledged over 200 billion to US aid in the next 20 years of his personal money. So there are some people that are stepping up in a big way and um and and I know that there’s a uh although there’s no accountability to it, but00:32:44 – 00:33:36there is a list a millionaires and a billionaire’s list of people of those folks with those that money that have pledged to give at least half of their wealth away in the next 10 to 20 years. Um I I don’t think there’s anybody who there’s no there’s no donation police that are going to come and and take them to jail if they don’t do it. But, you know, the fact that people are stepping up and saying it looks like the private sector is going to have to take over for the federal government. And then, you00:33:10 – 00:34:08know, what should happen then is um we stop paying taxes because we’re going to need those taxes to help our neighbors out to help ourselves out. Um why why are we still paying into social security when they’re trying to get rid of it? I mean, social security and this bogus thing that Elon Musk said about it being a Ponzi scheme. If I started working at 10 years old before child labor laws were in place, but you know, it was for my dad’s nursery, so it was, you know, I think I was making 50 cents an hour back then.00:33:40 – 00:34:41But I’ve been paying into social security my entire life. This is not a Ponzi scheme. This is give me back what I put in. And if you want to cap it at whatever you put in, that’s fine. But give it back with interest because I’ve been paying into that for, you know, 45 years. And since you were three. Yeah. and and most people have. This is our money. It’s not the federal government’s money. And I I know I mean I’m pretty sure that when they try to cut it, and I’m saying when because that’s what’s in00:34:10 – 00:35:13this stupid bill, this big ugly bill, as Jill Takuda says, um when they do try to cut it, they’re going to have a major class action lawsuit on their hands. I mean, it should be the entire country suing the federal government for our money to get our money back. you know, we can calculate how much money we’ve put in. So, um I get that calculation. I mean, I just went on social security early because of what Trump was trying to do. So, I’ve been on it for a couple months, but um in your in the00:34:40 – 00:35:27calculation, you will get a list of um how much money you made every year and how much you paid into social security. It’s a whole thing they give each. Yeah. It’s personalized. And you know, if they do nothing else but give us that back with interest, I mean, they don’t have to go beyond that. I don’t care. I’m not going to live that much longer. I mean, I’m not going to live 50 more years, I don’t think. But, you know, if they can give us what we’re due with the interest00:35:05 – 00:36:16because we’ve been living without that money, we could have done a lot of things with that money had we had it. Um, then, um, I’m okay if you want to just say, okay, you get this much till and this much per year till this year and then you’re done. I’m fine with that. thing that I don’t know how to translate is the the fact that inflation I mean the money we put in was old money. Now a house that you could buy for 70,000 you built this 3600 foot house in Maui Meadows for 70 grand and now it’s00:35:40 – 00:36:43worth 2.2 2 million and the land is worth 1.7 million and you can blow the house down. Who can afford that? I mean things. How do you compare those dollars? So your social security money is based on the actual dollar you put in. You talk about how do you calculate with everything? No one’s going to get paid back what they deserve. No, I mean everybody I mean I think there there there have been people who have probably because once you get on social security there’s no end to it. So you it goes till you die. So, I think00:36:12 – 00:37:05there probably have been some people who have gotten more more out of it than they put into it. But fine, cap that if you want, you know, just just don’t cut those of us off who have put money into it. And, you know, for me, I could probably do for a while without Social Security, but I want that money because I use it to make donations and to help other people. And we’re going to all need that money. Everybody should be putting everybody who could afford to should be putting some money aside00:36:38 – 00:37:25because we’re going to have to help our neighbors. we’re going to have to help the people that are going to be hurt the hardest. And part of me, you know, part of me wants to make them first answer to who they voted for. But, you know, we just have to help our friends and neighbors. We can’t we can’t go back there and say, “Well, if you voted for Trump, you deserve this.” I mean, I think that’s one of the push backs that we’re getting as a society and why people are still saying they support him00:37:01 – 00:37:48because they don’t like being being, you know, they know they’re wrong, but they don’t like being labeled as such. You know, they don’t like being the bad guy. And so the best way they can fight that is to keep saying they’re on his side and there was