Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Members of the Honolulu Youth Commission share their experiences serving as commissioners

Transcript

Members of the Honolulu Youth Commission share their experiences serving as commissioners · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:15
  Welcome to the One Oahu podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and today is Thursday, January 16th, 2025.
• 0:22
  And we're joined this week by Honolulu Youth Commission Chair
• 0:25
  Esther Lim, as well as Second Vice Chair Kahn Ho.
• 0:28
  Thank you both for being here.
• 0:29
  Thank you for having us.
• 0:31
  So this was approved by the voters in 2020.
• 0:33
  The Honolulu Youth Commission provides youth on O'ahu ages
• 0:36
  14 to 24 at opportunity.
• 0:39
  And you're either appointed by the mayor or a city council member.
• 0:42
  But if you could first tell me a little bit about yourselves your age,
• 0:45
  what school you go to, what kind of things you're interested in, extracurriculars.
• 0:49
  Esther, we'll start with you, and then we'll.
• 0:50
  Talk about, Hi. My name is Esther Lim.
• 0:53
  I'm currently a senior at the local high school.
• 0:56
  And a few things about me is I participated in marching band
• 1:01
  quite a lot during my high school years.
• 1:03
  Like, I was a drum major this past season, and I'm just passionate about music
• 1:09
  and loves legislature, civic opportunities and volunteering and
• 1:14
  just service in general.
• 1:15
  So I'm just really happy to have gone with me too,
• 1:19
  because I know that he also shares like civic interests as well.
• 1:23
  Wait, so does that mean that this past fall,
• 1:25
  while you were a commissioner, you were also like at every football game,
• 1:29
  at every every time the band was playing? Yeah.
• 1:32
  I'm sure Kahn has it worse, he plays football.
• 1:34
  Yeah. But, But yeah.
• 1:37
  Thankfully, like, since I have such a good, like, executive
• 1:40
  team was like con and like my other vice chair, Colton, soon we've been able
• 1:44
  to, like, have meetings and get out business very well.
• 1:49
  And I know you mentioned like 14 through 21 like our age range is really diverse.
• 1:53
  Like I know our assistant secretary this year, she's a freshman
• 1:56
  and she was appointed as an eighth grader, which is kind of impressive.
• 2:00
  Yeah. And then what about you?
• 2:01
  Yeah.
• 2:02
  So, well, I think as you mentioned, my name is Kahn Ho.
• 2:05
  I'm a senior at Punahou School.
• 2:08
  I think probably the most significant extracurricular I've had over the past
• 2:12
  four years is I was the most consistent one
• 2:14
  is, you know, I started on my high school career.
• 2:16
  I played football for years.
• 2:17
  And then, you know, kind of throughout my time in high school,
• 2:20
  I've kind of, you know, taken an eye for civics,
• 2:23
  you know, joined student, you know, my student government my sophomore year,
• 2:27
  just recently,
• 2:28
  you know, I conducted along with two other classmates and, Representative
• 2:32
  Amy Perusso a statewide youth election, which was one that was really cool
• 2:36
  and so kind of similar to, like, Esther mentioned, you know, before.
• 2:40
  Yeah. So I do have a great passion for civics.
• 2:42
  And that's part of the reason why I decided to get involved with,
• 2:45
  you know, the Honolulu Youth Commission, increasing youth voices
• 2:48
  in local government, especially something that, you know, I'm passionate about.
• 2:51
  And so, you know, thank you for having me.
• 2:53
  And what position do you play? I play running back. Yeah.
• 2:56
  And as of this recording,
• 2:57
  maybe you can watch this on the mayor's YouTube channel, but,
• 3:00
  Kahn, you came in a scooter.
• 3:01
  I did, I did undergo surgery.
• 3:03
  I did, so I recently underwent surgery for, you know, injuries sustained,
• 3:07
  the last game of the season.
• 3:08
  So, you know, better, better,
• 3:11
  I guess better.
• 3:12
  It was at the
• 3:13
  end of the season than the beginning, but, you know, it is what it is.
• 3:17
  Yeah, I just have to get through it the next.
• 3:18
  As of this recording, I have about, you know, two more weeks left of, non
• 3:23
  wavering and then, you know, kind of can get back on my feet lot early, but, Yeah.
• 3:28
  Thank you for having me.
• 3:29
  You know, you both mentioned that you guys are really busy outside
• 3:32
  of your work, serving as one of the youth commissioners.
• 3:35
  But there's so many other things
• 3:36
  you could be doing with your time, especially at this age.
• 3:39
  Why did you choose to serve?
• 3:40
  I know you said you have an interesting civics,
• 3:42
  but really, there's so many things you could be doing.
