GaryHooser's Blog

Yes, I feed them. I dump left-over rice, papaya and pumpkin seeds, and all manner of left-over food in my backyard – and then I enjoy watching these beautiful creatures enjoy their feast. In return, they give me their chicken poop – a truly closed loop and some of the best fertilizer in the world.

If HB72 passes into law (it won’t), the police could come after me with a $500 fine.

Yes, those majestic roosters crow at ungodly hours of morning, noon, and night. Yes, they dig holes in my yard that irritates me to no end. But their vibrant plumage, the subtle clucking of the mother hen, and the long train of baby chicks that follow her out of the bushes and into the yard – it’s part of my very being. Images of my children and grandchildren chasing them at the beach, the laughter, the color, the exploding energy of the chickens taking flight just inches from their fingertips – yes, it’s safe to say that chicken culture is embedded in my very soul.

While I of course cannot speak for everyone, where I live, wild chickens are an integral part of our daily lives. I know I’m not the only person who smiles when they see the chickens greeting them at the airport upon returning to Kauai from a trip. 

So leave them the heck alone.

I’m telling you, don’t mess with our chickens.

And while we’re at it, leave my cat “Socks” alone as well. Laws banning the feeding of feral and/or outside cats have also been proposed.

I understand the importance of protecting native birds, I really do. But banning me from feeding my cat who never leaves my yard and who bothers no one but me when she’s hungry?

Socks has never ever killed a native bird, I promise you that. The only birds she’s ever messed with are the doves and rice birds who sometimes fly into our windows, knocking themselves silly, sometimes unconscious, or sometimes worse.

Socks will literally lay stretched out in the shade under the mango tree while the chickens roam just a few feet from her lazy gaze. She couldn’t be bothered with all the work it takes to chase them. And then what? I’m sure she’s thinking. What do I do with them once I catch them (a big assumption there)?

Socks is an outdoor cat who never ever comes into the house. If she did, for sure she and Maximus Aurelius would clash and I can only imagine the damage they would inflict on the inside of our home – racing madly around the rooms chasing each other, and knocking over all manner of things.

Socks was or is (you tell me) a feral cat. She was born under our house. Claudette trapped her and a few of her brothers and sisters, had them fixed and chipped at the Humane Society and then brought Socks home to live with us – outside with the chickens. I feed her every afternoon. She waits patiently on the steps and rubs her body against my legs as I navigate down to the yard where her food bowl sits. What she doesn’t eat, the chickens and the doves finish off.

I’m not entirely clear if a ban on feeding feral cats would apply to Socks. She definitely has a deep feral streak, but she is a family friend who lives with us, in our yard, far away from the natural habitat of native birds.

So, to all the politicians out there. Please leave my chickens, and my cat Socks alone. Maximus can take care of himself. You don’t even want to mess with Max.

Seriously. Don’t you have real work to do? Perhaps you can build some affordable housing, fill some pot-holes, legalize cannabis, cut our taxes, pay our teachers a decent salary, fight climate change, increase health and dental care, regulate tourism, or condemn the Coco Palms hotel and create a community center that honors its deep history and cultural significance.

HB796 Relating to Term Limits for Hawaiʻi Legislators has been scheduled for today Wednesday 02/08/23 at 2pm. Below is my testimony in support as amended.

Readers are also encouraged to submit testimony!

Support HB796 with amendments:

Committee Chair and Members,

I am testifying in strong support of HB796 with the following amendment:

The amendment is intended to say legislators may serve up to 8 years in the House and up to 8 years in the Senate, and no more than 16 years combined.

Few in the public sector are pleased with the status quo. Though our current legislative leadership possesses decades of experience, clearly that’s not enough.

“We already have term limits, they’re called elections” is the stock response, and until relatively recently, the position I subscribed to.

However, after 26 years of working within the system, I’ve come to believe differently.

Term limits will put a stop to the do-nothing, take no risk, keep your head down, go along to get along, “long game” strategy that too often infects those who aspire to serve in elected office.

Term limits will also put a stop to the excessive accumulation of power and the nonstop campaign fundraising that too often defines long-term incumbency. 