nothing wrong with their vote. And when they know there was they know there was you could look around. You could you could go to any one of your neighbors and see what they’re going to lose if this bill goes through. Well, I I I can hardly believe that00:37:24 – 00:38:22we’re still even trying to talk about it to get them to not vote for it. It is. I mean, you can’t, no matter if you’re liberal media or conservative media or anywhere, everyone is talking about how this is going to be like a knife cut a knife at your throat and it’s destroying us. Nobody I’ve heard nobody’s really supporting. And you hear some of the Republicans who voted for it in Congress are now saying they wish they hadn’t. They didn’t read the damn bill. They00:37:54 – 00:38:56didn’t even know what was in it and they voted for it. I mean, how irresponsible is that? And no, you don’t get to go back and say, “Well, you know, vote for me again because I wish I hadn’t voted for it.” No, you did the deed. You get thrown out. Same here in Maui. Yeah. I mean, right now the issues that are going on here, you bring up South Maui and housing right now. That issue about whether this list of short-term rentals is going to be turned into long-term rentals and how it affects our economy00:38:25 – 00:39:29and how it affects our people is as current as right now on the council. And the and unfortunately, the people who are making the decisions don’t have all the knowledge of how this is going to affect everything. I mean, they’re going back to people who did studies five years ago and paying them $300,000 to do a study. And you I know. And you brought up the thing about developers with a heart. I’m glad because I hope to think that if we I don’t know if it we could do money. Does money represent a developer? If we can00:38:57 – 00:40:02raise enough money and have people that are of the right frame of mind that do have the ability to do this, Can’t we do an alternative housing fast track? I’ve never seen push the No one’s pushed the limits on I did that. I did that, Jason. We cut off, you know, when we got Yeah. When we got those two affordable house, I mean, it was basically a little over two years from start to finish for each of those projects. and the developer who has a huge heart and he and you know he he wants to he said his greatest joy is00:39:30 – 00:40:23when they turn the key in the first you know he’s got all and these are all people with a 60% area median income and less so you know when when we got the first one done and he was telling me wow Kelly because he asked me when I I mean I found him trying to do this a great example and I asked we can raise the money can go ahead I was well I asked him you know to come and to to you know when he told me what he wanted to do I asked and he said, “Well, you know, Maui has a really bad reputation for being00:39:56 – 00:40:51hard to build in. Do you really want this and will you help me?” And I said, “I really want it and I will help you.” And I helped him and we got it done. And after after it, we finished it because there were, you know, there were a couple bumps in the road and we had to get some votes from the council to extend the previous owner project owner permit. But he said, “Kelly, it just takes such a long time.” I said, “Doug, two years you got this done.” two years he got the second project done as well.00:40:23 – 00:41:15That’s break neck speed for Maui County. And you got and we moved in some homeless people to those apartments because there are a lot of homeless people who are working but they can’t find an affordable place to live so they’re living out of their vehicles. So when we can find more places like this and give families a place to sleep overnight so they can get up and go to work in the morning, get up and go to school in the morning, that solves a lot of social ills as well. And there are00:40:49 – 00:42:00lots of things that are I want to say not legal. That’s just a matter of laws. But people taking pallets and turning them into a bed and a storage thing and being able to take off the street. The worst challenging part of our community that and they’re not getting the support and nowhere to even put themselves in a safe place. You know, whether it I just don’t Why could things not happen? Don’t we all want to ask ourselves before another election, figure out solutions before we wait for another election? How00:41:25 – 00:42:27do we do that? Do we Well, we get a planning department director who cares more about housing people than they do about satisfying developers. And I’ve seen some horrible things. Um, we’ve actually had accusations of bribery come to the council and nothing happens. Uh we’ve actually seen our a previous planning director who uh was developing flipping houses, you know, buying and fixing them up and selling them and not even getting permits herself. Uh we’ve seen the amount of corruption that we’ve00:41:56 – 00:42:52seen just has to tell everybody that these people don’t care about housing the least fortunate, the most marginalized people on our island. And so leadership is really really counts. Oh yeah. And that’s why, you know, that