GaryHooser's Blog

Only candidates for public office need to read further. And if you are a candidate, I hope you read and align with this: https://garyhooser.blog/2022/12/07/the-fundamental-political-question/

I’ve written recently about how walking (and eating right) has changed my life. As a candidate for public office, it can change yours as well – if you have the discipline to do it. Most don’t.

Incumbents as a rule will ride on their name recognition and ability to raise the money needed for the multiple mailings that will show them walking, and in general out in the community. But they rarely do any actual walking door-to-door once they are first elected.

New candidates too often make up reasons why they never get to the serious sustained door-to-door canvassing needed to win. And when they do knock on doors they do it only in “friendly” districts who match their own demographics – avoiding those neighborhoods whose residents are not their so-called “natural constituents”.

The reality of winning an election at the State legislative and County Council level is clear. Candidates that walk – win. 

You can tell people you are “gonna walk”, you can think about walking, you can even walk once in a while, but unless you take it seriously and walk the entire district you will not win – not against an incumbent anyway.

Walking the district twice ensures success. Trust me on this one. An incumbent will not walk it even once. You walk it twice. You knock on peoples doors and speak to them twice – they will be impressed, they will notice the incumbent never bothered to come by even once, and they will vote for you.

But you gotta put away the excuses and you gotta walk. Your sweat equity is much more impactful than the money spent on radio ads and plastic banners. 

It goes without saying that the sooner you start the better. It’s never too early to start walking.

Divide the number of voting households by the number of days left before the primary, and that is the number of houses you need to knock on every day.  Average it out to compensate for a few days off here and there – but develop a plan and then follow it.

Your first pass through a neighborhood can be simple. Just you and one or two volunteers and a simple door hanger or campaign brochure – “I just stopped by to say hello, introduce myself, and see what issues are important to you and your family” type message. Invite them to contact you, include your email address and cell phone number. Don’t panic. People will be impressed that you are giving them your cell phone but very few people will actually call.

Carry a clip-board and take notes when you meet them at the door or on the street. Ask about what’s important to them and their neighbors. Listen closely, this is more about them than it is you. Most candidates talk too much.

Voters want to elect people who will listen to them. LISTEN, take notes and when you knock on their door a 2nd or 3rd time in the months ahead – refer to your notes so they know that you did listen. Voters want to feel seen and heard. You need to show them that they do really matter to you. 

Wear a lei and look like a candidate. Remember, people are always watching. Through their kitchen window, when they drive by in the car, they are watching and they are forming opinions of you, the candidate – based on the candidates looks and actions AND on how the campaign volunteers look and act. Campaign volunteers are an extension of you and should look and act accordingly. 

If you have volunteers that sport “purple mo-hawks” either literally or figuratively – leave them home and assign them to phone banking or stuffing envelopes.

For both public perception and security reasons, the candidate should not walk alone.

Never walk past anyone on the street without smiling and saying hello (voter or nonvoter). Pick up trash when you see it. 

The candidate (or volunteers) should never enter into someone’s home, even if invited.

It serves no purpose to argue with people at their doorstep. Most people will not have much to say anyway, and a handshake and a few words will suffice. If the person at the door has a different opinion or different values than the candidate – it’s best not to argue, engage, or debate – just “thank you” and keep walking, making a note not to return in the future.

Have the person walking with you keep track of the “voter list” and make notes as to people’s reactions. This entire process is also about “Voter ID” – so later when the ballots are mailed out, you will visit or call those homes who indicated they liked you and would vote for you – and remind them to vote.

Do not skip houses that aren’t on the voter list, you don’t want someone (perhaps watching you through the window) to say you didn’t care – at the minimum a volunteer should visit these homes while the candidate focuses on voters.

The person or persons walking with you should look like the demographic of the neighborhood or at the minimum a different demographic than the candidate. In our multi-ethnic community, it is essential that the campaign reflect that same multi-ethnicity.

The campaign should have a street map of the entire district and “color in the streets” as they are walked – until the entire district is colored in. Then switch to a new color and do the same thing a second time.

