Green Party Face on Maui – Nikhilananda

• [05:03 → 10:20]
  Green Party Evolution and Political Landscape
• The Green Party of Hawaii has been active on the ballot for nearly 30 years since 1992, evolving from being seen as “radical” to a more recognized movement emphasizing grassroots democracy, non-violence, social justice, and ecological wisdom.
• Despite running multiple times, Nik notes a persistent lack of respect or recognition from mainstream parties and media, though the Green platform has influenced many voter concerns over time.
• Major parties are described as corporate-controlled “duopoly,” with one party recently shifting toward authoritarian right-wing extremism. The Green Party refuses corporate PAC money, emphasizing ethical campaign funding.
• The Democratic Party dominates Hawaii’s legislature numerically but is ideologically mixed, with many members aligning more closely with Republicans nationally.
• [10:20 → 15:52]
  Key Local Issues and Political Realities
• Education: Nik advocates for breaking up the centralized Department of Education system in Hawaii to allow more local control and creativity, citing delays and inefficiencies (e.g., South Maui High School construction).
• Land Use and Housing: Property taxes are low compared to mainland U.S. but do not fund public schools. Affordable housing and homelessness (“houselessness”) remain critical problems, with an estimated need for 5,000 affordable homes in Maui County.
• Tiered Property Taxes: Nik supports tiered property taxes targeting high-value homes and second/third homes (20% of houses are unoccupied or vacation homes) to ease affordable housing funding.
• Voter Awareness: Many voters rely on unions, PACs, or friends for endorsements rather than independent research, reflecting low political education levels among large portions of the electorate.
• [15:52 → 23:37]
  Challenges in Political Media Coverage and Election Process
• Nik criticizes the lack of substantive media coverage and voter information guides in Hawaii, which hinders voter education and candidate visibility.
• Ranked Choice Voting (Instant Runoff Voting) has been adopted in a limited form in Hawaii as a positive reform, giving voters the ability to rank candidates by preference in crowded races.
• Voter turnout is low, especially in primaries, where only about half of registered voters participate, and registered voters constitute only about half the eligible population, leading to decisions made by roughly a quarter of potential voters.
• Negative campaigning is prevalent, especially against incumbents, and the political environment is dominated by money, with the Green Party standing out for refusing PAC contributions.
• Public financing of campaigns and campaign finance reform are highlighted as necessary and progressive measures, with some experiments on the Big Island noted.
• [23:37 → 32:13]
  Historical and Political Context
• Nik reflects on the history of third parties in the U.S., noting how many progressive issues originated with smaller parties before being absorbed by major parties (e.g., women’s suffrage, Abraham Lincoln’s early political affiliation).
• Infrastructure and public transportation have been longstanding issues Nik championed, such as advocating for Maui’s bus system, which reached 2.5 million rides pre-pandemic but needs expansion and electrification.
• Nik and Jason discuss the entrenched “old boy network” culture in local politics that impedes new leadership and reform, with some long-serving politicians running for multiple terms despite term limits intended by voters but circumvented by technicalities.
• The media’s lack of investigative reporting and critical journalism is lamented, contributing to a lack of accountability in county and state government.
• [32:13 → 38:44]
  Systemic Issues and Local Scandals
• Corruption issues, such as bribery scandals and inadequate oversight (e.g., the Department of Permitting and Planning), are significant local concerns.
• Environmental and military issues, including protests against the Red Hill fuel storage disaster, demonstrate how major local issues often lack adequate political or party response, with the Green Party actively involved.
• Local media, including Civil Beat, provides some investigative journalism but is limited in reach and scope.
• Climate change has become widely recognized as a critical issue, aligning with the Green Party’s environmental roots, though some groups remain resistant or “zombie-like” in denying science or facts.
• The political divide nationally and locally is compared to historical social movements, with hope for eventual progress despite setbacks.
• [38:44 → 50:38]
  Policy Priorities and Social Issues
• Affordable housing, homelessness, climate change, and transportation remain front and center.
• Nik supports expanded funding for alternative transportation, early childhood education, and support for economically challenged families, particularly single mothers.
• Healthcare: Advocates for expanded Medicaid/Medicare and universal healthcare (not specifically “Medicaid for all”), emphasizing that 40% of Hawaii families struggle financially.
• Tax Reform: Proposes shifting tax burdens away from essentials like food and medicine onto higher income individuals and corporations, supporting small businesses with flexible policies.
• Tourism: Not anti-tourism but critical of how it is currently managed, including transient accommodation taxes and infrastructure strain.
• Social Justice: Supports reproductive rights, particularly in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, emphasizing women’s bodily autonomy and criticizing the anti-choice stance of many candidates in one major party.
• Criminal Justice Reform: Highlights injustices such as cash bail issues, lengthy pretrial detentions, and systemic problems in the criminal justice system.
• [50:38 → 01:01:18]
  Campaign Experience and Electoral Challenges
• Nik stresses the importance of research and education in campaigning, lamenting the difficulty in communicating his extensive knowledge and policy platforms to voters.
• He praises the Green Party platform’s emphasis on environmental, social, and justice issues, positioning himself as a trustworthy, consistent advocate for the community.
• Discusses the challenges of district 13’s geography—covering multiple islands (Molokai, Lanai, East Maui, North Shore Maui)—making representation and campaign outreach difficult and expensive compared to more compact districts.
• Notes the lack of media coverage on local issues, candidates, and ballot measures, urging voters to educate themselves beyond endorsements and superficial ads.
• Calls for term limits to prevent entrenched incumbents from dominating local politics indefinitely.
• [01:01:18 → 01:05:55]
  Closing Remarks and Call to Action
• Nik and Jason reflect on the long history of advocacy and incremental progress in Maui and Hawaii politics, citing victories like public transportation, environmental protections, and recognition of climate change.
• Nik emphasizes that though many issues remain unresolved, persistent activism and community engagement are crucial.
• He advocates for progressive candidates who will address housing, climate change, social justice, and governance reform.
• Jason praises Nik’s dedication, knowledge, and integrity, highlighting him as a serious, viable candidate worthy of voter support.
• Both acknowledge the imperfections of the current system but stress the importance of participation and informed voting in upcoming elections.