• 3:44
  Why the one of the Youth Commission?
• 3:46
  We'll start with you guys, and then we'll go back to.
• 3:48
  Yeah, I mean, I find I found out about this opportunity,
• 3:51
  mainly through, you know, my classmates at school,
• 3:53
  some, some the former, chair, I think, like, two cycles ago,
• 3:58
  Daniel Bruder, he went to my school, and so I was kind of
• 4:01
  put on to this opportunity, just through him,
• 4:04
  and also, the former chair as well as Charlotte Campbell, they both,
• 4:08
  were great
• 4:09
  influences in terms of me joining the Youth commission and,
• 4:12
  yeah, I mean, you know, being as I'm, I'm a 17 year old kid, like, you know,
• 4:16
  there are a lot of other things I could be doing,
• 4:18
  but this is something that really caught my eye in terms of,
• 4:21
  I think this is a great opportunity for the next generation, to really learn,
• 4:25
  not only learn about, you know, local government and civics
• 4:29
  and how that process works, but ultimately, I think to inspire
• 4:32
  other people in our generation through our work, to,
• 4:36
  really drive across this point that, you know, just because you can't vote
• 4:39
  just because you're young doesn't mean
• 4:40
  that you don't have a voice in local government.
• 4:43
  There's a lot of ways to get involved.
• 4:44
  And the Youth Commission is one, but there's certainly a plethora
• 4:47
  of other opportunities as well that we strive to, you know, push out.
• 4:51
  But yeah, I mainly got involved because of this drive to get youth
• 4:56
  involved in local government as well, and also for myself,
• 5:00
  take that opportunity to learn about that process, those processes
• 5:03
  and and how I can make a difference in my community.
• 5:07
  So yeah. And then, Esther, same for you.
• 5:09
  You know, not only do you have to juggle
• 5:11
  all of your extracurriculars and come into town
• 5:14
  from Lily Hoover to attend these meetings, there are some guys there in the week.
• 5:17
  Oh, why do this one?
• 5:18
  There's so many other things you could be doing well.
• 5:21
  When I first like, kind of had my civic awakening,
• 5:25
  I like to call it, I kind of realized some might call it early,
• 5:28
  but I think I realized my passion for civics kind of late.
• 5:31
  It was like mid sophomore year, and I was looking for basically anything
• 5:37
  that I could do in terms of getting involved and putting myself out there.
• 5:41
  And honestly, I had nothing more to go off than like a Google search.
• 5:46
  But then I had a classmate who would,
• 5:51
  he didn't work with the city council, but
• 5:54
  I know that he had internship experience with the state,
• 5:57
  but he found out about the Honolulu Youth Commission,
• 6:01
  and he recommended it to me while I was like, on the search
• 6:05
  for all these, like, ways I could get involved.
• 6:08
  And I remember missing the application cycle in sophomore year.
• 6:12
  And that made me really mad, really mad at myself for not checking
• 6:16
  the deadlines, really. Just,
• 6:19
  I guess kind of
• 6:20
  desperate to find a way to get involved, and I did.
• 6:23
  I, I remember I interned at the State League
• 6:25
  for like one month over the summer when I had time, but then the Honolulu
• 6:30
  Youth Commission, like, really stood out to me because,
• 6:34
  of the actual engagement that we have with, like, the city council
• 6:37
  and the fact that our voices are heard
• 6:40
  in a very like, formal and open to the public manner.
• 6:44
  So I realized, like, hey, this is definitely something I want
• 6:47
  to invest my time into, to develop wherever this is going with fellow peers.
• 6:52
  And I'm really happy I did.
• 6:54
  And so how did each of you become commissioners for you,
• 6:57
  appointed by the mayor or the city council?
• 6:59
  And then how did that process work?
• 7:01
  I think we're both representing the mayor's office. Yes.
• 7:05
  I remember the applications are quite different.
• 7:08
  Like there's one for mayor appointees and there's one for council appointees. And
• 7:14
  during the summer, the application cycle opens.
• 7:17
  I think we both applied at the same time as mayor pointed
• 7:21
  the same fiscal year as well.
• 7:23
  So that was pretty cool.
• 7:24
  Yeah, I know we've had a lot of Punahou students come in, college.
• 7:27
  Yeah, but not so many.
• 7:29
  Like, who are students.
• 7:31
  How did that happen?
• 7:31
  How did you become the chair?
• 7:34
  I know that,
• 7:35
  one graduate like, so he's not actually
• 7:39
  from well over high school and records because he graduated already.
• 7:42
  But I know that there was one person who was appointed with me
• 7:45
  that was from a of what?