was why I ran for office because I said, I know what needs to be done, and I know where the corruption is. And it’s not, no, I didn’t think it was going to solve everything the first year or two, but I knew what direction we had to go in to get there. Am I too uh forward in asking00:42:23 – 00:43:19you I I can’t know how you could not be running again? You know, I I um that’s a right now not inclined to because um it was, you know, it’s funny because I I talked to a lot of people who asked me that same question and you know, we really need you and I’m thinking, yeah, where were you last election? You know, people didn’t come out. I think a lot of people just thought, you know, I wouldn’t have a problem getting elected, which I don’t think I would have if it hadn’t been for the county clerk um and00:42:51 – 00:44:00the powers that be setting all that up. But um I I um am having a really hard time thinking about that next step when uh um unless there’s, you know, a a huge driving force that comes out that will be the backbone of the next um campaign because um I I honestly don’t think it should be about money and I don’t think it has to be, but it has to be a lot more people involved if they want that change. Well, that that seems to be that theme of want more people involved to get change. Yeah. Is what I feel. If you’re00:43:26 – 00:44:23going to regenerate and create something new and change, you got to be involved. And part of it is, you know, we we um we probably had to get out of our comfort zone and and see what’s coming down the pike, not just with this council, but with the federal government in order to start going, well, I better do something. I better get involved. of them. I mean, when I went to that first protest in April, there were, I think they estimate over 200 people. The one at the college first? No, the one at the00:43:55 – 00:44:47college was the second one. The first one was in front of Maui Mall. Oh, the one in front on the street there at the current at the current that went around the corner. You when you were Yeah. Yeah. So, you were there. Um, but that was bigger. That was twice. We need more protests, but we sure would like to, but we need we also need people to talk, you know, like they had a little um thing at the college and I could go on about the college because the chancellor is also involved in this pack in, you know,00:44:21 – 00:45:14there’s a horrible things happening. I don’t know how we could do that, but um we the the when I when I showed up at that uh there was a rally first right on the campus grounds and they had all the politicians speaking and it was political speeches. Get the people up there speaking. The people are getting hurt the worst should be the ones talking at these rallies, not people trying to get reelected. They should not be political rallies. These are about the people of Mau. These, you know, this00:44:47 – 00:45:46movement is about the people of Maui and changing our leadership and changing our um our uh you know, from from county to state to federal. Uh changing our expectations and our demands on the people who become our leaders. It’s not about people trying to get reelected. And when I showed up and there was a stump speech, I just, you know, my friend and I turned around, walked around, you know, I think I was with my sister, too. We just listened for a little bit and then we just went to the street and started with the protesters.00:45:16 – 00:46:14Um, so I think I think that’s um that’s what frustrates a lot of people, you know, that kind of same old same old. Let’s let’s hear from who’s getting hurt by what’s happening. I get it. Now, I could talk on this and we probably can get back to it soon, but I know when I only have a It’s either 11 or six, but I know that we’re running low on time. And when you gave this to me, I thought, now there’s something I think this young lady should talk about. Hope you don’t mind. I think00:45:46 – 00:46:40of you as a little and I don’t mind at all. I love it. Help us. Oh, well, um, okay. So, this is the thing that people have known we’ve been working on. We’re in our 30th year with Pacific Pacific Biodiesel. Yeah. Our company Pacific Biodiesel, which is, as everybody probably knows by now, focuses on making clean uh renewable fuel locally. Our local production is really important. Local feed stock is really important. So, we’re the ones that started the sunflower farm as a a potential local00:46:13 – 00:47:12feed stock. And we’re looking at other crops as well, but we’ve we’ve expanded to Kawaii. We got some federal funding through our senator Maisy Herono and um partnered with Gain Robinson over there because Mahip Pono would not partner with us on Maui. and uh and we’ve we’re using their mill and we’ve got a crushing mill moved over there. We’ve got silos and um plant uh planters and the combines over there. Um everything that’s set up there is set up for self-sufficiency and we’ve already um00:46:42 – 00:47:38started selling fuel to the Kawaii Island Utility Co-op, which Maui County will not buy any fuel from us. So there’s no get cooperation from Maui Pono. Sorry to break in. Well, I