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Summary & Timestamped Full Transcript
This interview features Michael Molina, a Maui County Councilman and candidate for mayor, discussing his extensive experience in government, campaign strategy, and key issues facing Maui, especially housing, homelessness, and water management. Molina highlights his background working both in the mayor’s office and on the council, emphasizing his commitment to open, accountable, and responsive government. He stresses the importance of listening to constituents, working collaboratively, and restoring public trust. Molina describes his grassroots campaign approach, rejecting large corporate donations to maintain integrity and avoid undue influence.
On key issues, Molina identifies the housing crisis as urgent and proposes aggressive land acquisition strategies, partnerships with developers, and fast-tracking permitting processes to increase affordable housing supply. He underscores the importance of supporting working unsheltered individuals with housing solutions, wraparound services, and employment opportunities to aid reintegration. He also advocates for opening community centers for homeless families to access Wi-Fi and charging stations, recognizing these small supports can make a big difference.
Regarding water, Molina supports purchasing the Wailuku water system to keep it publicly controlled and prioritizing its distribution for housing and agriculture, while encouraging innovative technologies like atmospheric water extraction. He reflects on the need for government to act as a facilitator between the community, private sector, and state legislators to solve Maui’s challenges.
Throughout the conversation, Molina’s respectful, collaborative style and deep local knowledge are evident, presenting him as a pragmatic, experienced candidate ready to “hit the ground running.” He expresses a hopeful vision for Maui’s future, stressing collective effort, innovative solutions, and a government that listens and works for its people.
Highlights
- [01:23] Michael Molina’s political background includes 8 years in the mayor’s office and 14 years on Maui County Council, giving him deep government insight.
- [05:54] Molina runs a grassroots campaign rejecting large corporate donations to maintain accountability to local constituents.
- [16:52] Housing crisis: Molina calls for aggressive land acquisition and partnerships to rapidly expand affordable housing.
- [35:45] Molina advocates providing homeless individuals with work opportunities and wraparound services to foster dignity and reintegration.
- [40:28] Water management: Molina supports public ownership of water systems and exploring innovative water technologies.
- [48:19] Emphasizes communication and responsiveness to constituents as key to restoring trust in government.
- [50:19] Discusses Maui’s unique council voting system, highlighting the challenge of representing county-wide interests while elected by district.
Key Insights
- [01:23] Experience Matters: Molina’s combined experience in both executive and legislative branches equips him with a comprehensive understanding of county government operations and inter-departmental needs. His background positions him well to navigate bureaucratic complexities and push initiatives effectively as mayor. This dual perspective is crucial for effective leadership and collaboration.
- [05:54] Grassroots Campaigning Builds Trust: By deliberately avoiding large off-island corporate donations, Molina seeks to maintain independence and reinforce trust with local voters. This strategy addresses growing public skepticism about the influence of big money in politics, emphasizing integrity and accountability as campaign pillars. It reflects a broader trend towards transparency in political financing.
- [16:52] Housing as a Crisis Requiring Bold Action: Molina recognizes housing as the fundamental challenge impacting Maui’s economic and social health. His plan to buy land from large owners and partner with developers for affordable housing aims to break the cycle of delays and high costs. Fast-tracking permits and utilizing proven housing models could accelerate supply, supporting working families and reducing homelessness. This solution-oriented approach contrasts with slow, fragmented past efforts.
- [35:45] Holistic Approach to Homelessness: Beyond shelter, Molina advocates for empowering homeless individuals with jobs and services, drawing from New Deal-style public works concepts. This approach addresses root causes by restoring pride and self-sufficiency, reducing public stigma and fostering community integration. It recognizes that homelessness is multifaceted and requires multifaceted solutions involving social services and economic opportunities.
- [40:28] Water as a Strategic Public Resource: Public control of water infrastructure is a recurring theme, with Molina advocating for continued county ownership to ensure equitable distribution prioritizing housing and agriculture. He also encourages adoption of emerging technologies, such as extracting water from air, highlighting the importance of innovation in resource management. Water security is framed as foundational to Maui’s sustainability and development.
- [48:19] Restoring Public Trust Through Communication: Molina emphasizes the importance of responsiveness, follow-up, and empathy in public service. Constituents mainly want to be heard and kept informed, even if solutions aren’t immediate. This commitment to communication can rebuild confidence in government, often eroded by perceived neglect or bureaucracy. It also reflects a customer service mindset applied to governance.
- [50:19] Complexity of Maui’s Council Representation: The county’s hybrid voting system requires council members to represent their district but be accountable to the entire county, complicating electoral strategy and constituent services. Molina acknowledges both pros and cons but underlines the necessity of serving all residents equitably. This system impacts campaign logistics and governance dynamics, highlighting the unique political environment of Maui.
Summary of Key Issues and Approaches
- Housing: Aggressive land acquisition, public-private partnerships, cost-sharing on infrastructure, lease agreements to maintain affordability, and learning from successful models like Kawai 201H projects. Emphasis on fast-tracking permits and replicable housing designs to speed construction.
- Homelessness: Focus on unsheltered working people with wraparound services, temporary housing solutions like tiny homes, employment opportunities modeled on public works programs, and opening community centers to provide Wi-Fi and charging stations. Calls for state accountability regarding interstate homeless relocation programs.
