Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Mayor Blangiardi on Police Week, the City's Food Drive, and Film Industry Tax Credits

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Mayor Blangiardi on Police Week, the City's Food Drive, and Film Industry Tax Credits · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:15
  Welcome to the One O'ahu Podcast.
• 0:17
  I'm your host, Brad Higa, and today is Thursday, May 15th, 2025.
• 0:21
  And it's been a while.
• 0:23
  But this week we're back with Mayor Rick Blangiardi mayor.
• 0:27
  Sunday was Mother's Day.
• 0:28
  If you're a mom was sitting in the room with us right now.
• 0:31
  What do you think is the one thing you would ask her advice about?
• 0:34
  So with everything going on right now. Oh, wow. What a. Trick question.
• 0:37
  I know it's not where you thought I was going to go.
• 0:39
  What's an issue where you would seek her counsel
• 0:42
  at this point right now in this administration?
• 0:45
  Oh, wow. That's a tough question.
• 0:48
  My mother was, she was sort of my go to person for that.
• 0:52
  I think moms are like that, right?
• 0:54
  And she's been gone for so many years.
• 0:57
  Well, it's a tough question. I think,
• 1:02
  what I might ask her is,
• 1:03
  you know, if I told her what the things were to,
• 1:07
  see how she felt about the priority of things, perhaps.
• 1:10
  You know what what what what maybe seemingly,
• 1:14
  she felt what would be more important, I think.
• 1:18
  I'm not sure. That's a great question.
• 1:20
  I wish you'd asked me that and said
• 1:22
  before I say that, what do you think about this?
• 1:24
  The way I see it, because, you know, I would give a lot there,
• 1:26
  but she was always a great advice giver.
• 1:28
  In fact, quite honestly, my mom was a dreamer.
• 1:31
  And, you know, and I grew up in the same family.
• 1:33
  She was the youngest one.
• 1:35
  And of her family of seven, they actually had nine, but two had passed.
• 1:39
  And so she was sort of the Cinderella of the family being the baby.
• 1:43
  And and so I had all these, all the cousins, because I grew up living
• 1:47
  on my mother's side.
• 1:48
  My grandmother was a matriarch.
• 1:49
  She kept her daughters together.
• 1:51
  And so I had five.
• 1:52
  And we're all in the same building, like a tenement house, three room
• 1:55
  flats, bathroom down the hall, bathroom up the, showers up the street.
• 1:59
  I was 12, and so I had all my older cousins.
• 2:02
  Nobody in those years. This is in the 50s.
• 2:05
  I was born in 46, and I was the youngest, oldest son between me and my brother.
• 2:09
  But I was the youngest for all my cousins because all her sisters were older.
• 2:14
  Nobody ever talked about going to college.
• 2:15
  I remember my mother when I was a young kid.
• 2:17
  So you're going to go to college someday?
• 2:18
  I remember what I used to say it, that it was in that generation.
• 2:21
  They were either laugh at you for even saying something like that,
• 2:25
  maybe even wacky across the head just because they resent whatever it was.
• 2:30
  But she was a dreamer.
• 2:31
  She was.
• 2:31
  It was because of her.
• 2:33
  I grew up in one part of town and took a city bus all the way from second grade
• 2:38
  when I was a kid by myself, commercial city bus all the way through.
• 2:42
  We moved funny in the seventh grade, because she didn't.
• 2:45
  What, we going to school in that part of town? She said she could.
• 2:48
  She wasn't, you know, anywhere. She.
• 2:49
  So she had, like, that vision. And so,
• 2:53
  even when it came time to come around to college,
• 2:56
  you know, in her voice, even though she only had an eighth grade
• 2:58
  education and involvement in that and how she felt.
• 3:02
  And then, of course, she's the reason why I came to Hawai'i,
• 3:05
  because in 1965, my father got offered a transfer
• 3:08
  to one of two Navy Heights, Newport News, Virginia, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• 3:11
  He was a civil he he was a machinist. And,
• 3:16
  and so she wanted to come to way, but not without me, the other son.
• 3:19
  And she changed my destiny.
• 3:20
  So it's very interesting that you open that up.
• 3:23
  That I I'd have to really give that some deep thought.
• 3:26
  But she for somebody who
• 3:30
  grew up the way she did,
• 3:32
  she was very worldly in her ways and very much, very much a big thinker.
• 3:36
  Like I said, she was a dreamer. And that's great.
• 3:39
  Yeah, I kind of want to know.