The problems and challenges facing us today are far too urgent to play the long game or any games at all. An 8-year term is plenty enough time for new elected leaders to make their mark, and to set and accomplish their goals.

The barriers to entry for new candidates are formidable. Money, name recognition and a conscious manipulation of the system by those already in power give incumbents an overwhelming advantage while keeping newcomers out.

The basic cost to run a campaign for the state Legislature can run between $40,000 to $100,000, sometimes more. Because there’s no cap on the amount incumbents can raise, some sit on “war chests” approaching $1 million, much of it raised during the legislative session from the very interests they are charged to regulate.

Legislators, by virtue of their position, are frequently in the public spotlight. They are constantly cutting ribbons or “breaking ground” at some new school, highway, or community center. They hold press conferences and issue press releases. In recent years, state legislators have taken to sending out glossy mailers under the guise of constituent surveys or a “report to the district.” These taxpayer-funded mailings conveniently become more frequent in the months preceding an election.

Yes, the cards are stacked high against new candidates, new voices, new ideas, and new leadership.

The governor, lieutenant governor, mayor, and all Council members in all counties already serve with term limitations. These term limits have not caused the weakening of government operations, nor have they empowered the deep state, or created a dearth of expertise.

What term limits do is create an opportunity for change. Our elected leaders are given eight years to pursue their goals and then they move on, creating space for others to step up.

There is no shortage of other opportunities to serve. Those “termed out” can work elsewhere in the public, private or nonprofit sectors, if indeed service is their primary focus and motivation.

Fifteen states including California and Colorado currently limit the terms of state legislators. It’s time for Hawaii to join them.

Please pass HB796 as amended, place this question on the ballot, and allow the people to vote it up or down.

Gary Hooser

Why should you care? Why should you take the time to send off some meaningless little email to some politician who’s not going to read it, and will do what they want regardless?

Trust me, I feel this way more often than I’d like to admit.

The short answer is because we must, because it’s not meaningless, and because we cannot avoid seeing the injustice that surrounds us.

Even when our eyes are closed, we see that family living under the bridge, the obscene plastics found in the gut of a gentle giant lying dead on our beach, our friends working two jobs and still cannot afford a decent place to live.

We care because we must, and we do things large and small because we must. Otherwise, how do we sleep at night?

It’s called kuleana. It is our responsibility to care and do what we can to make our planet, our community, and our homes – a better place.

So send that email testimony, make that call to your legislator, and write that letter to the editor. It is your kuleana, and it does make a difference. At the minimum, you will sleep better at night knowing that you are trying.

If enough of us join in the effort, those we elect will in fact hear us, and if we are unrelentingly persistent in our commitment – they will respond and support our demands for change. If not, we are then compelled to collectively hold them accountable in 2024. This of course is how democracy and elections are supposed to work.

What will the 2023 legislative report card on May 5 actually look like?

*Did they pass publicly funded elections, or kick the can down the road? Submit testimony for SB1543 now!

*Did they make significant progress on affordable housing without sacrificing community and environmental protections? Or did they hand developers a blank check in return for a “trust me”, a wink, and a nod? Did they try to con the public by focusing on so-called “workforce” housing at 140% of median income or higher, or did they ensure hard-working families earning below the median income were a priority?

*What about the Commission To Improve Standards of Conduct (CISC) reform proposals? Did they just give us the ole “it’s a work in progress” line? Did they do anything significant to get money out of politics and campaigns? Will the Senate even schedule a hearing on term limits or the Citizens Bill of Rights?

Both – HB725 (Citizen Bill of Rights) and HB796 (Term Limits) have been scheduled in the House for Wednesday 02/08 at 2pm. Please submit testimony! Check out the entire agenda – lots of good stuff here.

*What about initiatives to help working families, to lower the cost of living, and the long over-due paid family leave legislation?

*Was dealing with climate change taken seriously? Did “the Green Amendment” pass? Were Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) initiatives – making product manufacturers and distributors responsible for their products and packaging, approved?

*Did legislators recognize the health risks now occurring in Central Oahu connected to the intense use of pesticides? Did they do something to reduce this risk and expand reporting requirements?

*Was the responsible adult use of cannabis legalized?