Summary Table: Key Issues and Positions of Nik hilananda

Key Insights and Conclusions

• Nik hilananda embodies decades of consistent, issue-driven political activism within the Green Party, focusing on grassroots democracy, social justice, environmental sustainability, and non-violence.
• He critiques the entrenched two-party system’s corporate influence and ideological incoherence, positioning the Green Party as a principled alternative.
• Persistent local issues like affordable housing, education, healthcare, and transportation remain unmet needs that Nik has championed for years.
• Systemic barriers such as limited media coverage, low voter education, and entrenched incumbency with weak term limits hinder political progress and diverse representation.
• Electoral reforms like ranked choice voting and public campaign financing are seen as necessary to improve democratic participation and reduce corruption.
• Nik’s candidacy for State House District 13 faces unique challenges due to the geographic spread of the district across multiple islands, impacting outreach and fundraising.
• Despite setbacks, Nik remains hopeful about incremental progress and stresses the importance of informed voting and community advocacy to address Maui and Hawaii’s pressing issues.

Not Specified / Uncertain Information

• Specific data on exact term limits legislation and enforcement mechanisms in Maui County.
• Detailed polling or voter preference data relating to Nik’s current race.
• Precise funding figures or campaign budget comparisons with other candidates.
• Exact implementation timeline or scope for ranked choice voting beyond initial legislative steps.

This summary reflects a comprehensive, well-structured extraction of key points from the interview with Nik hilananda on the Neutral Zone Maui, focusing strictly on content supported by the transcript.

[Music] thank you aloha I’m Jason Schwartz your host here at the neutral zone Maui neutralzone.com you can find us on akaku Maui Community TV you can find us at 88.5 FM the voice of Maui and of course up on the net on YouTube and at Maui neutralzone.com you can find all these shows all the time I have a guest today that I am very happy to say is a friend but besides that he was the first guest on the neutral zone back in 2018 when um I was just starting this show I was going to talk about politics and then

00:56

found there was an equal time thing going on and so I talked about issues but I did interview one candidate and his name was I guess you see it behind him Nik hilananda Welcome to our show thank you Jason Schwartz well you know when you first came on a few years ago I thought to myself this is going to be a fun time interviewing candidates that are running and I wasn’t running at the time but now I’m running and you’re running and you’re interviewed by a guy that’s running how does that feel to you

01:35

well as you said we’ve known each other many years you’ve been involved in media both TV and radio and internet for all almost all that time that we’ve known each other and so it’s nice to see you again and to connect and have a few moments to chat about all the issues we’ve talked about over the years well that sounds like a political answer I asked you what does it feel like me being a candidate all this time I’ve been asking questions of candidates this year I looked on the internet trying to

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find where there’s another candidate whoever started into the interviewing candidates and I said I don’t see any and this Thursday I’m interviewing the lady that I’m running against Tasha Kama how many people do that nobody so I hope that we break the mold and when it comes to Breaking the mold I think of you you’re a guy that introduced me when I first met you it was 1992. where were you then do you remember roll again yeah we were yeah we were at a meeting of uh people that were interested in learning about

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the Green Party and so yes that’s where we met and then we both got active in the green party and that year was that was the spring of 2000 no 1992 and we both decided to seek uh seats on the Maui County council at the time the races were partisan races so we both ran as green party of Hawaii members and of course people didn’t know what the green party was they kept on saying Greenpeace 30 years later most people know about the Green Party and they know about green but we used to be considered radical are you still

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considered radical now I know I they all tell me I’m just green which green is green I think green has kind of come upon a whole movement since we started it here and we were really just following um Global initiatives in green you’ve been incredibly dedicated to putting out the platform of the greens and to developing the party in Hawaii if I was to say where is the backbone of the policy and the things I don’t know if I would say you because all kinds of people get but I think of who is out there constantly

04:18

sharing the Green platform and really being a great example of an involved citizen it is you you’ve run a few times now A couple of times right um how many times now seven eight something like that I have been a candidate for the Maui County Council six times East Maui most of those races the lineup of East Maui has changed a little bit and our districts have changed I’ve been on the ballot twice when Patsy Ming passed and I was the Green Party candidate for the United States Congress and this is my third time seeking the

05:03

district 13 State House of Representative District which which district has changed slightly it’s basically the same it’s changed slightly it includes four Islands three of which are populated Molokai Lanai and East Maui and North Shore Maui this new reapportionment stretches the district out past Baldwin Beach and now it incorporates sprecklesville and Kahului Airport well you know I don’t know how politics goes but and I don’t know how many people even know until they arrive on

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on Election Day do you think we have a more informed voting public now than we did then I mean you I think of you as someone running and after a while I know that people um have in some ways um not heard you as clearly in some ways but they can’t help but see you’re right you’re right you’re right it seems like all the policies that you have been I haven’t been as active that you’ve been initiating are on the tip of the the thoughts of so many voters for so long um I would say

06:29

I’m you can talk and interrupt me I keep thinking that no it doesn’t work for me so uh you ask a question and when you stop and take a pause then I’ll respond to your question oh that’s fine well you might not be speaking as much as in my life because I jump in because I’m trying to give you a direction really um I you’ve run a lot and sometimes you run and I really thought there was a a chance because you had a fair amount of showing but it’s always been a funny thing for you because you haven’t really

07:06

gotten the respect that you really deserve and I just um it’s very important for me when I sit with you to give you the respect that you deserve I can’t tell you how many issues you’re going to probably tell me how many issues that you’ve been tracking over the years and you’ve been leading on that it just takes the world a while to catch up but you’ve been out there on these subjects go ahead well I have to go back and I’m not sure if I remember all of your questions and

