Jason Schwartz welcomes GARY HOOSER, former Kauai County Council member over decades plus State Senator who now teaches potential candidates HOW to run successful campaign -Show # 95– 7-22–2020
Summary & Transcript
Interview with Gary Hooser (July 2020)
- [00:00 → 04:43] Background and Political Journey
Gary Hooser reflects on his long-standing involvement in Hawaiian politics, beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He initially ran unsuccessfully for Kauai County Council in the mid-1990s but won a seat in 1998. Gary served four years on the council and then eight years in the Hawaii State Senate representing Kauai. He ran for lieutenant governor but lost, after which he briefly served as Director of Environmental Quality Control under Governor Abercrombie. Preferring elected office, he returned to the council before deciding to focus on advocacy and mentoring.
- Key Points:
- Started public advocacy in the mid-1990s.
- Served multiple terms in both county council and state senate.
- Ran 10 campaigns, winning 6.
- Since leaving office, focused on mentoring candidates and advocacy.
- Co-founded the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA) and the Pono Hawaii Initiative.
- Current focus is on supporting candidates for upcoming elections.
- Important organizations:
- HAPA (Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action) — a non-partisan organization focusing on leadership and advocacy.
- Website: hopahy.org
- Personal website: garyhooser.com
- [04:43 → 11:28] Kuleana Academy and Candidate Training
Gary describes the Kuleana Academy, a leadership and candidate training program under HAPA that prepares individuals to run effective campaigns and serve in public office. The program is non-partisan and open to candidates from diverse ideological backgrounds, focusing on three pillars:
| Pillar | Description |
| Skills Training | Campaign mechanics, fundraising, message development, district analysis |
| Issues Education | Broad exposure to multiple policy issues to avoid being “single-issue” candidates |
| Speaker Series | Intimate sessions with political leaders, union heads, and community activists for inspiration |
-
- The program does not screen for ideology; participants include diverse viewpoints (including some surprising political affiliations).
- Graduates include successful candidates such as Tina Wildberger and Amy Peruso.
- The program was inspired by “The Maui Miracle,” where community activism successfully defeated Monsanto’s influence on Maui despite heavy corporate spending.
- [11:29 → 23:33] Political Dynamics and Challenges
Gary discusses political realities such as working with colleagues with whom he disagrees, managing public perception, and communicating controversial votes.
- Key points:
- Politics requires compromise and maintaining relationships despite disagreements.
- Effective communication explaining votes is essential to maintain public trust.
- Maui tends to have a more contentious and “caustic” political environment compared to Kauai’s.
- Achieving a legislative majority is crucial to enacting any agenda, whether progressive or conservative.
- Voters should elect representatives who share their values to ensure effective governance.
- [23:34 → 35:09] Campaign Finance, Political Action Committees, and Influence of
Gary explains the complex landscape of political funding and organizational designations:
| Entity Type | Description | Political Activity Allowed | Tax Status & Disclosure |
| 501©(3) Organization | Charitable/non-profit; cannot endorse candidates or parties; limited lobbying | No direct political campaigning | Tax-deductible donations; donor info disclosed |
| 501©(4) Organization | Social welfare organization; can engage in lobbying and political activity | Can lobby and campaign | Contributions not tax-deductible; limited disclosure |
| Political Action Committee (PAC) | Organization that raises money to support candidates or causes | Active political campaigning | Donor disclosure varies; some “dark money” PACs exist |
Gary notes that organizations like HAPA are 501©(3) and do not endorse candidates, but sister organizations or PACs may engage in political support.
- The “arm’s length” relationship between advocacy groups and political action groups can be legally ambiguous.
- Many grassroots candidates struggle to navigate these complex laws.
- Large corporations and industries (especially chemical companies like Syngenta, Monsanto, Dow, Dupont) exert significant lobbying pressure on politicians, sometimes using aggressive tactics.
- Gary shares his personal experience of being targeted by chemical industry-backed candidates and lobbyists.
- [35:10 → 47:37] Environmental and Community Challenges
- Key issues:
- Heavy pesticide use by large chemical companies has caused health and environmental concerns on Kauai and elsewhere.
- Community activism has reduced the agricultural chemical footprint statewide to less than half of what it was 20 years ago.
- Syngenta and similar corporations have foreign ownership and decision-making centers often disconnected from local community values.
- Industry pushback includes lawsuits, such as Syngenta suing Kauai County to prevent local pesticide regulations.
- Positive developments include large-scale enclosed greenhouse agriculture to reduce pesticide drift.
- Food sustainability and local agriculture remain underfunded and undervalued compared to tourism and economic development sectors.
- Gary advocates for elevating agriculture and food production in county government structures (e.g., creating a Department of Agriculture on Maui).
- Organic and niche food products represent a growing market opportunity for the islands.
- Philosophical points:
- Gary emphasizes the importance of local roots and community connection in political leadership and advocacy.
- He believes in working constructively with people, even those representing industries that cause harm, recognizing their personal community ties.
- The political climate is often conservative and risk-averse, which slows needed changes.