While walking the candidate will see potholes, broken street-lights, abandoned cars on public property, etc etc.  The candidate should make a note of these things and inform the appropriate agency – asking them to take action.

The candidate can/should keep a public social media journal with pictures of people, streets and neighborhoods they are walking – so the entire world knows they are walking the entire district – every single day.

During the second round of walking, the “volunteer crew” should be larger but remain diverse. This walking is more “visible” to the entire community as volunteers are putting up signs and banners along the way.

Volunteers can knock on the doors of both nonvoter and voter. When a volunteer makes contact with a voter at the door they should be asked “Would you like to meet the candidate?” And then if the answer is in the affirmative, the candidate who is nearby will be brought over to say hello.

If/when the person at the door is positive and expresses supportive interest in the candidate, they should be asked “So can we count on your vote on election day?” And then the response so noted – in the voter ID log. 

Every single person that comes to the door (whether outwardly supportive or not) should be asked prior to leaving – “Would you mind if we put up a sign? – (ESPECIALLY IF THERE ARE OTHER SIGNS ALREADY PRESENT).

When the person at the door says, “Yes sure, just leave it with me and I’ll put it up later” respond with “Thank you! But I have a crew that’s right here and can do it now…does this location work for you?” Note: The person at the door may have good intentions but if the sign is not put up right away, it will likely remain in the carport or garage forever and not ever be put up.

This second-round walking group will have two people dedicated to “putting up signs and banners”.  They know the signs must be on private property, and that signs and banners must be put up to last the duration of the campaign and not sag etc. They will note the address of each sign and banner so it can be removed efficiently in the future.

All volunteers must know to NEVER ever touch other candidates signs or materials.

Candidates that do the work of door-to-door canvassing will win.

It’s totally possible to canvas an entire State House and a State Senate district. Council districts are generally larger (except Kauai which is equivalent to a single large Senate district) – so more “targeted walking” of Council district will be needed.

Granted, many urban districts have high-rise apartments which make canvassing challenging or impossible. For these areas intense direct mail, frequent coffee hours, and other methods of reaching voters are necessary – However even in these districts there are sections that are “walkable” and they must be walked!

Essential tools:
Campaign “business cards”
Campaign “door hanger or mailer piece” to leave
Online voter list
Clip board with simple “survey” to take notes as to resident issues, priorities
Water bottles to hydrate and sunscreen

Second Round:
Banners
Yard signs
Mallet to pound in yard signs
Zip ties and bungee cords for banners
Food/Bento for the volunteer crew to eat at end of the day.

Innocent civilians: men, women, children, the very old, the very young, are being slaughtered – daily. Whether it’s death by bullet, bomb or bayonet – people are being targeted while running through the fields, sleeping in their beds at home, shopping in the market, and in hospitals, schools, and places of worship – their deaths are senseless, criminal, and unjustifiable – regardless of the flag that flies overhead.

It’s the generals and warlords who order the slaughter, the soldiers, fighters, and mercenaries who knowingly and intentionally do the slaughtering, and the Presidents, the Prime Ministers, and the law-makers who embolden, applaud and cheer them on who are to blame.​​

They, along with those who make and sell the tools of war are who should be held accountable. As the trials of Nuremberg made ultimately clear, “just following orders” does not absolve anyone of their personal responsibility when they knowingly and intentionally murder non-combatant innocent civilians.​​

However as history teaches us, the politicians, generals and profiteers will be protected and enriched – while the soldiers and the innocents will die and the seeds of hate and divisiveness only grow stronger.​​

Collectively we must somehow use our deep sadness and the incredible disappointment we are now feeling about our world – to dig ourselves out of this. We must somehow figure this out and stop the madness.​​

Yes, there are bad guys in the world and yes, we need a strong military to protect us from them. But we don’t need to be the largest arms dealer on the planet, and we don’t need to have the largest global military presence either. ​​

We need to be the leader in building and supporting hospitals, schools, housing, and peace – not in the manufacturing and selling of missiles, guns, bombs, and war.​​

What can we do? Now, today. ​​What can we do except twist in our chairs, pound on our key-boards, and bemoan the injustice of the world?​​

Hold a sign on the street-corner? March with our friends holding many signs calling out for justice?​​

It all seems so futile, like waving our little protest fist in the air – expecting that to stop the bombs, the missiles, the bullets, and the bayonets.​​

Inside, deep down, I know we can and we must do something.

