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Up Close 2008 Jason Schwartz with ROZ BAKER, Maui’s Hawaii State Senator District 5
Summary & transcript
The video features an in-depth interview with Roz Baker, a Maui state senator representing South and West Maui, notably the “Gold Coast” area.
The discussion covers a broad range of topics, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Maui’s tourism-dependent economy, challenges in the wedding industry regulations, healthcare infrastructure developments, and sustainable agriculture and energy efforts in Hawaii.
Senator Baker emphasizes the importance of community involvement, bipartisan collaboration, and proactive legislative and executive action to address Maui’s pressing issues. She highlights the vital role that visitors, small businesses, and government policies play in sustaining Maui’s economy and quality of life.
The conversation also touches on healthcare improvements, including trauma center upgrades and hospital projects, as well as a vision for Maui’s energy independence through renewable technologies.
Throughout, Baker advocates for transparency, open dialogue, and continued civic engagement to build a resilient, vibrant, and sustainable future for Maui’s residents and visitors alike.
Highlights
- [04:05] The visitor industry is crucial to Maui’s economy but is recovering slowly from pandemic-related downturns.
- [06:23] Restrictions on beach weddings have hurt Maui’s wedding tourism; calls for balanced regulations involving industry collaboration.
- [20:00] Strong support and advocacy for the West Maui Hospital as a critical healthcare facility for the community.
- [26:30] Efforts underway to upgrade Maui Memorial Medical Center to a Level II trauma center to better serve local healthcare needs.
- [31:00] Focus on sustainable agriculture and renewable energy initiatives to reduce Maui’s reliance on imports and fossil fuels.
- [36:30] ⚖️ GMO foods and environmental health concerns spark debate; importance of science-based, transparent policies emphasized.
- [46:50] ️ Encouragement for civic engagement and voting, stressing that political involvement is an ongoing process beyond elections.
Key Insights
- [04:43] Tourism Recovery Challenges: Senator Baker notes that visitor numbers are significantly down, worse than post-9/11 levels, with recovery expected to take years. This highlights the vulnerability of an economy heavily dependent on tourism and the need for strategic initiatives to encourage travel and support local businesses. The economic ripple effects impact everything from small retailers to real estate.
- [06:23] Wedding Industry Regulation Impact: The tougher restrictions on beach weddings imposed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources have generated negative perceptions on the mainland, potentially deterring visitors. Baker stresses the importance of involving wedding planners and industry stakeholders in crafting reasonable regulations that protect resources without stifling a key niche market. This exemplifies how policy can unintentionally affect economic sectors if not collaboratively designed.
- [12:00] Supporting Small Businesses through Legislative Flexibility: Recognizing the financial strain on small contractors and businesses, Baker advocates for temporary relief measures such as delayed tax penalties and improved access to credit. This reflects an understanding that legislative bodies must adapt fiscal policies to sustain local economies during downturns, ensuring that small business liquidity is maintained to prevent closures and layoffs.
- [20:00] Healthcare Infrastructure and Community Health: The interview delves into the complexities surrounding hospital development on Maui, including the denial of the Maluani hospital certificate of need and the ongoing support for the West Maui Hospital project. Baker underscores the need for a collaborative approach between public and private healthcare providers to ensure accessible, quality care, especially for underserved West Maui residents. The challenges reveal how healthcare planning is intertwined with political, financial, and administrative processes.
- [26:30] Trauma Center Upgrading and Healthcare Quality: Baker highlights efforts to elevate Maui Memorial Medical Center to a Level II trauma center, aiming to reduce the need for patients to travel to Oahu for critical care. This initiative demonstrates a commitment to improving local healthcare capacity and outcomes, which is essential for island communities with limited access to mainland facilities. It also indicates the broader need for investment in healthcare personnel, technology, and training.
- [31:00] Renewable Energy and Agricultural Sustainability: Maui is actively pursuing sustainability goals, including renewable energy targets and agricultural self-sufficiency. Baker mentions innovative projects like microalgae biofuel farms and expanded photovoltaic arrays on marginal lands. These efforts reflect a forward-thinking approach to environmental stewardship and economic diversification, reducing dependence on imports and fossil fuels while creating new local industries and jobs.
- [36:30] Balancing Biotechnology and Environmental Health: The GMO debate is a microcosm of broader tensions between scientific innovation and environmental/health concerns. Senator Baker calls for controlled, transparent use of biotechnology, highlighting the importance of evidence-based policies that avoid misinformation. This insight stresses the need for public education and rigorous research to reconcile technological advances with community health and ecological preservation.