- Water: Pursuing county purchase or lease of water systems to retain public control, prioritizing equitable allocation, and supporting innovative water technologies. Government’s role as facilitator and ambassador to ensure resource sustainability.
- Government and Leadership Style: Collaborative, respectful, and transparent leadership. Prioritizing listening, compromise, and building consensus among diverse stakeholders. Commitment to accountability and ongoing communication with constituents.
- Campaign Strategy: Grassroots, low-budget campaigning built on a record of service and integrity. Avoiding large corporate contributions to maintain local trust and prevent undue influence. Relying on community relationships and proven accomplishments rather than expensive media buys.
Conclusion
Michael Molina presents himself as a seasoned, pragmatic leader deeply rooted in Maui’s political and social fabric. His approach blends experience, integrity, and a commitment to collaborative governance. By focusing on urgent crises like housing and homelessness with concrete proposals, and emphasizing government transparency and public trust, Molina positions himself as a candidate ready to lead Maui through challenging times. His emphasis on listening and working with all parties reflects a mature leadership style aimed at inclusive progress and sustainable community development.
Transcript
0:00
[Music] aloha everyone out there on internet radio and tv land this is jason schwartz your host of the neutral zone mauineutralzone.com on kaku 88.5 fm on the radio and also ka my guess it’s akaku maui community tv media and on the net at maui neutral zone and we’re going to have links on all the things and probably give a link to michael bolina michael molina is presently on council he’s been there a while he served in the mayor’s office and he’s a guy that i know a long time and
00:49
i’m so happy to have you here with me thank you for taking the time and your incredibly busy schedule to be with us here michael molina councilman and now candidate for mayor of maui what made you decide now is the time mike well thanks jason uh first off for allowing me to be here and then and joining you and and your listeners well you know i guess some of the reasons why i decided to uh give the uh office of the marriage a shot on my end as uh ironically i i worked out of the office of the mayor for eight years and also 14
01:23
years as a council member so those experiences are very helpful to me and giving me a great understanding of the process of county government as well as a great understanding of the needs of our departments as to how they can better provide services to our community in addition to that i i’ve always believed in open accountable and responsive government and i believe leaders should be facilitators not dictators and always be open to keep relationships positive and open with the constituency
01:57
and as uh you know some of you may may know or not know that i was a public school teacher for for a number of years and i had two uncles that were in the county council uh those uh years of training as a teacher as well as what was uh imparted to me by my relatives taught me three very important things and that is to listen uh work cooperatively and treat all opinions with respect so i think the way i see it um these principles that have been ingrained in me will serve me well should i become the next
02:30
mayor of maui county and i would expect the people that i hire to share these same principles for example as directors and appointees with the long-term goal of providing great customer service and restoring public faith and trust in government so those are just a number of reasons i’m running as well as uh all of the other issues that are important to us such as housing and diversifying our economy environment and so forth which we can elaborate on a little bit later jason yeah well you know when i hear you talk
03:00
here’s my take on it mike molina has been on council successfully and then got to work in the mayor’s office and sees the nuts and bolts of running those things from the mayor’s perspective running things from the council and now maybe another term or two even if you were re-elected you know the question is are we at a pivotal point in our maui to take the reins and restore that especially in this last couple of years with this covert thing and a reeled this thing about masks and mandates there’s
03:36
all kinds of issues and homelessness has exploded and prices are exploding and i see the council you’ve heard my expression it’s not mine sometimes it’s difficult to remember the original intention was to drain the swamp when you’re up here i won’t have to say it i guess ass and alligators there are so many things that are pressing problems so many dollars and you got to find a way to multiply them without creating more expense with people that are burdened from costs and you have to be listening to everyone and
04:09
you are one of the very clear council members who honors people that are in front of you you’re um just really respectful it just shows in for all these years you are one of the most respectful and respected people out there mike because of the way you are you know i’m really happy to see you stepping up for mayor this year is really interesting out of the nowhere to me can this guy this tall dark local guy with a lot of money accumulating uh man isn’t the mayor he’s tall he might be a little dark sometimes
04:50
but um how you’re going at this campaign what’s your strategy just give me i know that sounds funny i i in your race you’re the little guy against a couple of goliaths in my race i’m running in council car louie uh you know tasha comma everyone doesn’t like everything so there’s a huge number of people i’m a little guy against six goliaths with money and blah blah and i’m running on who and what i’ve been giving to the community all these years and that people will hopefully
05:25
let that be shared like you that’s how that’s how i look at you you are such a strong light all these years you know oh thank you thank you for those nice words jason i appreciate it well one thing you and i have in common we’re both going up against goliaths if you will in terms of uh money and war chest and everything else um starting off first you know strategy wise i’ve pretty much always been more of a grassroots-oriented type of campaigner um i’ve never had a huge war chest
05:54
over the years when compared to to others i’ve always believed in just operating the old-fashioned way just uh make your dollars stretch and get your word out the old-fashioned way through by whatever means you can do i mean if you can’t afford expensive uh social media or gigantic signs while you just get out there and do the best you can and um you know like all we have uh is our accomplishments and contributions to the community that we can uh express uh to people as well as our our integrity i think uh
06:24
those are the two things you you have if you don’t have a lot of money at least you have that uh to to get out to the public as far as big money i’ve never been one to approach uh large off island businesses or corporations um mostly it’s the optics jason because if uh these days people are a little suspicious of candidates who choose to accept humongous amounts of money i i’ve chosen not to um in years past years i did accept some large donations but usually typically from political action committees but not you
07:00