The alternative is to sit back and watch good and innocent people die – and wait for that inevitable day when it will be our homes being destroyed and our children and grandchildren being slaughtered. And the same players will be pounding their chests, shouting about vengeance, and depositing their war profits. ​​

We cannot let that happen. We cannot just sit in silence. We must raise our voices loud and clear to say stop the madness AND we must show to all – the love, compassion and acceptance so sorely lacking in too many corners of our planet. ​​

Reducing the global footprint and massive U.S military budget is an obvious and tangible step we must also take. This is the message we need to send today to our Hawaiʻi congressional delegation. Stop the expansion here at home #stoppohakuloa AND begin serious reductions in the 750 military bases located in at least 80 different countries on every continent.​​

We have here at the University of Hawaiʻi, the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace and every few years people talk about its potential “if only it was properly funded”. At one time, there was talk of Hawaiʻi being the “Geneva of the Pacific”. There has also been talk about creating a U.S. Department of Peace.​​

I’m thinking we need to stop talking and start doing. Please join me in contacting our Congressional delegation and asking them to help lead in shifting our role from weapons dealer to peacemaker – starting here at home.

Gary Hooser
First published in The Garden Island Newspaper 10/18/2023

Note: I recognize the inadequacy of my words and the complexity of the topic and situation but am compelled to express the thoughts and feelings pressing the hardest upon me at the moment. *Original draft submitted prior to President Biden’s visit to Israel and prior to the most recent hospital bombing that has killed hundreds more innocent civilians.

Contact U.S. President Donald Trump
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
THE WHITE HOUSE
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Contact Information For Hawaiʻi Congressional Delegation
(email contact via their websites)

U.S. SENATOR MAZIE K. HIRONO (D)
https://hirono.senate.gov
Washington, DC 202-224-6361
Honolulu, HI 808-522-8970

U.S. SENATOR BRIAN E. SCHATZ (D)
https://schatz.senate.gov
Washington, DC 202-224-3934
Honolulu, HI 808-523-2061

FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ED CASE (D)
https://case.house.gov
Washington, DC 202-225-2726
Honolulu, HI 808-650-6688

SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JILL N. TOKUDA (D)
https://tokuda.house.gov/
Washington,DC 202-225-4906
Honolulu, HI 808-746-6220

Hawaii Governor Josh Green
Phone: (808) 586-0034

Contact the Governor

All Hawaii State Senators
sens@capitol.hawaii.gov

All Hawaii State Representatives
reps@capitol.hawaii.gov

Find YOUR district Hawaii State Senator and Rep
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/fyl/

All State Senators by District
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/legislators.aspx?chamber=S

All State Representatives by District
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/legislators.aspx?chamber=H

Hawaii County
Mayor Mitch Roth
(808) 961-8211
Mitch.D.Roth@hawaiicounty.gov

Hawaii County Council Members
https://www.hawaiicounty.gov/our-county/legislative/county-council/council-members-and-districts

City and County of Honolulu
Mayor Rick Blangiardi
(808) 768-4141
mayor@honolulu.gov

Honolulu City Council Members
https://www.honolulucitycouncil.org/

Maui County
Mayor Richard T. Bissen, Jr.
(808) 270-7855
mayors.office@co.maui.hi.us

Maui County Council

Councilmembers – Nā Lālā ʻAha

Kauai County
Mayor Derek Kawakami
(808) 241-4900
mayor@kauai.gov

Kauai County Council
https://www.kauai.gov/Government/Council/Councilmembers-2022-2024

Please don’t tell me it’s a waste of time, nobody listens anyway, or that you’re busy.

You can be part of the solution or part of the problem. I ask that you please, please, please — today be part of the solution.

On Jan. 17, the 2024 legislative session will begin. Legislators and lobbyists are drafting their priorities now in preparation. So it’s now time for you to start taking action.