- [46:50] ️ Civic Engagement as a Continuous Responsibility: Baker closes with a powerful reminder that voting and political involvement should extend beyond elections. She encourages constituents to actively communicate with their representatives and participate in governance, reinforcing democratic accountability and community empowerment. This insight serves as a call to action for citizens to shape their own futures through sustained engagement.
Additional Context and Themes
Throughout the interview, Roz Baker emphasizes the interconnectedness of Hawaii’s social, economic, and environmental challenges. She advocates for a collaborative, pragmatic approach that involves government, business, nonprofit sectors, and residents working together to create sustainable solutions. The discussion reveals a deep understanding of Maui’s unique needs, including the delicate balance between preserving the island’s natural beauty and supporting economic vitality. Baker’s long tenure and involvement in legislative and community efforts provide a nuanced perspective on policymaking, highlighting the complexities of compromise and the importance of transparency and inclusivity.
The video also touches on the emotional and cultural dimensions of governance, with references to the “Aloha spirit” and community solidarity as essential forces in overcoming adversity. Baker’s call for kindness, respect, and mutual support underscores the social fabric that underpins Maui’s resilience. Her insights into the healthcare system, energy innovation, and agriculture demonstrate a holistic vision for Maui’s future that integrates technological progress with environmental sustainability and cultural values.
Conclusion
This interview with Senator Roz Baker offers a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities facing Maui. It highlights the critical role of thoughtful legislation, community engagement, and multi-sector collaboration in navigating economic recovery, healthcare improvement, sustainable development, and environmental stewardship. Senator Baker’s grounded yet hopeful outlook stresses that while obstacles remain, collective action guided by aloha and informed policymaking can ensure a thriving and resilient Maui for generations to come.
Transcript
02:54
in 2008 here in Maui. I have a great honor today. I’m here with sitting state senator Roz Baker. Welcome to the show. Thank you. My pleasure. Thanks for the invitation. Oh, you’re very welcome. Now, you represent, I think, all of us wherever we live because you’re in a representative body and together you decide for all of us. But you have a district and you have a district that has areas and those are the people that are voted. So, if you live where in south and west Maui, south and west
03:29
from Makena all the way through. So, basically the the Gold Coast of Maui is my Senate district. What a great spot. Oh yes, I have. You have the absolute vacation focused capital of uh Absolutely. We have the uh premier resorts. We have lots of great golf courses, beautiful beaches, and you can’t forget the lovely people that live in South and West. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that’s you guys. So, um, I’m going to ask some questions, but I hope that they are inviting you to open up and take the
04:05
lead as I go, cuz even though they seem like separate things, they all fit together in one hole, right? Um, surely vacation uh visitors, visitors to our island are significantly off. Yes. And the impact on your district is significant. and also you were also a great revenue generator for Hawaii and all of us. Um, what do you forecast from what you see? And I know we don’t have a crystal ball, but I’d like to, you know, you have an informed vision of what’s going on and I’d like to get a feeling
04:43
for that. You know, the visitor industry is very important online as it is throughout our state. And I’ve been talking with people up and down up and down Front Street in Kihei. Uh whether they’re, you know, small business owners that have a cafe or a retail shop or a beverage place or your hotel, the number of visitors is down. And some people have even said that it’s worse than after 911. Uh and I think if you talk with the economists, we’re looking a couple years before we recover. So, what
05:16
I’ve been trying to focus on, talk to my colleagues about, get information uh from the industry is how can we help? What can we do? Is there anything that we can do? Uh because right now with the markets a little shaky, people are maybe not wanting to travel. Um we have to look at how we can encourage them to travel. let them know like uh the Hawaii Visitors Bureau is doing now that you can actually have a great vacation here. It cost you less than it did before even with the increase in airport and trying
05:49
to go after those folks that are in stressful positions. They need to get away and what a better place to come than Mal. The other area that concerns me greatly is the way our Department of Land and Natural Resources has been handling the wedding industry. That’s a main state for us. And the word back on the mainland is that we’re just not welcoming people anymore because of putting restrictions on the kind of beach weddings you can have. You know, and I’ve talked to lots of people um
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across the county that have that are wedding planners that have uh folks coming in and they say, you know, we don’t mind being regulated. We we understand that you’ve got to have some order and and some discipline in this industry, but you know, work with us. Um let’s let us be part of the solution and not just be looked at as a problem. I mean, these are the kind of visitors that in these kinds of economic times want to come. They’re going to get married anyway. They’ve always had a
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wonderful focus and opportunity in Maui. And that’s, you know, we need to we need to shore up those kinds of markets and not put a damper on them. What can we as citizenry do to give you the support that you need to be able to influence, if you want to call it? I don’t know how that’s done by legislating dollars in a different way influence those kind of things. Well, with regard to the um DOR actions, I think it’s just letting uh chairperson Laura Theland know that the wedding industry is important to Maui. It’s
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important to the state and she needs to work with the industry. I hope that you out there hear that. You know, we have representatives and we think they have the magic solutions. So that’s really nothing that you as a representative can do. But you on the other hand, you have a lot you can do. Let representatives in the appropriate area know your concern and feelings. It’s great. That’s great advice. And I hope this puts things in perspective, you know, in in all this whole election