• 3:40
  You know what you would ask her about?
• 3:42
  What she would say, maybe even if she was,
• 3:43
  you know, one of those sitting in our town hall meetings.
• 3:46
  What kind of. Questions I know, I wonder. That's true.
• 3:47
  You know.
• 3:48
  Yeah, I can tell you this one thing I did, I talked about her a lot on Mother's Day
• 3:52
  this year because I think we all hopefully,
• 3:55
  if we've had the relationship like I had you reflect on them, especially where
• 3:58
  she's been gone for so long.
• 4:00
  But I'll say one other thing,
• 4:02
  since they're not really answer your question directly
• 4:05
  in the moment that we won, going back on election night,
• 4:08
  when I first won the first term, in that very first first minute,
• 4:14
  I thought, wow, I wish she was alive and she could see this.
• 4:18
  I because she would have been.
• 4:22
  She would have blown away.
• 4:24
  So I always, you know, that I remember that feeling.
• 4:26
  It was so I wasn't just back carries with me. That was great.
• 4:29
  But that just hit me.
• 4:31
  Well I wish
• 4:32
  I wish both my parents were there because it's just one of those things
• 4:36
  in life that happens to you, and it's sort of almost on your own.
• 4:39
  But it was disbelief.
• 4:40
  We were anticipating winning,
• 4:41
  but the reality of it, when it hits, it's, you know, it's like that.
• 4:46
  So in the spirit of moms, they don't know exactly the question.
• 4:49
  I tell you this more than anything, I wish I wish I could see her again.
• 4:54
  Yeah,
• 4:56
  it's a bye week for your town as you get a little bit of a break.
• 4:59
  But the last one had us out.
• 5:00
  And Connie O'Hare. Yeah.
• 5:01
  Everything from the landfill to street parking.
• 5:05
  What do you think were some of your takeaways from that meeting?
• 5:08
  Well, I felt, first of all, the community, treat us nicely.
• 5:11
  Well, and I'm sensing that this year now through five of them.
• 5:15
  And I think because we've been there now a couple of times prior,
• 5:18
  and even though some of the locations have changed
• 5:20
  because we've sort of regionalized, but the areas are pretty much,
• 5:24
  you know, we've changed the venues.
• 5:26
  I'm noticing,
• 5:27
  the fact that they believe us, they see us, we've improved some things.
• 5:31
  We're working on things where there were accessible, I think
• 5:34
  in fact, there's some we pointed out the other night, you know,
• 5:37
  I was he said he said I was impressed when you did this during your first term,
• 5:40
  but now you've gotten reelected. You don't have to do this.
• 5:42
  And you guys are back, you know?
• 5:44
  Yeah, that that meant a lot to me.
• 5:45
  That comment, because it's true.
• 5:47
  Because we really want to hear what they have to say
• 5:49
  or really want to try to address what we can address what is so what you,
• 5:53
  as you all know,
• 5:54
  because you work inside with us and the inside and we're really trying
• 5:57
  to just do a good job for this place and its people especially.
• 6:00
  And so,
• 6:02
  my takeaway was that was good.
• 6:04
  I think that you know,
• 6:05
  there's always going to be a certain amount of unfinished business.
• 6:08
  I think that, you know,
• 6:12
  I think they know that we're not,
• 6:14
  because there was enough even though that came up,
• 6:16
  we weren't planning on the landfill over there on the west.
• 6:19
  And one would side, I mean, just not going to happen.
• 6:23
  The rest of it was was was pretty good.
• 6:25
  I, you know, amazing to me,
• 6:28
  the complaints about the condition of roads
• 6:31
  and medians and tall grass and things like that, that
• 6:35
  we should be able to help address and make a difference.
• 6:38
  I know that there was a gentleman that came up and you mentioned this.
• 6:41
  I don't really remember the interaction, but in years prior, there was a gentleman
• 6:45
  that came to one of these meetings with a baseball bat.
• 6:47
  He did give me what a bat I joked that night and said, his name is Mike Rendon.
• 6:52
  In fact, if he's listed because he since wrote to me afterwards.
• 6:55
  But I remembered him as a big guy and I was him. Why?
• 6:59
  I saw the guy come in the room
• 7:01
  again, that was I.
• 7:02
  It was our first town hall over there.
• 7:03
  I thought, that's kind of either the guy we get afford a bat,
• 7:07
  so it's just a little bit a guy.
• 7:09
  But, you know, he's a big, lovable guy's retired chief petty officer from the Navy,
• 7:13
  working in Korea. Always a really good guy.
