WILD BERGER — She’s Not “Cold As Ice”

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Summary & Transcript Below…

Jason Schwartz with TINA WILDBERGER, — HAWAII State House District 11 Rep- Kihei, Wailea, Makena – Tina brings her fresh ideas and positive cooperative spirit to brisk progressive conversations about affordable housing, minimum wage, climate change, schools, teachers, state and local government cooperation…7-29-2019

1. 1. 1. Tina Wildberger, State Representative from Kihei, Hawaii

1. 1. 1. 1. 00:00 → 02:54

• Introduction of Tina Wildberger, longtime Maui resident (25 years), business owner, and current State Representative for District 11 (Kihei, Wailea, Makena).
• Tina’s political journey began with community involvement, including support from predecessor Connie Elle Ings, and association with notable community leaders like Kelly King.
• Tina emphasizes her role as a public servant beyond the boundaries of state vs. county representation, focusing on serving the community as a whole.

1. 1. 1. 1.     02:54 → 06:11

• Tina discusses critical local issues including the Mauna Kea protests, highlighting indigenous rights and the importance of respecting Native Hawaiian voices.
• She and colleagues (Amy Pirosa and Gianni Rollins Fernandez) actively advocated for rescinding the governor’s emergency proclamation related to Mauna Kea, gathering support from state and county officials.
• Tina reflects on the challenge of political office being a two-year term and describes the rewarding nature of constituent support.
• She distinguishes herself as an elected official rather than a politician, focusing on giving voice to marginalized groups and tackling under-addressed issues like climate change, sea-level rise, and disaster preparedness.

1. 1. 1. 1. 06:11 → 09:34

• Tina highlights the urgency of disaster preparedness due to increasing tropical storms and hurricanes affecting Hawaii, such as Tropical Storm Eric and Flossie.
• She advocates for residents maintaining at least two weeks’ supply of water, food, medication, pet essentials, and a family safety plan.
• Tina is organizing a disaster preparedness meeting in Kihei with state officials to create a response plan tailored for South Maui, following a similar initiative recently completed in West Maui.
• The discussion shifts to concerns about coastal development, especially near Kihei, where rising sea levels and flooding threaten new construction projects like the Hilton hotel.
• Tina stresses the need for development to respect natural water flow, avoid over-hardening gulches, and consider long-term environmental impacts.

1. 1. 1. 1. 09:34 → 13:05

• Tina expresses concern about the County’s lawsuit appealing to the Supreme Court regarding injection wells used at wastewater treatment plants in Kihei and Lahaina.
• She urges residents to contact county council members Mike Molina, Tasha Kama, and Alice Lee to oppose the lawsuit, which risks dismantling Clean Water Act protections vital to Hawaii’s environment.
• Tina warns that if the lawsuit succeeds, chemical and waste pollution restrictions could be rolled back, harming Maui’s waters and reputation.
• She highlights the importance of public awareness and advocacy ahead of upcoming elections to influence council decisions.

1. 1. 1. 1. 13:05 → 20:49

• Tina discusses the need for nonpartisan collaboration and open communication between elected officials to achieve common goals such as dropping the costly lawsuit and prioritizing infrastructure improvements over litigation.
• She comments on her political experience, including running for office 25 years ago, and stresses that most politicians she’s worked with are open to dialogue and compromise.
• Tina shares her involvement with Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action’s Kuleana Academy, a nonpartisan candidate training program that has helped prepare many community leaders, including colleagues like Gianni Rollins Fernandez and Kelly King.
• She emphasizes the importance of increasing voter engagement, providing hope, and inspiring community participation in democracy to address Maui’s challenges effectively.

1. 1. 1. 1. 20:49 → 27:15

• Tina reflects on her role as a new legislator and the importance of building relationships with fellow representatives to improve cooperation.
• She notes challenges in communication between county and state government entities, which often operate in silos, leading to inefficiencies in transportation, wastewater management, and other essential services.
• Tina praises recent cooperative efforts between the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Hawaii Invasive Species Council in fighting recent fires as an example of effective interagency collaboration.
• She advocates for better interdepartmental planning, especially between the Department of Education and Department of Transportation, to ensure infrastructure supports school safety and community needs.

1. 1. 1. 1. 27:15 → 30:56

• Tina shares plans to organize meetings involving community advocates, education officials, and transportation planners to address traffic safety and pedestrian access near schools in Kihei.
• She supports roundabouts as a traffic calming measure and safer alternative to the current highway signal system, which has contributed to recent traffic fatalities.
• Tina notes the increase in Maui’s population and urbanization, with infrastructure struggling to keep pace, citing ongoing challenges like the Lahaina bypass project.
• She admits the steep learning curve of her first legislative session but remains committed to improving communication and cooperation among stakeholders.