07:59
stuff. Yeah. You know, the the legislature has its role. We set policy, we authorize and appropriate money, but it’s been the executive branch that has the responsibility for implementing those policies and developing rules to sort of fill in the gaps so long as they don’t conflict with the policy. Does that executive branch mean by example? And I just don’t know um that Governor Lingal could say to Laura Thelen and the wedding industry, um we need weddings on the beach here. We need
08:32
some kind of thing that is more open and available. I think this is too hard of a place. And um what is the sword? The dollars to the budget. How how do you affect change? How what has that? Well, you know, we we hope that um the tourism liaison, Marsha Weiner, who is a Maui girl and knows the industry backwards and forwards, uh will work with the governor and work with Laura Helen to get to understand the impact that is being felt by the wedding industry because this is an important uh part of the visitor industry. And if
09:07
we’re going after folks that want to come to Maui, we don’t want to turn them off from coming and being part of the solution that we need. We need more visitors and folks that are going to have their weddings are going to go someplace. And Maui has had in the past such a great reputation. I certainly don’t want to see it damaged. And I think uh calling on the governor, calling on Marsha, calling on uh chairperson is certainly a way to assist in making sure that we don’t get really
09:38
punitive regulations in place. Uh everybody agrees there needs to be a permit. Let’s do a yearly permit. Let’s involve the industry. Let’s put in some um some some parameters that allow weddings on the beach, but you know, make sure that we’re not overutilizing the I think there’s that happy medium and that that middle ground and to me that’s what we ought to be striving for. You know, the legislature when it goes back into session in January can, you know, make a ruling, but it may be too
10:09
late by then. We need to be attracting visitors now. We need to be uh looking for how would Marsha Weinert be I mean she was the head of the visitors bureau right after Roger Duban. We’ve had a long history of people that really were passionate. now she’s in this new liaison role and I know Marca cares very deeply and she’s still a great advocate for the industry. Uh I and I know she’s trying, but you know, we just need to say, you know, get in there, girl. You got to, you know, really uh stand up for for for
10:38
Maui in this industry. And I know she wants to, but we I think if if she knows that the that folks all across our county are concerned, then that gives her another sort of uh drive to go forward. And she probably knows that the people that have all those condos rented out for tourism that now aren’t going to be able to make their mortgages the spiral effect of what can happen from us taking a back seat and not being politically active and making that call to Marshall leader and making that call to war
11:13
will have an impact and the governor will have an impact on our future. And so I want to say that I am hoping that it’s the activity of all of us that are going to make a difference. You know, there’s that song, we are the world. We are the ones that make a difference and make a brighter day. If we all live here and we want this community to be vibrant and have a future that doesn’t have scars for what’s going on, we can lead and be part of the solution. You know, I know I’m a little bit uh
11:46
excited, but I mean, there’s a clear example where we can ask our officials to do things, but it isn’t the officials that can do it. It’s us directing things toward those that can make things that can make that can make a difference right now. And you know the there are some longer range solutions perhaps in that area. You know, one of the things I’ve been uh looking at is are there some ways that we can assist small businesses. Now, I’m going to be talking with uh the heads of all of our banks to
12:16
see just what the situation is in this state with regard to credit. Uh because a lot of our construction, small contractors, small businesses often need those bridge loans. You know, they get a job, but they’ve got to go out and make the purchases. They don’t have the money on hand. They go get a line of credit or whatever. And if that stuff is drying up, we’ve got an even bigger problem. So I think it’s important for um all of us in positions of authority whether it’s in the legislature or in the executive
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branch to be trying to work with our uh local financial community to make sure that they understand and if there’s any way that you know they can be um helpful in this regard. I know they want to be and then need to ask them, okay, what are the things that we need from us when we go back into session in January that we make it easier uh to make sure that we keep uh the credit we keep our small businesses healthy. And I’m looking at possibly if you know maybe it’s 30 days or 45 days that you know small business
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is going to be late making their um tax payments, you know, maybe they don’t get the penalties. uh until they’ve gone a little bit longer because we know that times are a little tough and maybe it’s going to take them a little bit longer to uh get everything in. So, you know, I think this is the time for us to look at ways of uh streamlining some of our processes that we uh have in place for small business. You know, we want to continue the transparency. We want to have the accountability. We want people
13:47
to take advantage of the system, but everybody’s hurting right now. And now is the time for us all to come together as a community and as government and say, you know, how can we all work together? How can we get through this? Because there are going to be some tough times. And, you know, we don’t want to we don’t want to shred our our uh small business community any more than we want to shred our safety net, which means we want all of you to remember to buy local from all our local
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businesses. And uh when they have these com specialists in all these places, let’s go and have fun. Let’s keep our local economy thriving. And if we keep our activity here, I bet we can with all these things together create and continue to create that aloha spirit that’s going to keep us all thriving and vibrant and all the challenges can be put in perspective because you know everything is cyclical and we know that unless uh you know the world changes are so dramatic we’re an important destination.