• 7:15
  He really cares most community.
• 7:17
  And he had some concerns about his house, but he he wrote to me since
• 7:21
  the town hall the other night
• 7:22
  and thanked us because TPP has been out there
• 7:25
  trying to help him with some of his issues.
• 7:26
  He was most appreciative.
• 7:27
  In fact, he was almost a little bit in disbelief.
• 7:30
  Yeah. Why was he there with a bat that first?
• 7:32
  He never said it.
• 7:33
  I don't know why he came in, but I just remember being
• 7:36
  I just remember watching somebody walk in with that.
• 7:38
  And I just thought that's kind of unusual. And I just remembered him.
• 7:41
  And I think he was surprised the other night when I said that.
• 7:43
  And president of his bed, I said, what are you here?
• 7:45
  A couple of years ago with a bat, I just, you know, you keep your eyes open.
• 7:49
  I know. Right? You know, you keep your eyes open.
• 7:51
  And that first year especially, you know, we weren't sure what to expect
• 7:56
  it, as you well know, the reason why I think it's attractive for the people.
• 7:59
  We have an open mic.
• 8:00
  People can say anything.
• 8:02
  Only thing I only caveat I having the whole deal is
• 8:04
  I ask people to be civil so we can to be civil towards us,
• 8:07
  because I know and understand full well how frustration can build on things.
• 8:13
  You get into a city like that
• 8:14
  and people get emotional, but so far everybody's been really, really good.
• 8:18
  Career here was a lot different than the week prior when we were in Kahuku.
• 8:23
  We heard a lot of passion.
• 8:24
  Yeah, but we also had all praise.
• 8:26
  There was the ranchers,
• 8:28
  even singing at one point where the whole cafeteria burst out.
• 8:31
  It's cuckoo. Well, yeah, it was great. Yeah. So?
• 8:33
  So can you talk about that Kahuku townhall meeting and how that differed?
• 8:37
  You know,
• 8:39
  the that
• 8:41
  in the spirit, what I said about people being I feel like people came
• 8:44
  here, just really poured this, poured their souls open their their frustration.
• 8:48
  Unfortunately, with Google High School, the food, the facilities,
• 8:53
  the bathrooms, you know, it's a proud community.
• 8:56
  And the school itself does well.
• 8:59
  But they really, you know, in their comments to us said,
• 9:03
  you know, they we've been telling them things are not good here.
• 9:06
  And they came out and they said, you know, things are good here.
• 9:08
  But we went and took a tour of the bathrooms is not good, you know.
• 9:12
  And, and I have not seen the food, but I know one lady said
• 9:16
  they have a thing, you know, macaroni and cheese,
• 9:18
  they call it mac and glue
• 9:20
  because you could turn the plate upside down. It's so whatever.
• 9:22
  It's just sticks.
• 9:24
  And somebody came up to verify that said, just what?
• 9:26
  You know, they were telling you the truth.
• 9:27
  So it was things like that was sort of,
• 9:32
  there was a voice asking for respect.
• 9:34
  It was on things that we really don't control.
• 9:38
  But we wanted to listen, you know, and, and I think that they knew,
• 9:41
  that, I am I'm actually in the process.
• 9:44
  In fact, this week it goes,
• 9:46
  rather than make a phone call, we were, in the process of finalizing
• 9:50
  of comprehensive whether to, Keith, I, you the superintendent
• 9:55
  and and tell him, because I feel like I owe it to him and or to those people
• 9:58
  in the community to communicate directly how they're feeling.
• 10:03
  We didn't get that impression at all in Kaneohe about this school.
• 10:07
  In fact, we did a tour of the bathrooms considerably different.
• 10:11
  I mean, dramatically different. So,
• 10:15
  we gotta do something to help Google the rest of it was again,
• 10:19
  they know we gave the update on the pool, and they're still kind of.
• 10:22
  I just wish you could have already built it the thing, because they're so,
• 10:26
  you know, deserving.
• 10:26
  But we talked about a lot of stuff, and I just thought,
• 10:31
  the tone was
• 10:32
  they knew and they've seen as evidence that we've done things to help them.
• 10:37
  They're just asking us for more and if we can,
• 10:39
  of course, the biggest issue was the speed bumps, too.
• 10:42
  Again, these are state issues.
• 10:43
  The speed bumps are really bothersome to them.
• 10:46
  And they're all now raising an argument.