1. 1. 1. 1. 30:56 → 38:05

• Tina discusses affordable housing challenges in Maui, noting a decade-long deficit of approximately 4,000 affordable units due to previous focus on luxury developments.
• She highlights promising projects like Kai Wahine and Ohana Nui in Kihei, which provide 100% affordable rental units aimed at relieving housing pressures for working families.
• Tina underscores the necessity of infrastructure-first development—building roads, schools, and wastewater systems before housing to ensure sustainable growth.
• She praises developers who engage with environmentalists and community advocates, modifying plans to meet local concerns, exemplified by the Central Valley development project.
• Tina stresses collaboration between private developers, county planning departments, and community stakeholders to replicate successful affordable housing models.

1. 1. 1. 1. 38:05 → 44:08

• Tina highlights the need for stronger mandates and cooperation among developers and government agencies to address Maui’s housing crisis effectively.
• She recognizes the complexity of homelessness, which includes working families facing affordability issues as well as individuals with substance abuse or mental health challenges.
• Tina expresses optimism about leadership like Council Chair Kelly King, who advocates for adherence to community plans and infrastructure-first development.
• She acknowledges the difficulty and courage required to run for office but emphasizes the importance of committed leaders to drive positive change for Maui’s future.

1. 1. 1. 1. 44:08 → 47:50

• Tina describes her committee assignments in the State House, including Energy and Environmental Protection, Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs, and Finance, which provide broad exposure to key legislative issues.
• As a business owner, she advocates for raising Hawaii’s minimum wage from $10.10 to $15, emphasizing the need to support workers who struggle with the high cost of living.
• Tina shares her experience of voluntarily paying 100% of employee medical premiums, contrasting with state employees who pay significant deductions for healthcare, highlighting disparities in employee benefits.
• She critiques proposals to reduce minimum wage in exchange for medical benefits, pointing out that medical benefits cannot replace income needed for housing and basic expenses.

1. 1. 1. 1. 47:50 → 50:00

• Tina confirms her commitment to reintroducing minimum wage legislation and other worker-supportive bills despite opposition from prosecutors or other interest groups.
• She describes the challenging legislative process and the need for negotiation and revision to advance bills such as restorative justice reforms.
• The interview ends abruptly due to technical issues, with plans to continue the conversation in future episodes.

1. 1. 1. Key Insights and Themes

• Community-Centered Leadership: Tina Wildberger exemplifies a representative focused on grassroots engagement, aiming to serve all constituents beyond political boundaries.
• Environmental and Cultural Advocacy: She prioritizes indigenous rights, environmental protection, and sustainable development in her legislative agenda.
• Disaster Preparedness: Recognizes the increasing threat of natural disasters in Hawaii and actively promotes community readiness and resilience.
• Infrastructure-First Development: Emphasizes the importance of planning roads, schools, and wastewater systems before approving new housing projects to ensure sustainable growth.
• Affordable Housing Crisis: Highlights the decade-long shortage of affordable housing on Maui and supports innovative, community-approved projects to alleviate this pressing issue.
• Intergovernmental Cooperation: Advocates for breaking down silos between county, state, and federal agencies to improve service delivery and community planning.
• Economic and Labor Issues: Supports raising the minimum wage and improving employee benefits, drawing on her experience as a business owner.
• Political Collaboration and Voter Engagement: Encourages nonpartisan dialogue among elected officials and stresses the need to increase voter participation and community involvement in governance.
• Environmental Regulation: Opposes legal challenges to the Clean Water Act protections, urging public advocacy to protect Maui’s natural resources.

1. 1. 1. Conclusion

This video provides an insightful conversation with Tina Wildberger, a dedicated and pragmatic Hawaii State Representative navigating complex local and state issues. Her focus on community voices, environmental stewardship, disaster readiness, infrastructure, and affordable housing reflects a comprehensive approach to leadership in Maui’s evolving political and social landscape. Tina’s blend of business experience and political service enriches her perspective on economic and labor policies, underscoring her commitment to improving quality of life for all residents.