14:49
Are we still one of probably still one of the top destinations in the world? And you know, the other thing that I think we ought to uh pay particular attention to is, you know, let’s make sure that we live and show aloha every day. Let’s do those small random acts of kindness that make everybody feel better. You know, it it’s a it’s a tough time for everybody, but if we treat everybody with dignity and respect and we treat them with aloha, then that translates to any of our visitors that
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come and it’s going to just make a much more pleasant and wonderful experience for them. And then they’ll go back and tell their friends, “Yeah, the Aloha spirit even in these tough times is alive and well in Hawaii.” Well, I’m going to now shift. Okay, that’s good. and visitor stuff. But now let’s get we’re getting a little local and we’re here and you know I’ve seen over the years and my ex-wife who had an opportunity she was living in a Peely and uh this is a
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number of years already. I don’t know what your role was then. You might have been state senator. We did different things or just I started out in the house in 1988. Well, she was in Napili and you helped. There was this gulch in Napili and the Napili Bay and and all kinds of problems and stuff and uh you get involved in all kinds of stuff. Was that the days of the algae problems out there? It might have been. This is between the Napili and the NapiliBay Tunnels. There was this drain and this drain was
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eating the land right underneath that whole thing. You got it. Yeah, it’s it’s amazing the kind of issues that you get involved in. And I, you know, the first piece of legislation that I authored and became law was a six-month ban on jet skis and carousels off of uh because that’s a a whale working ground and it’s been challenged over the years, but it still stood and we still have that in place and I think it’s a a welcome thing for most everyone. Uh and the businesses that were affected have
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uh blossomed in other areas. So that’s another thing I hear repeatedly on these shows. It’s tough to make a decision that everyone loves. You watch this this recent bailout federal thing. You know, you hear the guy the people that are voting say, “Well, half of the people at home or more didn’t like me because of the vote I made on Monday, and now I alienated the other half cuz I’ve switched my vote. So, we’ll see how it all pans out.” Well, it it’s amazing. you know, we’ve
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gotten uh calls and letters into our legislative offices asking us not to vote for the bailout. Uh not I think understanding that that’s not at our level, it’s at the at the federal congressional level. But, you know, whether you liked what the Congress did or not, I think the important thing was that they try to um shore up Main Street as well as as trying to take care of Wall Street. I guess it’s going to be a while yet before we see whether um they’ve been successful. But what
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happens at the federal level definitely affects us. It affects the kind of grant money that flows down for the slides. It affects what goes into the value fund that pays for 80% of our roads. So we want a healthy federal government and we want to help. And now we’re going to we’re going to blow up that old advertising adage. Remember that one, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens in Washington affects all of us. Exactly. Exactly. You know, some of my uh constituents uh live in Kihei and are
18:21
very interested in the Kihei to upcount highway and so they were asking me so been talking to the DOT uh folks and it’s Department of Transportation. Yes. Got got to make sure we don’t use too many acronyms. Um but it is in the design phase. They decided that they needed to design it all before the federal government could come up with the money for it. So, it’s on its way and that’s and that’s why the the federal budget is so important because we need money for highways and for
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schools and all of the things that uh that you keep remembering and like to remember them is us. We’re all part of it. you know, our elected officials like Raz and others, you know, they came from us and they came from genuine caring and I know that when you get into a role, perceptions of things are all changing. I almost don’t know where to start on issues. Probably want to throw the ball to you and see what you’d like to discuss that might be um an area you’d like to share in whatever way. Let’s
19:30
let’s talk with the west talk about the West Maui Hospital. I support the West Maui Hospital. I have for a long time. I’ve been active and trying to help them raise money. I’ve made donations myself when the issue about the uh use up at uh the civic center area where the hospital is designed to go in was before the the council. I wrote a letter in support. It was right in the middle of our budget deliberations at the state legislature, so I couldn’t get away to be there in person. And then recently, I’ve helped
20:02
with securing the lease extension for their land. So, I’ve been doing things that I can beside behind the scenes to help them out. So, I know there’s uh been some rumors in the community, some misrepresentations, but I want everybody to know that I fully support the critical access acute care hospital that’s proposed for West Maui. And I’m hoping that uh when their certificate of need application is deemed complete and the hearing start, all of which will be held on Maui, that everybody will come
20:34
out and support this very important facility for the west side. Yeah, it’s good. I um you know, we had another hospital project and there’s been all kinds of things in the news. Um, give us a feeling if you can sort of walk through that mud a little bit. Let me let me say first that um it the certificate of need for Maluani which was uh proposed for the uh southside uh was denied and I know that upset a lot of people and I understand that because you know they were very passionate about
21:13
another hospital. Um but they should also know that the certificate of need is an executive administrative function. It’s not part of the legislative branch. It’s part of the executive branch. It was the administrator of the state health planning and development agency that has the authority to to approve or deny a certificate of the application after going through a variety of hearings and based on his uh reading of the statute and the information presented and the items that were in the application