• 10:48
  I've yet to talk to Ed Sniffin about it, but the fact that
• 10:51
  they think it actually slows down first responder vehicles as well.
• 10:55
  It's not just the passengers driving along and that could make a difference
• 10:58
  and so on.
• 10:59
  So I mean, those kinds of things are sort of beyond that control
• 11:03
  when I think about it.
• 11:04
  They feel like nobody consults with them, whether they're talking
• 11:06
  about the wind turbines and they just showed up or speed bumps
• 11:10
  or they have no voice in getting their school approved.
• 11:13
  You know, you can hear that, that that frustration almost that hurt.
• 11:18
  And their voices like, you know, where's the respect?
• 11:22
  Don't we matter? And my heart goes out to them.
• 11:24
  I, I drove back to and they were a heavy heart.
• 11:26
  I feel bad
• 11:29
  for some of the things they were describing.
• 11:32
  And, you know, you you want to do something about that if we can.
• 11:36
  How do you navigate that?
• 11:37
  Because while this isn't our kuleana right to state roads.
• 11:41
  Yeah, the state schools
• 11:43
  people are coming to you to fix an issue that isn't under your jurisdiction.
• 11:46
  And while you are doing something about it,
• 11:48
  is that tough to navigate because you don't want to get your.
• 11:50
  Stuff the navigator to the bus, right?
• 11:52
  No, we we have them.
• 11:53
  We said I said, you know, we've talked it.
• 11:54
  We'll talk to, you know, superintendent she will talk to it sniffling.
• 11:58
  Don't forget their take.
• 12:00
  I don't know, it might turn around on the speedboat to see.
• 12:02
  No, there's some federal regulations on state highways.
• 12:05
  You got to I mean, I don't there's so much we don't know.
• 12:08
  And I try to tell them that.
• 12:09
  But the schools, I think the school,
• 12:12
  local high school, needs the money to be put into it.
• 12:15
  From what we saw that night, I mean, even the cafeteria
• 12:18
  that we were in, which was a great crowd, by the way.
• 12:21
  That was a big crowd. It turned out,
• 12:25
  yeah.
• 12:25
  The thing is that people were so appreciative.
• 12:26
  I got a lot of, different, emails and afterwards say thank you.
• 12:31
  You know, they,
• 12:33
  I probably got 7 or 8, which is like, please, you only get 1 or 2,
• 12:37
  sometimes three.
• 12:39
  I think it was cathartic for them to come together.
• 12:41
  They're obviously a very proud community, as ever.
• 12:44
  Like we said that day, it was
• 12:46
  that was a 26th we had done over the course of the last three years.
• 12:49
  And nobody's ever saying the school song.
• 12:51
  And they stood up and they were proud.
• 12:53
  And you've a person for that kind of emotional over it.
• 12:56
  They were having that moment and that that's what I mean.
• 12:58
  It was sort of magical in a way.
• 13:00
  Here we were way out in the country on a Thursday night.
• 13:03
  This people come together, they packed the cafeteria
• 13:07
  and they were probably sincere as you could get.
• 13:11
  Mayor, it's police week of this week.
• 13:12
  It's something we do every year, which naturally, organically
• 13:16
  kind of makes it easy to just kind of go through the motions, you know?
• 13:20
  How do we prevent that? How do we make people care this year?
• 13:22
  Well, making people care.
• 13:23
  First of all, the one thing I really want to do,
• 13:25
  and I said it earlier this week when I talked to the police officers,
• 13:29
  I hope that we've we've been able to demonstrate in the four plus years now,
• 13:33
  we've been in office the profound respect we have for the men and women in blue
• 13:37
  and the risk that they take and the courage and the bravery
• 13:39
  that it takes to be a police officer, it's not an easy job.
• 13:45
  So in that regard, we want to first acknowledge them,
• 13:49
  because that's what this is, an acknowledgment of their work.
• 13:52
  You know, you know, to rest the public.
• 13:55
  Look, as I said,
• 13:58
  we're really, all things being equal compared to other metropolitan areas.
• 14:01
  We're really still a safe city, you know, and so I just would ask people
• 14:07
  to remember who we are, the people we are, the your spirit.
• 14:11
  You know, I know things still happen here.
• 14:14
  We're not as violent as a lot of other places,
• 14:17
  but at the same time, we still have things going on.
• 14:19
  I'm not naive to that.
• 14:20
  It just asked people to be be decent to each other and,
• 14:24
  and and respect the work of the cops.
• 14:26
  You know, when cops get called to a scene, somebody is out of line.