Yes, can’t wait to see the report card.

We should be cautiously optimistic, but we should not be naive – and we certainly should take nothing for granted.

Straight A’s are possible, and frankly I’d settle for a B+ – but this will only happen if we collectively push harder than ever before.

We show we care, we send those emails, make those calls, write those letters – and we show up at those hearings via Zoom and in person.

To make the report card a good and positive one, the base (which is us) must show up and demand that it be so. It’s our kuleana.

So please keep caring, keep emailing in that testimony, and keep writing those letters to the editor. Then, after the report card comes out on May 5th, join me and many others from across all the islands – to regroup and celebrate.

A good report card is what we want and need. A bad report card…well a bad report card just gives us more fuel for the fire needed to win in 2024.

gh

!!URGENT!!
Testimony in support of publicly funded elections SB1543 is needed now, today if possible and before Tuesday, 02/07/23 – 9:30am Senator Karl Rhoads has introduced an excellent bill modeled after the successful programs of both Maine and Connecticut. He’s done his part now we need to do ours. EVEN IF YOUR TESTIMONY IS SHORT AND/OR LATE – PLEASE SEND IT IN.
Read Civil Beat: Senator Floats Proposal To Publicly Fund Campaigns In Hawaiʻi

Gary Hooser
http://www.garyhooser.com

Aloha Friends,

My email is ringing off the hook 😉

Am not sure if you’re too young to remember when phones actually hung on the wall, and when the ear-mouthpiece sections were separate from the main phone?

I digress.

The bottom line is there are tons of legislative “calls to action” going out – so you and I gotta step up the best we can.

I know you’re thinking, “Does it really make a difference?” The short answer is yes. Trust me on this. Yes, even if your email testimony is short, please send it in – and late testimony is better than no testimony at all.

My top priority is Publicly Funded Elections SB1543 and HB967 which have not been scheduled BUT a competing and inferior HB95 has been scheduled for tomorrow Feb. 1 at 2pm. Please submit testimony “comments” on HB95 saying basically thanks but no thanks and ask the committee to instead amend the bill to reflect the contents of HB967 – which is a true publicly funded elections bill.

Read my blog post please: Dancing with the devil…and you will understand better why public funding of elections is so important.

We must have full public funding of elections similar to the Maine and Connecticut system. The Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi supports full public funding of elections and Hawaiʻi Democratic legislators should too.

Also on this same agenda are several “Foley Reform Commission) initiatives including HB89 which “prohibit elected officials as defined in section 11-342(d), HRS, from soliciting and accepting campaign contributions during any regular session or special session of the State Legislature” I encourage you to offer testimony in support of HB89 and to peruse other initiatives on this agenda that may deserve support.

Your testimony in support is also urgently needed for HB444, The Green Amendment – scheduled for Thursday!

There are plenty more bills covering a wide range of topics that need and deserve attention – please don’t count on me to know them all!

So…I’m putting together a list of organizations that cover specific topics (food, agriculture, environment, economic justice, reform etc). I am posting this list on my blog – if there are organizations missing (which no doubt there are) that provide key information on bills and generate “action alerts” on their specific subject matter, please send me the URL and I will update my list.

Maui Heads-Up – A Sleepover For County Council’: Marathon Maui Meeting Raises Concerns About Public Participation “Residents can expect some changes to take effect at the next meeting Friday. Maui residents committed to putting people and the planet ahead of big business and money – should prepare to show up on Friday and support our progressive friends and the hard-fought gains they’ve achieved on the community’s behalf.

Kauaʻi friends who are following the Coco Palms I Ola Wailuanui saga: You might enjoy (in a perverse kind of way) my recap of the recent Planning Commission Meeting. Coco Palms – Pulling Back The Curtain

That’s all I have for today. My apologies if I neglected to dot an i or cross a t or otherwise messed up my grammar or spelling. Am rushing a bit to get this out in time for you to submit testimony on Publicly Funded Elections and other important measures listed above.

Sincerely,

Gary Hooser
http://www.garyhooser.com

* In case you missed my birthday missive (day two was a hard one).