could tell you what my theories are, but you know, we had a couple meetings with them and they act acted like they were interested and then we got radio silence and they didn’t return calls and you know, I mean, I know that Mahipon is still using pesticides and there are people who swear that they’re using restricted use pesticides when they say00:47:09 – 00:48:02they’re not. And so, my only, you know, I mean, when people when people ask me why that’s happening, I really don’t know. My theory is that we don’t use pesticides or herbicides and they don’t want us on their land because we might spill the beans on what they’re using. Um that’s the only thing I can think of because this project would have been so good for Maui and we were so wanting to have it here because we live here. So I mean I think as a local we met with Shan twice and he acted like he want00:47:37 – 00:48:39they wanted to work with us and then we heard nothing more from him or anybody he told us to contact. Shocking. It’s only shocking because like you say, it takes someone good. I don’t like to condemn Tasha, but I can’t tell except for votes that somehow there’s a disconnect. You told me. Well, so this so so what we’re doing here is using uh local regenerative agriculture. First of all, proving out regenerative agriculture, proving out locally produced renewable energy. It’s the only00:48:07 – 00:49:06um it’s the only renewable uh firm power in in the state of Hawaii that’s made here that we can count on because if the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine and the rivers don’t run for hydro. I mean geothermal is firm power but it’s in a very specific location. You don’t have geothermal across the whole state. So this is something that we can deliver to everybody. Biodeiesel power reliable firm power. So, um, what we’re trying to make people understand is that every00:48:37 – 00:49:30acre where we can grow sunflowers or safflowers or whatever, I mean, the great thing about biodeiesel is you can grow any oil seed and that will make biodeiesel. It doesn’t have to just be one thing. You know, the macadamia nut industry, um, something attacks the macnuts and the whole industry goes down. The coffee industry, when the coffee berry bore, um, hit the coffee industry, they struggled. Biodiesel can be made out of so many different things that if we’ve got viable agriculture, we00:49:04 – 00:49:55can keep growing it and we can grow food as well. So our model is food and fuel and we’re making not just the biodeiesel out of the sunflowers, but we’re also making culinary oil. So that’s one piece that was missing for the farmtot, you know, and that was one of the things my friend da uh who’s now da Novak used to publish the edible Hawaiian islands told me, you know, that’s the one thing that that chefs can’t get. They have to get off the mainland. So we are supplying00:49:29 – 00:50:24like Mama’s Fish House buys our our sunflower oil and our macadamia nut oil to cook with. I mean we’ve got restaurants all across the island using it. Great. And it’s local, you know, it’s part of the whole farmtotable experience. See, and you then we get it back and we make it into biodeiesel after when I when I’m thinking of what triggers in my brain regeneration. I’m Regenerate Maui because I have the same vision. And I realized that little climate committee that insisted and00:49:57 – 00:51:02helped Michael Smith test and show that taking green waste and turning into a supplement to help things grow better and power and that all of our storage of power is in our fields. Same concept. See all these great things need and it’s local. is something that cannot be stolen from us because we are our self-sufficiency more and more more than ever before. It really punctuated one of our first messages when we first started Pacific Biodeiesel which was you know we had we made a bumper sticker. It was copying00:50:30 – 00:51:25one one of our customers who was an ex-Marine who has a former Marine and he was running on biodeiesel. So, he’s running his Hummer on biodeiesel and he had a sticker that said biodeiesel, no war required. And he had his Marine sticker right underneath that showing that, you know, just because you’re in the army doesn’t mean you like war. And you un and and people like him know what we were fighting for. We were fighting for somebody else’s oil when we can do all this ourselves here. See that? See00:50:57 – 00:52:06Maui, that’s we’re a local show. But we that’s because we come back to the most important thing we can do is be participants in the change. Kelly King is one of the examples of what it means when you believe in something. And you’re recruited because of your passion and then you go from a schoolboard rep to a this and a that. And when I hear you speak, your knowledge and the scope of what you’re doing compliments what you do in private industry. You’re the real deal. It’s called walking the talk.00:51:32 – 00:52:32You know, I I understand. I mean, that’s why I so appreciate you. Thank you. Like I said, I picked you. We’re Saturday and I was looking at a situation. Anyway, you’ll hear and I suddenly who is