• 14:30
  You know, something's gone on. Somebody has done something wrong.
• 14:32
  So that's tough for me.
• 14:34
  Every time you show up, that's what you're dealing with, you know?
• 14:37
  And people should be aware of that.
• 14:39
  Telling on that.
• 14:40
  We receive some upsetting news the other week.
• 14:42
  One of our play apparatuses out in Wahiawa, burned.
• 14:45
  Can you talk about your reaction to that? Yeah.
• 14:48
  You know, I'm really angry about that.
• 14:49
  I was angry in the moment, I still am.
• 14:52
  I am still because that matter is not resolved and it won't be resolved
• 14:55
  even when we catch the person or people, because I'm not sure one acted alone.
• 15:00
  We think somebody acted alone.
• 15:02
  But that was vandalism at its worst.
• 15:04
  We just got that part put in. It's in Wahiawa.
• 15:06
  It's for the kids.
• 15:08
  They have so little out there.
• 15:10
  Everything about this was wrong, you know, just wrong.
• 15:14
  It'd be one thing if they taught something that was all and used up
• 15:16
  and they were trying to say, look, we need something new.
• 15:18
  This is brand new.
• 15:20
  It wasn't cheap. It was really.
• 15:22
  And they said it was only class 121,000.
• 15:25
  It's not about the money.
• 15:26
  It's about the fact that these kids had it
• 15:28
  for just a couple of days, and somebody just goes and does that.
• 15:32
  It was just, we catch this person, I'm going to big.
• 15:36
  You know, I'm not a lawyer and not even a vindictive guy.
• 15:39
  But on something like this, you know, I want this person to pay for it,
• 15:42
  I really do.
• 15:43
  They this deserves punishment and I want to see it
• 15:46
  try to get make sure they feel the full brunt of the law on this
• 15:50
  because it just I just think about little kids.
• 15:53
  Where do you say a little kid who shows up and he sees this after it was only there
• 15:57
  for like magical a couple of days before and now it's gone.
• 16:01
  It's burnt.
• 16:01
  I, I don't even know in their young minds how they even process that.
• 16:06
  It's just so unfair, you know, I should I just was just
• 16:11
  a lot of other things somebody could have done.
• 16:13
  It'd be probably understanding on some level, maybe angry about it.
• 16:17
  But this was just this is just as wrong as is wrong could be.
• 16:21
  We recently received on some lighter news recently,
• 16:24
  some 16 ambulances, including 14 EMS rigs, two Corps vehicles.
• 16:28
  What would into making that a reality?
• 16:31
  Combination of things one all predicated on need.
• 16:34
  But also we had delayed and been able to make our acquisitions
• 16:36
  because of getting parts and even getting the vehicles themselves.
• 16:39
  And so, you know, eight of those are refurbished there.
• 16:42
  They have new chassis put on the box.
• 16:45
  Others are brand new. Six of them.
• 16:47
  We're going to have six brand new ones in the next six months too.
• 16:50
  So at that point, all of our entire in this fleet
• 16:53
  will all be less than a year old. We've never had this.
• 16:56
  This was the biggest acquisition in the history of the city.
• 16:59
  It comes at a really needed time.
• 17:02
  Some of those vehicles had 300,000 plus miles on it, you know,
• 17:05
  and if you stop and think about, the fact that they seemingly are on the road
• 17:10
  all the time.
• 17:10
  So for me, in the spirit of public safety, trying to reassure the people,
• 17:16
  knowing that every day in this office what we try to do
• 17:19
  and we've already alluded to in this conversation
• 17:21
  today, Brandy, is increase or improve our capability to better serve.
• 17:25
  That's what this is really proving a capability.
• 17:28
  There was a bunch of young EMT there.
• 17:32
  You know, they're eager to start and all of it was very refreshing.
• 17:36
  And so and like I said, you know, I mean, most people might say call 911.
• 17:41
  But I remember the times you would say call an ambulance.
• 17:44
  And those are chilling words when any time you arrive in a scene
• 17:48
  and in fact, it just happens to be a reason.
• 17:49
  I said that because I came home one night in a condominium and there was an older
• 17:55
  man lying on the floor with his wife standing over.
• 17:58
  Really?
• 17:59
  I just it must have happened.
• 18:02
  The first thing I said, it.
• 18:03
  Did you call and I asked, did you call an ambulance?
• 18:05
  She said, my son ran to the lobby.
• 18:08
  Didn't even have to to to do that.