• 7:49
  I think I honestly, did.
• 7:51
  You want to be the chair or was that like.
• 7:53
  Oh. So,
• 7:55
  since there were,
• 7:58
  really awesome chairs from the whole schools
• 8:00
  and I think I became the chairperson a little more like smoothly
• 8:06
  because I served at the as the assistant secretary,
• 8:11
  for the year that, Chair
• 8:13
  Campbell was, leading the commission.
• 8:16
  And I remember
• 8:18
  I held chair like, spearhead a lot of the things that she wanted to do.
• 8:22
  And because of that, like everyone else
• 8:26
  on the executives on their term has ended.
• 8:29
  So I think it just kind of flowed down to me.
• 8:33
  And I'm glad that everyone else in the commission trusted me,
• 8:36
  that I'll be able to do these, like, tasks and initiatives,
• 8:41
  I guess smoothly as well.
• 8:42
  Yeah.
• 8:43
  You came in with a little institutional knowledge into this position
• 8:46
  and you mentioned Amy Caruso.
• 8:47
  But how familiar were you with city government before taking this position?
• 8:52
  You know, not super familiar, at least with the specific processes.
• 8:55
  I know.
• 8:56
  You know, obviously, I understood some basic,
• 8:58
  concepts around city government, but I think, you know, I think Esther can,
• 9:02
  you know, attest to this.
• 9:03
  The Youth Commission is a really a learning on the job type, type role.
• 9:07
  I think that you're kind of thrown
• 9:08
  into the fire from day one, and it kind of takes a couple of sessions
• 9:12
  to really get used to, like how things work, how to write a resolution,
• 9:16
  you know, how to like even the intricacies of what is emotion.
• 9:19
  Right.
• 9:20
  But I think as time goes on, you get used to you will one
• 9:24
  you learn more about city government, you go and you know, what is it?
• 9:26
  You know, how can I make a difference on this commission?
• 9:28
  But to really get used to the, you know, the nuances of just interactions
• 9:32
  between commissioners, how meetings work, I think as you get more comfortable,
• 9:36
  it's really when you start to, you know, make more of a difference
• 9:40
  in terms of passing resolutions, in terms of being vocal in meetings.
• 9:45
  I think, yeah, that that was kind of my experience.
• 9:48
  I think, you know, we, I think as you can kind of attest to that as well, for sure.
• 9:52
  Can you talk about like you mentioned? Right.
• 9:54
  You can create resolutions.
• 9:57
  You're pretty much an advisory team for mayor, city council.
• 10:00
  So what kind of things
• 10:01
  this past year, has the Youth Commission been able to get done?
• 10:05
  Yeah.
• 10:05
  I think the most, I use I use a recent example.
• 10:09
  Commissioner Shimizu, is Shimizu,
• 10:12
  who's one of my good friends from school, but,
• 10:15
  he he recently passed a resolution that I believe it passed in the city council.
• 10:19
  Right. Or is it?
• 10:20
  I believe so, and it was tied to a bill that they were currently like.
• 10:23
  Okay. Yeah.
• 10:24
  So, you know, he supported a bill, that,
• 10:27
  you know, instituted or, you know, instituted, universal,
• 10:33
  was it recycling bins in all parks?
• 10:35
  I mean, I think that's pretty significant.
• 10:38
  What else do I you have any other examples in.
• 10:40
  Terms of, I know that recently, like,
• 10:44
  we've been trying to make our resolutions
• 10:47
  more relevant to what the city council is currently working on.
• 10:50
  But for a few moments in the past,
• 10:53
  I know that we hit on issues that we were passionate
• 10:56
  about, where we're kind of big and state levels as well.
• 11:00
  I know that, like, recently, I think this is really recent.
• 11:04
  Our assistant secretary, Commissioner Shea, she wrote a resolution about,
• 11:10
  suspending sister cities from, Australia, Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
• 11:15
  And I know that in the past, like, I think this was last fiscal year,
• 11:19
  I wrote a resolution about, implementing
• 11:24
  speed bumps around very underprivileged, like middle
• 11:27
  schools, elementary schools, because their local driveways
• 11:31
  were very dangerous to children and things like that.
• 11:34
  I know that that was a pretty big issue, that,
• 11:37
  some of the representatives, House representatives
• 11:40
  wanted to bring up at the state level.
• 11:42
  And since, like our roadways, some of them were
• 11:45
  majority of them are like regulated by the city.
• 11:49
  I knew that I wanted to write something like that, and we just kind of go to the.
• 11:53
  Floor, I think.