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determined that it was not an appropriate facility. Now the governor appoints the head of SHIPA. So it was her state hospital broker. No, the the state health planning and development administrative that administration that’s what SHIPA stands for and the head of that agency who was Dr. David Sakamoto at the time was appointed by Governor Lingal and he’s the one that was responsible for denying the application. I’ve heard people say I voted against it. There was no legislative vote taken. I did not vote
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against it. I didn’t even ask for the certificate to be denied. I raised some questions because I thought as the representative for the South and West area that we needed to make sure that we knew exactly what all the impacts were, uh that we’re going to staff it. You just need all of that good information. And when it was denied, I know people were very unhappy. I did not cause it to be denied. It was an executive branch function. And you know, quite frankly, if the governor had really wanted to
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have that hospital go forward, she could have intervened in the process. She testified in favor of it, but it was her appointee that denied it. But what I did after that had happened was I tried to bring I was looking for a win-win situation. So through the good offices of the healthcare association of the light which is our hospital association here I brought the HHSC representative the non-memorial medical center representative and Dr. Juan who is representing Malani Health Systems together and facilitated conversations
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to see how we could go forward. Was there a way situation? Could it be if the Malani application were tweaked a little bit? Could they and and work together or was there another design strategy that we employ? Unfortunately, in the middle of those conversations, Triad, which is a financial partner for Malion Health Systems, was bought out by Community Health and all of their projects were dead in the water. The the gentleman that had been uh Dr. K’s uh partner was terminated and they just were not building more hospitals. There
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was no money for it. So the talks broke down. But you know, I’ve always believed that you can have private hospitals along with a very adequate uh upto-date quality center of excellence at all nine memorial centers. So I think you can have private hospitals and nine memorial doing well on this. They just need to be crafted carefully. And I think that’s the beauty of the West Hospital. It fits our small community. It can grow as the community grows. It’s going to have I believe a good relationship with my
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memorial and it’s going to have a good relationship with Kaiser which it has I think 40% of the covered lives in the line area. So it’s very important that all of these institutions set up the line area. Where are they? that little spot next to Well, they have a a thriving uh clinic on uh Wet Street just up up the road. Um but they’re also I understand according to Mr. Foy who’s the developer for West Hospital proposed uh that they’re interested in um the medical office building that is going to be going on
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that campus. So there may be some exciting things happening in that regard too. So it, you know, it’s really the highway’s coming in. So people from everywhere is going to be able to get wherever they need. Hopefully with good attitude, we can move forward from this. Well, you know, one of the things that I think is so important and what I’ve been trying to do because I don’t have control over almost any of this, but what I can do uh for all of the people of Maui County is to try to make sure
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that we have um excellent programs, excellent facilities at NY Memorial Medical Center. We have the most outstanding stroke program in the state. We have people coming from Honolulu to N Memorial Medical Center for the stroke in just brought on a new um top-notch cardiac surgeon to stand up the kind of heart program that uh we now have a population to support. We’re not going to have to fly off or send off I don’t know people that need angoplasties and other kinds of surgeries uh to take
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care of a heart. you know, it’s going to take us another year or so to to get that fully staffed and stood up, but we’re going to have new uh facilities over there. We’ve got a brand new state-of-the-art emergency room. And one of the things that I’ve been working on is funding for an integrated trauma center throughout the city. You know, we only have one bonafide trauma center in our state, and it’s Queens. Queens is at a level two and Queens is a level two. We want to that up to a level three. That would be
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the top area. We want to make Maui Memorial, which is currently has all of the elements of a level one. We just don’t call our emergency trauma center, but we want to sand that up to a level two. We want to make it on par with all of the services, all of the equipment, all of the abilities that Queens County has. So, we have our level two here serving Maui and perhaps Big Island, Lai Machai as well. It takes the pressure off of the water. It allows them to be uh the dynamic center for that island
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and we can take care of more of our people here at home. To me, that’s that’s the vision and that’s what we all want to have. And we do it by getting additional funding, by changing some of the statutes, by recruiting physicians, by expanding our nursing program, expanding the residency program at our school of medicine. you know, all of these things that you need to put in place and that’s what I’ve been working on over the past six years uh four year uh four years as a health chair in the
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last two years since [Music] that’s u you know it’s I’m going to jump to other things here in a minute but I remember when I sat on TV here with Joe S and we talked about uh negotiation the give and take in politics to be able to accomplish that? Do you find that there’s a dynamism that happens in the legislature that uh takes some getting used to or I mean I don’t know I I I wonder about that whole process. Well, you know, it’s it’s always legislation is the art of compromise.