00:00

[Music] [Music] that is moment of tower damn Pilate washed his hands please meet you make Europe that guy just wants to keep on singing I’m Jason Schwartz at was me singing at the college did you know that the University of Hawaii Maui college is now University Titan I do you know that do you know this is I’m saying are they very well a wonderful lady this is tina wild burger and i like to introduce people in my show as what they are good people not you’ve been on Maui number of years thanks Jason I’ve been

01:37

here 25 years 25 years so and mostly people have seen you I was gonna say hauling ice you probably don’t do do much hauling I don’t do too much ice hauling anymore thankfully my 15 employees take good care of us mm-hmm many years and then I heard your name with someone said oh she’s working with Kelly Kelly King was running and that’s when I first you came up on my radar as I know it is and then then suddenly Kelly was in and you came up on my radar as a candidate and also as someone who

02:16

kind of knew the ropes and you know we had some early conversation because I was I was gonna say toying it’s never a toy to decide to run you know but I was going to be running for seat and then Tasha when I talked to ALP res from Maui tomorrow and he mentioned then I talked to Tasha and she seems that she was committed so I backed away but I even know I’ve been at this political thing Tina is our sitting should I say sitting and sometimes not sitting representative State House of Representatives in Hawaii 40 hey Wailea

02:54

Malaya not Malaya McKenna Kihei Whaley I’m Makenna Makenna okay district 11 district 11 but I also think of you as someone who is you don’t draw a line you know when they say I’m a state representative a County representative you’re here to serve and you guys I’m sure that’s why you got into your position unless is there any reason that you chose state as a level that you thought you could be um the most big the big impetus and the big kind of push into running for office was

03:30

my predecessor Connie Ella ings endorsement of me for that office when he was going to go move on and run for Congress so you and he had a lot of ideas that would work in our videos are very dynamic still is dynamic yeah he’s still very much community engaged and and working hard for people who need a voice in our community he’s living on wahoo now and working for I think a parental advocacy group at the moment well you know I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ll see him step back up and for sure I’m

04:05

sure we’ll see more from Connie Ella so you got involved on the state level I wore this so I wouldn’t forget to mention Mauna Kea and all that how can you forget you know we’ve got all of our protectors up on the mountain bringing voice to we address issues place in history where those that have been wronged are still alive and their their family tree is now bringing here this next generation is taking up the mantle of indigenous rights for sure and as a role as a representative and seeing the

04:49

governor now I imagine around talking from imagine I haven’t had an opportunity yet to talk to governor egay even as when he was a candidate but I know that when you’re sitting in that seat you know everyone thinks someone’s pressing your buttons and pushing your choices I’m sure that this is a real important place in history as a as a state sitting representative I together with my colleague Amy piroso who is a state rep for Wahiawa in and my friend and colleague Gianni Rollins Fernandez Native Hawaiian County

05:33

Council person representing Molokai we invited all 100 State House state Senate and county council members across our state to join us in message to the governor to ask him to rescind his emergency Proclamation because the people on the mountain are lending voice to people that are voiceless and for issues that are very important to Native Hawaiians and people who love Hawaii and I hope that you know we were pleased to get 17 colleagues to join us out of a hundred and I feel like a unified voice

06:11

is important to support the efforts that are happening on the Moana area you know you know put our two cents in for sure the when I told her that I was having Tina wah I liked her you have aspirations to stay with this political journey I’m finding my way and it’s a two-year contract renewable every two years as you know in State House it’s been a very rewarding experience particularly when I come back to my district and I get so much support from people that I barely know or don’t

06:46

know and oh I know you and thank you so much for serving and so that really helps me because I don’t call myself a politician I call myself an elected official so I just want to be able to bring a voice to the voiceless and work on issues that I feel like are not getting enough attention like climate change and sea level rise and disaster preparedness and response I think specifically are some things that we’re really not taking seriously we have to tropical storm forming hurricanes coming

07:22

at us again this year we have tropical storm Eric and Tropical Storm Flossie are in the Pacific now building and they’re coming our way and I kind of feel like that’s something that on a state level we can really harness resources and do more to be prepared for what you know is really looking like the inevitable anything that our audiences can do here and what’s our timing until it comes into our local eric is going to be near Maui waters on Saturday but will have been reduced to a tropical storm so probably just some

07:55

rain philosophies not predictable yes out and then after that so people need to do them so you want to you want to have two weeks you know the whole the old you know five to seven days is no longer adequate everybody needs two gallons of water per person for two weeks everybody needs non-perishable food you need dog food you need any special medication you need a family safety plan in case you’re separated how you’re going to connect you need there’s a long list and I know our beloved telephone

08:31

book has I don’t know if anybody still keeps the telephone book but the telephone book the Red Cross has resources the county has resources the county has resources on their website yep and the telephone book in most every location we all get them and have them somewhere sitting close by that’s great the things at the end a lot of things are here a common sense to take the things that you need and have dry food have some way to have light you need you need food for your pets you need food

09:03

for your bait your children if you have infants you need diapers if you have infants you need and it that becomes quite a bit of storage capacity if you’re talking about a minimum of two weeks worth I’m hosting disaster preparedness meeting at Kihei Community Association September meeting we’re going to work on a disaster preparedness and response plan for South Maui in conjunction with a state group whose name escapes me at the moment but there’s a general who’s in charge of it