Below is a ramshackle sort of list of various Hawaiʻi advocacy organizations that focus on various subject matter – all of which is important. I threw this list together today and will keep updating and refining it in the days and weeks ahead.

If your organization is missing and you would like it added or the below information updated or corrected – just lmk!

If you are new to the legislative testimony game -Learn more about how to submit testimony and engage the legislative process by visiting Legislative Reference Bureau Engagement 101!
https://lrb.hawaii.gov/par/engagement-101

To stay informed on legislation that supports local agriculture and moves Hawaiʻi toward a just & fair food system, visit HAPA’s legislative section and sign up for action alerts.
https://www.hapahi.org/legislative-session-2023

For Publicly Funded Elections sign up at Our Hawaii
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/im-ready-to-get-big-money-out-of-politics/

For general land use and environment issues sign up for Thousand Friends of Hawaiʻi 2023 Legislative Session emailing list at htf3000@gmail.com 

The central place for the Foley Reform Commission initiatives is Civil Beat “Let The Sunshine In” pages that include a bill tracker and other good info.

Civil Beat: IDEAS

Sign up for Hawaiʻi Sierra Club action alerts for issues pertaining to environmental protection, land use, and climate change.
https://sierraclubhawaii.org/subscribe

For action alerts on issues pertaining to Tax Fairness https://p2a.co/cyb6a41 – Wages & Labor https://p2a.co/dcfph3C or go to Hawaiʻi Appleseed for general information. https://hiappleseed.org/subscribe

To stay abreast of The Green Amendment sign up with:
sherry.350hawaii@gmail.com

To support charging tourists a Green Fee (which is totally separate from The Green Amendment) sign up with aloha@hawaiigreenfee.org

For Children and Family, issues go to HCAN
https://speaks.hawaii-can.org/?utm_campaign=2023_01_31_child_care&utm_medium=email&utm_source=goodbeginnings

Who won and who lost on January 24th? On the surface, as is way too often the case – the developers won. But scratch just a tiny bit and you’ll see their victory was a hollow one. They stepped in it actually. They stepped in it big time.

The Kauai Planning Commission meeting held on this day pulled back that increasingly soiled curtain that attempts to hide from public view the ongoing duplicity that has come to define 30 years of dealmaking and the Coco Palms Hotel.

Reef Capital Partners, a Utah-based real estate investment company also known as RP21 Coco Palms LLC were the folks sitting at the table. Their voices were dripping with sincerity – as they once again looked the Planning Commission in the eye and said “trust me”.

They had held none of the community meetings previously promised, yet they promised once again to host such meetings in the future.

They had not demolished a very large building that sits only a few feet from the soon-to-be 4-lane Kuhio highway. Previously the owners/developers had told the Commission they were going to tear this structure down “within 6 months”. Now they are saying they have no plans to do so.

Their representative spoke openly about the intent to delay the start of construction further.

They denied the property had been sold or was in escrow. Yet at the August Planning Commission meeting, they indicated there was a buyer/developer waiting in the wings. I and others spoke directly to the prospective buyers in November who indicated they had the property in escrow.

The Garden Island reported, “Utah-based real estate investment firm Reef Capital Partners announced it had axed plans to sell the property and intend to go forward with the development themselves.”

According to the online news site, KauaiNow, Reef Capital’s Managing Director of Private Equity Patrick Manning said when speaking to reporters, “Reef Capital would be ‘happy to sell’ – if the price is right.”

Their claim to have “axed plans to sell…and go forward with the development themselves” is disingenuous at best.

These guys are dealmakers. This is what they do. They cut deals to make money and say whatever they need to make that happen. You can bet at this very moment they are frantically searching for some other anonymous LLC, to take this albatross off from around their necks.

Today it’s Utah-based RP21 Coco Palms LLC, or depending on who is before the Planning Commission at the moment, it might be their parent Reef Capital Partners or Reef’s subsidiary Stillwater Equity Partners. Stillwater Equity Partners took over management of the project from Coco Palms Hui LLC (Green and Waters), and before that, it was Coco Palms Ventures LLC, California-based Wailua Associates, Chinese owned “Park Lane Hotels International”, Prudential Insurance, AMFAC, and Island Holidays.