• 18:10
  And then I don't think within a minute after that, the ambulance and a fireman
• 18:14
  showed up and he was out.
• 18:17
  He okay now?
• 18:19
  Surprisingly, he he's okay.
• 18:21
  I just saw him not long ago, but it was chilling, right. So.
• 18:25
  And my point is, you're there and you're in a moment of fear, and you need that.
• 18:30
  And you call whether it's 911 or you if you call the EMS,
• 18:34
  the expectation one has in that frightening moment when life is at its
• 18:40
  perhaps most difficult, depending on the circumstance
• 18:42
  and maybe even life and death or hanging in the balance,
• 18:46
  that's it doesn't get any more dynamic than that.
• 18:48
  So to know that we've got good vehicles, we can get there and good teams
• 18:52
  there can provide care enroute to the hospital.
• 18:56
  In the back of those vehicles, the lives are saved.
• 18:59
  Knowing full well that
• 19:01
  I feel really good about that.
• 19:03
  That's it was a nice, a nice moment in time.
• 19:06
  Incredible picture to see all those vehicles parked next to each other.
• 19:09
  Just so to show you in one bird's eye view, the power of the fleet.
• 19:15
  Yeah.
• 19:16
  Mayor.
• 19:16
  The city's annual food drive just wrapped up right now.
• 19:20
  Grocery prices are up. And on to that economic uncertainty.
• 19:22
  And more and more individuals, especially here on Oahu, are in need.
• 19:26
  We're talking pandemic numbers similar to the pandemic
• 19:29
  that made for a difficult and kind of a different looking food drive this year.
• 19:32
  Yeah, you could feel all the way around, you know, plus that
• 19:35
  we have a lot of economic concern right now too, right.
• 19:38
  It's impacting people.
• 19:40
  I've gone to two fundraisers so far this year since everything's begun.
• 19:44
  The historically, I used to see people donate
• 19:47
  more money to, one of which was the Humane Society.
• 19:49
  I notice that people are tired of this year.
• 19:51
  They're still trying to be generous, but not as fluid.
• 19:54
  I think people are, you know, clashing.
• 19:56
  And then you look at the numbers on
• 19:57
  the food bank and how that trickles down, because many of our people
• 20:01
  are, Alice people living paycheck to paycheck all the way down.
• 20:05
  It's become even scarcer for them. Harder.
• 20:08
  You know, we finally seen the price of eggs come down.
• 20:11
  But at one point I was like 12 and $13 a dozen.
• 20:13
  It was crazy.
• 20:16
  So all
• 20:17
  that said, we didn't have the utmost success.
• 20:21
  We didn't quite get to what we committed to, but
• 20:23
  we're going to hang on that commitment.
• 20:24
  And even though the date is coming to an end,
• 20:27
  we're going to fulfill that commitment because the need honestly,
• 20:31
  you know, bring those on that food bank board for 18 years,
• 20:34
  and I used to watch the numbers and listen to the numbers.
• 20:38
  They were always challenging.
• 20:39
  It was always significant amount of food was given away.
• 20:42
  The need has always been there.
• 20:44
  But that need has gotten exacerbated over the last couple of years.
• 20:49
  And the resource coming in to offset that
• 20:52
  and the concerns about federal subsidies, etc..
• 20:56
  It hasn't been this daunting since I can remember.
• 20:59
  So that's why even though we didn't quite get to our goal, we got close.
• 21:03
  We got to make sure we hit that goal at a minimum.
• 21:06
  And my concern is real for all those people.
• 21:09
  You know, I think, you know, you get statistics out there,
• 21:13
  and all of us took part in the briefing that we got, where there are parents
• 21:16
  who are skipping food for a day just to make sure the fasting for
• 21:20
  24 hours, to make sure there's enough food to go around to feed their kids.
• 21:24
  I mean, it's when you start getting into that kind of stuff that's scary.
• 21:29
  You probably watch a lot of television in your life.
• 21:31
  Rescue high survival.
• 21:33
  Once upon a time, one season.
• 21:34
  Yeah, I think back to the loss and all the Adam Sandler movies.
• 21:38
  What has happened in the last ten years where Hawaii has kind of turned into this
• 21:42
  filming desert?
• 21:43
  But maybe more importantly, how do we reverse?
• 21:45
  We need to reverse it. You're right. That's very astute.
• 21:47
  You know, less and less.
• 21:48
  In fact, now with the cancel cancellation of that show,
• 21:51
  this is the first time we've not had a network first run program.