know large offshore corporations or you know big business um my uh the way i my thought process with all of this is that if you choose to accept a lot of money who will your master be will it be the individual organization that gives you a ton of money versus the local constituency who may donate uh may or may not donate to your campaign will both of these uh sides have equal access to you and how much influence will one side have over the other will it be the same or will one side have more influence so that’s the question you
07:38
know all candidates who accept big donations will have to answer to the public to so you know and and it’s nothing illegal if a candidate wants to accept large donations it’s just the optics and you have to defend that because there’s there’s a lot of folks uh these days who are very suspicious of large off-island donations and how much influence that money will have in local government i wonder about that you know i i saw kaika haley who was happily poised in his role nationally and now it’s interesting
08:11
strategy you say hey josh green gets such big money is he going to be influenced we don’t want hawaii to be sold out i wonder i mean i wonder how much you know you’ve been around it a long time you may tell me yes it really does make a difference or it does and i always wonder about that do you feel it’s a big difference well i guess the higher the office it can make a difference because then it gives you more opportunities to get your message out you know you can expand by investing in television and
08:46
other mediums where you can get your message but again if you have a stand-up reputation in the local community uh and that goes a long way too and if you have shown to the public that you have integrity that you’ll treat their concerns with respect and listen with empathy i think that can be uh just a powerful just as powerful a tool as money because as we’ve seen in the past money doesn’t always win elections um you recall the uh the mayoral race on the big island harry kim years ago
09:17
he was accepting uh no more than 10 donations and this man was amazing but he was a voice in the community for a long time as a as the civil defense director so his name was already well known but still i think it resonated well with the public that here’s an individual that’s not willing to accept humongous donations and respects uh the the resources of our working people and our working people don’t have a lot of resources to give but yet uh you know he’s willing to forego big money and
09:46
you know prioritize the needs of our working citizens well and in those in those shoes are you and me we’re happy to take money big money if it comes at us but we’re really for the people you and the community and i that’s what i’ve been you know sometimes i wonder have i been doing any value here but on the tv talking to candidates for 13 14 elections i keep thinking you’re one of the few guys that’s listening to me i’ve been talking about stuff for all these years solutions and
10:19
then i see these people sitting in their seats and it’s like they don’t turn around to look at what’s been offered that’s why i’m running i’m really running because i think the people are going to resonate with ideas you’ll see there’s a book i brought it out to show you because gaviotis what is that in 1992 my brother’s wife said hey i’m reading this book i remember i just come to maui in 88 and i was trying to get people here to recognize renewable energy and
10:47
solar when i was a broker this is a village in 1974 was honored by the u.n as the most significant example of self-sustainability in the world of remote colombia i went to a conference couple years later there’s an interview i did with these guys i talked to tom gizerni the president of maui electric pundi and i had an idea about taking it and sharing it and but the people here it was like okay who’s this guy schwartz he’s new here and they were set on their agenda and it’s the old you know maybe a you as
11:22
a as a local you hear about the old boy network that just means to me father would necessarily recommend his son you know the people know the people it’s sort of a natural thing but how do we take new ideas and let them in and process them that’s how i think of you i think of mike molina as listening you know listen i just heard like yesterday you guys had a vote you didn’t want to be looking at queen com on a center as a multi-use place yet for housing development right i was thinking about that place long ago
11:58
and thought man i’d like to if i was trump i’d have a trump tower right there what a great view the whole world is but you know what it’s the last remnant of the kaalui center city when we get rid of that we don’t have a carly center city you know monument like carmana center i don’t want to give that up excuse me well you know speaking of that uh jason you know i i think the intentions of the planning department was was good you know we’re all seeking different ways to get
12:28
additional housing but let’s make sure we we include all parties uh i mean they they had their planning commission meeting and we had a committee but there was no evening meeting as we saw with proposed developments in wailuku when you don’t uh reach out to all members of the community you can get a lot of backlash so that that’s the one the primary reason why i always express my hesitancy on making a decision and and they admitted they did not go out during and have an evening meeting with the people
12:57
of wailuku for uh i guess a proposal to do the mail yard to allow for housing there so my preference is you know get buying people from the first uh first before you uh decide to move forward same that’s the kind of thinking that a mayor does you see i’m just giving you my picture of you you know uh you’re someone who’s had the experience and knows what they’re doing and listens to the voice of the public and listens to ideas is public about them like sometimes the people on the council
13:33
vote some way and then later the public is gripping and yipping and yapping because they don’t share why they make those decisions clearly and it gets combative mike molina is a a deal maker a you’re i want to say you’re like me but you’re an individual with your own style who listens to everyone and wants all parties at the table to go away winning i don’t always feel that with some of the others yeah i mean you have some folks that are very headstrong uh in in their opinions and their views and maybe
14:08
uh uh shall i say maybe tunnel vision but i i think as a as a leader and a facilitator you have to uh look around you as you say look look in front of you look behind you and hear all opinions and and ideas so you can come up with a solution that’s uh you know acceptable by by all and if i could touch upon the pre the legislation that i’ve put out in the past that was successful i’m quick to provide recognition to those who contributed it wasn’t just only mike molina it was my staff it was members
14:39
out there in the community who were all together by working collaboratively we all shared in the in legislation that made our community good and that’s where i think that all leaders should have that mindset and and i know sometimes we get caught up in in in the forums by saying i did this i did that but but the reality is it’s we we together well you sound like may the schwartz be with you dot us you know i use that to get to my website but it is together like you may not know i’m just throwing these
15:12
in because i know this interview is going to get watched because mike molina is a real you are like i say you’ve been a fixture here but you’ve been a support fixture you’ve been on council and part of a group and you’ve been in the mayor’s office i can’t say how valuable that feels to me in proceeding forward in this next election you know i haven’t met with these guys uh you know bison or victor reno i’ve met some of the others and interviewed them but you have the experience that is