Step 1 — Identify just who in the heck is your state senator and representative. As a voter in their district, your voice is especially important!

Go to https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/fyl/ to get the name and contact info of your district’s Senator and Representative. Pin this information to your refrigerator and save it to your phone.

Step 2 — Email them a short note – professional and courteous always. Let them know you live in their district. Let them know you’re tired of “business as usual politics” and ask them to help lead and support important systemic changes that are long overdue.

Step 3 — Include a short list of reforms, changes, or new policy proposals important to you — for 2024.

Below are priorities that many advocacy organizations and individuals are rallying behind, and will be pushing hard in the coming months. Yes, these are “inside baseball” type of reforms, and if your eyes are starting to glaze over at this point – please just email your own issue priorities!

• First and foremost, take care of the people and community of West Maui and Lahaina. Do not use Maui as an excuse to avoid or delay dealing with other vital issues. Exercise the political will needed to access numerous untapped funding sources that can provide the resources needed. If you need more time, extend the session.

• Pass the core state budget a month before the session concludes and avoid the last minute chaos of previous years.

• End the practice of referring bills to the money committees when those initiatives have little or nothing to do with money. Take away the power of the “money chairs” to kill basic policies that have no impact on the state budget.

• 2024 is the second year of the biennium. There is no need to introduce, refer, schedule, hear, and pass through the entire process yet again those bills that are now in conference committee or otherwise still “alive.”

• Reconvene the conference committee and pass Senate Bill 1543 on publicly funded elections. This is the reform that makes all other reforms possible and will help get money out of politics. SB1543 has the potential to be a game-changer IF our legislature is serious about doing the peoples work.

To those who are new to the process please visit and explore this valuable nonpartisan educational resource The Legislative Reference Bureau – Engagement 101 https://lrb.hawaii.gov/par/engagement-101/.

As to the old-timers, political junkies, and other involved civic minded folk – Please send out your email to your district legislators as well, and then share this information widely with your friends and networks!

Like most of you, I am sick and tired of the circus of shenanigans, the corruption, the inefficiencies, and the do-the-minimum attitude that seems pervasive at the state legislature.

But let’s get real. This is the only government we have and it will only get better when we as individuals, engage and take ownership of it.

2024 is an election year. We, collectively, need to seek out and support good candidates (both incumbents and newcomers) and we need to press hard on changing the way our government works.

Gary Hooser
first published on 10/11/23 in The Garden Island Newspaper

Our one and only Kekaha landfill is approaching maximum capacity. Micro-plastics are being found in the guts of fish and other living things. The trash on the beach, at the side of the road, and floating in huge garbages patches in our oceans – has a direct and negative impact on the health of people and the planet.

Here are two things each of us can do that will have a tangible positive impact in our community. Please take the time and do both!

1) Tune in to the live-stream, attend in person the October 4th Kaua`i County Council meeting, or watch the recorded version after the fact.

Mike Ewall, Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Burning, and Founder of the Energy Justice Network, has been invited to provide a briefing to the Council regarding the negative effects of burning waste and the benefits of diverting waste from the landfill.

The Kaua`i County Council is considering a wide range of ways to deal with our municipal garbage including pyrolysis, gasification, and direct combustion. Mike Ewall is a national expert on energy and waste issues, with a focus on waste incineration, its hazards, and alternatives. He supports communities to transition from polluting energy and waste facilities to clean energy and zero waste systems.

It will be very interesting to see how the various Council members respond to the information Mr. Ewall provides.

If you miss the Council meeting tune in to KKCR on Thursday October 5th from 4-6pm and hear Mr. Ewall talk about “beyond burning” and call in with questions.

Or, if you would like to meet Mr. Ewall in person, hear him speak and answer questions, he’ll be at the Lihue Public Library October 7th, 3-6pm and on Zoom http://www.bit.ly/whynotburn

2) If you happen to live on the east-side, sign up for residential curbside compost pick-up from Compost Kaua`i or drop off your compost (island-wide), or contact them about managing the waste at a special event you’re planning. https://www.compostkauai.org

According to their website: “A 2016 waste characterization study done by the County of Kaua`i showed that approximately 25% of waste entering the landfill was compostable. This includes paper, food waste and other organics. Compostable materials are an extremely valuable resource and should have an opportunity to be returned back to the soil, not lie waste in a landfill tomb.”