- Citizen involvement and grassroots pressure are vital to counterbalance corporate influence and promote sustainable policies.
- [47:38 → 53:16] COVID-19, Community Leadership, and Final Thoughts
Gary weighs in on the COVID-19 crisis and the path forward for Hawaii communities:
- COVID-19 perspectives:
- The crisis will pass but the timeline is uncertain.
- He supports Governor Ige and Mayor Kawakami’s cautious approach to protect public health.
- Maui, Kauai, and Big Island are among the few U.S. locations where masks can be removed outdoors due to good control measures.
- Economic reopening must balance tourism recovery with health and sustainability.
- He questions whether pre-pandemic tourism levels will return or if a new economic model focused on self-sufficiency and sustainability will emerge.
- Community leadership:
- Emphasizes citizen ownership of government and the importance of voting.
- Encourages people to run for office regardless of age or experience.
- Offers mentorship through his website for aspiring leaders.
- Stresses that political power lies in the hands of engaged citizens.
- Closing remarks:
- Gary expresses hope that the crisis will inspire positive change.
- He believes there are many solutions locally available if communities organize and commit.
- Encourages ongoing engagement and optimism about Hawaii’s political and environmental future.
-
-
- Timeline of Key Events and Milestones
-
| Year | Event |
| 1988 | Gary arrives in Hawaii and begins political involvement |
| 1994-96 | Starts public advocacy; runs first political campaigns |
| 1998 | Wins Kauai County Council seat; serves 4 years |
| Early 2000s | Serves 8 years in Hawaii State Senate representing Kauai |
| Mid-2000s | Runs for Lieutenant Governor (unsuccessful) |
| Late 2000s | Briefly serves as Director of Environmental Quality Control under Governor Abercrombie |
| 2010s | Returns to Kauai County Council; later focuses on advocacy and mentoring |
| 2010s | Co-founds Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA) and Pono Hawaii Initiative |
| 2010s | Launches Kuleana Academy leadership training program |
| 2020 | Active in supporting candidates for Hawaii elections; discusses COVID-19 impacts and future |
Glossary of Organizations and Terms
| Term/Organization | Description |
| HAPA | Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action; nonprofit focused on advocacy and leadership training |
| Kuleana Academy | Leadership and candidate training program under HAPA |
| Safe | Political action group mentioned, Not specifiedregarding exact role |
| 501©(3) | Tax-exempt nonprofit organization prohibited from endorsing political candidates |
| 501©(4) | Tax-exempt social welfare organization allowed to engage in lobbying and some political activity |
| PAC (Political Action Committee) | Organization that raises and spends money to elect or defeat candidates, with varying donor disclosure requirements |
| Maui Miracle | Community-led grassroots victory against Monsanto’s corporate influence on Maui |
| Syngenta, Monsanto, Dow, Dupont | Large chemical/agriculture corporations with significant lobbying influence in Hawaii |
Key Insights and Conclusions
- Gary Hooser’s political career illustrates the importance of perseverance, community roots, and principled advocacy in Hawaiian politics.
- The Kuleana Academy serves as a critical training ground to build effective, diverse, and community-rooted candidates capable of challenging entrenched interests.
- Political influence in Hawaii is heavily shaped by complex relationships between nonprofits, political action committees, and industry lobbying.
- Corporate agricultural interests pose ongoing challenges to environmental and public health protections, necessitating vigilant community activism and political engagement.
- Local control, citizen participation, and leadership development are essential to advancing sustainable, community-first policies in Hawaii.
- The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for resilient, locally-focused economic models that prioritize health, sustainability, and food security over mass tourism.
- Gary encourages everyday citizens to recognize and exercise their political power through voting, running for office, and community involvement.
-
-
- Relevant Websites and Contacts
-
| Website | Purpose |
| hopahy.org | Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action |
| garyhooser.com | Gary Hooser’s personal and advocacy information |
This comprehensive summary is based exclusively on the provided transcript of the interview with Gary Hooser conducted in July 2020.