15:42
unquestionably clear your experience your contributions uh you know i i remember last election someone said to me quietly that our mayor was hoping somebody else wouldn’t run because it’s his time uh i don’t know i think that this is an open time you are a strong candidate and you offer a clear choice you’re mike molina and that to me is so great because i can say that and be comfortable i can like these other people but i know from your experience that i’ve seen here locally
16:20
ah thank you very much those kind words jason let me ask you a wingding question i’m meaning you’re on council homelessness i get overwhelmed i’ve been trying to help find people get housing for so long i’m getting uh bloody now the agencies don’t have enough money don’t have enough places don’t have enough staff don’t have enough resources want to shove people in one thing how are you approaching it these days if you were mayor any changes that are right over the horizon
16:52
well this is what i would propose that we uh take a real aggressive approach with housing i mean much more so than this present administration i mean this is a crisis and let’s focus on for now right now the unsheltered working people the these folks are doing the right thing they’re working we need to offer them a hand up and provide some form of assistance in terms of maybe acquiring land from some of the large land owners and creating more of these uh tiny homes that uh for example we see down on waialae on wyoli road man
17:24
i tell you those are little hot boxes i can do it at a fraction of the cost people come to me and maybe because i’m known as this environmental guy right they come to me with solutions that would you’d be amazed um they come here and there are many those houses are too hot too expensive and we can’t duplicate them as quickly as we could mike you know i think of the temporary emergency stuff as just what that is emergency while we build something that might be more solid for long term but this is an emergency as in
17:58
a mayor just the fact that you called it a crisis makes me realize you’re hot on the trail here oh yeah i’m very uncomfortable with um the present regime like taking credit for a housing development in waikapu that’s been a decade and a half going on with mike atherton you know and all that it’s like that’s not only you like you say this is a group thing you’re not superman you didn’t do it baby when someone announced it that’s good and you contributed but so did you mike
18:36
you know i know that and uh it’s like you say as a council person i watch you i see that the working with the community and involving them on structuring legislation is key to a successful government that that the people are responsive to you know it’s about the mayor and it’s about relationships the mayor and the council yeah that relationship relationship is so critical because if it’s fractured you’re not going to get a lot done i mean there might be a lot of high drama with you know the mayor saying this and
19:11
that about the council council saying this and that about the mayor but that’s that’s not productive it’s not going to get things done and uh you made an excellent point about all these housing projects like the waikapu project the council had to approve the rezoning right so before the american take credit you have to respect the fact that the council uh you know took the initiative to uh rezone the project so you can have these houses built so again it comes down to we everybody collectively uh
19:38
contributing to any uh solution that addresses our concerns um did you and i guess when i say homelessness i i sadly i’m seeing unbelievable number of people the homes they’re in are being sold and they cannot find a rental to to for their life and their life does depend on it it’s just extraordinary on the lower main from 975 for a one bedroom just a couple of days ago to nineteen hundred dollars for a small one bedroom on lower main street i honor you lower main street but nineteen hundred dollars for a single on
20:16
lower main street what who’s gonna yeah and we know there’s demand and that’s what when people wonder about what’s happening if we don’t create supply on mass in a hurry you know even if it’s temporary we’ve got to stop this this thing is going on would you remember in the early i guess it was to me early 1990s when there was housing on the west side being a big land piece from the state available right next to the post office and it seemed like they kept post all the zoning postponing postponing
20:52
postponing what is that can you as mayor help fast track something like that well you make a good point i mean just in general not only with that but uh other permit applications you know we uh a recent audit of the uh planning department i think it was the zoning enforcement division uh revealed that there there are some issues and some deficiencies with the processing of permits in terms of time delays now certainly part of it uh i guess in the audit they said part of it is sometimes on the applicant but
21:25
still a a majority of the delays were related to the county so i propose that we we focus on the solutions because and i initiated that audit when nobody else wanted to and from the administration uh you know i’m not sure if how much attention the mayor was uh giving to this issue i mean certainly you you can trust your director but if complaints are coming in at some point you as the mayor you need to intervene and correct the problem so you don’t have council members like myself initiating an audit of the department
21:56
and an audit is meant to help but again if i if you’re you’re driving the car and you’re not uh checking on things and then you you have accidents then there’s obviously a problem so uh i believe there are ways maybe using software that we can uh have allow people to track where their permits are as part of being very transparent i believe there’s some some software that uh we can consider purchasing and allow the public to uh link in and and find out where what where you’re at what the status of your
22:30
permit is you know so that would help with the transparency process and moving things along and again making sure all departments are talking to each other and networking because sometimes i have a permit that might be sitting on the water director’s desk and maybe the water director went on vacation or whoever is authorized to sign up on the permit so we need to uh keep the flow of communication going and that again could be a task out of the mayor’s office or the the management office so we can keep
23:00
so those are some little ways that i think we can help move things along i also know that on council i’m i only know for example like i called tasha kama about a housing issue and i know she’s passionately trying and personally taking time and i know that you take time with people on issues and then you realize i can only recommend i can’t do it because i’m not the mayor i can’t tell the director of xyz department to do i may recommend so i can see that you’ve again i’m putting words in your mouth
23:34
but as mayor you can move a lot of ideas that you’ve had then you don’t have to wait for a council you can take the authority that a mayor has and you know whatever consequence i i just feel really very comfortable and i’m relating it to you yet again that mike mullen is listening to me i sometimes feel some of these people are they’re not listening their their agenda is to get done what’s here you are extraordinary in putting out that warm and loving and open feeling i hope that on your campaign trail you
24:10