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Almost nothing goes through all the way through the process the way it started out. uh you can have a wonderful idea, but sometimes the devil’s in the details and you got to sort of figure those out. But it does take um 13 vows in the Senate and 26 in the House has. And so it’s a matter of developing relationships and getting the facts and building consensus. Anything that’s controversial is going to have a really hard time going through the legislative process because there’s a push and pull of
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people from different parts of the state, people with different standpoints, people that look at things in a different way. Some of it from, you know, a political philosophy or ideology standpoint just or from just looking at and say, “Well, that’s really going to hurt my constituents if you guys do that. So, can you give us an exemption or can we take it another way?” So, it’s really all about getting the public engaged, getting the experts engaged, and then trying to figure out what can
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you put together that’s the best and who the most And you know, you’re never you’re never you’re never going to make everybody happy. And I, you know, somebody once told me, Roz, if everybody’s happy with what you’re doing, you’re probably not doing anything of significance or substance. So I I guess judging by some of the letters to the editor, very substantive. I’m doing I’m doing a great job. Any other areas that you know, the wind is full of all kinds of things.
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I almost don’t know what areas to look at. We have such great needs. It’s always a matter in my mind of where’s the where are the dollars, where are they coming from, and how we going to prioritize our needs and address as many things as we can and hopefully have that long range vision to do things now that can make it easier later. Well, you know, the the legislature has put together over the past couple of years our sustainability uh task force that’s come up with some plans. And so that’s
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really caused us to look into renewable energies and trying to figure out how we can really help agriculture because we import almost all of our food and yet we have this wonderful growing season that you can get sometimes two or three uh kinds of crops. But we we need folks going into agriculture. A lot of our farmers up in Koula are getting older and so we’re trying to look at ways of how can we help uh a small farmer, how can we help them hoy up and be larger farmers like we’ve seen with uh the
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coffee farm here on the west side and how can we help them um look at their niches. I was just on the big island uh we went over to do some hearings on healthcare and we stopped at the agriculture extension agents office and they were trying out different varieties of teas and they said you know the nice thing about this is it doesn’t take a lot of techn technology to grow you can process it a little differently make premium trees and so some of the older farmers that still want to be engaged do
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this it’s a nice niche it’s high quality it’s value ad and I think that’s one of So, one side to go as well as while we’re looking at, you know, making sure that, you know, we’re growing tomatoes and we’re growing lettuce and we’re growing corn and other kinds of things that are staples. Uh, and so we don’t have to be quite so dependent on imported food, but it’s going to take a while for us to get there, but we got to put those policies in place now. Just
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like with renewable energy, we’ve almost met our initial threshold for use of renewable. So we’re looking at maybe we ought to increase it so that the pressure stays on to look at, you know, growing sustainable biodies in here. Uh looking at other ways of make there’s a there’s an interesting project in Malaya uh a micro algae farm that would be used to fuel the turbines at uh Nico. I’m getting really good because this area of my passion the the algae and what you can do in growing your own fuel. Now
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that’s the kind of stuff that I bet would really excite everyone if we can be prototype for the world. Our our ability to be a self-sustained community model has been my passion since I got here in 1988. And uh what’s the expression? uh it just makes me you know I wonder sometimes whether I could do more good in a legislative kind of a role in the government thing or whether here in the private sector doing instinct see I I think you do such a great service with uh your role here as sort
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of getting the issues out peing people’s gently I hope you know it’s like here I could be combative and bring up things that would be more controversial but that isn’t really the role I hope to play. I hope to play one where you can come out and share him and how you feel to be able to, you know, it’s up to you guys to listen with an open heart and open mind and be involved and, you know, talk directly to your representative and make yourself known and you may learn things that are really open your eyes
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and ears. It’s a great experience. But you know the the interesting thing about the times that we live in because of science and technology they’re they’re just opening up many more doors and we can grow these things. We can do these things right here. You know we’re connected via the internet. We’re connected in so many different ways. But we’ve got great talent here on Maui in Hawaii. And now we’re sort of seeing some of that come together. We’re going to have a wave to energy project on the