• 11:54
  I think Esther's resolution and a recent resolution by, Commissioner,
• 11:59
  Riley Machina,
• 12:01
  really, really encompass kind of how
• 12:04
  I think our resolutions kind of have kind of evolved,
• 12:07
  I think that we're a little bit more in tune in terms of what City council
• 12:11
  is actually considering what the mayor, what the city responsibility is.
• 12:15
  I think, you know, I don't want to say before we weren't
• 12:17
  necessarily more concerned about that.
• 12:19
  But I think now we're really realizing that where we can make the biggest impact
• 12:22
  is when we comment on current legislation that's being considered in,
• 12:27
  as opposed to just kind of springing out new ideas and seeing what sticks.
• 12:31
  I think that's probably the new approach we're trying to take.
• 12:34
  But is that frustrating in any way?
• 12:36
  Because while you know, you do have a better chance of making,
• 12:40
  you know, changes with something that's currently going through the,
• 12:43
  you know, the bill process and the reading process
• 12:45
  in their committees, maybe you have a priority that you want to see come to.
• 12:49
  Like that's not really there.
• 12:51
  Maybe as it relates to climate change. Yeah.
• 12:53
  You know, schools, I know that it's kind of a state thing, but is that frustrating?
• 12:57
  Because maybe you do have an idea.
• 12:59
  You know, I think I think that I don't
• 13:02
  I wouldn't necessarily use the word frustrating.
• 13:04
  I think that we still it's not to say that we don't push out new ideas.
• 13:08
  We don't write resolutions like the sister city or sister city series
• 13:11
  that like, it's not like necessarily we don't push out new ideas.
• 13:14
  It's just that we know that,
• 13:17
  you know, most of our focus
• 13:20
  is not necessarily most of it, but a lot of our focus should be on bills
• 13:23
  that are currently being considered in this current session.
• 13:25
  And you know, if we want to sprinkle
• 13:27
  in things that we're passionate about in terms of,
• 13:28
  you know, like you mentioned, climate change or like,
• 13:31
  Commissioner Shea with the Sister Cities, then.
• 13:33
  Yeah, we should be we should push it out because you know, that's part
• 13:36
  of our responsibility as youth commissioners,
• 13:38
  but it's also part of our, you know, responsibility to advise
• 13:41
  the mayor and the city council on matters in which they're considering.
• 13:45
  And so that's kind of what where I kind of. Yeah.
• 13:47
  How I kind of interpret it. Yeah. Anything to add?
• 13:50
  Another big thing I feel like is the public testimony that we got.
• 13:54
  So although we also have like our own,
• 13:57
  initiatives and passions that we want to like, bring into light,
• 14:01
  I know that especially like with reviewing like Sunshine Law,
• 14:06
  if it's not on the agenda, then we try not to talk about it.
• 14:09
  So anything we're passionate about,
• 14:11
  we should bring up when we are creating the agenda.
• 14:14
  But when there's public testimony, we really appreciate the input
• 14:19
  and they tend to be about recent events or current legislation.
• 14:23
  And I think that's why we kind of shifted our focus
• 14:26
  to meet the public testimony of other youth as well.
• 14:30
  Yeah. Well, we're also trying to like put in art and but.
• 14:32
  Yeah, I mean that's something we deal with too, right?
• 14:34
  So in the mayor's office, we often get calls, we get emails.
• 14:38
  And one of the big things now, I know that this has probably been on your mind too,
• 14:41
  is the danger of fireworks. Right.
• 14:43
  So what do you guys think that we should do?
• 14:47
  I mean, any ideas are overnight or. Welcome.
• 14:49
  So how do you think?
• 14:51
  Because you guys are influencing everyone in your generation, right?
• 14:55
  What do you think it's going to take to get something like this
• 14:58
  to become more safe?
• 15:01
  You want I to.
• 15:02
  Okay. Yeah.
• 15:03
  I mean, I think that I think that, you know, what the issue of fireworks
• 15:06
  that I think, you know, governor, and kind of put it best, it really is.
• 15:10
  And then that day, we could we could pass, you know, a plethora of laws,
• 15:14
  we can, you know, increase penalties.
• 15:16
  But I think it really is, is going to be it's going to have to,
• 15:20
  you know, boil down to personal decisions in terms of being responsible,
• 15:24
  you know, understanding the risks, that you
• 15:27
  that's not necessary not only to yourself but to your neighbors.
• 15:30
  And so I think yeah, I think in terms of our generation,
• 15:33
  you know, what the events of this past, New Year's Eve, I think it was a
• 15:38
  it was a harsh reminder of, you know, the dangers of, of fireworks.
• 15:41
  And I think that, you know, it's a size it was a lot, a lot of times you can serve
• 15:47
  as, you know, you know, kind of Wake-Up calls, the rest of the day.