07:37

comments you said one thing that I’ve been uh right and I prefer to say I’ve been correct because I’m definitely not right we see the two major parties the what I call the Republic Kratz and duopoly being corporate controlled being pro-military though we see now sadly that one of those two parties has become become an authoritarian extremist right-wing some would call fascistic party and so we’re seeing a split between those two parties but still they take corporate money that’s one thing the green party

08:15

doesn’t and you mentioned something earlier about respect and uh Jason the reality is one person’s trash is another person’s treasure so I get feedback constantly as you were alluding to when you said you were impressed about all of this activity I get constant support by certain individuals now in a political campaign too often that requires money and money and oh by the way I probably left out money so there are lots of people that have I used to have a TV show as you know Maui Talks TV and I still get people walking

09:02

up to me when I go around the islands who say hey I remember you you were from that show why don’t you bring it back so we move on different things we’re involved in now sometimes when I stand for office it’s to let people know that the green party is still in existence so this is our 15th or maybe 16th I I meant to look up the actual total but for 30 years since 1992 the green party of Hawaii has been on the ballot so we give people a choice now it’s up to people to choose whether

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they want to stand for office and as we see many people the the local Democrat parties very very strong they have 24 of 25 senators and 47 of 51 in the State House however half of those Democrats would be Republicans on the mainland so you have such a mixed bag of people in that party and with the green party offers is not a right left but a central Focus we stay stand on Grassroots democracy non-violence social justice and ecological wisdom now those are all nice catch phrases but over time we will

10:20

talk and get into what they mean as far as the issues that are impacting us here in Hawaii okay well as far as issues we could Jump Right In you know I I know there’s a difference between house and Senate and uh local but issues don’t draw lines like that you have any issues that you think are important that you’d like to put front and center and part of your intended Direction well thank you that’s a really uh uh broad question and my correction is that I heard a candidate for the mayor of

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Maui County going off on and on and on about what he’s going to do for the students of the schools the mayor of Maui county has nothing to do with the schools the schools in Hawaii are run by a central one system fits all and as someone who is a substitute teacher for years worked for the doe you mentioned an issue I’ve been a strong proponent of breaking up the top heavy egocentric Bureau bureaucratic Department of Education and have more local control in different areas it would then offer

11:37

creativity it would offer where people could try something here and they could try something somewhere else and then if they see if it works there there’s a figure of something like a billion dollars of construction that needs to be done on our school tools anyone in Maui is aware of how long it took to get a South Maui High School why because the Department of Education is very centralized to Oahu another thing that I do want to mention at this time that there is a difference land use that is

12:14

something that actually impacts both local and state so there’s certain things that the local uh counties they uh they offer property taxes people talk about our property taxes being high and yet there’s some of the lowest in the country because our property taxes do not go to paying Public Schools so there are things that we could do affordable housing and the houseless situation we have Jason I know you know that when we first connected in 92 we talked about affordable housing and that

12:51

Homeless uh situation which I’ve been saying houseless for years now people are using that phrase if you are not sheltered you’re unsheltered or you’re living in your car and so we see that people give lip service they say they’re building 14 affordable houses somewhere and yet we need the figure is 5 000 houses another just uh just really quick and I know you’ll have another question but the Census Bureau which I worked for recently came up with a figure that 20 of all houses in Maui County are not

13:26

occupied their second third fourth homes and so one of the things I was glad to see the County Council uh initiate a couple years years ago is a tiered property tax system where you tax houses that are a little more valuable well me I would have five tiers and houses that are 10 million dollars or more or five dollars five million or more those people can afford a little higher taxes in the total but you keep the you know per thousand dollar unit uh lower for people so there’s a lot of creative things that

14:02

can be done and um I do want to go back now and I apologize also but I know you have another question but you mentioned about people that are they go to the polls and that’s when they find out what’s going on I I don’t think that’s true I think that that’s true for a large amount of people it could be a majority of people who get a card from their local union or their local pack whether it’s an environmental pack or uh teachers union and they say vote for these people but

14:30

there are a lot of people the more that I start looking at issues and we spoke about this off the video we spoke about the number of questionnaires and sir surveys that we get and it’s unbelievable how many issues are really out there and the groups of people that are doing things for students and for young people and for nurses and for workers in unions it goes on and on so yeah there’s some people that are very educated and some people that really don’t know much and they have to ask

15:04

their neighbor or friend or their cousin hey who should I vote for um in an election um I always when I listen to you I purposely am leaving your room to talk because I do cut you off a lot so I just realized that when you speak take the floor and do it what you want um I know that when I see people get into office like without mentioning names in your race there are people that get endorsements from groups that by all logic should have been endorsing you and you wonder sometimes the the inside politics of of things have you

15:52

seen politics you know I guess I keep wondering if we’ve been considered second-class citizens because we’re green and they just don’t understand it or there just is a lack of really good media coverage here we’re not enough there’s not enough depth here before the primary how the heck does anyone see you and whoever’s running against you or me and six others I’m always flabbergasted that the media or someone here doesn’t make a rule that you have to put out more stuff about the

16:28

candidates that’s substantive what do you have to say about that I mean I know you probably have lots to say about lots of stuff I I’m starting with that and then I want to hear your name you see I think of you as an old philosopher I’ve watched you’re a student of which I’m not that old well you’re a little just a little older than me and I’m starting to get middle-aged so but I I really hear that you’ve been watching you’ve been studying I can talk about that I’ve talked to Mike Victorino

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when he was a Cub Scout and watched him grow up or Allen our account all these other people and how they’ve changed and what they say and now that’s changed but you really are really and I want to say a numbers guy you guys says oh yeah let me show you this give me hit me with some of this Nick I I know things are changing here but yet things aren’t changing and I’m really looking to see what you think and where we’re going now and what issues maybe we have a chance to make a

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difference in where we really need to uh get on it a reason this all comes up in me is today I listened to a video it’s one day or a week after the Roe versus Wade decision by the Supreme Court and it’s making everyone keenly aware that you can’t vote for parties because if 72 percent of the people in the country um I think a woman should be able to control her own body and the Supreme Court goes the other way and we’re talking about people that are about vaccinations and not it’s tough to look