How does it work?
* Sign up and pay a modest fee to become a member. Choose between pick-up or drop off service.
* Compost Kaua`i gives you a bucket for your chosen service. You fill up your bucket with approved compostable materials.
* Every week Compost Kaua`i picks up your bucket or you drop it off and you receive a clean one.
* Compost Kaua`i turns your compostable materials into nutrient rich compost which you can request, buy or donate to others.

Full disclosure: Claudette and I have been members of Compost Kaua`i for almost a year now and LOVE the service. Claudette especially loves the beautiful compost that gets delivered to our door quarterly which she uses in our home garden.

There you have it. Two easy and meaningful ways you can help make a difference. Please. Get involved. Take action. It’s important.

The stereotype that all politicians are crooks seems more true today than ever. We know this first-hand here in Hawai’i where several of our elected officials are now sitting in jail after being caught taking bribes and violating the public trust.

Others have escaped getting caught (so far) and remain in public office. They’ve been there for decades and most likely cannot remember their first free lunch with that first lobbyist that soon evolved to drinks after session and ultimately generous support when reelection time rolled around. A handshake and a wink away from that inevitable conversation, “I need some help passing/killing a bill. Sure not a problem, what was that Bill # again?”

It makes me want to throw up.

Of course all politicians are not crooks but this past week New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez (D) dramatically reinforced that stereotype – badly damaging the entire institution that is our democracy.

Senator Menendez has been the long time Chairman of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one of the most powerful committees in the U.S. Senate. He’s now under federal indictment accused of “influence peddling” and accepting bribes. Federal investigators discovered gold bars and nearly a half a million dollars in cash stuffed in various corners of his home.

Can’t make this stuff up. It’s disgusting really.

We here in Hawai’i must join with members of Congress and Democrats in New Jersey and across America in calling for his resignation.

The Democratic Party of Hawai’i, our Congressional delegation, and every elected official and individual citizen who cares about restoring faith and confidence in our elected officials must help lead the way with the same message.

Yes, he’s innocent until proven guilty, but a close read of the indictment and even a casual review of his past activities – is evidence enough that his continuing presence in the U.S. Senate is unacceptable.

Those who hold elective office must be held to a higher standard. Only the truly arrogant, who believe they are both entitled and untouchable would leave hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash just laying around the house.

According to the indictment, Senator Menendez accepted a long list of gifts/payments/bribes (exact definition to be clarified at trial) including cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, and even apparently a brand new Mercedes Benz. Were those items given to him intended to influence his actions and did he in fact “sell influence” are the legal questions. But what is legal, moral, and ethical do not always align – and our elected officials must be held to the very highest standard.

This guy and all the other snakes just like him must go.

The corruption, fortunately or unfortunately is not specific to one party. Former President Donald Trump (R) is now facing over 90 criminal counts in 4 different indictments at both a State and Federal level. Tipping the scales in favor of “all politicians regardless of Party are crooks.”

Without a doubt there are others in both Hawai’i and D.C. at this very moment shaking in their boots, trying desperately to cover their own tracks, while awaiting a similar federal knock on their door.

A pox on them all.

Please join me today in reaching out to Hawai’i United States Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono. Thank them for their dedicated service and ask them please to speak out publicly asking for the resignation of Senator Menendez.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D), U.S. Senator Cory Booker, and many other sitting members of Congress have already publicly stated he should resign. The Chair of the New Jersey’s Democratic party has also called for his resignation.

Hawai’i should join in solidarity with New Jersey, and help push the national conversation. Enough is enough. Elected officials at all levels must be held to the highest of ethical standards. Those unwilling to do so – must leave.