09:34

and he’s coming to present and I’m looking forward to doing that I know that West Maui taxpayers Association just finished doing this plan with the same group up for the Westside and I think it’s really important that our communities just start thinking about you know how we’re going to handle how we’re gonna prepare I went to a meeting I don’t remember I don’t know if you were there specifically but someone came and presented a plan about water runoff near kobani who coy and that hole

10:06

I want to say craziness the lower area where the Hilton is just being built is now gonna be you know like the saltwater pool right so we’re building – we’re still building still a little too close to the ocean I think I’m surprised to see you know and of course building permits our County function but I’m surprised to see particularly on the ocean side on the Makai side of South Kihei Road where all of that sand wants you know the beach wants to come wants to come inland and it seems like we

10:40

should be paying attention to those kinds of things just something that I guess mentioned I like the step where I might I don’t think state or county and whose regulation but I know that whoa no way every time I Drive there I wonder why is why is the Hilton still going ahead all that planning this could be a moat of a reroute they are going to raise Kihei Road as part of their mandate for their permit they’re actually going to raise South Kihei Road to the level of the bridge that’s behind

11:11

it yeah so you know again we’re Hawaiian values can save all of us the mauka to Makai concept and not hardening our gulches and you know helping control street not hardening our gulches that means don’t put cement in there and make them these large things are just over them they can’t be used and assimilated into the areas before they hit down below I mean that’s another issue I’m sure you always hearing the freshwater saltwater flow and all that kind of stuff yeah I’m particularly concerned

11:51

about our injection wells at the Kihei wastewater treatment plant similarly to the one in Lahaina that our County is getting ready to challenge at the Supreme Court if anyone is concerned about injection wells and the future of our Clean Water Act I encourage you highly to please contact your county council representatives and let them know that you do not want them to continue to pursue the lawsuit at the Supreme Court that’s going to dismantle our Clean Water Act is that it’s time for us to

12:22

all make our voices heard to the County Council and to the mayor who are receptive to our voices most particularly Mike Molina Tasha comma and Alice Lee those are the three votes that we need to convince to please stop this appeal to the Supreme Court it’s it we’re literally going to attach Maui to the Trump administration and dismantlement of our Clean Water protections from the 1970s so Tasha and Alice and Mike Molina are the three I’m not sure I’m to be honest and forgive me I’m not sure the

13:05

committee assignments I like to think that when the truth is you know set out clearly like in this kind of neutral zone that we can get a lot of agreements and and looking at things in a different perspective because I’m sure that no Alice and Mike Molina for sure and Tasha comma don’t want to destroy the the work that’s been done at a national level and how they’re part right we’re talking about chemical companies being able to spill into waterways we’re talking about can you imagine any of those three one

13:43

two nine eight state board yeah I think important things and that’s the reason I say maybe this is the most to me when there is an election year on radio I know we’re restricted we have to have all the candidates equal time but when it isn’t election year those are times when our representatives have an open ear and really I think the public has the greatest chance to read we communicate so by saying it in the sense of Alice Lee Mike Molina Tasha , those our names were mentioned him a few times now that we know that

14:23

the people I hope our audience says hey the clean water act if we pursue this and we were to overturn something that would now let all that effluent all that stuff going into all our country and all the regulation and restriction be gone because of we have it’ll be a real stain on our recognition Maui Maui isn’t a you know a perfect animal so why would we want to be known for that the one to destroy a national effort to clean the water what do you think Alice Mike Tasha anyway we hope you’ll come on the show

15:09

and tell us until our audience by the way if you want to call us you know some of us know that we’re eight oh eight eight seven three three four three five that’s the call in line I’m here with Tina wild burger our state Rep from Kihei Hawaii and I’m Jason Schwartz and we still have some time before the break but I just really hope I’m not being too radical in the sense that I really I’ve been around this politics thing a long time this is 25 years ago I ran for mayor and I didn’t do that lightly and

15:46

all these years these ideas I see there really aren’t that when you speak to people on different sides of issues those sides go away pretty quickly when we talk about ramifications in a personal way if Alice Lee was sitting here and we say what would be the power what would be the pain of dropping this what’s it going to do well I don’t see it I don’t see a downside to dropping the suit we’ve spent a lot of money with the county has spent millions fighting the suit and millions could have gone

16:21

into our wastewater treatment systems upgrading them improving them currently on the west side they’re looking at an improvement with a 1 million gallon storage tank well professionals working in that area will tell you they need a 3 million gallon tank and the money that we’ve spent fighting a lawsuit could instead have been invested in infrastructure that we need do the appropriate thing right now well I don’t I say it’s never too late I’m not involved in the procurement and Matt but