know we have enough events to for that to be shared because you’re personal you’re very personable and your listening skills maybe like from eight-year-olds right when they’re listening to kids at school you know we know you know and you know i grew up in a small business environment and my my parents uh really impressed the uh the idea of customer service and i’ve carried that idea with me throughout my career even as a teacher to provide and service our students as best we can i
24:42
mean you’re hired to do a job so you go ahead and do it and you communicate and and this the same i operate the same way as a council member i serve you you pay my salary so i am obligated to help you and and listen to you you know and follow up you know because i know prior to getting into politics i think what inspired me was i called up a council member’s office and never got that return call or never got a return email and i i said to myself if i ever became an elected official i would not do that
25:13
at the very least i may not solve the constituent’s problem but at least i’ll communicate with that constituent and let them know what’s going on and i think most people respect that you know you you become responsive and that you uh make an attempt to try and solve their problem and and like you’re alluding to earlier council members only have so much authority you know we cannot order the departments to do certain things we can ask them but ultimately uh the directors answer to the mayor
25:40
so that’s why you have the checks and balances between check speaking of checks and balances if you hired me to be a director you take a letter with a letter of resignation upon your arrival i don’t under is that a customary thing i never really understood that why you’d get a letter of a resignation in file in case you want to get rid of a director i wouldn’t do that yeah that was unusual yeah i know i mean each each mayor has his or her own policy it’s something i i wouldn’t you
26:14
know sort of like a pre-signed letter of resignation yeah i i wouldn’t do that i’m only wondering i’m you know i’m watching the world and it’s exploding you know god and the divisiveness and separation if i was a director and i had a letter like that sitting i’d wonder well what kind of freedom do i have to really run this department like wow it’s almost saying that i i trust you but you know that’s why i’m saying it that way i’m trying to understand that
26:44
yeah um yeah but now there’s so many issues and it would only be fair to me as we’re going to let you lead but i know maybe you’ll speak about water and i don’t want to go off on my tangent because i can get water from the air i don’t want to go off in some science answer right now water is a big issue as well and you may spot a few things this ag thing is coming up in a new department and a new expansion of our economy you’ve heard me yapping about art music and you know that’s a whole separate show
27:21
but i’m just looking for you to bring the issues that you feel important that you like to relate your your positions and feelings to our very broad audience sure well let’s start with the most talked about issue and that is housing you know and everybody’s talking about the problems but now we need solutions and years ago i you know i’ll just say amongst the mayoral candidates i’m the only one that has already authored and initiated legislation related to affordable housing and the affordable
27:47
housing fund i authored that and it’s and of course with help from the community let me make sure i had that in there and also the uh county’s first time home buyers fund again with with uh input from the community these two pieces of legislation have lasted for now 15 years and it’s helped many many families but we obviously need to do more i i would like to as mayor to uh make an aggressive effort to go out and purchase land from large land owners or look at our existing inventory of county-owned lands where we
28:47
developer and the county after 30 years the land of course is the county and whatever is on there those structures belong to the county so we in turn i see it as a win-win situation and maybe we can even look at developing our own 100 affordable housing projects i believe kawaii they have a 201 h project 100 affordable and we can learn from that project because my understanding is it’s been uh pretty successful and the idea of fast tracking right the fact that once you see it and you know you can do it the permitting process and
29:22
the things that somehow each project doesn’t have to be totally unique you know they have models of houses we can have multi-family models ready to go and crank this thing and get out of our crisis i i just love the fact that you’re right on it and you know it sounds like you’re ready to hit the ground running exactly you got it jason because uh there’s no time to stop i mean uh this is a crisis housing affects everything because jason you know what i’m really worried about is one the brain drain our
29:55
young professionals if they’re not given a fair chance of getting at home exactly they’re taking their talents elsewhere and you know we’re living longer we need young healthcare professionals here or people to stay because otherwise who’s going to take care of us i don’t want to have to go to honolulu because there’s not enough health care specialists here in maui county if possible i want these professionals here so we have to provide them housing opportunities at all costs and the way i see it um
30:23
it’s about investing in our people we we give those who need a home or a rental a hand up it’s a win-win because then uh those who own the homes they become rate payers into our real property tax system and they continue to provide the much needed services we have here so it’s an investment in our people so for example with the county paying for the um infrastructure cost of a of a project you know that’s one way we can work with the builders provide houses that can remain affordable in perpetuity and the
30:54
bottom line is just giving as many folks an opportunity to own a home or if they choose to rent so it’s all about inventory and you as a realtor you know that well you know it’s interesting it’s all about inventory people stop me if i was going to say what is the number one issue it is such a giant issue it’s like the 800 pound elephant in the room whenever you talk to anybody that’s the first thing and people that are saying i’m really not happy that hawaiians can’t even afford to own a
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home in their own island it is and i want the hawaiians to hear that you know there’s a lot of love and of respect from a lot of people you don’t think are your friends or that they you don’t acknowledge or they don’t an amazing amount of caring about what’s happened to these islands and i really believe that you know again the dollars per visitor spent doesn’t have to be down they can spend a lot we can improve services here and create health things and again in one show you can’t cover it
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all all these years you’ve been hearing me interview all these people who’s listening who’s getting to hear there are so many solutions that are already here for so long they should only be ashamed of themselves for not listening really i inter when i sat with tom gizerni at the new maui arts and cultural center president of maui electric and we’re talking about solar energy in 1995 and we’re talking about trajectories and i watched the struggle through all these years to get the brains in around