18:10

at parties and get an idea who you’re putting in office it’s more like what are their issues who are they what can they do to add to the conversation okay that’s my that you call that a question those are like a a big log what do you think from that no I didn’t hear a question in there I heard you pontificating and so so many here’s the question what do you see now in the political climate that will either Aid or deter from a candidate like yourself and what do you think people should be doing to

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be able to get educated before the primary so they will vote for you that’s what I was trying to get to you’re expressing I pontificated that there’s not enough coverage so I want to hear you talking about what you think about that and how people can see you that’s really what this is so uh that there was an earlier question that you as you were talking and so I’ll go back to that but it uh it actually takes in what you were just alluding to first of all we don’t live in a

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dictatorship so there’s no one that demands that people have to watch videos that people have to do research and one thing that the League of Women Voters talks about and that I totally support those who have lived in other places you know I’ve been to all 50 states of the United States I’ve lived in seven states and plus the District of Columbia and things are done differently in different places so so we’re not limited to the myopic view oh we got to do things the way they’re done here so the number one

19:59

thing is that there are there is not a candidate uh booklet an election booklet something that is put out by the office of elections in other jurisdictions it is the law so again when you talk about one-party rule why doesn’t this one party Institute a demand that the office of elections is required to put out a voter’s guide then you would have a list of every candidate in every race and they could do that the same way as you go to civil B and people ask questions and they post that many of the surveys that I answered that

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post on their own sites but how many people are going to go to dozens of sites to read all these survey answers websites people have websites Twitter Instagram Tick Tock Facebook LinkedIn these are all places so if if there’s one area that they could put out and say okay these are the three or four main issues for candidate X these are the three or four for candidate y they wouldn’t be negative campaigning the reality is something else you alluded to is what works is if you look at the ads

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on television and I don’t see it as much on the internet but I’m sure this I’m I’m not I’m not sure but my guess would be there’ll be more and more negative ads uh where you have an incumbent like the mayor’s race or in different state house races or Senate races you will have people attacking the incumbent now it’s okay to say a record you’re running in a race where there is an incumbent and if people are really happy with that incumbent then you support the incumbent where there’s

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numerous people running where there’s an incumbent it makes you think there’s a lot of people that are frustrated now so a voter’s guide now that alludes to something else why do we have these primaries we could have something the green party a Nik and on this talked about for years now the state legislature passed a very limited version but it’s step one and that is ranked Choice voting or instant runoff voting so for example in a race that you’re involved in I believe there’s

22:27

seven candidates people could choose this is my favorite person but if they don’t get in you know I could handle this would be my second choice and this would be my third choice now that’s it if it’s if my third choice doesn’t get in I don’t care I’m not going to vote for anybody when you see the County Council races and there’s five seven thousand blank votes they always say oh people don’t know that they can vote for every district and that’s ridiculous people know that they can vote in every

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District it’s that the choices they get I’m not interested the sadness is the primaries only have half of the registered voters who vote and the registered voters are are only half the people that can vote so you’re talking about a quarter of the people that live in an area actually make the decisions of the final decision so in some races because we have the most partisan State Legislature in the country people say hey the primary is really important I got to choose in the primary but even there you’re only getting a

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quarter of the people that are voting for that person so there’s a lot of creative things we could do one thing that I speak about and the green party also is one of the platform issues is that we don’t take Pac money and we’ve said this for 30 years we’re not going to take uh public action a political action uh committee money because nobody knows where that money comes from and sadly our Supreme Court and I don’t want to get into National issues but our Supreme Court rules that uh unlimited

24:09

money and so again that’s something we talked about earlier is that how much money it takes so now the irony is and this is a truism third fourth fifth parties there was a party that advocated for women to have the right to vote the Democrat Party picked that up or the Republican Party picked that up and that party sort of went by the wayside the most famous Third Party candidate was Abraham Lincoln well when he ran two years earlier he ran as a wig that was one of the parties and he lost two years

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later he got together people and they formed a a group of wigs and so it it would eventually became the Republican party and it’s not the Republican party of today and I don’t want to get into that story so uh the green party has talked about ranked Choice voting it’s now in may hold it I just want our viewers to know that the the sound on your voice is going up and then down I don’t know if there’s something that you’re moving or going in front of or not I just wanted you to know that Nick

25:15

so you might want to slow down just a little bit here for a second you were just talking about the Republican Party the Lincoln was not the Publican party of today right well yeah uh but let me uh jump over to that and thank you for that because I just heard myself on the radio recently on a show on the radio where I made a phone I called up and left a phone message and they have to actually played it on NPR the other day and I heard that I was talking slower than I am now Jason I think it’s a reality and

25:55

this is the issue that we could talk about also is that I live out in Hawaii past Twin falls out in the jungle and we don’t have five well maybe they’ve uh now have a fiber optic cable but the cost that’s too cost prohibitive so my internet is pretty good and every once in a while if I have two or three people here and they’re all on their wireless phones or whatever then it cuts off so thank you for letting me know I’ll talk a little slower there’s nothing I can do from here because fortunately at least I

26:28

can get on the internet there are people not too far from me that cannot just like this certain radio stations we cannot pick up here so I think the point I want to get back to and I’m glad I remembered the uh where I was going when I mentioned one of the two uh major parties is that the green party has been standing up for certain issues not taking Pac money well now you see numerous candidates for the governor and for a state senator state house they go I don’t take Pac money but of course they’re endorsed by their

27:02

political party and the political party takes back money so it’s a way of uh speaking out of both sides of your mouth green party does not take back money we’ve said that for 30 years and we don’t so running a campaign so that’s a good segue and I have a feeling you have another question but I want to get this out first is that one of my other things I’ve talked about for all of these years is public financing of Elections and campaign Finance reform and they’ve experimented