00:00
[Music] aloha everyone how are you today i’m jason schwartz and it’s july of 2020 and i have a terrific guest today here at the neutral zone as you know it’s anything but neutral i have gary hoosier gary has been on the scene i want to say gary have you been on the scene i’ve been on the scene that’s one thing i’ve been been on the scene in the political climate when i got here in 1988 and i started doing my thing in 199-1991 and then i met john scarkino who was just came here from kauai and he
00:56
talked to me about this guy that he saw that was coming up in the ranks that was really sharp it was this guy that was on council were you on council then i was i got on the council 1998. but you were active before that right right about 96 94 i started uh being public with my advocacy if you would well if you will way back believe it or not in 94 96 john Scarkino had a house in princeville then he got into an automobile accident his whole life changed when i saw him and i met him here after the fact
01:35
but when he talked about kawaii and he talked about people that came from their heart and that were going to be really important in development of these islands and what they were going to be able to do there you were and here you are it’s a lot of years later now i mean you have a few more gray hairs i did it and i think i have only gray hairs a few of them um is there a way to give our audience an overview synopsis because i could start with where we are now but quick overview i mean i’d be happy to do an overview
02:14
and i appreciate the generous words uh you shared you know i learned a long time ago that to be myself and then when i just be myself people seem to like it and that causes me to want to be myself more and i’ve been rewarded by uh support from people across the state during the times in the last 20 years or so that i’ve been involved in politics i spent before politics i was in small business i had a small real estate office at a small publishing company and then i ran for the kauai county
02:49
council in 96 or 94. lost my first race and ran in 98 and won served four years on the kauai county council and then eight years in the senate representing kauai meal the state senate ran for lieutenant governor and lost went to work for a short period of time with governor abercrombie as a director of environmental quality control and you know it’s an important job and everything but i it wasn’t for me i i prefer serving in public office and so then i ran for the council served there again another four years uh
03:26
lost an election and decided basically that i can serve better if you would or or be more effective or have more influence on the outside being an advocate and helping other people to get elected and so i helped form the hawaii alliance for progressive action papa which is a statewide organization uh and then another uh organization called the pono hawaii initiative and so today you know how many days out are we we’re like two weeks out uh from the primary election i’m spending all my energy
04:07
on trying to help candidates around the state uh get elected but by using my voice and helping spread the word but also to many of them i try to be a mentor try to coach them if you would i’ve ran ten election campaigns and won six and lost four and i’ve learned a lot i’ve learned a whole lot during this time i’ve been serving and so i try to share that with people people who who i have to say uh share what i like to say share my world view of putting people on the planet first and then and that’s a good place first
04:43
of all hapa does it have a web address that people can easily get hapa is hapa h-a-p-a high h-i hopahy.org okay and uh garywoozer.com is easy and uh that will lead you to hop up to other things and tell you a little bit more about myself well you know i when i think of that i think i had a you know people don’t know that i know you for a long time like tina wildberger was just like over the top appreciated your you know deep wisdom i’m sure that all the candidates really appreciate your wisdom of running
05:24
a campaign well you know some more than others i think uh you know it’s interesting getting to know different candidates as you are well aware uh everybody’s different you know there’s no perfect candidate people have strengths and weaknesses and some people like representative wildberger tina wahlberger she’s a quick study she learns quickly she was already deeply embedded in the community in various leadership positions around her own business shares the values that i hold most deep
05:59
and i hope she’s there serving for a long long time so do i she’s a really a great lady and she was working with kelly king i don’t know if you uh did you also work with kelly yeah kelly did not attend uh well she spoke at our kuleana academy so hapa has a leadership candidate training program under under the auspices of the hawaii alliance for progressive hapa so and that program is called the kuleana academy and tina attended the academy as a student if you would uh kelly king who
06:34
i’ve known for years and also admired greatly she came and spoke to the class there but wasn’t a student if you would hapa and the kuleana academy i want to make a distinction we’re a non-partisan group and we don’t actually we don’t target races and support candidates uh for example i did not know tina walberger before she enrolled in the program right so it’s not me picking my friends and trying to get them to get elected that kind of thing wow you said that uh the people that you
07:12
were working with are like-minded about what they want to bring to the world do you ever have people that suddenly show up in your class that are let’s call them i don’t want to call them a trumpet no we do actually uh there’s a young man from kauai uh who i like i like not past tense i like a lot personally uh he’s young and bright and charismatic and he attended our program and lo and behold he ran for the koi county council and it’s running again this time and he’s a strong supporter of uh donald
07:52
trump uh i can’t figure it out you don’t agree with do you don’t get in in class you’re not doing dialogue about politics you’re just you do mechanics we do three things in the class we do skills training uh what does it take to run how do you raise money how do you develop your message how do you run a campaign how do you analyze your district skills training that is a non-ideological kind of thing right then we do an issues uh training if you would and so you don’t look
08:25
like a fool one day people asking you questions yeah and and most people most candidates most individuals are single issue by nature right or environmentalist or their hawaiian issues or their economic issues and so we try to expose them to a wide range of issues yes and there’s no litmus test to get into the couleon academy what’s the third area so the third the third area we bring in speakers uh from the major players if you would in the political world we bring in former governors we bring in
09:05