• 21:54
  Although I can tell you that,
• 21:57
  Jason, some,
• 21:59
  Jason Momoa, I was going to say supporting Jason Momoa.
• 22:03
  I can't believe going to say support Momoa.
• 22:06
  His chief of war, which I've watched.
• 22:08
  The first part, The Beautiful, is going to debut this, in the fall.
• 22:12
  They've already gotten greenlit for seasons two and three.
• 22:14
  That's how good it is.
• 22:15
  It's been a game of Thrones money, and we may have a chance.
• 22:18
  I talked to Valia Constantino, on Sunday at length.
• 22:21
  We're going to have to rely on a special session,
• 22:23
  but the state has to help us with tax credits.
• 22:27
  You know,
• 22:27
  we have some tax credits in place and whatever, but that is the currency
• 22:31
  of how this business is done. And we've tried really hard.
• 22:34
  I thought we lobbied really hard this year,
• 22:36
  really close to try to get an expanded film studio.
• 22:38
  This is a
• 22:40
  if we can build film studios here, they're great jobs.
• 22:43
  A lot of business will be here.
• 22:45
  Other of is why we've become more of a desert.
• 22:48
  Hawaii hasn't lost its appeal.
• 22:50
  We've not been good.
• 22:51
  Paying out, paying up, paying off the tax credits.
• 22:54
  Some I'm a little uncomfortable talking about.
• 22:56
  But this is a state function.
• 23:00
  They understand.
• 23:01
  I try it as clear as possible.
• 23:03
  The currency of working with studios is,
• 23:08
  tax credits. Okay.
• 23:09
  And then the other thing has to do with permits and stuff.
• 23:12
  I think as a city, we're set up
• 23:14
  well to be much more user friendly for park permits, different things
• 23:17
  that they need access to for the various local location shoots.
• 23:22
  But the tax credits is the big deal.
• 23:24
  And so the analogy I said maybe doesn't sound very where I said,
• 23:28
  you know,
• 23:29
  if you went on collecting a bag of rocks and then went to a supermarket
• 23:32
  and try to buy a bag of groceries and said, here's my bag of rocks.
• 23:35
  So, but you can't buy groceries with rocks.
• 23:38
  It's the same thing.
• 23:39
  Understand the currency. That's.
• 23:41
  And so other cities, Vegas, Atlanta does a number of
• 23:45
  have become real predators and understand that have gotten their city,
• 23:51
  you know worked out and their tax credits and they've really been really recruiting
• 23:56
  and recruiting people away.
• 23:57
  And then that's not to mention places
• 23:59
  like New Zealand and other other places that are, you know, pretty exotic,
• 24:03
  far away for a lot of people, but very user friendly.
• 24:07
  Financially it makes sense and so on.
• 24:10
  So you got to understand that if for some reason this seems to be this
• 24:13
  distrust of Hollywood, like these guys are too slick or something, and somehow
• 24:18
  we're getting taken advantage of.
• 24:19
  The money is gets spent in the return of the dollar,
• 24:22
  and the investment is terrific.
• 24:23
  And, you know, the people at the state,
• 24:26
  film Commission, along with their own value and
• 24:29
  and I've up the we we've been lobbying his boss.
• 24:32
  It's almost like they don't believe it.
• 24:34
  It's hard for me to comprehend why they can't get the head around the fact
• 24:38
  that we've had television shows here, movies here,
• 24:41
  all kinds of things shot here, and the amount of content or the, the,
• 24:46
  the esthetic appeal of Hawaii,
• 24:48
  the fact that we're selling, you know, all that stuff.
• 24:50
  And you would think that there's already been enough success created
• 24:54
  because I see no evidence of anybody getting burned at the state level
• 24:57
  over any of these productions, anywhere, at any point in time.
• 25:01
  You know,
• 25:03
  everybody talked during the campaign the first time, right,
• 25:06
  for me, about diversifying the economy because we were shut down.
• 25:10
  The tourism people felt the vulnerability of being so over reliant on tourism,
• 25:14
  needed to have some alternatives.
• 25:16
  My position on one was we should build on existing businesses
• 25:19
  before we can be naive enough to think we'll get the outside businesses
• 25:22
  to come in here, because historically, Hawaii didn't have the best reputation
• 25:26
  for being a place to do business.
• 25:28
  The film industry was an easy
• 25:29
  one to really, literally invest in and enjoy the ride.
• 25:34
  And probably easily, I think.