16:53

I’d but I know that they’re they’re putting in a 1 million gallon tank we need we need a 3 and County good ideas travel and don’t have boundaries we want to be able to distribute our r1 or r2 water around to agricultural opportunities instead of injecting in today we’re talking about Kiani Rawlins Fernandez yes Kelly king council in fact council chair I was both of their campaign managers right so a campaign manager to me means you have pierced the veil of how to market a candidate I don’t want to say that’s

17:35

yours I’m very much a product of Hoppus kuleana academy training boot camp trading candidate who boot boot camp training program from the winter of 2016 I was in their inaugural class they’re currently working with their fourth class this summer on Oahu and they have produced a lot of great candidates Kiani was an alumnus Gary Hoosiers hapa absolutely my mentor I can’t credit that those efforts enough and bringing people who want to serve their communities to the table to be able to be competitive in the candidate

18:15

arena well you know I’m thinking about myself here sorry when I hear Gary who’s you know because I’ve been around politics here so long and had my foot in the game I remember when I was can’t they when he was can they way back when and I’m really glad to see that they you know the wisdom and experience of someone like Gary Hoosier is being passed on to people like yourself yeah it’s it’s a wonderful program it is a nonpartisan program so you don’t have to be a affiliate of a certain

18:49

Democratic Party but the training is invaluable check out Hoppus website Hawaii Alliance for progressive action you’ll find a link to the kuleana academy there on their website well all you young people now that I’m older young people could be 50 to me he’s all rallied Fe thank goodness gracious but also I know I think that it’s important that more of our audience you know get stays is involved in choosing the direction of things on the aisle yeah I think our our our biggest liability is the non voter

19:29

that disengaged the uninspired citizen we need more engagement but we need to give people a reason to be engaged we need to give them hope and we need to give them promise and we need to give them vision and then we can have a better engaged electorate well see now the all of us out here and I want to say in viewing land you know here’s a candidate who is speaking words taking action that’s the quintessential formula for for making positive change thank you for all that you’re doing thanks Jason you

20:06

know I don’t know how many people go into this politics with good intentions we hear so many stories I imagine you probably could tell something but you know about people in politics who truly are fixing their positions and and aren’t ready to change I haven’t met anyone so far that in conversation can’t come to agreements that bring down all these walls and accomplish things like get them to drop the lawsuit things that need discussion outside of a political arena so I hope and I I really do invite

20:49

Mike Mullane in fact we’ll try to get Mike Molina on and Tasha comma and Alice Lee said she’ll be on sometime in September I think it’s really important to discuss these things and have people be aware because number one election cycle is coming up again but none of us are I hope our one issue things we have so many things you just in a little time we spent together I can see that you cross lines both in the people that you associate with to try to accomplish things in in the local council level and

21:25

also working on the state level have you had much opportunity to work with the federal group so we don’t get as much attention personally from our federal representatives but that’s very hard with the geographic separation they’re working in Washington DC we’re so far away in Hawaii I feel like you know federal programs bring money into the state in a variety of ways and and that happens and the state has to be careful not to let those monies lapse or go away because they didn’t do the appropriate

21:58

things but I identify our biggest challenges are between our county and state governments not working together and I learned this early on the campaign trail working with Kelly Kings campaign and just seeing how the state in the county just seemed to operate in silos and the same with our state departments we need each department from the county and the state to be cooperating whether it’s Department of Transportation or wastewater development from the do h to our wastewater County departments we

22:31

need to start working together to plan and fund everything in a more cooperative basis instead of each department closing their eyes and pointing the other way and saying oh sorry that’s a state road or sorry that’s a county road I did a tour with the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Hawaii invasive species council last week and saw how the state and county resources were cooperating delightfully to fight our fires over the last couple weeks and that’s a great example of how we can combine personal

23:04

resources equipment resources and assets plus financial resources together for a common purpose if we can do that with our roads and development with the Department of Transportation if we can do that with the Department of Health and our wastewater County Department I think we will all be way way better ahead do you see discussion is happening that create that in the short term hopefully you know I keep I keep expressing that message anytime I get the chance and you know I’m a I’m just one of 51 voices in

23:41

our State House but I keep going to the table with with that message and hope hopefully we’ll be getting you know better interagency communication to better our communities it’s it’s a new idea I think I don’t think too many people have been saying oh yeah these departments need to be working together and interdepartmental II also like we need the Department of Transportation in the Department of Education to work together and planning our schools because when you put in a school you

24:11

need the roads to go there you’ve got that four-way stop that’s in Maui Lani that’s just a headache for everybody they’re working on that they’re going to work on some changes there I’m advocating for roundabouts in Kihei to calm and keep traffic moving but moving more slowly after we had several fatalities just last week I think that our signalized highway system isn’t serving as well and so I’m right now planning a meeting with the Department of Education and the Department of