• 15:51
  And I think that, you know, hopefully people look at what happened and they,
• 15:56
  you know, kind of look back at their own personal choices
• 15:58
  and they decide, you know, I don't think it's really worth the risk,
• 16:01
  you know, to, to engage in this kind of, behavior.
• 16:05
  And I think it's also, you know,
• 16:10
  yeah, I think that's kind of that's kind of my take on it.
• 16:12
  Is it at the we can pass every all we want,
• 16:15
  but it ultimately boils down to,
• 16:19
  citizens making responsible decisions, caring about their neighbors.
• 16:23
  Because, you know, even if it's one for one person riding off, you know, areas, it
• 16:28
  that pose a risk to the rest of the community,
• 16:30
  even if it's not necessarily the numbers go down.
• 16:33
  Just one person firing could bite the, you know, their neighbor's house and fire
• 16:37
  and, you know, cause another tragedy.
• 16:39
  So last question. What's your take on it?
• 16:41
  Well, I'm a military kid, so I live on base.
• 16:45
  So I've been sheltered from fireworks like for the majority of my time living here.
• 16:50
  But I know that, like a lot of my friends and the Wahiawa community,
• 16:54
  they love fireworks.
• 16:56
  I remember, I think this was like two years ago,
• 16:59
  but we were driving back, like, on to Schofield Barracks.
• 17:04
  And it was like there wasn't even New Year's Eve.
• 17:07
  It was like the 30th.
• 17:11
  And like,
• 17:12
  this ignited fireworks was thrown at our car.
• 17:16
  So, like, my parents swerved and thankfully, we didn't hit anyone.
• 17:21
  The firework didn't hit anyone.
• 17:23
  And that's when I was like, oh, man, this is actually a really big problem.
• 17:27
  Like, I knew it was illegal and people were doing it anyway, but
• 17:30
  I didn't realize, like how much people engaged, like irresponsibly.
• 17:35
  Like, of course there's people
• 17:37
  who take all the safety precautions, although it's illegal and still do it.
• 17:41
  But after seeing that, I felt like
• 17:44
  the change had to be kind of generational.
• 17:47
  Like if we start discouraging it and spreading awareness, like John said,
• 17:51
  the maybe like, I don't know, five families at first
• 17:54
  will go like, you know, maybe, you know, it's not safe after all.
• 17:58
  Let's discourage like our family from doing it.
• 18:00
  And then those families like and the children and the youth
• 18:04
  will be like, oh, our parents in the past mentioned that it was not safe.
• 18:08
  We're aware of the tragedies that can bring let's not do this
• 18:12
  and hopefully that like gradually spreads throughout the community.
• 18:16
  And another idea I had kind of it was like kind of a random idea, but
• 18:21
  I was thinking that if like the communities like either
• 18:25
  the neighborhood boards decide or like the state or the city,
• 18:28
  but if they hosted like a fireworks show, I know everyone's on break
• 18:32
  and I'm sure no one wants to work.
• 18:34
  But if there was like a community fireworks event that were handled
• 18:37
  by professionals with all like security police or whatever that's needed,
• 18:43
  it would kind of reduce the need for individual purchases and risks.
• 18:48
  So yeah, well. Ideas like that. Yeah.
• 18:51
  You know, you both have said things
• 18:52
  throughout this conversation and like motions and resolutions and,
• 18:56
  you know,
• 18:56
  you guys are kind of familiar with how meetings work
• 18:58
  and it's almost like you're the guys are kind of learning
• 19:00
  Robert's Rules as you go, too.
• 19:01
  You mentioned that ASA is on the commission, but,
• 19:04
  dear friends, do your peers know what the Youth Commission is like?
• 19:07
  What do they think you guys do at these meetings?
• 19:11
  Like like if I brought your team in right now and I said, hey.
• 19:14
  I think. Well.
• 19:15
  Yeah, I mean, my support, they they do know that,
• 19:17
  you know, one every Tuesday,
• 19:20
  or, you know, when I'm in season, like, like, you know, every, every,
• 19:24
  every once in a while, have to leave practice early and they'll be like, why?
• 19:28
  I'm like, well, we'll have a meeting for the Youth Commission.
• 19:31
  And I think they, you know, I will say, I don't think
• 19:34
  most of my peers necessarily know what the Honolulu Youth Commission does.
• 19:38
  Yeah.
• 19:39
  I think that's something
• 19:39
  that we're trying to work on as a commission, trying to get our name,
• 19:43
  you know, image out there to the public to to let them know
• 19:46
  the work that we're doing.