27:33

on the big island so these are not radical issues you know earlier when you said am I too radical no they’re really they’re they’re futuristic far-thinking Progressive uh issues that eventually the other parties picked up and so and take and take credit for but don’t forget that well listen that’s a that’s a political thing because the uh minority party in the house dozens of Representatives who are running for re-election have said hey look at all the money I’m bringing for the

28:06

infrastructure bill that was passed but if you look at their vote they voted against it so it’s really hard for me with a straight face and not using four-letter words to talk about the GOP one of the two major parties how fascist they become and they’re led by an insurrectionist and it’ll be a national holiday when he is indicted now we had we’re old enough to remember president that had something like 60 support at the time when they started investigating a certain break-in at a

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hotel in Washington DC eventually the country turned on him his party said no you’re done and he resigned so it’s something is in the water today that it’s just hard for me to be positive which I attempt to be because things are the way they are you worked your tail off for change and then you accept things as they are uh our community Maui County voted to have term limits that a council member can only serve five terms and yet we have two candidates this year that are running for the seventh and

29:20

eighth term that’s reprehensible but the county clerk ruled oh it doesn’t begin still a certain date and so unless you take it to court and fight it but obviously that’s not what the people of Maui County wanted they said you know what let’s have term limits and we have have a five term limit for our County Council you and I know there were council members that served for 40 years because we didn’t have term limits before or they would serve for five years or ten years sit off then come

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back and serve another uh 10 years um so I recommend and I’ll take a breath now is that there are term limits for our state senators and state house members yes there’s been a lot of turnover in my district in fact my state senator uh retired saying he had a health issue and then found out that he actually had taken bribes so yes things do happen and this is someone that was elected numerous times without ever as sometimes having no opponent in the primary or general election so yes we need term limits that doesn’t mean that

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there isn’t a turnover but it means that after maybe five terms six terms our governor serves for two terms our mayor serves for two terms and I really recommend that we have term limits and more and more people are talking about that so again some of the issues that you and I Jason have talked about 30 years ago are now uh you know are now things that we see and I want to leave I want to leave with one thing so I don’t forget it in this segment segment is that I remember standing for office

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years ago when we still had partisan races and the Democrat Republican candidate said no we do not need a public transportation system on Maui no one’s going to leave their cars and get out of their car and I said you know what here’s the difference green party Nik hilananda suggests that we have a public transportation system a few years later it was instituted and a couple of years ago just before the pandemic 2.5 million rides on our uh bus system which of course needs to be expanded and

31:32

definitely needs to move to electric vehicles instead of these vehicles that we are using today well it’s not here I hope our audience heard that and realizes this guy is a guy that you could have in the State House and could be there to progress important issues that have been sidelined because Nick you’re like a you know a dog with a bone you’ve been really an amazing champion and I I know sometimes you find it odd that I’d like to praise you but I’m hoping the audience really hears how

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viable a candidate you are how valuable I mean there’s a guy running against you that runs some kind of I don’t want to give his name just for your favor right but he’s running some program it’s a joke it’s a I watch things and I wonder why was he appointed there some of the things that I see going on I I don’t want to knock the fact that people favor people they know but this old boy Network stuff it’s it’s natural that you want to hire people you already know and take care

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and you never know but things don’t change when you keep going back and doing it the old way the fact that a Ricky hokama and Alice Lee Alice Lee was running against you 30 years ago that’s ridiculous that she’s still there and no one has said come on Alice you have had enough why don’t you just consult and do it out of the goodness of your heart take your full retirement and help the new people bring on a new generation or Ricky hokama his dad was 30 years on the council he knows it was an issue Jason

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you know how I am a particular for accuracy 40 years well you hear what I’m saying I’m saying to you why is there no one bringing it up I mean with or without them being in this election why aren’t the papers making it more of a big deal and I think the answer is we’re just pip squeaks here these media people no matter how many times I’ve tried they do not dig in and get down to the heart of it they’re very tiptoeing and maybe that’s because their revenues are dependent upon a

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smaller Circle but they tiptoe around getting really gritty with some of these politicians here uh well we don’t have much in there’s a difference we don’t have investigative reporting our daily paper is now six days a week again when I first came to Maui it was six days a week but there was no Saturday paper now there’s no Sunday paper and there are now online I mean for example you’re the media Jason now and so there and you and I both know some people that are investigating like that huge Hotel

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they’re building an appealy in a residential area and there’s some people that are really uh looking at that finally it seems like the County Council is so you’re correct the old boys network by the way can be termed the old uh people’s Network because uh it seems that the old boys network is three women on the County Council so things have altered so there has there have been changes and uh but you alluded to something also that I think is accurate is that people seem to and this is um

35:15

what is it Murphy’s Law you raise up to the most incompetent level you keep on moving up and so there’s people in the government and that’s not everybody there are so many civil servants that work their tails off at a grave but it seems that people raise up to certain levels and one of the big criticisms people have not only here but also in Honolulu where it’s uh the Department of Permitting and planning they just sentenced a 70 year old woman who took something like 68 000 in bribes I mean

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the more that you research things Jason it’s overwhelming what goes on here and what doesn’t go on and this would be just a really quick is the Red Hill issue a lot of people the green party actually joined in protesting Red Hill about a year or so ago and you see neither of the other two major parties had anything to say about it it was individuals well look at now the community uproar about what’s going on in Red Hill but what I want to say is I have tended a uh a zoom podcast the

36:20

other day with our two Congress people and it was incredible to listen to testimony of people who have been complaining about her for years that are still getting sick that are getting the run around from the military and this is not front page news so you’re right Jason we lack uh investigative reporting and this is a good place to give a thumbs up for a place like civil beat so the investigative reporting is going on on the internet but who has the time like you heard me mention all the different sites earlier and you’ve done

36:57

hundreds if not thousands of interviews and how many people when you say our audience we’re hoping that people will watch this but how many people do you know and so that’s the challenge how do we get information out how do we change and things have changed again there’s certain issues that we could talk about uh things that have changed like when I said the tax system on property taxes now there’s is a two-tiered system a public transportation system you know there’s there are things that change