*note – Mahalo to Senator Hirono who tweeted yesterday (after this had already gone to press) –
“As Senators, we serve in positions of public trust. While Senator Menendez is innocent until proven guilty, the heart of the allegations erodes public trust. As such, I believe he should step down.”
*another update – Senator Schatz also tweeted: “Members of the Senate Ethics Committee (who therefore may avoid weighing in on Menendez allegations) Coons (chair), Lankford, Schatz, Risch, Shaheen, Fischer

Gary Hooser (http://www.garyhooser.com)
former Hawai’i State Senator
former Vice Chair Democratic Party of Hawai’i
presently retired and making “good trouble” in policy and politics
“Crooked politicians – a pox on them all” – published 09/27/23 The Garden Island newspaper

I think you’ll agree there’s no shortage of challenges facing our community and planet. I’m thinking you’ll probably also agree to effectively deal with these challenges we need to identify and support new energy, new ideas, and new leadership at all levels of government.

We can sit around all day pounding our fist on the table, shouting into the wind, and cursing our problems and those in positions of power – and nothing is going to ever change.

We must find good people who are willing to run, who have a proven track record in the community, and who we can count on to push back against the often toxic political culture they will be working with. We must find them, support them, and back them up with our own time, energy, and yes – money.

This is why today I’m making a personal online donation of $100 to the campaign of Laura Acasio who is running for election to the Hawai’i State Senate District 1 – Hilo, Pauka‘a, Papaikou, Pepe‘ekeo

That’s correct, I am making a contribution to her campaign even though I don’t live in her district or even on the same island.

So why am I helping her? Because she’s awesome, I trust her completely, we share the same core values, and she is fearless. I know she will support positive forward-thinking public policy initiatives, while pushing back against the corporatist bullies who too often dominate the agenda.

I know without any doubt whatsoever that Hawai’i will be a better place with Laura Acasio serving in the Hawai’i State Senate.

Please join me in giving her campaign a boost with an online contribution today if you can. Whether you are able to match my $100 or if you are able to give more, or even less – please just give something. It all adds up.

If you live in Senate District 1 Hilo, Pauka‘a, Papaikou, Pepe’ekeo please give of your time, talent, and energy as well. Join the campaign as boots on the ground – hold signs, knock on doors, post banners etc. Attend the campaign “Launch Party” this coming Friday September 29th from 6 to 8pm at 29 Shipman Street in Hilo – meet the candidate in person, sign up to volunteer, and enjoy the food and fellowship. Info and RSVP here: https://www.friendsoflauraacasio.com/events

Please SHARE this information and encourage your family, friends and networks to also join in and support the campaign of Laura Acasio to the Hawai’i State Senate!

In the coming weeks and months, my hope is to regularly highlight those bright stars who are stepping up and throwing their hats in the ring to run for election to public office – at all levels.

If you are considering running for public office (any island and any office) in 2024, and if you have roots in the community you hope to represent, and some track-record of achievement or leadership within that community – please read My Rant On The Fundamental Political Question. If after reading and now understanding perhaps more fully where I am coming from – if you would like to meet up and talk more, lmk.

Yours Truly,

Gary Hooser
http://www.garyhooser.com

I had no idea at the time, but on Tuesday April 11, 2023, I began a journey.

In general I’d been feeling down. Low energy – both physically and personally. Nothing specific really. No physical or personal trauma. Just down.

I’d joke about a “never-ending midlife crisis” and about how I was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life – as I’d been trying to figure out for the prior 69 years.

A friend mentioned an acupuncturist who had made a difference in their general health. On April 11 I paid her a visit and voila – my health and my general feeling of well-being changed dramatically. Whether it was the acupuncture or the reiki healing or just the focus that initial visit brought to my health, my body, and my psyche – I do not know.

I just know I felt better after that visit, and I slept better. Then I started eating better and regularly walking in the neighborhood or along the beach. The more I did it, the better I felt, and the better I felt the more I wanted to keep doing it.

When I walked in her door on April 11, I weighed 210 lb’s and 5 months later I’m at 174 – and feeling healthier and stronger than I’ve felt in years.

The formula for me has been regular visits to my acupuncturist, a mostly plant-based diet, no alcohol, lot’s of water, and walking an average of 10,000 steps per day (or about 5 miles). Sometimes I walk less and sometimes more. Sometimes I walk with Claudette and sometimes I walk alone. But I walk.