In 1898 it was the Territory of Hawaii, and in 1824 it was the home of Queen Debora Ha‘akulou Kapule.

It’s time now for the community to step up, and the dealmakers to step down. It’s time also for our County government to call out the shibai and require these owners to follow the same rules everyone else has to follow – not those rules of 30 years ago nor the ones the owners seem to be making up as they go along.

We need the County to step up to hold the owners accountable.

And we need a philanthropic angel to step forward and help fulfill the community vision of cultural preservation and restoration.

There’s lots of talk about all the billionaires who live here. Billionaires who love this place like we do, billionaires who care about our community like we do, and billionaires who want to do the right thing.

My question today is, “When will they step up?”

Here are 4 ways YOU can help make our community vision a reality.

Gary Hooser
(above first published 02/01/23 in The Garden Island)

*Here is one more reason the permits should be revoked. File this under “can’t make this stuff up”.

Testimony to Kauaʻi Planning Commission: SUPPORT for Petition for Declaratory Order

01/24/2023
Coco Palms Hotel Development – Petition for Declaratory Order

Aloha Commissioners,

The testimony below represents my thoughts and viewpoint presented as an individual only and does not represent any organization that I may be affiliated with.

I strongly urge the Kauaʻi Planning Commission to SUPPORT the Petition for Declaratory Order and acknowledge what seems so obvious to most residents in the community – that since receiving their permits in 2015, the owners of the Coco Palms property have not made “substantial progress”.

It is a given that the attorneys for the owners will vehemently object and no doubt threaten legal action against the County should the Commission agree the law requires “substantial progress” that has not occurred, thus the permits have lapsed.

The decision and vote before the Commission must be driven by an honest answer to the question: Has “substantial progress” been made? The fear of legal action by high-priced attorneys whose job is to threaten, cajole, and obfuscate the facts – should not be the driving factor.

Viewing the condition of the property today in the 8th year since permits were granted, it seems that development has barely even started and the progress to date is a very long way from being “substantial”.

According to law and court precedent, the permits issued in 2015 have lapsed due to the failure to make “substantial progress”.

I encourage the Commission to focus their attention and their vote, entirely on the law and the question of “substantial progress”.

The permits granted under the “Iniki Ordinance” in 2015 allowed the owners/developers to ignore important county building rules and regulations. These permits were then amended in 2018 after the “Iniki Ordinance” had already expired.

The extension of the “Iniki Ordinance” to benefit only this development is a legally flawed foundation of “special legislation” that violates the State Constitution.

In addition, the “Iniki Ordinance” does not allow the County to exempt projects from State law HRS 343 pertaining to environmental impact statements.

The proximity to the coastline, the use of State lands, and the fact that a portion of the property is registered as a historical place – are all factors that “trigger” HRS343 and an environmental review.

I Ola Wailuanui has filed a lawsuit against the BLNR and the developer asking that they in fact require an environmental review of the impact that will occur due to the construction and development of this property. The Commission is encouraged to also require such a review and/or await the determination by the courts prior to allowing further development on the property to occur.

Year after year different owners have stood next to one different developer after another and made promise after promise.

In August of 2022, Parker Enloe, the owner’s representative at the time assured the Planning Commission they would hold public meetings to hear public concerns, and respond appropriately.

To my knowledge, no such public meetings have ever been held.

Shortly after the August Planning Commission meeting, members of the public discovered a Mr. Parker Enloe who had previously pled guilty and been convicted of fraud. When confronted with the information, the Parker Enloe who testified before the Kauai Planning Commission denied that he was the same Mr. Enloe who received the conviction. There must it seems, be another Parker Enloe who resides in the same town, works in the same industry, and has the same friends and associates who wrote the judge letters on his behalf.

Shortly thereafter, it was announced by still yet another representative of the Coco Palms that Parker Enloe would no longer be representing the owner.

The Commission is encouraged to ask this question directly to the present owner’s representative. Was their prior representative convicted of fraud?

At a more recent Planning Commission meeting, the owner’s representative suggested they were willing to entertain offers from community groups to purchase the property.

It was quickly discovered at a subsequent Zoom meeting his offer was disingenuous at best. The current owner of the property it seems has already accepted an offer to purchase the property from other investors intent on hotel development.