• 19:47
  And because I think that the more people,
• 19:49
  the more publicity we get, the more input we'll get from youth.
• 19:52
  And that's ultimately our goal is to represent
• 19:54
  the youth of the state, of the city and county.
• 19:56
  So, the more input we're able to get, the better we're able to serve them.
• 20:00
  And I think that. Yeah.
• 20:01
  So that's a big initiative of ours that we're trying to, you know, especially
• 20:05
  this upcoming, year is really increase our outreach, especially to youth.
• 20:11
  And so, yeah, I'd like to ask your initial question, I think just to
• 20:15
  I just try to boil it down like I just say I have a meeting with the mayor,
• 20:19
  because if I try to explain one, if I try to explain
• 20:22
  what I'm doing, I'll just be like, they'll be like, wait, what?
• 20:25
  And then I'll be like, I'm just meeting with the mayor, or hey.
• 20:27
  It's not. I mean, you guys have met the mayor.
• 20:29
  We have. Yes.
• 20:31
  We have invited you, you know, for those. Yes.
• 20:33
  Watching the mayor at parades, town halls.
• 20:35
  I mean, you guys are. Yes, yes. Yeah,
• 20:39
  yeah.
• 20:39
  So, I mean, like I said,
• 20:42
  sometimes I say that just, like, pique their curiosity.
• 20:45
  Yeah.
• 20:46
  And then they'll be like, wait, what did you just say?
• 20:49
  And I'm like, just kidding.
• 20:50
  Do you want to know? Yeah.
• 20:52
  And then that's when it kind of goes
• 20:53
  down to the conversation like, hey, this thing exists.
• 20:56
  And like, I know that I've kind of tried to publicize to the best
• 21:01
  of my ability on my own school, on like what this is about,
• 21:05
  but some of them just don't have interest, but most of them that do have interest,
• 21:10
  I don't know, why would there be any like so shy?
• 21:13
  So I think it might be because I.
• 21:15
  Tell them they have a meeting with the mayor.
• 21:17
  For this, but,
• 21:20
  I think it really just all boils down
• 21:22
  to giving them more accessibility as well.
• 21:27
  I know that
• 21:29
  although there are so many chances to, like, engage with the city, the,
• 21:34
  mayor's office or like, even like the smaller commissions
• 21:37
  and boards, sometimes it's just a matter of, oh,
• 21:42
  maybe like for like La La Hoya students, like,
• 21:45
  oh, maybe Honolulu is a little too far away or oh,
• 21:49
  I don't know how to engage without like, having to go to
• 21:53
  like, Honolulu and visiting the city council and blah, blah.
• 21:56
  So I think that's like also our job to spread other information as well.
• 22:00
  Like, hey, your council member exists like for a district, too,
• 22:04
  like council member might wire or
• 22:07
  hey, there's also things called like neighborhood boards
• 22:10
  and you can engage with like city matters there as well and things like that.
• 22:14
  I think it's kind of our job to publicize
• 22:16
  not only us, but basically the council and the mayor as well.
• 22:20
  But sometimes that can be intimidating, like you said, right?
• 22:23
  Maybe they're just not familiar, and maybe they don't either watch the news
• 22:26
  or they don't know who
• 22:26
  their council member is, or they don't even know who the mayor is.
• 22:30
  So what has your experience been like?
• 22:33
  Maybe that could kind of ease some of that.
• 22:35
  You know, insecurity that they might have or intimidation they might have?
• 22:39
  Well, I mean, I think that, you know, kind of I answered last year, said, right.
• 22:44
  You know, I think, I think our neighborhood,
• 22:45
  I think, I think we're pretty familiar and friendly with our neighbors.
• 22:48
  Right.
• 22:48
  And so I think starting off with, you know, neighborhood board meetings,
• 22:51
  those can make those meetings make a big difference in communities.
• 22:54
  Right?
• 22:54
  I think that,
• 22:56
  when we think of, you know, government, you know, we think of the president
• 22:59
  and we think of the vice president, we think of the governor.
• 23:00
  But I think that, you know, true, like tangible change,
• 23:03
  really happens at the local level, at the neighborhood levels.
• 23:06
  I think, you know, not necessarily getting them involved, maybe with the mayor.
• 23:12
  I think that,
• 23:13
  you know, starting off with neighborhood board meetings, you know,
• 23:16
  what's let's go to the neighborhood board meeting.
• 23:17
  Let's talk about fireworks. Right.
• 23:19
  And how we can address that issue.
• 23:20
  Or I remember when I was, at the,
• 23:24
  I attended a neighborhood board meeting at this past May with Commissioner Shimizu.