Prior to April 11, I barely got out of my chair – always in front of my computer or on the phone. My brain and mind was/is always active, but my body got zero exercise.

I haven’t weighed 174 since high-school. I know weight is just a number on a scale but losing the weight has given me back strength and energy I didn’t have before. I have no interest in being skinny but am very much interested in living longer, and my primary care physician is ecstatic about the changes. I’m good to go – ready to kick butt and take names, as they say.

Over the summer, Claudette and I also took some time away and visited Thailand courtesy of her United Airlines retiree benefits. Remember the marry me and fly free story? We found a cute little hotel two blocks from the beach for $39 per night (including breakfast) – and spent two weeks literally walking about. By day we walked the beach at Hua Hin and by night we cruised the street markets – almost 10 miles a day every single day.

During that time and over the past weeks I’ve managed to “put my phone down” (well mostly) and doing my best to avoid the tedious and the mundane. In addition, I’ve stepped back from some of the work, cognizant of my own personal capacity and the need to “make space” for others to step up.

Spending time with family has also been a “centering point” and helped keep me focused on what’s truly important.

After Thailand, Claudette and I flew to New Jersey to be with our daughter Kelli-Rose and her family as she gave birth to Isabella’s new little sister and our 4th grandchild, “Harper Camille Simmons”. Three days later, I tested positive for COVID. For the next 5 days I remained alone in the upstairs bedroom, isolated from the entire family, terrified I would bring harm to that tiny little newborn or her mother. Fortunately nothing bad happened, mother and child are healthy, and that window passed unopened.

I am back home now on Kauai. Over the past few days, I’ve been able to spend quality time with my son Dylan and his beautiful family in Koloa. Grandson Rixon celebrated his 7th birthday and we were there also to witness the first steps of his little sister Kaliyah!

So yes, I’ve been on a journey of sorts, and coming back now stronger than ever.

What’s next?

That’s a bridge that still needs crossing. As I continue through the prime of my life and head into the next decade, that question remains unanswered and “top of mind”.

I love what I do, want to do more, achieve more, enjoy my family more, and climb with others even higher mountains – leveraging and maximizing the sum total of the experience and lessons learned over the years.

Ideas? Suggestions? Collaborations?

Am fired up and ready to go.

Will you join me?

Imua!

Read next “Crossing the rubicon, my 70th birthday came and went…here is some Hooser history”

Mahalo Governor Green for listening to the community and taking prompt action to amend and improve the Emergency Housing Proclamation (EP).

Mahalo even more so to the individual community members, non-profit advocacy organizations, and the best and brightest of Hawaii’s public interest legal community. You stepped up and spoke out, loud and clear — and then even louder and clearer. The Governor could not avoid seeing the writing on the wall – and responded appropriately.

This my friends, is what democracy looks like.

Typically, the first voices invited to weigh in are those who have access, who are paid to be there (lobbyists), and who will financially benefit from the proposed changes. These voice are at the table (trough) year after year, regardless of who the governor is. They look at the regulatory environment as “an impediment” to growth and just want government to get out of the way so they can make more money.

The next round of voices to enter the discussion are the government employees responsible for implementing the regulations, issuing the permits, and managing the process. Over-worked and understaffed, these folks just want to do their job with the least amount of political interference. The governor however is the boss and their life is much simpler to navigate when they accommodate that reality.

Too often the last voices to be heard are those of the general public and organized advocacy groups.

In short, the deal is cut first with the industry insiders, then the agency people are brought on board (and perhaps the deal is amended per their concerns). Then, after it’s signed, sealed, and delivered – then and only then are outsiders, the public, and the “good trouble-makers” allowed into the discussion.

In this case however, the initial proposed EP sought to block meaningful public input entirely via suspension of the Sunshine Law. The public and the advocates were not invited into the discussion but rather were forced to loudly demand entry instead.

While some will argue and perhaps rightfully so that Governor Green’s changes in the new EP do not go far enough, he has I believe made a significant effort to accommodate many of the publics concerns.

The new EP no longer eliminates the Sunshine Law, which protects the publics voice, and historic preservation and environmental protection laws are no longer suspended.