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it and when i was green and they thought i was a radical now everybody’s green and they think they don’t even remember i was talking about this 30 years ago yeah exactly good point you made jason i mean my first go around on the council i tended to be more business-centric and and not paying as much attention to the environment as i am now um things change um you know back when i was on the council in 2000 the issue of climate change wasn’t as uh big an issue for a lot of people as it is now so i think as
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an elected official you have to learn to accept change and evolve and accept new ideas and not just be so boxed in on on a certain set of values or ideas you have to learn to adapt to change and put aside egos you know like i’ve always believed that hey if i if i didn’t come up with the idea and someone else does i’m okay with that because uh it helps our community i’ve i’ve had the war work with people who feel like well if they didn’t come up with the idea it’s not a good thing you know
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maybe it’s just all about uh themselves i mean so be it that’s the way they are but you have to put your egos aside uh in in this business especially and just work with people and praise give them credit too you know let me ask funny questions you know years ago i remember there were issues about the sunshine laws that when you’re working with other people you can only see them i don’t even know the rules in a public place with so many people around they’re afraid there are too many conspiracies
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and stuff can you meet with the mayor i mean there’s a chance to be unofficial and somehow to have conversations yes you can uh if it’s just well my understanding is as long as it’s no more than two elected officials at a time um now if there is a third party uh involved um i guess it has to you can’t talk business if it’s more than uh two elected officials what about online with something like this you know you probably wonder hey jason you’re a candidate a candidate interviewing candidates
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yeah isn’t that fun because no one has stepped up all this time i’ve been doing these you see that i’ve now all these years but i’m just what you say is just so important mike i’m i can’t tell you how impressed i am with how open i’m sure everyone is seeing you are besides now we kind of looked at housing in one way and we know we have to build those low-end i say low end hud no hud vouchers and no places steadfast has to close they have no inventories like it’s beyond
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how do we build houses if they can put refugees in tents and cities aren’t we able to do something in emergency to kind of really step up the problem for the homeless people finding solutions yeah all right i believe we can honestly but at this point it’s it’s a tough challenge because one you have um homeless folks or unsheltered folks are coming in from other states and the the the talk that i hear is that they’re they’re offering the their citizens one-way tickets and of course who
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wouldn’t want to come to hawaii for a good year on record but basically it’s passing off their responsibilities on us i would be in favor of the state uh exercising a class action lawsuit against these municipalities who do this to us you know sort of like they’re shirking their responsibilities but now we’re having to use our resources to take care of what should be their kuleana or their responsibility and they’re also besides the people that are being shipped in an extraordinary greater than the number
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i hear reported of homeless greater greater number and needs i i had people tell me you know when all the homeless there was this huge thing out there uh next to the pier and and then the mayor click on our car cleaned it off and now the services can’t be delivered so easily it is a real issue just really it it’s a cry for me to have the public say we can help when you see someone that has a need help it’s extraordinary what a little help will do for people it just really is a part that really is
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a crazy for me there’s so many people in yeah and and jason there’s some remedies uh that can help like for example for south maui they’re they’re experiencing an increase in the in the unsheltered population so i think we need a an institution or an out in south organizat because we’ve got one in central maui and i believe in west maui so i i believe there’s an opportunity to do that in over there and you know if it’s not tiny homes other types of structures that can be uh
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put on county-owned land or negotiating with a land acquisition with uh you know the large landowners but it’s important to bring the services to make sure the wraparound services are there i know the my police department they have a bus that uh goes around the island on various days of the week that can provide some basic medical services and dental services and other types of other needs so that may help but again these are just band-aids you know when i’ve spoken when i’ve spoken up close to homeless
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people that are chronically homeless they also would like to see some kind of plan to almost give them a direction what work they can do they would be so happy to be involved in their own solutions and not be treated like someone who has i don’t want to say it’s just i think a matter of learning that you’re amazing to see who’s homeless it’s just when you get up close you’re like wow these people almost for chronically here in maui we have such a i’m bringing it up because i really mean i’ve met
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people that you think are absolutely useless in drinking and now or drugs they want to be really good jason because when we were getting a lot of these federal cares ax monies one of the things i proposed to the mayor was sort of like roosevelt’s new deal or public works uh you know hire these folks that they can be part caretakers or do some light administrative work and uh to support uh some of our departments and and be able to keep things safe and all these expenses you know the people can have their own
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pride in their lives again something to build for i just i watch employees you know that that could be one remedy at least put money in their pockets and a perception by the public to you know obviously not everyone but a perception by the public to realize that homeless doesn’t mean useless exactly good point i like that yeah yeah you know and you know another another idea i had was maybe opening up our community centers because you have a lot of our unsheltered they have kids that need uh some wi-fi services for
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school right they have their tablets their computers that they take home but they sometimes can’t find areas that that’s a hot spot so that they can hook up their computers to well they can charge to get power now you know how many people say to me i’m homeless i’ve stopped everywhere i can plug in to plug in my phone how am i supposed to get services exactly we could open up the community centers on a temporary basis maybe from say 2 p.m to 6 p.m where uh parents can bring their kids and you know they can