u.s senators we bring in union leaders we bring in community activists uh of note and we have them sit down with the class the class is only 15 people right so here’s 15 people sitting down with governor john juan haye or sitting down with senator brian schatz and and you you’re able to spend an hour or two in an intimate conversation hearing from them directly what it takes to run and when and what it takes to serve and uh at the end of that for most of the people in the class it’s a heavy
09:38
dose of uh inspiration or motivation because you see right away that senator brian schatz who i like a lot is no different from you and i they’re not you know rocket scientists they’re not uh somehow anointed and so the people in the class start thinking you know i can do that yeah no it’s good it’s a it’s a good program and i’ll give maui total credit for the program if i can tell you a quick story yeah please okay so the maui miracle right the people on maui show up they gather their signatures they take
10:19
on one of the meanest nastiest richest corporations on the entire planet monsanto yeah we get this thing on the ballot monsanto spends i forget how many how much money uh billion tons of money that the community spends a tiny bit and the community wins right the community wins that that’s the maui miracle now that happened and that made me wonder wow if that happens if a majority of the people on maui believe like i do and want to throw monsanto out basically then how come they’re not electing
10:56
more progressive people that think like i do you know why isn’t that and my conclusion and the conclusion of others was because we didn’t have good candidates we have good people but not good candidates people that don’t know how to run people that maybe just got off the boat from the mainland with good hearts but no roots in the community people that don’t know how to run a campaign and so that’s when we started the kuleana academy and uh it’s been a resounding success we have two of our graduates are
11:28
in the state house of representatives uh representative wildberger as you mentioned and a woman another woman representative amy peruso four i believe on the maui county council attended our program and uh and there’s other seats around the state and i don’t take credit for that or or give the program credit but the people deserve the credit the ones that rent one ran and won but the program certainly offered the support uh that they needed at that particular time i think there’s something new happening i don’t
12:01
know if you’ve heard of it i got an email about it and i thought i’ll ask you um there’s a group here called safe which is a a political action group and there’s an on a little magazine called maui vision magazine which is a local i want to say a new age oriented magazine and a new thing called maui pulse which was supposed to be uh what’s going on in in the area of media and mark sheehan was who you may have known over the years archie involved with maui tomorrow and all kinds of land issues and
12:42
things over the years very active guy um seem to be involved where there’s now an email sort of creating this local expose and i didn’t know if you had heard anything about it while it was still very fresh i thought to ask you only because maybe you can help me and whoever else is going to watch this you know i i don’t know i mean i’m familiar with safe and i’m familiar with some of the people in organizations but i’m not familiar with if you have your name out as a realtor
13:15
and you’re out in the community writing articles and then you’re also let’s say directing uh political activity right of of helping i guess uh i don’t know what safe does but i imagine they’re supposed to be at arm’s length from everybody so there’s this issue about something and i didn’t know well it you may be talking about uh campaign law campaign spending law and maybe certain organizations for example hapa i mentioned is a 501c3 right that’s a federally recognized designation that prohibits
13:59
the organization from actively being involved in candidates supporting candidates or parties and so we don’t uh the safe i’m not sure what their designation is but sometimes the sierra club and others will have sister or or partner organizations which are separate and then do that they do uh conduct political activity uh there would be a c4 the contributions for 501 c 4 are not tax deductible but you’re allowed to do politics and lobby the third entity would be a political action committee
14:39
so many organizations will have all three entities that are loosely related but not legally connected it’s not uncommon for organizations like the chamber commerce or the farm bureau or environmental organizations to have those types of relationships i see so a political action committee the idea about arm’s length gets a little gray maybe that’s where things happen here we’re going to be great and if someone makes some kind of jurisdiction it can become an issue i’m just trying
15:23
to think of what it could be because when this ends up in my email as a you know something provocative and it’s not the conventional news source i’m like uh-oh is that that fake news i’ve heard about right does that mean every piece of information in the world is fake if it’s not by an organization that we know it’s such a crazy area it is crazy how do you know what what’s true and real you got you actually have to think can you imagine be a candidate and have to know about
15:54
issues my god and it’s unrealistic to know about every issue sure i mean uh when i served both in the senate and the council like most people you have what they call a subject matter focus mine was land use issues and environmental protection so if i had to vote on a health issue or an airport issue or some other issue that i’m not familiar with i would look to people i trust organizations i trust uh and dig into that issue for that particular time but i go but i was not an expert on that issue
16:35
but it it the use of uh various organizations to do various things and stay within the law is a challenging one uh because it kind of begs the question the other guys are doing it if we don’t do it they have an advantage and it’s legal so it’s legal to have a political action committee it’s legal to have these various organizations so you know do you want to play by the rules they play by or not there’s one one area that they call it dark money where uh certain kinds of political
17:25
action committees don’t have to disclose their donors and others do that that type of thing and some have limits uh most most grassroots candidates don’t have a clue or can’t yeah don’t understand it well that when this email prods okay with a phone number in there of of mark she and you know prodding hey call mark and ask him why he’s not uh advertising and you know it’s like very i don’t know what the word is and sometimes an individual may be involved but not directing it
18:10
for example i have large networks and over the years i i talk to donors people that give money to hapa and various good causes that i support so i’ll put i’ll put a a word out i’ll say please support this candidate please support this organization and then people may donate money to those organizations but i’m not directing those organizations you you follow me i might support i do i watch this play here in maui i mean there’s the the mali pono network and the arm’s length