The present owners cannot sell the property to a third party or community group without violating their contract to the existing buyer who has the property in escrow. In addition, the existing buyer is claiming a more than doubling of real estate value even before they close escrow on the property.

The County is dealing with and accepting promises of future permit fulfillment and development timelines from the present owner (whose prior representative may or may not have been convicted of fraud) while the prospective new owners are waiting in the wings – hoping to cash in.

To further muddy the waters, there are two questions that in addition to consulting with the County Attorney, the Planning Commission should put directly and promptly before the Kauaʻi Ethics Commission.

It is the job and duty of the Ethics Commission to review and rule on these matters and is the only way to put this matter to rest.

While it’s sometimes difficult and awkward to raise such questions they do in fact need to be raised.

To be clear the questions are not about personal integrity but rather about inherent bias and public perception.

I strongly encourage the Kauaʻi Planning Commission to request a formal review and opinion from the Kauaʻi Ethics Commission on the below two issues. This matter should not require a complaint to be filed by a member of the public but rather should be a request coming from the Planning Commission itself.

The new Chair of the Kaua’i Planning Commission is also the official Kaua’i Representative for the Hawaiʻi Carpenters Union. The union and its members will clearly receive a direct financial benefit should the Coco Palms Development move forward.

In addition, the current Vice Chair of the Planning Commission, prior to being appointed to the Planning Commission, had a real estate listing agreement to sell Coco Palms Resort condominium units then being proposed by a previous unsuccessful Coco Palms developer.

It’s unclear whether that developer retains a financial interest in the property, and it’s also unclear whether this matter has been previously disclosed.

There are many moving parts, but the fundamental question is one of law.

Has there been “substantial progress”? Most residents I believe would say without hesitation, there has not been anything close to that.

Though the weeds and underbrush have recently been cleared, and what looks like a dust screen is being erected – pulling the weeds, cutting the grass, and putting up a fence – just days before this hearing does not constitute “substantial progress”.

I encourage the Commission to support the Petition for Declaratory Order and to immediately seek a ruling by the Kauaʻi Ethics Commission prior to any formal vote.

Gary Hooser
Wailua Homesteads
Kauaʻi Hawaiʻi

Yes, you must take action first, then you can look deep into the thoughts of a brand-new 69-year-old (it was day 2 that shook me). See below time-sensitive action items and then my birthday rumination.

1) Regardless of which island you call home: Email your district Senator and Representative and ask them to support publicly funded elections and the “Foley Reform Commission” initiatives. Ask them to “sign on” to be a “co-introducer” of these Bills. Remind them the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi Platform states unequivocally: “We support full public financing of elections.”

2) Sign up for “Clean Election” action alerts and read my blog: Dancing with the devil – an untenable political reality

3) Read this excellent guest post by Nelson Ho in opposition to the appointment of DLNR Director Dawn Chang and sign the petition.

4) Kaua’i Residents: Tuesday, January 24th at 9am: The Kaua‘i Planning Commission is scheduled to hear arguments relating to the Coco Palms hotel development and vote on the Petition for Declaratory Order, filed by attorney Teresa Tico on behalf of the Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA); Sierra Club Kaua‘i Group; Surfrider Foundation Kaua‘i Chapter; and individual Judith Ann Dalton. Full disclosure – I am the Board President of HAPA.

Please attend the meeting in person AND email testimony to planningdepartment@kauai.gov

Testimony is due 24 hours in advance, so before Monday, January 23rd at 9am if at all possible! Subject: Agenda Item K, SUPPORT the Petition for Declaratory Order and OPPOSE extending permits for the hotel development. Include your Kaua’i address.

The Petition states according to law and court precedent, the permits issued to Coco Palms Hui in 2015 have lapsed due to their failure to make “substantial progress”. 

It’s obvious to anyone driving by the property today in January of 2023 that there has not been “substantial progress” over the past 8 years – let alone the past 30 years. And a new dust screen certainly does not constitute “substantial progress”.

In addition, the permits granted in 2015 allowing the developer to ignore important county building rules and regulations were amended in 2018 after the “Iniki Ordinance” had already expired.