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get a get a wi-fi hot spot there and also an opportunity to charge phones and other electronic devices but yeah you know the uh some of the folks i met out in paella said the same thing to me one of their biggest needs would be charge stations for this to charge up their cell phones and i thought that was an interesting i never really had thought about that you know as i say you don’t realize just how incredibly valuable these little bits will change the lives of so many people to be able to find solutions
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well what about water i think i’d be remiss if i didn’t bring up the water issue my pono wanting the rights and that may be a state issue but have we looked here in the county of i’m always amazed that we have this heavy sailing el aquifer we know about it for 25 years and i don’t see any other things happening what happened well i know the county we did set aside i believe roughly uh 9 million to purchase the wailuku water system or up to 9 million but i uh whatever offer the administration made
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was recently rejected by mr chumley from the wailuku water company i think it was way below what he was expecting so i think we need to continue to go forward and come up with a workable number regarding the east maui system i’m in favor of doing a a lease with the state rather than with the large land owner to keep uh water in the public’s hands rather than with a private entity so i’m in favor of doing that and then of course we can talk about how the water should be distributed and how how it should be
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prioritized for housing or for agriculture and and that’s something we need to again bring the community in to offer them an input as to how we want to best decide to use this water and you remember earlier where you were talking about new technology or if we take advantage of things in the world you can take water out of the air and some of these situations that i don’t see anyone exploring i really know that the public wants to take that risk that running to the future which is why i set
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up my thing about art and music to raise money to supplement development of technologies and show they work do them on scale show it to the world and live in it we can solve this water problem i i often just don’t understand i really don’t understand why we don’t have the ears it could be tremendous it doesn’t have to be the county but the county getting involved and giving its blessing so that this can happen independent when i talk about it and people they’re like why isn’t this happening
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well maybe it can happen yeah well jason see the mayor can serve as that conduit for the community to go out and voice his or her concerns as to this is what we need whether it be at the state legislature or or making uh his or her feelings known to our congressional delegation that’s why the mayor serves a very important role as an ambassador and as a facilitator and and uh be the messenger for the people and we like and just what i said and be able to be the government that encourages the private sector’s
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involvement because they’re the ones with the money and the solutions and then the government’s involved to help make that process easier that’s a government that feels if i was republican i’d say that’s a republican idea and if i was a democrat i’d say that’s a democrat idea it’s an idea responsiveness from the community to tell the government and show the government i want to see more of those large landowners being equity partners in projects like you’re talking about i
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want to be able to see financing happen because some of these entities own banks it’s like there’s so much that could happen i feel like the economic development department needs a shot in the arm to help people besides the grants they offer there just needs to be that outside the box i don’t even think there is a box outside the box thinking to generate the things that will make more local activity happen i cry when i see companies coming here starting stores that they have the deep
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pockets to build canes and chicka phil and the whole blessing where’s the main where are we here yeah where’s the housing too you know and you mentioned thinking outside of the box i i got support from my council colleagues recently to set aside 270 000 for a pilot program for a legislation that i’m going to be putting out soon it’s called the home restoration grant you have a lot of long-term local families who own structures that are dilapidated or in need of heavy repair but it’s hard to
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come up with money you know to to pay for plans or permits and construction and so forth so my proposal for this pilot program uh from one uh dilapidated structure from each community plan district would receive up to thirty thousand dollars to uh assist the the owner with uh you know whatever repairs that are needed so that way you can move families back into these homes and these homes can be turned into uh from would be converted from eyesores into homes that can house people and of course there’s some certain um
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criteria that would be have to be considered homes got to be a minimum 30 years old and upon the the sale of that home after a certain time period uh then you know the the homeowner can reimburse the county for that so it’s sort of like a hand up a zero interest loan in some way shape or form and i model it after legislation in la county because you mentioned thinking outside of the box that’s the kind of person i am and so are you let’s look at what other municipalities are doing and not again
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let’s box ourselves to uh just one type of thinking let’s look at what others are doing and who knows it could be a fit for us as well let me ask you a question i don’t often ask this but i’m running for council if i was on council would you find me to be someone that you could work with yes i could yeah you know i’ve known you for many years jason and you’re a very up and up person um one of the analogies you always used when you and i would have our discussion was at some point we
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need to put the swords down and and work together you know and um that’s a that’s a wonderful quality you have you’ve always been somebody that’s very even keel that’s willing to listen to uh both sides of the issue and not have your ma your mind made up until you’ve gotten all the facts to make a fully informed decision and that you know you know i learned that in sales they said look if you sit on the opposite sides of the table you they’re feeling you’re against them it’s a
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combat when you’re on the same side or in a round table when we all are putting in you create a different feeling that’s why this neutral zone happened i just want to create a place where we all can talk where we all realize we’re going to come out of this and it’s going to serve everyone right and positive energy and that’s how i feel about mike molina you’re that kind of a mayor you’ve been on council and with the mayor and i know that these offices and these places have been made