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um off the coast of Pana on the east side of N. I mean that’s a great one. Wave to energy project. I mean we’ve got we’ve got algae, we’ve got solar, we uh have photoic one of the things the legislature passed was the ability to use marginal ads for large arrays of photoic panels as well as solar panels. Thank god. I mean, I, you know, I’m hearing these things and I’m thinking, I feel like the runway, the planes have been taken off. I’ve been talking about these things for 20 years. I was not
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gray. Now I’m gray. I mean, there are other things. There’s solar thermo acoustics. To use sun to create cooling in a chamber, create cooling in a tropical environment and save electricity. There’s so many things we can do. Oh, yes. Fantastic. Let’s all continue on that one. That’s great to hear that we’re finally doing some of those things. Yeah. You know, I think one of the things that we all want to make sure can goes forward is um all of the clean energy initiatives that uh the
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partnership between the legislature and the department of business, economic development, and tourism have come together to to promote and really push forward. It’s just so important because if we can increase our energy independence, then that has real impacts for our lifestyle, for our budgets, all those good things. Can I bring up something different? I’d be hardressed as I’m talking about food to not bring up the words, the letters, GMO, genetically modified foods, and the incredible controversies that are
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happening globally. um you guys get into those kind of things or is that now more in the legislature? Are you finding um any clarity in what’s going on there? because you know people that are so hot on this and I understand and I’m sure none of us want to uh be doing things that are I don’t know how to explain it genetically modifying our crops get greater yield but creating um different things that are creating problems in all of us that make the health facilities get full. Yeah. I I think there’s a um there’s a
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lot of passion on sort of both ends of the spectrum and I know that science uh has done some wonderful things in creating hybrids that um have helped to to feed the world and uh do other things and we have some of it happening uh in my district in South Maui, some of it over here in Mustang. Uh but I think it’s all done in a very controlled way. I know there are people that would disagree with me on that. I always wondered whether they do control because when it’s out into the air those seeds
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well but but if you look at the the crops that um company Maui is doing covers so it’s not uh getting out into the air. Now that’s not to say that there may be other situations in other places but you know my view can really only be what’s happening here and are the controls and are the parameters and are they making sure that it’s not so in the food prep that we hope obviously we’re going to all be responsible people out there become our farmers right I mean this is all of us
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well there’s you know there’s a great trend now into organic farming uh looking at you know how we can uh do sustainable farming ing how we can do the yields. And I think my hope would be that we can use science in a productive, helpful, beneficial way for most people and that we can make sure that whatever is done is done as transparently as possible. But unfortunately, there is, in my view, um an amount of junk science that’s out there because you can say anything and put anything up on the internet. Uh, I
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mean, there are people that still tell me that there’s nothing wrong with smoking. And as far as I’m concerned, that’s been proved a long time ago that not only is uh smoking bad for you, but secondhand smoke is bad for you. Which is why I champion the measure to u make our workplaces and our places of employment, our public places work uh smokefree. You know, it’s just important that we don’t introduce those. You know, there’s been the controversy over plastics and I think we’ve got to do
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more research. You know, we’ve got to fund those kinds of things. We know there are some connections between some cancers and and and the environment. And we’ve got to keep searching for that. You know, that’s why we’ve got to fund research. That’s why we’ve got to get our kids interested in science and interested in medicine, interested in looking at the impacts on the environment because man is having and we want to make sure that it’s all done in balance. So, I think there’s I think
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there’s um there’s very important reasons to be concerned, but there’s also important reasons not to panic and not to just sort of throw uh the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. I understand. Um I know that we’re going to find ourselves suddenly short on time. We’re you’re going to say, “God, I wish I had an opportunity to say that.” Any things that you want to be sure to share? We may not be at the end yet, but I just want to be sure that I give you a chance
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to share things that are important to you to share. Well, I think the important thing is for people to know that, you know, I I do care about my district. I’ve been uh on island for 28 years and my whole career has been looking at how can we improve the quality of life that we have. How can we take care of our seniors? Looking to make sure that we have uh appropriate caregivers, that our services are community based, that you know people have the health care that they need, whether they’re insured or uninsured.