37:28

over time but as people are aware of government work so slow and some of our issues we see it now with climate change you and I were talking about that 30 years ago the green party was known as an environmental uh Community now almost everybody talks about climate change except for people that are still marching the cultists uh zombies that are Marching In lockstep with our last uh uh president what what do you call them cultural zombies cultist cultist cultist u-l-t-i-s-t you know you and I disagree about some stuff

38:06

but I got it okay Jason where you and I disagree you’re wrong it’s okay that’s all right but well I gotta tell you where we agree is that last disaster is still alive sadly with people that are robotic zombie-like creatures who take things and whatever they don’t like they throw it out out of their way and they just I don’t know what it is I sure am hoping and praying that our country can somehow come together and I don’t really know what’s going to happen I’m sure you feel the

38:44

same way in some ways but these are we don’t know what’s happening but of course we’re not Ukraine we’re not Syria we’re not Yemen we’re not uh Ethiopia uh we’re not Mali there are places where it’s even worse what’s going on and again you and I live through yeah when I lived through the 70s and we know we were out on the streets arguing to stop the war in Vietnam well eventually the masses of people the majority of people said stop it and still you know we had a president ran in

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72 said he has a uh program to end the war and it turned out that it was just a lie so I don’t want to go again talking about other people but there’s so many issues that are out there and yes I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow you know 30 years ago we thought that the whole world would be supportive of the green party and that hasn’t happened but there are greens it’s a it’s an international movement there’s Greens in the government in Australia in Canada in uh Germany uh so

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other countries where they have parliamentary systems and they form coalitions Israel the government that’s now going down uh uh the green party of Israel was part of that Coalition we don’t have that here you said something earlier when there’s 60 70 percent of the population feels that a woman should not be a possession if you have a spiritual or religious belief God bless you it’s okay but don’t force that on other people so and you see that oh what what what has happened and it’s not the

40:23

only issue that’s that’s going on but again I don’t want to get into this so you know we could talk for hours and hours and hours but anyway let’s talk about I’m gonna again I’m gonna throw the ball right back at you only because I know it’s probably appropriate because I can talk and go on different tangents about philosophy and you’re good at it and you enjoy it and I hope our audience realizes what a wealth of information you are about that but issues I could say anything but I’m gonna let you say

40:56

I mean you talked about affordable housing any other issues on a state level in your kind of an arena that you would like to address and um what things are your priorities well that covers a lot of areas Jason uh spending more money on bicycle and alternative means of transportation uh supporting especially with the ruling that happened last week in our Supreme Court uh spending more money and helping uh single mothers and helping families they call Alice families people that are adults that are working uh but are still

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economically challenged uh daycare every every research shows the importance of early childhood and we we have a limited our state has a limited funding for early childhood education expand that double it triple it uh for mothers who want to go back into the workforce they cannot if they have children uh and so again this impacts the ruling that happened last week it’s not it doesn’t it’s not only a single issue so on Health Care um you know I’ve spoken for years that we need to expand Medicaid Medicare and

42:23

I’m not a supporter and I got to get this because someone will take this as a a sound clip not Medicaid for all someone who’s on uh who is on Medicare knows about it no single-payer Health Care Universal Health Care because who’s impacted the most you know the figure is something like 40 of families in Hawaii can just barely afford can just barely make it now when I say 40 that means 60 are okay and a certain percentage of that are doing really well so I’m someone that talks about changing our

43:03

whole tax structure stopping the taxes on food and medicine I’m not the only one that person that’s been advocating this for years but we still tax food and Medicine changing our whole uh income tax structure where we start charging those that can afford it the higher income people those people corporations that can afford it and supporting small businesses because one size does not fit all uh you know they changed the t-a-t the transient accommodation tax and so now the counties have cannot I believe uh up

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to three percent of uh they can uh they can add a attack up to three percent tourism I’m not anti-tourism I’m anti the way it’s been done I’ve been to 50 over 50 countries in the world because some of the countries I went to don’t exist I was in Yugoslavia I was in West Germany I actually and then I went to countries like Syria well I wouldn’t travel Syria today and yet I was able to track excuse me travel through Syria so when again when you’ve been around the world

44:16

you see how things are done so differently and there’s so much that’s good about Hawaii there’s so much good about the United States and yet that doesn’t make up for the militarism the uh that one percent of the community has 50 of all the wealth in this country uh look at Hawaii how many local families are leaving Hawaii I believe that Hawaii is one of the only states that has lost population people are leaving they not not everyone is going to the uh ninth Island Las Vegas people

44:54

are going all over the place so uh there are so many different issues I don’t have the answers to all of them but the other people do which is why as you know what I do is I do a lot of research um you know I’m not also I mean we stress education in the state and yet half of the high school students don’t even graduate well I have more than a high school diploma I have a bachelor’s degree I have a master’s degree I was admitted to law school and went off and traveled I have a mediation training I

45:27

have facilitation training I have a real estate license which I’ve never activated so having someone who has all of these areas of expertise and then what I was just talking about is research don’t reinvent the wheel there are so many things that are going on in other places here in Hawaii we were the first state to legalize abortion which sadly about a third of the country in one of our two major parties is totally against and yet that was a progressive it’s saying to women we don’t own you you’re

46:07

not a you’re not uh uh just to uh a baby Factory um you know I talked to a friend yesterday and she told me she was she’s a victim of incest when she was 13 years old didn’t get pregnant but she got pregnant at 16 and had an abortion her life as she said to me she has a son now her life would have been so different these people that have that belief system I don’t want to get into one issue but um we have abortion and uh reproductive um uh Reproductive Rights for women is protected right now in Hawaii but one of

46:50

the two major parties you check all of those candidates and you look and see where they stand on that issue foreign [Music] I’m very loose in my questions thinking that I want to give my potential person here uh room to go into a direction that they feel is important I’m running here locally you know for County Council and I believe the reason people should choose in my race me is because I think I’m the best of all those choices because like you I have a very broad knowledge background and experience and