18:52
people might might might say well gary hooser’s doing this i understand but but i’m not really you know i’m i’m encouraging my friends to support this organization who i support yeah what do you think of this year’s group of candidates have you looked at our maui county council i have and you know maui is really leading the way the maui miracle showed what your community could do and then the council that was elected county rollins kelly king tamara shane i mean there’s just some really solid
19:28
people there let me ask you a question because i noticed in you you didn’t mention tasha and i’m only mentioning because i know tasha a lot of years i was gonna run for that seat but because she was running i didn’t when you got to an issue that you didn’t agree with others and or you thought that things were different how did that ever work with you because i know when i speak to her she’s sort of so committed to our community so when i suddenly see people polarize against her
20:00
and like things because of them how the hell have you dealt with that kind of thing yeah in in the political sector you you know you’re not going to get along with everybody you know everyone is not going to always vote with you but you know you’re going to need them on the next vote uh so you’re i’m talking about your colleagues if you would uh and so i always try to agree to disagree unless somebody throws me onto the bus or otherwise you know plays dirty pool then that’s not okay but in general if
20:33
the person’s voting or acting out of a personal space of integrity even if they don’t agree with me hey let’s agree to disagree and let’s move on work together later you’re talking about how people work together as council people i’m saying suddenly the public i mean because we have a media i don’t know how people feed to the media but you could be plus or minus on one or two issues that the public finds that you didn’t vote the way that they felt the majority should vote
21:09
and now you’re you’re suddenly cast where how do you get the word out of why you voted the way you are and not to alienate people i mean i’m maybe that’s part of your right so i when i put out the names of people i support i omit some people it’s not necessarily that i oppose them it’s just i’m not convinced that i want to give them my wholehearted public support as a person serving you need to explain your votes and i think that’s uh one thing i’ve been blessed with the
21:47
ability to communicate my thoughts so if i was voting on something controversial uh i would immediately in the paper or an email or somehow so you have the ability you have the ability to do that yeah and people would say well even though i disagree with gary i still like him and i think he did this for the right reasons uh here as on maui may be different than where you are a little bit i haven’t seen the person of the personable letters i’ve seen things a little bit more caustic so i was curious now he has i think
22:23
maui has a certain reputation if you would for uh blowing things up you know uh call you know being caustic and i’ve tried to uh when i’m working with people around the state i’m trying to tone that down and uh i don’t believe that i think there’s a time and a place for it but not all the time and all the place the the big thing on any group so you have a mount you have your maui county council or the state house state senate it’s about a majority if you have a majority you can drive the
22:57
agenda and if you’re if you want to drive let’s say a certain progressive i’ll call a progressive agenda or environmental agenda or a whatever that agenda is you need a majority and if you have someone in that group or on the body if i would that and you don’t have a majority then it’s in in your best interest from a public policy perspective to elect someone who will be part of that majority so you can get things done i mean if you’re if you’re going from a progressive or conserved conservative
23:33
whatever agenda or whatever whatever value set you want you want people elected that will share your your values and help the majority pursue its agenda that’s the issue i’m going to break in only because we’re going to get much more into this we are here on kaku 88.5 fm radio which is also akaku maui community tv if you’re on kauai i bet we’re going to get a copy over there and on your station as well as on the internet on youtube mauineutralzone.com so we’re going to take a station break
24:12
and then we’re going to come back with gary hoosier gary is a citizen at large citizen extraordinaire a wonderful man from living in kauai but uh really very important to all of us here in hawaii and maui especially see you in just a minute aloha we are back this is jason schwartz i’m here with gary hooser and we are at the neutral zone maui neutralzone.com kaku radio we have all kinds of sponsors and all kinds of people but you know what the most important thing that we have is you you guys
24:52
i’m sorry i’m just checking in everything goes off and i don’t stand up and hit buttons we’re now in zoom and in some ways gary we’re able i could never get a time where i could get you over here from there to do an interview and people are if they are willing and open we have access to different kinds of conversations and relationships than we were otherwise you know like i’m going to take this along with other interviews i’m doing and when i present to a group of people
25:27
in maui county that are deciding what to do with our future i’m going to give them these interviews and i’m going to be sharing with them important things in people like i want to jump in did you see or meet michael smith when he was here in hawaii because i know he went over to kauai for a very short while michael smith does regenertech taking green waste any green matter and processing with with uh algae processing algae creating then methane and hydrogen and running a jet engine to create biochar
26:03
and phytoceuticals and then create jurassic park if you will growing i did not i did not i’ve heard of them but i have not i don’t know them and i haven’t seen them there’s a movie called the need to grow and i know the scene now here’s an example when i show that interview and i show the interview of someone like yourself who’s progressive on the other island show how we’re fitting together and can show some of these people that are being asked what to do there’s so many of us that
26:35
know what to do there are a lot of solutions there’s a lot of things to do that could that we can move forward on like food security you know do you know jenny pal and food security hawaii and that whole thing they did for mali tomorrow showing what could be done with the acreage and then maui mahi pono bought it right but what an amazing story here we have extraordinary solutions i’m sure on your island also your utility company is a model and everyone is constantly talking about what they’re
27:12