To further muddy the waters. The new Chair of the Kaua’i Planning Commission is also the official Kaua’i Representative for the Hawaiʻi Carpenters Union. The union and its members will clearly receive a direct financial benefit should the Coco Palms Development move forward. 

Kaua’i friends, this is important. Email testimony even if short to planningdepartment@kauai.gov SUPPORTING the Petition for Declaratory Order and OPPOSING extending permits for the hotel development.

If possible please attend the meeting in person AND email testimony. We must send a strong and united message to the Kaua’i Planning Commission.

Sincerely,

Gary Hooser

READ – 4 things you can do now to help – Coco Palms – I Ola Wailuanui

READ – Birthday Rumination – Hitting 69 –  It was day 2 that rocked me.

Turning 69 years old on Thursday, January 19th was an exhilarating day for me and I thank all who helped make it so.

I often tell people “I’m caught in a positive feedback loop, and you are part of it.” Thursday was one of those incredibly positive days.

It started with early morning texts from my children and a heartwarming video message from my grandchildren.

A friend then set the stage further, sending me this note:

“Youthfulness is not determined by age. It is determined by one’s life force. One who possesses hope is forever young. One who continually advances is forever beautiful. May all your dreams and wishes come true for life”

The rest of my Thursday only got better. Uplifting message after uplifting message, some warmed my soul, others made me laugh out loud, and still others made me cry in a good way – all provided fuel to my fire to do more and be better.

You can be sure my mother who will be 91 this year read every single one of them. She in turn wrote and posted a thoughtful birthday missive to her son as well.

Claudette and I ended the day at my very most favorite spot, the Lava Lava Beach Club in Kapaʻa. Sitting near the ocean, watching the waves as the sun slowly set, and listening to the sweet voice of friend and long time Kauaʻi musician Darryl Gonsalves.

The following morning my life was shaken by a personal confrontation with the other realities of getting old.

I set out early on Friday determined to visit two dear friends who I had not seen in years. I’d been told that both were in ill health and in long-term care facilities – one in Waimea and the other at Wilcox.

Both I considered family, both had helped me plenty over the years, and both were just incredible human beings.

I stopped at Wilcox first, went up to the third floor, signed in, and was escorted by a nurse to my friend’s room. Another visitor was there sitting quietly by the bed, I said hello and greeted my old friend who was stretched out and seemingly watching television.

He turned his head slightly toward me. I said hello a bit more loudly again, repeated my name, and even sang a short tune we had shared in years gone by. There may or may not have been a twinge or twinkle of recognition, but if it was there it faded quickly. I hesitated for a moment, told him clearly that I loved him, asked the other visitor to give my love to the family, and then slipped quietly out of the room.

It was a long sad drive to Waimea.

The initial routine there was similar. I signed in, went through the COVID screening process, and was greeted by a nurse who asked who I was visiting. When I spoke my friend’s name, the nurse looked up and said “she’s not here”. For a moment, I was confused and said, did she go home? Did she move to another facility? The nurse shook her head slowly and called over another nurse who explained to me very gently that my friend had passed away a month earlier.

I barely remember my drive back home. I texted Claudette, that “I’d waited too long.” She replied with love telling me “Don’t beat yourself up, you tried.”

Adding to this jumble of emotion, my friend and former colleague Senator Ron Menor who was just 67, passed away the Monday preceding my birthday.

Every day it seems another familiar name passes.

My mother, a strong Christian woman is 90 and while moving a little slow, walks unassisted, and still cooks her favorite desserts and helps around the house. My natural father, a career navy man, died at the early age of 57 – essentially from a diet of cigarettes, alcohol, and black coffee.

I’m 69 years old. My health is generally good and I like to think I’m a long way from moving on. There are far too many things I still want to do with my life.

This week definitely has shaken me.

The outpouring of support and love offered by so many on Thursday lit my fire and reengaged my commitment – to both family and work.

The wake-up call that came on Friday was both saddening and enlightening.

I am reminded that life is a precious gift that will ultimately end – so we must use our time here wisely and with purpose. I’m also reminded that we must not neglect our friends and family, and we must carve out some of that valuable time remaining for them. Please, tell your family and friends how much you love and appreciate them today, don’t wait for another day that might not come.