47:40

I really wonder how to get that message out so that’s why I’ve been doing all these interviews I’m thinking people can see me in action with their Heroes and their anti-heroes you’re one of my heroes by the way you have been you know like I said I don’t always agree with you but like you say also you’re usually right I don’t know I’ll give you that but you once said that to me Jason and I was so uh touched you said you know what I don’t need to know where you stand on

48:12

issues because I know that if you’re elected in that place I can trust you that is exactly what I said and I would like to repeat it again here because you know there’s so many times you’ve run where is it that little bit extra that’s going to get you to where you need to go I think you need to be in that state house or someone needs to come and be your sugar daddy so that you can go and be a a champion you are a champion for the people of this island and Hawaii and I always feel it you should be honored for

48:50

the incredible Dedication that you’ve made to putting out the truth you know you like to think it’s the green party I think you are the the part it isn’t the party it’s the person the Nik hilananda thank you for your amazing dedication all these years I really I wouldn’t be declaring myself green in a non-partisan race except for you you’re the reason because I appreciate the dedication that you’ve given and I still believe in the platforms of the green party why in a nonpartisan race

49:29

wouldn’t I clearly put out that I’m green and I’m very proud to be yeah when you stand for offices of green they everyone knows the environment is the most important thing now everyone’s talking about climate change but for one of the two major parties it’s not an important issue social justice uh today you heard the governor is going to veto the uh alteration about uh having uh non-uh cash bail and there’s different issues with that but it’s only for the most uh non-violent individuals now as

50:07

someone who says how can someone get arrested and they say they’ve been arrested 4 387 times so yes there’s something wrong with our Criminal Justice System but it’s not just one side that it’s wrong because in this country if you’re arrested you’re innocent until proven guilty that’s not true in France they have a different system but here you’re innocent and yet people who can’t afford bail because uh for whatever reason they’re stuck in prison two three four five months and a

50:38

famous Cape case happened in Rikers Island in New York where someone was held for two years they kept on putting off uh his trial and eventually he committed suicide in prison and he was innocent he couldn’t afford the bail so there are so many issues so social justice ecological wisdom a non-violence again that’s something we talk about so yes I get it’s hard for me excuse me uh some of the background that I’ve done in meditation or non-violent communication but it’s hard for me I

51:10

want to get angry sometimes when I see things that are going on uh I’ve been at uh different demonstrations on the side of the road supporting different issues I do want to correct one thing and it’s not that you’re incorrect it’s that the reason I stand for office is that like you it’s important to be the people making the choices but I also know that there are people and excuse me there are people who are who have never stood for office who are on the front lines for the houseless

51:44

people who are on the front lines for attempting to get affordable housing who were uh excuse me again um who are uh in the front lines for uh child care that are in the front lines for so many different issues that advocate for uh bicycle lanes and you see now uh our buddy who’s not with us anymore who ran as a green uh numerous times uh then was elected to the state house for two terms as a Democrat and he advocated for bypass and now we have a bicycle path that goes all the way from Kahului

52:24

all the way to uh paella and you can ride off of the highway so you don’t get hit because that’s the thing that happens so many people on bicycles do get hit because it’s dangerous so uh but I just want to say that yes it would be important it would be great it would be an honor to be an elected official and that’s not going to stop being an advocate for so many of these uh issues that uh many of them you and I are on the same side of that we’ve been advocating uh and I know again when I

52:57

first met you and you talking about solar panels and how there were so few in Maui and now uh it’s incredible the programs that the state offers how many houses have solar panels it’s so cloudy where I am and I live mostly in a uh uh tree covered property but I have a solar panel for my hot water and so you can see how so things have changed biodiesel you see how many people you now use electric we have a mutual friend that has stood for office a few times for as a green sure and he runs a a bio uh uh

53:38

uh bio Beetle rental car company that has all alternative renewable Vehicles hybrids electric and diesel-powered vehicles so things have changed things do change things change some things as you see recently with the Supreme Court rulings it seems like we’re going backwards that’s scary that’s sad and that’s why people like you and I are Advocates and active in our community uh we know that sadly so many people just are not and to defend them some people are busy trying to feed their families so they have no time to

54:18

keep up on all these issues because I know the amount of time that I spend in research oh my gosh but where am I getting the research I’m getting it from other Maui and Hawaii residents who do research on these different issues and you and I both know numerous people that have been involved in I testified at the charter commission the charter commission had 28 Charter amendments that would be really beneficial for the county and now there’s only going to be uh 11 or a half dozen or a dozen on the ballot

54:50

um the count the County Council may put out a couple of others and the coverage of those issues the this is not enough well let me say I know I I just want to finish this one point I also testified numerous times on the reinforcement commission and I want to speak about my district it’s four Islands three populated there’s only one other uh uh state house rep out of 51 49 of them have their own they uh it’s one land mass so in Maui the person from Kahului or Wailuku or Lahaina or ta they can dry

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her up country they can drive in circles that’s their district and I testified numerous times in the reapportionment commission just ignored it that we could divide the district district 13. the reality is I learned is that all six State House districts would have to be altered because you need to have the which I did know the same amount of population but to have one representative representing Molokai Lanai Hana North Shore East Maui it’s it’s it’s too much I don’t care who’s done it how good they’ve done or

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not it’s just unfair and then last thing the amount of money you can raise if you look at the totals I’m I’m I hope I’m not misspeaking but I think it’s the one from Wailuku Kahului can raise more money than the person who’s representing District 13. and it’s the same amount of Pop people but you’ve got to fly to Molokai Lanai drive all the way out to Hana so there are so many things that are wrong about our structure and our system but uh our district district 13 uh when I first

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moved here uh 20 summer years ago we were represented by someone who lives on Kauai so uh that just shows you how uh this side yes people do their best and I’m proud of what other Representatives have done in the past uh the current representative is appointed and so uh obviously I think that what I would offer this District would be uh uh super uh superlative to uh the other candidates and we’ll find out after the primary because I’m not challenged in the Green Party primary Nick thank you for coming on the show I