doing in kauai and and things are going on and but maui i have to say again maui is leading the way uh in in many areas citizen involvement at the end of the day that is the answer that drives the political sphere that drives everything is people being involved in their community taking ownership and responsibility for their government uh you’ve got some great candidates if i could uh besides we talked about representative tina wildberger but walter riddy he’s a man i advi admire very very much
27:50
uh i’m supporting walters running there on uh he’s got that district with uh hana and lanai also right it’s a challenging district it’s uh what do you call it when decoyed has been there for a while a canoe canoe district they call that uh simon russell i think is uh you know great i met him he’s a very nice guy and very talented both walter and simon are way pro more progressive than uh people in the past and we’re coming to a time where those kind of qualities are gonna
28:25
really stand up and be heard in in a whole new life just like what we’re talking about we’ve i’ve been talking about this stuff for 30 years it’s like jason you were right junior moniz who as many people know as the head of the gang that was on the council in maui right he said to me jason you were right about all this stuff you should run you should right now i want to say i don’t need to run i want to put all these pieces together junior you can stand up with us now mama and papa
28:56
the maui arts and music and all this stuff now’s the time get us the doorway with the right people who are listening right and there’s lots of ways to serve you know uh like you’re doing you know spreading the word communicating and like you say from outside of the political elected official you gary hoosier have a lot more flexibility to do ka pune was also a member of our uh kuleana academy oh yeah he’s in this ground this time yeah he’s he’s running in the in kihei the district eight
29:36
he’s running for the state house this year eight that’s like where joe tsuki used to be i think yes that’s i think that’s a crowded primary uh but uh he’s he’s a solid individual and what’s normally the case for many many of these races is uh this is the start of a journey you know for for each of these individuals uh a leadership journey and politic in a political sense so i started mine way back when i lost my first race it was a really tough one but then i ran again and you win and you
30:11
serve and you just keep growing so all of these candidates uh that’s the journey they’re on right now and and i’m hopeful they’ll stick with it and uh they’ll win and if they if not they’ll they’ll stick in a leadership position in the community well i jumped out of it 98 i was ran 92 94 96 ed lindsey and the whole group there when everyone was running for mayor i realized that i could probably do more and contribute by not running by interviewing candidates so i’ve been interviewing
30:46
every couple of years and after a while i hope that that’s what we’ve created is a zone here where we can get everyone to talk openly and and put down our swords you know you talk about when you’re on council you need so many votes i was looking through my website and i saw this letter and it really was complimenting who was from alice lee when she was on council view so she’s the head of the council and she’s part of the bad guys perceived by i don’t know who’s voting here you
31:20
know some people or yuki lei sugimura these are people that i feel i can talk to if i had an issue about something i feel like both of these ladies are super people you know and capable so this idea of issues and how they’re presented to the public i expect we’re going to get everything we want because good sense makes good sense should we get it yes and no i think good sense does make good sense but i think i i don’t like to look at people through a good guy bad guy lance i realize there are bad guys
32:01
uh people that act unethically uh but usually i attribute it to looking at the world through a different lens right uh so you might have been raised uh and grown up with certain values and somebody else has other values uh your uh carlton ching is a is an example i use he was appointed i believe by governor ige i think which governor to be head of the department of land and natural resources and his entire background was in corporate uh big landowner developers and a lot of us objected to it and at
32:43
the end he was not confirmed but the objection was not about him as being a bad man the objection was if you want someone in charge of land and natural resources you need someone to look at the world through a lens of caring for those not a lens of developing them and making money in in my opinion so we can differ on that and you can oppose people you can say no he’s not the right guy for that without being personal even though it’s it’s often it’s hard not to take it personal as an individual and somebody
33:15
votes no against you we see that happening on nationals well you know i don’t i could mention you could mention you know ben carson betsy devos go down the list right of people that are appointed for positions and you’re wondering how do they have any uh quote why are they in those positions because they’re appointed do we have more control here for that is that that becoming an issue this election so we have we have local control and it’s it’s a very real issue you know i use uh
33:50
carlton ching as an example but there are positions and laws to be made to protect the environment and so if lawmakers are elected who believe that environmental protection is an impediment to development and so we should get rid of environment so real harm real tangible harm can come to our environment nationally globally with with energy companies oil and asp or we could protect it so that the people are making these decisions and so they’re making a decision that impacts people in the environment it
34:31
could keep poor people poor or it could raise low income people poor people up so every environment it can hurt the environment or it can help the environment and so they’re very real decisions and so it’s no wonder the passions flare up do you get big companies quote pushing on you i mean if i don’t know who the local monsanto esque group is on kauai you can give me some names and i’d remember but do they come and say hey gary you know if you do this we’re gonna we’re gonna do they get there or is it
35:09
yes absolutely but i was when i was on the council the chemical companies the syngentas the dow chemical the duponts of the world leaned very very heavily on me and i don’t have a problem saying that they’re corporate thugs i worried for my personal safety let alone my political future wow without when i was in the senate we looked at uh there was an issue of increasing taxes on sugar drinks coca-cola and immediately my office is full of lobbyists for coca-cola from other places from the from the continent you know
35:54