the most important person that isn’t in the government that I thought just would talk about things that are real and won’t mix politics because you don’t make what you just spoke about. Do you see the passion she shows when she talks about what she does? Don’t we need that all of us to be00:52:02 – 00:53:09working together in ways that show the world that with your involvement or not? We hope you’ll come back in droves and help make our economy get really booant again. But wouldn’t it be nice if we can do it ourselves? If we can do it ourselves. And you know, we’ve got um there’s so many, you know, there’s probably most of our fuel right now goes to generation, power generation, but it’s in trucks and cars, anything with a diesel engine, boats, it’s in um some smaller aircraft. I mean, there’s just00:52:36 – 00:53:35it’s any diesel engine is that that can use it. And so, we what we’re trying to do is is is create something that isn’t going to be 10 times more expensive because it’s local and it’s natural and it’s organic. You know, we this has been the history of of products in the US is that it’s always cheaper to get something that’s poisonous or made with petroleum or, you know, uh fast it comes from China and we should be doing stuff ourselves. I agree. Well, I’m only00:53:05 – 00:54:17reason I did that. If it says 52 seconds or is it 10 minutes and 3 minutes and 40? Look at this. Look at you see that this is not 3 minutes and 42 seconds. See this is instead of glasses I’ve clearly so we’re running. We have more to talk about and so I hope you’ll continue to want to come back to Sure. because this is a showcase I think of public access television and Aaku and KKU radio perform a vital service in our community and they again they don’t get the the respect and attention. No, they00:53:41 – 00:54:42don’t. You know, I was at the I was at I testified at the hearing when Spectrum was trying to come in here and take the funds away from and I was I was virtually I was on virtually. I so wish when I saw everybody else who was there, I was I mean it was basically the who’s who of the good people on this island testified at that hearing. If you wanted to know who was doing something good and true and who supports local and who supports the people of Maui, you needed to be um in that room or or at least at00:54:12 – 00:55:19the hearing. Fortunately, I was there. I mean, I I don’t know how to not be there. And I’m been very happy to be I’m not part of Akaku, but I use I’m a user. I use this to be a platform to put out some truth in an unbiased way and show that love can work and cooperation and doing things outside the box are the way we’re going to change the world. Just don’t think that because some structure is giving you what they think that you can’t just fool them by coming from a loving, giving, cooperative praise.00:54:45 – 00:55:45We’re in Maui. We can do it here. Let’s be the example to the world that we always wanted to be. Maybe the time isn’t quite what I had in mind, but right now we have an opportunity to be a showcase for the world. Well, and we don’t have a choice. We have to do it or we will perish. We will perish under this administration and and perish in the sense that our lives will will be 10 times worse if they do what they’re trying to do. Right. So again, I like sort of like the the national issue, but00:55:15 – 00:56:19our local issue is as important and for you who live here, it’s even more important, but uh that all goes in one. I hope we have visitors and watchers from all over the world. We are what we call a show that says if you have anything you want to say, please come to us. We’re a neutral zone. We want to talk and hear all sides because when we all hear all sides and we realize there is no side, we’re all on that same team. That’s the message of this show. This is a neutral zone where where anything, you00:55:48 – 00:56:44know what I one of the things I I hope hope you can focus on. We got a minute left. Um, when I first ran for office, the first time I ran for council, after getting begged by my community, uh, one of the things I thought that was missing was a a common vision and a common mission statement, uh, for, you know, if we’re all behind the same values and vision. Well, I talked to Dick Mayor. We’ve done that. It’s in it’s called the countywide policy plan. There’s the vision for Maui County is in there. The00:56:15 – 00:57:08values that we all espouse are in there. It’s a 30-year plan that’s supposed to take us to the end of this decade at least. to someone has to follow the instruction and I was I always had it in my drawer. I mean I’m like why is this not on every council member’s desk and why do they not look at this before they vote? Um though it’s there. We are 10 seconds away from our credits. I am thanking Kelly King, our wonderful guest who will be here again. I thank you for watching. Hope you’ll come back.00:56:42 – 00:57:10Blessings to everyone. We are out of here. Wow, that was quick. Yeah, it always goes fast. But, you know, I do think that that that would be a great discussion to look through that there’s not been a change in that polic.