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greater because of your being there oh thank you thank you um we have only i want to say five minutes left i don’t want to cut off issues give it a moment and think of what you want to make sure you you talk to people about why you have this chance okay well again it’s doing a lot of outreach and and listening and hearing people’s concerns you know i’ve always been taught to listen first talk after you know uh hear the person out empathize with them as if the their problem was your problem and
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and again be patient and i try not to get in into any verbal spats you know if i feel strongly about one issue about an issue that i disagree with with that individual i’m always looking for a way to compromise it’s like well although i may not agree with you on this but how about this would this work for you you know so i like to use that approach and again to me it’s all about the the relationship you have with people and how you approach it and and um you i i’ve always believed in
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trying to restore people’s confidence in government confidence and trust that’s what it’s all about when i talk to a lot of people on the street the most important priority i’ve heard from people is i just want to be heard i just want to be heard and and try your best to help me and most people understand you’re not going to be able to to solve every problem but all they want you to do is try and be responsive you know return those phone calls and emails you know because when you don’t do that
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that’s when people get frustrated and they get frustrated with all levels of government and you can’t blame them because they’re paying our salaries and like i said to you earlier in the program i am obligated to serve you you know that that’s why we’re called public servants well i always feel served by you know we all all around maui county and council we have these districts we represent yet we’re voted on by everybody everywhere in maui county so wherever you are uh mike
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molina represents you on council and all the other people that are on council i’m sure they all feel like this last call about district voting versus not how long we’ve been talking about that when the charter all these charter things why has that never been part of the discussion because how do you not have an advantage when you’re known on three islands but you’d have this little district you represent and people think that they’re you only from that district it’s still
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not understood by people yeah yeah it’s a quirky system we have where you know you have to come from a certain district uh to qualify for running but then once you’re in there you’re responsible to everybody yeah i mean whereas most other municipalities uh you know you’re uh you’re just responsible for your district right or if you just made it really pure district voting you know but there’s good there’s pros and cons to it the way i see it i mean once you’re in
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office you know you you better even though i come from haiku area but if jason schwartz from kahului calls me with a problem i’m accountable to him and or molokai or lanai or anywhere right exactly and i mean it’s it’s tough on like on the candidate in terms of expenses because you’re going to have to go all over you know molokai and lanai and all the other areas of maui too well that’s that’s the reason people say district voting because yeah and i can see that point too
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the candidates who have money certainly have an advantage uh when it comes to that as far as the ability to move around and get their messages out or putting out there well think of it this way if this television was in oahu i would have had 30 years of advertising thousands of shows you know it’s like people know my face these other people in this race have money i’m hoping that people that know me over time like you and others it’s amazing it’s the parents and the grandparents who remember me yeah
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i the kids don’t realize i am this force benny i dedicated my life i could have been selling expensive real estate or doing all kinds of stuff but i’ve been dedicated it’s time to run and i’m just real excited because i would be comfortable working with you as mayor and i know that you’d be listening thank you jason well you know if the election just so happens doesn’t work out for both of us you know you and i and everyone else who didn’t make it i see all of us as winners
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because we’re all willing to put our next on the line you win by trying you know you can’t control the outcome of an election but what you can control is your message how you present yourself and you’ve made an honest effort to to try and um make a commitment to serve the public and that’s that’s in my eyes that’s being a winner and afterwards no matter whether you win or last lose you can move these programs we’re talking about forward because the government is a servant of the people that’s us yeah
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and our ideas who knows the ideas that we share could be used by the person that’s in office too which is good so we win as a community you know and we we can lead them i still say if you didn’t have the public helping lead you a lot of the things that you were doing wouldn’t have manifest the way they exactly and it’s important to praise everybody’s contributions because that that’s what makes successful legislation everybody contributing something everyone out there in uh television
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radio and internet land i’m sure you agree with me on facebook live here thank you for that mike molina is a choice to be reckoned with for mayor choice here in maui in 2022 mike thank you for joining me here i hope that if ever you want to come on again with me wherever i am you’re always welcome with me and i know you’re going to see your your website’s going to be on the screen for everyone to be able to get um your pleasure thank you for being here with all of us same here jason and thank you for the
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invite it’s always a pleasure to talk story with you anytime thank you mike blessings everyone out there you can watch this again and everything at mauineutralzone.com you’re going to probably see links from mike molina and all of us to try to get these shows out and bring people up close and personal mike molina thank you once again blessings to you and the family same here thank you and blessings to you jason aloha thank you thank you everyone aloha how was that seemed good good return a lot of territory were
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really up close and personal and i think that’s what will deliver well and i’m hoping you’ll share it like i’ll share it and we’ll all to encourage people to get it as widely seen obviously it helps me but i’m real your personality and these kind of long formats provide a different kind of experience to people that i really think is needed yeah thank you i like your approach too very you know we do it relax style and just uh you know talk story that i think a lot of people connect to that i like
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that i like and we get to see who you are you’re a great guy that’s my personal choice being here jason i’m going to jump off so facebook live won’t say why are you running this tape mike it’s been a pleasure all right we’ll see you very soon all right thank you blessings aloha [Music] you