leaning on you and so industry does it organized labor does it uh but without question the the monsantos of the world are out there and they play hardball uh with politicians the person that took my seat on the kauai county council we don’t run head to head on the kauai council it’s at large so i can’t say he beat me but i lost and he won and he was an employee of syngenta backed by that industry uh and yeah they know i was targeted you know uh and and they won that but in retrospect it was a victory for me
36:34
because it freed me to do all this other work that i’m doing well that’s a really good thing you know um life is a funny thing you know i’ve had also what looked like an explosion that ended up being the the plants and the seeds for the field of grass growing around me now you know i know life is a funny animal yeah what do you think’s going on here with this coven thing what do you think we’re going to do here you have any of them in my core uh i this this too shall pass you know and
37:10
we’ll look back at the covet era uh from from a time in the future which is uh normal i’ll say normal uh i don’t know whether that’s gonna be six months from now or or six years from now uh but uh this will pass i believe it’s there’s no question i believe it’s it’s a real crisis yeah we’re not no one’s making this stuff up around the world i believe i have to say i believe governor ige and uh certainly mayor kawakami on kauai have handled it well uh we things could have gone out of
37:46
control really quick with the amount of international travel coming to our state now the economic impacts you know that the whole balancing of making money and protecting your health is it’s a moral question i guess yeah it’s a tough one right now it’s a tough one but i i i err on the side of uh let’s stay closed or for a while i don’t want to rush i’m protecting life i hear of course today i heard there are only three islands in the you know three places in the united states that can be covered
38:22
free without mask kauai big island and maui and that uh then we we can bring our measures not down but uh right and then be a standard for others to follow as we show them how to open up and show them again the things that we’re doing for self-sustainability renewable energy all the things that create this self-sustainable economic model because i don’t know how we can expect tourism to race back here and suddenly it’s like the water doesn’t fill in and it’s like a wave is it going to come
38:59
back and fill back in i think not yeah you remember years ago and they’d say up if we don’t watch our beaches and we have all these things going on tourists won’t come back here well now here we got one of those things it’s like look what uh it’s like do we want them back here maybe we can create this new model have you have you had that kind of conversation on your absolutely absolutely i mean i think in general uh hawaii certainly maui kawaii can be a model we’re small
39:32
enough to get involved as a community and to make community-based decisions and and manage people can’t just jump on a greyhound bus and come here and there’s so many jobs and potential that we could create through solutions we can create we ourselves this is just me i’m over the top of it all the solutions are here i just watch these people looking for money and things that come from somewhere else when all the resources are actually right here right now if we just learn how to organize them
40:08
together i i have ideas i’m sure you do also but i don’t think that they think like that they’re thinking from an old model really and there’s there’s fear-based decision-making so the nature of a political animal is is conservative i think they don’t want to take risks so if i’m if i’m going to pass a public policy uh on tourism or limiting tourism or putting a cap on something you’re immediately surrounded i talked about the monsanto people you’re surrounded by airline people and
40:46
hotel people and other people say no you can’t do that that’s going to cost us jobs that’s going to do that so the fear is put into this person that wow if i make if i do this and people are going to be out of work and and so the political element could get locked uh in the indecision too often but it’s up to the people people on the ground to be there counter balancing uh the industry if you would uh pushing back like maui did you talk about it exactly yeah amazing and then the fact that you
41:21
got involved that the jurisdiction was the issue i thought that i was like what we can’t even make our own decision and have a stick someone else is going to tell them no that we can’t do that decision yeah syngenta sued kauai county for the right to spray poisons next to schools and not tell anybody about it and they won in federal court i’m convinced that if they would have been in state court which we tried the state would have followed our constitution the constitution says the state
41:57
and all of its political subdivisions are responsible for environmental protection and health and water all of its political subdivisions include the county not just the state but uh but we lost and we won today i have to say i’ll give a shout out to because this was maui this was kauai this was statewide today as we sit here the footprint of the industry in the state of hawaii is less than half that it was when we started down this path when the maui miracle was happening when kawaii passed our law there was twice as much
42:31
acreage twice as much pesticides being sprayed and the industry will say it’s not because of what we did but i like to think that the community pressure had something to do with it and and we went on the court said the counties can’t regulate so we went on and passed a very significant bill in the state legislature uh regulating the industry for the first time and as far as i can remember you think that it’ll be a big difference if they think to have a department of agriculture on maui
43:04
maui county i do i do uh a lot of it is is uh you know the conversation i forget who the famous author is about the elephant the uh the big elephant in the room no it’s it’s uh uh latic or la uh anyway it’s about choosing words so you have a police department or a peace department as a peace officer or a police officer so having a department of agriculture just gives elevates the value of the effort uh you know instead of on kauai county tourism gets a line share of the economic development budget
43:54
and that’s not right so having a department forces the council and the county and the people if you would to elevate food sustainability and there is so much potential uh it’s easy to for some people to say ah you know how are you gonna make money farming uh let’s do aerospace or let’s do some other big idea but there is uh the branding potential of hawaii products food products clean organic niche products we have over here we have vanilla high value products uh chocolate of course there’s coffee uh not to
44:38
mention uh value-added type of products uh the organics is the fastest growing segment of the food industry uh right now i know in the western world certainly uh you can’t you can’t go to costco without tripping over organic stuff you know costco is so very responsive baby you think that monsanto would turn into the big environmental uh giant that try to use that power in a good way and become the hero put on a white hat why can’t that be and maybe we could i still believe we can do