24:44

Transportation on Oahu bringing over Kihei Community Association advocates and all sitting down at the table so that we can get the decision makers to understand our messaging and what our community wants as far as safe safe passage for the new high school thankfully the school is making great progress Malka of p lani Highway but we’re still working on getting safe crossing for our students so that we’re not putting students and drivers of vehicles in the same path so we’re gonna go to the state and give them some

25:18

examples of underpasses we’ve got our beautiful gulches and that’s a great resource that will be much lower costs than doing an overpass or you know putting kids in with traffic just as not a solution I think well you know I’m you talk about slowing down the traffic Kia you know I don’t know where to project except up up up in population this isn’t what I signed up for I’m sure that many of us who have come over from the mainland and now here I’ve been here since 1988 also but um it’s it’s now

25:56

changed to where we really look like a Wahoo from the sky when we fly in it scares me when I see it I hope that we’re not killing the goose I when I was I was working with a TV production company on the west side and got to experience the line of bypass and thought wow this really made a difference in the traffic but stops right that the cannery and comes right down and creates a new that’s a big bottleneck down there but that’s supposed to be temporary they’re gonna finish that bypass is supposed to

26:31

continue to into kapalua I to be honest I’m my true angus my colleague Angus McKelvey might have better four one one on the actual bypass schedule but I know that that that is quite a quite a deposit into Lahaina down there absolutely obviously you speaking to Kelly and kyani and I’m sure other people do you find that there’s a lot of communication between you I think we need more there’s never enough there’s never enough it’s I’ve only been through one session at state house so I’m still

27:15

finding my way in my path and frankly my learning curve was so steep I found myself you know in my office just trying to get my act together for you know each phase each new phase of the sessions so now I have one session under my belt ready to get rolling next session and looking to develop relationships with my colleagues all 50 other of them 50 other then we’re gonna take a break for on about 50 we have some people that are our sponsors and keep our station kak you running and this show remember you can find this

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show at Maui neutral zone calm you can see all our shows there and listen we’re on ikkaku cuz we put them on there you can also find us on Facebook live you can find us on YouTube we’re out there and we are so happy to be a teen a wild burger you are a terrific guest Tina is the state rep from key hey and we’ll have her back after a couple of minutes they still hang in tone with me Jason Schwartz would like to sincerely thank David Bryan for his support David was founder and head of school at new road

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school in Santa Monica California and as the board chair at the Ojai foundation and on the board for brave new films the neutral zone has heard live Mondays at 11:00 a.m. here on Kak you 88.5 FM the voice of maui and again on saturdays at 7:00 a.m. as well as on TV and on Maui neutral zone dot-com get a jump on protecting Maui’s coral reefs no need to wait for Hawaii’s new sunscreen water go in effect this is Archie kelapa asking you to make the switch today to sunscreens that do not contain reef

29:01

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I’m here with Tina wild burger we were surprised backhanded by the sponsorships suddenly cutting off early we have terrific sponsors one is my brother David Bryan who was an educator for 25 years now he has the Center for common good they built a what do we call it um elementary school and junior high school in high school for people that don’t have resources right next to one where he was teaching where they were you know paying high fees for stars kids and what stuff he was at crossroads and new roads

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in Los Angeles and now he’s the center for common good Herb Alpert gave them a piece of land they built all this campus was fantastic and trying to bring up things so dissimilar to me common good take down the walls we’re not fighting here we may you know you I was just mentioning I like Mike Molina and Alice Lee and I like you know Tasha and I think that when I I can’t really put anyone in a bag like and say that’s those are three very different people who when hearing what this can mean might just be that

31:35

change of the voice that does the good thing that we all think seems that I think it’s important to stress that anybody that steps up to serve their community is indeed doing that serving and that you know our value systems help us form our opinions and our votes but it’s also important to communicate and get our messages across and understand the long-term ramifications of the decisions that we make so your voice to Alice Lee or Mike Melina etosha , about that issue will be heard and that’s

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really important thanks for joining us in this field to be here you know kak u is a radio station that’s low power meaning if you’re not with line of sight of the front the top of this building here in Kahului you can’t hear it which is why I mention all those other ways we can hear this stuff I keep thinking that the people that are guests on my show I am doubt as people that I think have something to say have value to our community are more than just a flash in the pan they have something that that’s

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why I say these shows are building to a point where I think what’s going to happen is we’re gonna point out or it’s going to point out that all these things work together I’m also into integration of state and local and working together taking different departments and working together I modeled my nonprofit in 1991 when I started after the Department of Business economic development and tourism and maui inc magazine i know i was i doing i it was this is before there was an Internet