West Maui and Lāhainā are now unequivocally off the table and not impacted at all by the EP.

The revised EP also now actually includes the word “affordable” in its title, removes the unilateral decision-making authority of the Lead Housing Officer, and has removed a prior provision that severely weakened the Land Use Commissions ability to protect agricultural lands.

All good stuff. Mahalo Governor Green and all who have engaged this important conversation.

My hope is that further revisions will be made 60 days from now which will include “permanent affordable housing” as a priority, and define affordable housing at 100% and below the median income in Hawaii, instead of the 140 percent level stated in the EP.

As to the fundamental legal question of the governor’s power and whether or not the EP violates his constitutional authority – I will leave that to the public interest lawyers whom I trust completely. At the end of the day, you folks are the heroes’ on this one. Mahalo plenty for stepping up.

Gary Hooser
first published on 09/20/23 in The Garden Island newspaper

The recent bullying of a state employee at a public meeting and threats against her family on social media – is totally unacceptable. Given the passion, the spread of misinformation, and the tragedy unfolding in West Maui, the frustration and anger may be understandable – but the threats are 100% not ok.

Healthy public discourse is fundamental to the existence of a healthy democracy.

Suspending the Sunshine Law in the Governor’s Emergency Proclamation on Housing (EP) essentially kicks the public out of the discussion.

Our democracy needs more public involvement, not less.

Reducing the community’s ability to participate and saying to them “trust me we’ll do what’s best for you” – is not the answer.

Bypassing State and County legislative processes intended to manage development, and granting decision-making power to a single person, or even a handful of the hand-picked – just adds fuel to fire.

What big business likes to refer as “barriers to development,” exist to protect agricultural, cultural, and environmentally sensitive areas that are irreplaceable. The petitions, the lawsuits, and the concerned citizens filling the room lined up to testify, are there to protect and preserve that which sustains them.

Attempts to take away these protections, whether real or imagined, AND take away the process enshrined in law that protects the peoples voice – will unfortunately, inevitably, and unacceptably result in anger and harsh words.

Governor Green and his advisers are now in a position to learn from this and reset the process, or put it aside altogether.

If you believe as I do, that thousands of people living in cars, bushes, doorways, at the side of the road and under bridges, constitute a crisis and true emergency – then that should be the focus. If you believe also the fundamental lack of affordable housing is the core reason people are houseless, then emergency efforts on creating permanently affordable housing must be the clear and unambiguous priority.

Perhaps the place to start is the title. Instead of the EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION RELATING TO HOUSING, perhaps insert the words PERMANENTLY AFFORDABLE.

With this new clear unambiguous mission in mind, going back to stakeholders and the general public, for more not less input, would also be valuable. If a thorough conversation is conducted many strategies will emerge that don’t require cutting out public protections in order to motivate new large scale development.

According to research published in 2022 by Hawaii Business Magazine: Approximately 80,000 homes are likely now sitting empty across the islands. These are vacation homes, vacation rentals, second homes, third or forth homes in some cases, and often just empty apartments (so-called “investor units”). Amending tax policy at both the State and County levels could greatly influence and motivate these property owners to do the right thing and rent out their properties to local residents. We need to tax them until they scream, or until they leave (oh wait most don’t live here anyway), or hopefully they decide to convert to a long term rental.

Similarly there are thousands of “undeveloped single family residential lots” sitting vacant on every island. Tax policy can be used to incentivize these owners to promptly build a rental or sell their lot to someone who will. In addition, there are other thousands of potential “Additional Dwelling/Rental Units” (ARU’s and ADU’s) all located in areas with infrastructure in place. Tax incentives and/or grants to pay for septic systems or other needs, could motivate many homeowners to build an affordable rental and keep it affordable for X years – ensuring them retirement income or a place eventually for mom and dad to live.

There are many strategies that could be used to tackle and solve this problem. Each needs to be explored.

The answer does not have to include sacrificing important public, environmental and cultural safeguards in order to ensure developer profits.

Gary Hooser
first published on 09/13/23 in The Garden Island newspaper