45:18
that here i’m maybe that’ll be the next maui miracle i don’t really look at people and think they’re adversaries i just think they don’t recognize just how great it can be i mean it could give them more than they have i always wonder about that you know oh what do you think i i struggle with that also working fighting if you would the chemical industry here on kauai and i know that the managers and the people working for the company are not bad people they’re they’re
45:50
probably good mom and dads and soccer coaches and they care about their family they care about the community but their actions are literally poisoning my community uh there is no question that this stuff they’re using causes cancer it causes you know brain development problems you know there’s we’re such a small island why are these small islands can’t they choose to try a new way with a community that’s all i’m saying and on kauai they are now you drive to the west side
46:26
there are uh huge greenhouse enclosures now which was part of what we were asking for do this stuff in an enclosed environment don’t do it open air don’t do it so it can blow into the neighbor and now there are these massive i call them greenhouses they’re actually white uh massive structures that are doing indoor uh growing and spraying and testing well it’s wonderful to hear that they’re making that kind of thing and i’d like to see open public displays that you know just like
46:59
black or racism now open showing or you know doing things together that create positive things in our community so we take take down the walls mr gorbachev or now with trump with his new walls i i just keep thinking on an island that we there’s no reason that we can’t all get it right you know we’ll all have the same food shortage we’ll all have the same health challenges that we have we’re all gonna have the same so i’m hoping that these times open up the mind of some of these
47:37
people that some call bad if you will you know whatever they are and would yeah with their companies these are great times for great things to make a great change and do good i think it makes a huge difference if you’re rooted here if you’re either from here or you you have roots here you have children here you have your family here you’re staying here unfortunately the nature of many of these businesses uh they’re foreign whether it’s foreign chicago new york or foreign you know japan
48:13
china europe whatever so the people are not from here when when i was counseling i was chairing the meeting at the council dealing with these companies and all four managers five managers were in front of me at the council answering questions and then i said well wait wait a second i just realized you guys aren’t making the decisions somebody in chicago in the boardroom is making the decisions and they’re that they’re telling you what to do and say is that correct and they said actually council member they’re watching
48:48
this meeting right now live uh and yes they are making the decisions and so the values that we hold locally are not the same values that they have in basel switzerland where syngenta is based or in in other other boardrooms they’re not locally rooted and and uh they’re driven by profits you know they’re they’re driven by profits i attended a board of directors meeting not a board meeting a shareholders meeting in basel switzerland for synchenta and i spoke at that meeting the first
49:24
part of the meeting they were briefing the shareholders on their portfolio on how much money syngenta was making and there was no talk about feeding the world there was no talk about growing food it was all about the percentage of pesticide sales in global markets it was all about that but then they come here and they talk about feeding the world and then they don’t tell you the corn the corn they’re growing is not for human consumption the corn is for cattle feed for ethanol or for high
49:55
fructose corn syrup but we’re dealing with foreign owners with with i would argue foreign values uh and it makes it challenging to deal with their managers who who are essentially good people but but uh following the directions of the bosses believe it or not we’re getting close to running out of time and these times i think i would like to give you a platform because um you know i’m kind of directing where we’ve been here but what are things that you feel are important that you’d like to
50:29
share with our audience because we have audience from all around the world and whether it’s the governor or president trump president president trump yeah thank you what thank you thank you for the opportunity to be here anything you’d like to i appreciate that but i i know that you you have wisdom because of all these years of service what would you say we need to have in the mix now i would i would encourage people private citizens to take ownership of their government and take take their power that they hold
51:09
most citizens don’t believe they have power they don’t believe and then thus they don’t exercise it uh we live in a community we’re blessed to live in a community that’s small enough whereas a citizen in maui or citizen of kauai could actually get to know their state senator or state representative they can call them up and say i’d like to meet with you let alone their council members and so i encourage them to do this to take the time it takes time i know everybody’s busy everybody’s
51:35
maybe not in covert they’re not as busy but take the time to vote to pay attention to the issues and that their vote and their and their voice matters as as someone who ran for public office and served for for nearly 20 years i can tell you for a fact somebody in my district who wants their voice heard it’s important because they they can affect my life as a politician you know whether it’s through a letter to the editor or whether it’s campaigning for somebody else but there’s lots of power in the
52:09
citizenry august 8th is our primary election and right now ballots are out there i would encourage people to do a little bit of research and go out there and vote this many elections are going to be won and lost by just a handful of votes uh so be involved and run for office that’s what i want to really want to say is run for office uh whether young or old you don’t have to be anointed you don’t have to be chosen by the party uh you have to be have to work hard you have to be willing to work uh and i’d be happy
52:44
to talk to anybody garywoozer.com uh if someone wants to get involved in politics that’s what i’m doing right now i’m looking for people who i can support and help and train and mentor if you would uh who want to get involved in leadership positions in the public sector you’ve been a wonderful guest i appreciate you and from afar and close and every time we’ve spoken through the years i have nothing but respect for you thank you so much jason and i’ll be happy to go on the
53:16
show again happy to have you again okay thank you guys all for watching and we will see you another time laura you