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when we were talking about integration of things and you know because I haven’t no political affiliation I’m not in any seat we can talk about things in unique ways here for example affordable housing maybe you would like to say things and I’d love to give you the ball and have you say but I have ideas that involve private sector and County and then state and they’re very different than I’ve seen presented because the people many of us on the private sector I’ve noticed think although we have a state

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representative we have a County representative we have that agency over there they’re helping the housing thing what do you mean there’s no help for the homeless look at that place over there point they they instead of making it personal and integrating it into so I’m one of those guys who wants to integrate and so yeah we can’t we cannot achieve affordable housing without the private sector we need the private sector to come together with the state and the county to plan our housing that that we

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need and not in fund it right and so we need we need we need in infrastructure first development and so that means we need to stick to our community plans and not deviate from them whimsically for individual projects we need the roads we need the schools we need the wastewater for any new development that goes in and that’s why I really like the development planned for the Central Valley that’s coming up because we’re going to get a wastewater treatment plant there we’re going to get the schools we’re going to

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have a lot of affordable housing and that’s going to be a great project and who’s the real they’re like no no no this is a from Y Kapoor on down into the and I forgive me I’ve forgotten the developers name his first name is Mike it’ll come to my yeah yes Atherton’s project now many people will you know hear these names he has lots of experience in building multi-family things and apartment buildings and cotton from the mainland came here with this vision bought the Maui tropical plantation and the whole

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thing with a plan it’s been a long time cooking he he put a lot of time investment into it didn’t give up on it and and did it right he went to the advocates and the environmentalists and the conservationists to say you know what do I need to do to make this work and he listened and he made the changes to his plan and it’s really great I’m also thrilled to see to affordable housing projects going up in Maui South Maui now in Kihei we’ve got the Kai Wahine project going in in North Kihei

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and then one it oh no Lou and both of those will be a hundred percent affordable rentals so yeah we’re gonna be able to give working families a place to live maybe you know reduce commute times if they are living up country or somewhere further away they can want to duplicate that again could we I think so you know a vision we just got to have vision and we’ve got to have the community planning to say okay let’s take these boilerplates we’ll do this again yeah I mean that’s that’s been the

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challenge in in South Maui particularly for ten years there was nothing but luxury development done it was a 1 over a decade we need 400 units a year we built none in a decade so that’s a deficit of 4,000 units over a decade and everyone’s you know clamoring for affordable housing so now finally we’ve got these two complexes coming online and it’s just going to give some relief to our families as we hear that can we do I mean is there anything that’s stopping us from planning to more and

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planning to more I guess it’s the will of our private developer well we need the developers and the County County planning and housing departments and committees to mandate agency might be the word or is it not I mean I always use the word emergency on my show here thinking we do have a housing crisis we do we have we have we have working families that are houseless and you know our homeless issues span over a wide variety of challenges you know some people have substance abuse issues and some people have mental health issues

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but they’re also working families that are that are houseless because they simply can’t afford and there isn’t enough inventory for them to have an affordable place so adding these affordable units will take some of the pressure off but it’s only I think it’s a drop in the bucket I think we need thousands of new units that’s the reason I asked about you know when we say you just identified if the county and the private developers both go like this with their bobble head I’m laughing

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because I don’t mean to diminish that we need yes is we need even if it be that that developer doesn’t have his hands on the next project and we can keep I think we should boilerplate to the thing that’s working successfully and move in those directions and knowing that under emergency we might even move where we’re doing it but we have to get out sticking to the community plants and that’s why I’m encouraged to have Kelley as our council chair because that’s something

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that she really hammered home on the campaign trail that we have community plans we have the Maui wide plan and then we have each individual neighborhood or community plan and we need to just stick to those but we need to make sure we’re doing infrastructure first development we can’t just split the house again because someone like yourself who’s aware of the tie-in between state and county to have by example two friends that are on council that see that same vision that can work with you to pitch

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this to a state and that is very receptive to it you know we can talk about that I want to say saving the day thank you for for you know stepping out it takes people you know whether you win or whether you lose stepping out and it’s exactly it’s it’s tough it’s a tough bit of business that sure is you have you know serious issues that even if you weren’t in that seat your commitment has been clearly there and thank you for really sticking with us as someone a long time in this community I

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don’t know whether it’s right or not but sometimes when I see someone that’s capable in an area I kind of turned my back oh but meaning I figure there’s a good leader there I can now deal with another area and and then it’s almost like when you’re in martial arts they say if you have 12 different people coming at you you need to deal with the one right in front of you before you deal with the next one yeah there’s certainly no shortage of issues for sure I had no dream a year ago when I was