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hope that I haven’t been cutting you off and not giving you a chance to be able to express things but when you get the the microphone I’m happy to say you know how to give me an answer you’re not shy and uh thank you for having me this way anything you’d like to say to kind of wrap it up for people well I want to thank you I don’t think you need to apologize you know I had uh you know how I am about preparing things I had all these notes about different things I want to talk about we touched

57:49

on some of them but like I said the number of issues there’s just so many issues and when you get these surveys and questionnaires and it’s from one group and they talk about the environment and you get another group now by the way I watched this uh presentation a week or two ago and this is going to be nostalgic for some of those out there and it was on the Super Fairy so we have had some victories and in the podcast in this in the pot in the uh presentation Jason 2007 at Baldwin High School who’s in one

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of the photographs there I am prep uh making a presentation of Baldwin High about the Super Fairy which of course I talked about that was the days when I had my uh TV show Maui Talks TV so there are issues uh McKenna was going to be developed into big beach McKenna uh uh big beat yeah McKenna was going to be uh turned into a um a timeshare hotels uh uh palawea Beach um there’s so many places that we’ve had to have some victories uh the mud flats which is now a national uh uh Wildlife Refuge so

59:07

um you know and it leads me to one other I mean there’s so many ish like you said but I do wanna you just brought me something else we’re talking about the flooding in Kihei and it’s a major County issue but of course the state and then the federal government has of funding available if they uh if um a disaster is called but what did they do in Kihei they filled in all the uh uh where the water gathers you know and so they built housing and they built condominiums and now they flood where

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water goes to where it wants to go you’re not going to stop the water all the time shares on the beaches in South Maui and West Maui they’re starting to be impacted by the rise in sea level and climate change and so yes people spoke about all those issues years ago and now we see the results so I think it’s important for again thank you Jason for all of the uh work that you do on these shows and media and letting people know and giving them time to discuss issues and for those people who do watch this

01:00:09

to uh look at the candidates and look at the issues and realize that sometimes someone will talk about an issue and you say that’s crazy and 30 years later go wow that was a Visionary and so I’m not the only one there’s lots this this island is filled with Community active service which I appreciate because I am just not involved in all there’s too many issues so many things whether it’s families affordable housing homelessness houselessness uh uh now that the tourists are back we see the traffic in

01:00:42

paella backed up uh for a mile and a half uh the uh the North Shore relief route um is now uh you know they pulled it out of the state stiff which is the state Transportation plan uh we’ve been talking about having a bypass in paella for years Lahaina fought about to get it for years it took them forever so the issues aren’t going to stop but uh let’s hope that we do elect Progressive candidates that will address all these issues that are really important that need to be addressed whether it’s the

01:01:18

climate climate change housing affordable housing homelessness uh the list goes on so thank you uh Jason very much for uh making the time and the effort to do this you’re welcome thank you Nick well all you out there in TV and radio and internet land please do know that this show is something you can enjoy and watch again I know not everybody likes long form interviews I’ve had candidates say can I cut it up and take little pieces of this sure you can but for those of you who like a conversation that goes a little

01:01:58

in depth so you really know look at this guy this guy’s a real candidate He’s Got Juice when I go in and do my three minutes of fame at akaku as a candidate against seven other people I hope everybody takes the time to do some research seven people and you’re gonna in 21 minutes of watching these people and recommendations from people that have decided for you or are you gonna jump in and do the looking if you look in District 13 you’re gonna say this guy Nik hilananda he’s someone I gotta really as I go

01:02:37

through you may discover he’s the best choice all these years you could have had him there but now you have one more opportunity I hope that you this is my personal I hope that you guys realize what a gift you have in this guy he is really a treasure Nik hilananda thank you for being here it’s always a pleasure talking to you but having you on the show to be able to share publicly like this it makes me feel especially good so thank you wow Jason I’m surprised you’re cutting it off I

01:03:12

thought it was going to be a three to five hour interview well we’ll come back again after the primary we may do this but I’m going to be charging all these people now I’ve been doing these interviews to try to show that I have a brain too I’m running otherwise I might have been charging but I must say I hope the public watches all this and realizes how absurd the system is and if there’s a guy like me who’s interviewed all these people all these years and can put you can look at my

01:03:42

videos and see some of the promises and some of the directions that are 180 degrees from the way these people are acting now and we see over time that some of the decisions that they made not so clever but we still got them there and they’re coming back for more years and more years and let’s get it this time huh that’s why we need term limits Jason and there’s a joke you know you hardly ever hear me say I’m a politician I always say a community activist because some people have said that how can you tell a

01:04:18

politician is lying their mouth is moving so I’ve always uh attempted to talk about my community activism and talk positively about the things and I know in this discussion there are some things that I’ve said that are more critical uh it’s just so blatant to me but uh anyway but uh and you’re stuck with me I’m a weird guy I jump in and make you say negative stuff right I’m I’m making it uncomfortable for you but you’re so diplomatic some of these people need to really you know hear it

01:04:54

squarely and I’m glad I’ve seen people get a little uncomfortable with you but it’s good because you do the heavy lifting for a lot of people that would like to open their mouth thank you for all that you do Nikhilananda thank you guys out there in the world for listening to this I hope you listen to it again and listen to some of these other shows up at Maui neutral zone uh Nick thank you again I’m gonna jump off all right I’ll stay on for another half hour and talk a little bit okay

01:05:27

no thank you Jason and if somebody’s getting upset with me that’s there’s that’s an opportunity for them to look at that because I’m not getting anyone upset it’s they’re getting upset themselves there’s really none of vision no every time I hear you speak You’re So diplomatic and I know that your your answers really are inclusive on wanting to help people you’re a champion like I say you’re a you’re a treasure thank you for all that you’ve done

01:05:55

thank you Jason Schwartz good luck thank you Aloha everyone we’ll see you again all right aloha [Music]