Mahalo to all of you for being part of my journey.

Sincerely and forever young 😉

Gary Hooser
Just a man, trying his best to do his best.

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

May you stay forever young

Forever Young – Bob Dylan

Another favorite: Old Man by Neil Young
“Old man take a look at your life, I’m a lot like you were.”

Further closing notes:

My life it seems is one of abundance, and for that I am deeply grateful. I have too many stories to tell, too many fond memories to reflect on, too many goals yet to be achieved and tall mountains still to be scaled. As I’ve written in the past, I’m a lucky man. Surrounded by family and friends, doing meaningful work daily on tasks that I love, and living in the most beautiful place on the planet.

Mine is not a life free of stress or hardship, there are no shortage of those stories as well. But my default is to always push on, to know the sun is always going to come up the next day, and to follow my naʻau, my gut and instincts – whenever those tough times present themselves.

Please sign this petition opposing the appointment of Dawn Chang to be the new Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources – DLNR.

Nelson Ho, a longtime Sierra Club leader, was Harry Kim’s Deputy Director of the Hawaiʻi County Department of Environmental Management and served on the Board of Directors for the Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi.
 Full disclosure: Nelson is a trusted friend and also on the Board of Directors for Pono Hawaiʻi Initiative of which I am the Executive Director.

Here’s what Nelson Ho has to say (as published in the Honolulu StarAdvertiser):

Governor Green, I applaud and support your commitment to appoint women and Native Hawaiians for important cabinet positions.

However, as someone who for forty years has raised public awareness of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ shortcomings, I do not believe gender or race should be the determining criteria for the next leader of the state’s most important department for protecting conservation lands and implementing land use policy. Your recent nomination of Dawn Chang as DLNR’s Chairperson may be a nod to your commitment to diversity, but it also raises deep concerns in our Hawaiian and environmental communities.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources plays vital roles in identifying and managing state owned lands, including ceded lands; protection of Hawaiian burials and other cultural and archaeological resources; shielding sensitive conservation lands from development; regulation of fishing; and the management of coastal lands and local harbors. And yet, for decades DLNR has been plagued with weak leadership, crippled by understaffing, even fractious fiefdoms within its offices and divisions. All are problems contributing to the agency’s long standing reputation for ineffectiveness and even malfeasance.

Governor Green, please do not make the same mistake that Governor Ige did in 2015, when he nominated developer Carlton Ching to lead DLNR. You saw with your own eyes how that attempt crashed and burned in the State Senate.

I and many others were surprised and deeply disappointed with your nomination of Dawn Chang for DLNR Chairperson. Her consulting firm Kuiwalu was hired by developers and state and federal agencies to work in communities to help generate support for controversial — sometimes dubious — economic projects, including the divisive Thirty Meter Telescope proposal on the Big Island.

You saw firsthand how the world supported the Ala Hulu Kupuna Blockade, which successfully kept the construction vehicles from going up the mountain. It would be a shame for you to lose the widespread community appreciation you garnered from your supportive visit to those dedicated kiaʻi. Key leaders of these mountain protectors were revered cultural practitioners, 80-year-old kupuna, UH department heads and faculty, graduates from the Hawaiian Immersion School system and students educated in our island charter schools.

Please do not dash the hopes of these and other communities who greatly rely on a functioning DLNR. It must execute its mandate and muster the courage to stand against development pressures that would undermine that mission.

Dawn Chang’s reputation also suffered when court filings over burials at Kawaiaha‘o Church showed that Chang had helped the church avoid a more thorough archaeological review by DLNR’s State Historic Preservation Division. “The result of her advice was protracted litigation and the disturbance of hundreds of burials,” said David Kimo Frankel, former Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation attorney in an email. “We don’t need a fox guarding the hen house.”

Governor Green, we need a reformer for the DLNR Chairperson and an advocate for resources protection, not further resources exploitation. Please withdraw Dawn Chang’s name and instead nominate a strong, pono leader with proven integrity who will truly carry out DLNR’s mandate and begin its long overdue reform.

Nelson Ho