• 23:27
  A big issue was, you know, the stairway to Heaven hike.
• 23:31
  You know, let's talk about the stairway to heaven.
• 23:32
  Let's talk about,
• 23:34
  you know, all these issues that matter to neighborhoods,
• 23:37
  specifically speed bumps, speed limits.
• 23:40
  And I think, you know, getting people started, there in terms of youth,
• 23:45
  talking with their neighbors, you know, engaging
• 23:48
  in dialog around these issues that affect everyone in their community.
• 23:51
  I think that that that really gets the ball rolling.
• 23:53
  And then from there, yeah, we can talk about, you know, city government.
• 23:56
  We can talk about, you know, state government.
• 23:58
  But I think, yeah, take them I think neighborhood boards
• 24:01
  are a great place to start because I think we all know,
• 24:04
  or at least I know, I'm very comfortable around my neighbors.
• 24:07
  I can't really say the same for everyone, but,
• 24:10
  I just seeing those familiar faces.
• 24:12
  Right.
• 24:12
  And, and and, settings in which you can make a difference civically,
• 24:16
  I think is a great place to start.
• 24:18
  Sir, what about you?
• 24:18
  Because your situation is a little different
• 24:20
  because you have a lot of military, families in your neighborhood.
• 24:24
  So in my neighborhood, and, like,
• 24:28
  I guess, like, on base, everything's dictated by
• 24:32
  basically military code and, like, the commanders
• 24:35
  and the higher ups. So,
• 24:38
  everyone in the military community is like,
• 24:41
  or at least the active duty soldiers or like the members who actually serve,
• 24:45
  they're all super familiar with how those these kind of processes work.
• 24:50
  Like I've heard my dad attending like, meetings for like, our Schofield
• 24:56
  Barracks, like their communities and how,
• 24:59
  people are instituting their regulations
• 25:02
  either that be temporary or permanent, like my dad like, talks about.
• 25:06
  Does something like that sounds really awfully familiar
• 25:08
  to what I sit there and like meetings and stuff and,
• 25:13
  and thanks to,
• 25:14
  a lot of our high school also having a lot of military students,
• 25:19
  I think it's easier to bring up those kind of,
• 25:23
  I guess civic matters and like engagement because they all see
• 25:26
  their parents doing it.
• 25:27
  And while he also has like a pretty big,
• 25:32
  community who likes to be very active on the neighborhood boards.
• 25:36
  So it's mostly like students saying,
• 25:39
  oh, my mom isn't that oh, my parents attend the meetings.
• 25:43
  And I think it's really about pushing them to find something
• 25:47
  that they're passionate about.
• 25:48
  Like, guess you might, like, just show up to a neighborhood
• 25:52
  board meeting and just like, kind of listen on what's going on.
• 25:55
  But if you have something that you're like, super passionate about,
• 25:58
  then you tend to kind of want to look more into it.
• 26:00
  Like there was this girl who wanted to support
• 26:03
  like a bill on more funding for surfing teams,
• 26:07
  and she got super passionate about it.
• 26:09
  She got her whole surf team on to testifying,
• 26:13
  and I thought that was really cool.
• 26:15
  So if like we could focus on issues that they want to see in their community,
• 26:19
  then finding that, finding a group of people who agree with your ideas
• 26:24
  or they might not even agree with your ideas,
• 26:26
  but that you might be passionate about the same subject,
• 26:28
  like pushing those people to take initiative.
• 26:32
  I think when they're passionate about something,
• 26:34
  that's when they have more confidence.
• 26:36
  So you guys are obviously very wise beyond your years, but what do you think
• 26:39
  is the biggest thing, or maybe the most interesting thing that you've learned
• 26:43
  so far during this term?
• 26:45
  Connell, start with you.
• 26:47
  Most interesting thing I've
• 26:48
  learned during this term,
• 26:51
  I think the
• 26:53
  I think the biggest thing I've learned, especially this, this time around, is
• 26:57
  don't be afraid to, to, ask tough questions.
• 27:01
  I think probably,
• 27:04
  when I was first starting out in the youth Commission,
• 27:07
  I wasn't, I was, I think opposition, it's kind of it's scary.
• 27:11
  I, you know, saying I disagree with you or, you know what?
• 27:14
  I what do you mean by this?
• 27:15
  I think that's, you know, that's it's kind of scary at first, right?
• 27:18
  Especially when you're new to the commission, I think.
• 27:20
  But this term I've gotten a little bit more comfortable, you know, disagreeing
• 27:24
  because I think, you know, ultimately disagreement leads to,
• 27:27
  the like iron sharpens iron. Right.