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making sure that our community clinics and we have doctors and nurses and we have good qualified teachers. It’s really all about making sure that our citizens have the best quality of life that they can. Sometimes we’re going to disagree on the ways to get there. But, you know, I think if we work together across party lines, if we say, you know, we’re going to tackle our long-term care issues, we come we come up with a commission that’s going to take everything and say this is the path we
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got to go and then we’re going to have to fund it. We’ve got early childhood education. Even in these tough times, we have to figure out how we get on that uh wave to actually find out how we can make sure we help our our children at an earlier age when they’re still ready to learn and we can give them the best get started. Sometimes that may not even take money. I hope that we can be doing a lot of these things just because of who we are as a people and we can be leaders in all kinds of areas.
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Exactly. you know, we work we got to work with our vibrant nonprofit uh industry and and segment in our our economy. We’ve got to look at how we make government more efficient, how we can get rid of some of those rules that we really don’t need that are just adding to cost and maybe not really uh being in the public uh benefit and public interest in the long run. So, I think there’s there’s a lot of things that we can still do. I think we’ve made a lot of progress, but you know, there’s
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always more you can do. And I try to to take a look and say, “Okay, these are the things we’ve done. What else do we need to do? How can we continue to work for our West Mau community, our South community, the county of Maui, and the citiz?” Because that really brings our responsibility. What do you think? Are you happy we spent more than three minutes talking to candidates and going to the next one and the next one? Isn’t it a pleasure to sit with someone like Ros Baker? I think you probably had more than
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three. She’s been able to give you a little glimpse on who Ros Baker is, and that’s a really good thing. Um, any other areas? I mean, I I almost don’t know where to start. Transportation, water, it gets overwhelming over the years. You’ve been doing this. What gives you the strength to keep doing? I think when you’re able to know that, you know, you helped Lahina Luna get a much needed high school. I mean, I’m sorry, library. Kihei gets the high school. We’re in the works for that one.
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Linda Luna needs a high school, too. Uh, but they’re uh their library and working on getting them the cafeteria, working to make sure that um we have healthy workplaces and, you know, we tried to diminish smoking by upping the cigarette tax and that’s gone to our emergency medical services and our trauma services and our cancer center. You know, working on things that really make a difference for people. That’s what keeps me coming back because it’s not it’s not for Roz Baker.
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It’s for the folks here in West Mountain. It’s been a folks in South Mountain. It’s trying to improve their lives and, you know, give our kids a leg up and respect and honor our seniors. you know, when we work with um folks like Holly Maholu and help with senior housing on the south side up here on the west side, when we take a look and say, you know, we need that transportation that NO provides to get folks to dialysis services or to get them to the doctor. You know, those are the kinds of
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things that keep you coming back because that gives you a really good warm feeling to know that, you know, somehow some little bit, whether it was as a chair of a committee or or a member, you know, you advocated for the needs of your community. To me, the more of us that can come together, whether it’s working in nonprofits, working in government, just toiling in our community, helping somebody else out, that’s what makes a difference in the lives of so many people really makes a difference.
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That’s what that’s why I keep running. That’s why I’m involved. Well, thank you very very much for your service all these years and for your uh high visibility activity. I mean I you know people take shots they take shots and although we always supposed to keep it impersonal I know that it’s uh an experience I’ve had also you know it’s like people will say things I hope that all of us get a chance to look at these things and hopefully just like uh anything you make your own educated
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decision and come from a place of knowing and come out and reach got in touch. That’s the good thing about being here on a little place. It’s not uh hard to see Rozbaker and stuff and say hi. Well, you know, my phone uh number is listed, so they can pick up pick up the phone. They can send me an email at rozbaker.com. I’ve got a website, rozbaker.com. Uh so, you know, I enjoy talking to my constituents and don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. Uh if we get really jammed, I may not get back to
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you. right that second. But I will or I’ll get my staff on it if you need some information that we can help you out with because we try to be of service to our community. That’s my job. Well, I hope that on election day you have an opportunity, all of you. In fact, you make the opportunity to go out and exercise your right and responsibility to vote. And I hope that no matter where you live, that you take what we’ve said here and use it in your own lives and create more involvement.
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You know, I I like to let people know these elections are sort of like benchmarks along a timeline, but politics and being involved is an all the time thing. And politics maybe gets a bad name because it’s something that you keep separate from yourself when in fact the quality of our life is really improved as we interact and be involved cuz that’s the way it is. No matter who’s sitting in the seat, this is your time to feel empowered and know that it goes on way beyond an election. But
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that’s the one thing. If you get out there on election day and show how you feel, it’ll be a really good thing. I really appreciate having you here. I hope that I haven’t uh offended anyone by not talking about things or talking about things in a different way. I am really looking forward to all of us taking this time in this process because it is an important process and uh making this a better place. Thank you very very much for being with us. My pleasure. And take Jason’s advice.
47:59
Make sure everybody votes. This election is very important from the president all the way down to the county council. Hello. Oh yeah. Thank you guys for joining us. We’ll see you again.