• 25:36
  Yeah, it could be $1 billion a year economy here instead of 500 million.
• 25:40
  And we're making it once again hard to business here, if not almost impossible.
• 25:46
  Not good to get out of that.
• 25:49
  Similarly, I guess.
• 25:51
  What are you watching right on there.
• 25:52
  But I watching.
• 25:53
  What are you watching right now?
• 25:55
  Well, you know, I'm streaming a few things.
• 25:57
  I'm watching.
• 25:58
  This is us on Max. Okay.
• 26:01
  Okay, I'm watching Krem on, I think that's on Max, I think.
• 26:06
  Yeah, it is.
• 26:07
  No, it's on Apple TV.
• 26:08
  It's all in French, but subtitle.
• 26:11
  It's interesting.
• 26:12
  It's a it's a period piece about Napoleon Bonaparte.
• 26:15
  It's about this. The chef. I just,
• 26:18
  and I'm watching hacks.
• 26:20
  I can't believe I'm doing that with Jean smart.
• 26:24
  Just just for light stuff, too.
• 26:25
  Like, this episode is a little bit less.
• 26:27
  Other than that, I watch a lot of YouTube.
• 26:29
  I just try to get caught up in news and stuff like that.
• 26:31
  But as far as a couple of shows, I just if tuned into, I mean, the,
• 26:35
  the Yellowstone stuff is all coming on, you know,
• 26:38
  I just
• 26:39
  the reason why I think some of those shows are interesting for me to watch
• 26:42
  is having worked in broadcast television all those years, with all the censoring
• 26:45
  and everything else is pretty interesting when you watch it.
• 26:47
  Some of the stuff is that's because
• 26:49
  use of following with the storylines is really pretty intense and graphic.
• 26:54
  At least they can hold your interest in you because otherwise I'll fall asleep.
• 26:58
  So watch them.
• 26:59
  And if it's not really well-written or intense, I just kind of like,
• 27:02
  you know, but the the intensity engages me.
• 27:05
  I like getting engaged. That way.
• 27:07
  So I look for shows like that.
• 27:09
  Yeah. The difficult part, though, is in Falling asleep after.
• 27:11
  Because if you're staying up too late to finish
• 27:14
  shows.
• 27:15
  True.
• 27:16
  You know, I, I probably yeah.
• 27:19
  I'm not a good example for getting a proper amount of rest.
• 27:22
  Yeah.
• 27:23
  Well, where this is the one or who podcast.
• 27:25
  So for one final thought.
• 27:26
  Well, look,
• 27:27
  you know, as we fast as we quickly now middle of May we're talking about
• 27:31
  are you already signed up with my whole Memorial Day.
• 27:33
  All the things are going to be doing and stuff like that.
• 27:36
  And talk about June.
• 27:36
  I get July 4th stuff on my calendar.
• 27:39
  I'm going, wow, wow, we just said, happy new Year five minutes ago.
• 27:43
  So as we unfold, we're feeling really good about things.
• 27:46
  We're starting to get things done.
• 27:47
  And you know, we've had this over arching.
• 27:51
  You know, fear and uncertainty brought about
• 27:54
  because of all this stuff that were on the first 100 days of the presidency.
• 27:57
  But it's working through the tariffs and trying to figure out the impact to us
• 28:01
  and the cuts.
• 28:01
  Just keep telling people, be optimistic, be optimistic.
• 28:05
  I'm not naive that the sky is not falling.
• 28:07
  There's a lot of good things were getting done.
• 28:09
  That's all I ask everybody.
• 28:10
  Let's just we're all in this together. We'll get through this.
• 28:13
  Everybody stay positive.
• 28:15
  I'm confident we're not there yet.
• 28:16
  Quite finished on our budget, but things look really good there.
• 28:19
  We're not pulling back on anything.
• 28:21
  I feel really good about our team.
• 28:23
  I just want people to have has some confidence and,
• 28:27
  know that, I really believe better days ahead.
• 28:30
  Mary, thank you for your time. You're welcome.
• 28:32
  Thank you.
• 28:32
  I hope you're able to take a beat because this is a bye week is next.
• 28:36
  Town hall is next week.
• 28:37
  Thursday, May 22nd, at Radford High School.
• 28:40
  That's for residents in Pearl city, Iowa.
• 28:42
  Salt Lake Collegiate and downtown Chinatown.
• 28:44
  Start time set for 630.
• 28:46
  We hope to see you there. Mahalo for listening.
• 28:48
  And until next time, Aloha!