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running that I would be immersed in the issues of midwives or that I would be immersed in the issues of human trafficking but because I am a state representative I I now now care not just about Kihei Wailea McKenna but I care about all of Maui Nui and all of Hawaii Nui and so we have a lot of challenges and a lot of people that need a voice and I plan to be there to help bring their issues to the forefront do you find that the representatives for example I’m sure you’d like you say you’re just sort of getting to know

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people in this regime that’s in Oahu is there a much time for you guys to get to know each other a little bit uh some you get to know people who are you’re on your committees you know you spend time in committee but it’s you know I’m assigned to three committees I’m on the mental protection and Energy Committee I’m on the water land and Hawaiian Affairs Committee and I’m on the Finance Committee so I get to see a lot I see everything in finance so I get a little taste of all of the things that

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are kind of coming through the pipeline because I’m on Finance but I’m also a business owner who’s been paying a minimum wage a liveable minimum wage $15 an hour since October of 2015 and that was a very important message for me to take to the state capital because Hawaii’s minimum wage is still only $10.10 an hour and it hasn’t been raised in a long long time and that isn’t enough money for people to get by to be able to afford housing and so we need to raise our minimum wage and I had a what

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I think what selfishly was a really great minimum wage bill that offered a credit to employers who have tipped employees so that if you own a restaurant you’re a restaurant owner and you’ve got fine dining in your restaurant and your waiters are making 20 30 40 dollars an hour while they’re working for you they don’t need a higher minimum wage it’s the housekeeper’s it’s the people that are working for smaller companies that are not necessarily getting that that higher wage that need to be

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supported and uplifted and how is that going you think you’re gonna have a well I’m gonna I’m gonna put it through again this year the bill that the labor committee was putting through was an unusual bill that gave credits to employers to reduce the minimum wage if they provided medical benefits but as everyone knows unless you are the state you’re already mandated to pay medical benefits to your employees through the Hawaii prepaid Health Care Act of 1978 and so we all know that you cannot eat

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medical benefits and we all know that you cannot pay rent with your medical benefits and so medical benefits should not be considered income medical benefits are what I consider a human right and whether or not those those benefits should be employer mandated is not for me to say I’m happy to comply with that law in Hawaii and have managed a successful business for twenty years doing that for my employees but ironically the state does not follow the same rules and state employees pay quite a bit out of their

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paychecks for their medical benefits interestingly that’s one thing I learned no that’s pretty interesting Lee Wow so being a state employee has its ups and it’s downs right I was I was surprised to find that teachers for instance we have our teachers are also struggle to pay their bills and make their way to make their obligations on a regular basis for the cost of living Hawaii’s teachers are some of the lowest paid teachers are getting 30 or 40 percent of their health care premiums

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taken out of their paycheck holy-moly yeah and so I pay a hundred percent of my employees medical premiums because by law in the prepaid Health Care Act I can only take one percent of their gross wages toward their medical benefits that’s the law and so I could provide a very basic plan and take one percent of their but it’s hardly worth the paperwork and I consider it an expenditure I can make that I don’t have to pay tax payroll taxes on so I pay a hundred percent of my employees medical

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benefits even though I don’t have to because the amount that I can take for them is so minuscule anyway but that’s not what’s happening with state employees Wow so what’s our way out of this problem I mean we need to raise our minimum wage first let’s take our minimum wage to $15 seem at least from what I am seeing are as informed as you are or have calculated what will happen if they raise their minimum wage and or if they cover health expenses there’s there a way that employers can better

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understand where it’s to their benefit well I find that my staff profile is a happier more contented more loyal staff member if they’re making a living wage and they have excellent benefits they’re gonna work hard for my company you mentioned I don’t have to bag ice or deliver ice anymore and that’s because of the good people that are working in my Ohana my ice Ohana and you know taking care of the ice needs for the entire island and we you know we really are sort of somewhere between an amenity

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and a utility people have to have it and so we want to be there for them 365 days a year and I need super dependable reliable guys and I’ve got a great team but it’s taken years to cultivate that and one of the things that really sent us over the edge we we went from 12 straight to $15 an hour in October of 2015 and it was revolutionary for the climate in my workplace that’s great to hear that’s great to hear I hope that other employers are listening in here and take heed and so I hope that do you

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have success with the passage of this I’m sure that well I’ll work on it again like I said it’s you know I’m on these two committees I’m not on the labor committee you can’t be in all the committees but I put the bills forward and learning how to negotiate the different decision makers and influencers for instance I put through a restorative justice bill that was the the committee chair was kind enough to come to me and say hey I can’t I can’t hear this bill because we got opposition

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from all of the different prosecutors offices and so ok fair enough so now I’m working with the different prosecutors offices I’m rewriting my bill and I’ll put it forward again and hopefully we’ll be able to see it move forward it seems that the engineer cut off the end of the show oh well we’ll have to come back again with Tina