• 27:30
  And so,
• 27:31
  I think that's definitely something that I've kind of learned over this, this past
• 27:35
  term is being more comfortable asking tough questions, being devil's advocate.
• 27:41
  Because that's I think
• 27:42
  that's how us as a commission is going to get better.
• 27:45
  And, I think that that's something that,
• 27:49
  I'll probably take with me for the rest of my life as well.
• 27:51
  Obviously, you want to compromise, but, and, and, you know, work things out, talk
• 27:56
  things out, you know, being intolerable is not necessarily the best way to go.
• 28:01
  But, yeah, healthy dialog is healthy.
• 28:02
  Dialog is, is is is really key to a really good functioning commission or
• 28:07
  you know, team. So yeah. Yeah.
• 28:09
  What about us?
• 28:10
  Well, for me it was like a sudden realization after
• 28:13
  I like watched like the city lights, like light up.
• 28:18
  What is it called? The tree lighting ceremony.
• 28:21
  So I remember I was invited and I was at the ceremony
• 28:26
  and I just saw, like, the lights light up.
• 28:30
  And before that, there was like a whole speech by the mayor, a little
• 28:34
  like and like the mics talking and like a performance.
• 28:37
  And especially since I am a military child, I know that I was like struggling
• 28:42
  and sometimes like doubting myself, like, hey,
• 28:44
  do I even know enough about, like, my community? Do I even,
• 28:49
  have that kind of attachment to love?
• 28:52
  Everything that's going around me, the city and county, like the others do.
• 28:56
  And as I sat through there, I realized, like, hey, it's
• 28:58
  not really about how long you've lived here or how, like,
• 29:03
  I guess, or like how familiar you are with your, like, traditions.
• 29:07
  It's like it's being willing to learn
• 29:11
  and like, really adapt,
• 29:14
  kind of soak in everything that's going around you
• 29:16
  while still keeping, like, your own authenticity.
• 29:19
  And that's the most interesting thing I learned.
• 29:21
  Like, everyone's so diverse and authentic and there's like so many cultures
• 29:26
  blending here, especially in Hawai'i, that you can't really see on the mainland,
• 29:30
  especially like our East or like Southeast Asian cultures or like,
• 29:35
  Hawaiian cultures, like Polynesian, like all those kind of things.
• 29:38
  Like they still keep their authenticity while just embracing all of that.
• 29:44
  And I thought that was like the most interesting thing
• 29:46
  that I've not just learned, but felt as I was
• 29:50
  just engaging more with my community this past fiscal year.
• 29:54
  This ability to be kind of introspective, make these astute, observations.
• 29:58
  I'm not the first to tell you, and I won't be the last
• 30:00
  that you guys are really impressive for your age.
• 30:02
  Thank you.
• 30:03
  And so my question is, you know,
• 30:05
  you've used this and this is a great, you know, experience for you.
• 30:09
  What do you plan to do or what do you want to do,
• 30:11
  at least at this point, as a career.
• 30:13
  And is this helping you in any way?
• 30:17
  You want to go first with that?
• 30:18
  Yeah. Sure, sure.
• 30:20
  Well, my first very ambitious goal
• 30:22
  when I entered, like, high school was to go to law school.
• 30:25
  And at first I wanted to kind of, like, just get into law,
• 30:31
  either as, like a lawyer or like, just being hired at a law firm.
• 30:34
  But I realized that my, goal kind of, like,
• 30:38
  expanded beyond that on, like, wanting to actually help people directly.
• 30:44
  Especially just being engaged in this commission.
• 30:46
  Like, I was like, hey,
• 30:47
  advocacy is also something that makes huge change in your communities.
• 30:51
  It's something that's so cool
• 30:52
  and everyone has a voice in their like if they truly want to participate.
• 30:57
  So I wanted to go into like either
• 31:00
  being a judge or even law consultation so that I can help other people, like
• 31:05
  directly on my own toes or my own shoes and just help people like that.
• 31:10
  And I'm so glad that I have the opportunity
• 31:13
  to, like, work with other peers, listen to like, the voices of my other friends,
• 31:17
  to actually get that advocacy going,
• 31:20
  and have enough knowledge equipped to me so that I can like,
• 31:24
  I don't know, the whole professional consultation person.
• 31:27
  Yeah, in the future.
• 31:29
  But yeah, things like that. Can't.
• 31:31
  What about you?
• 31:31
  Yeah, I think, I think,
• 31:33
  you know, being on the youth commission, I realize that I think nearly
• 31:37
  all of our problems can really be tied back to affordability and housing.
• 31:41
  And so I think, you know, especially over the past year,
• 31:45
  you know, term and going into this year, I've,
• 31:48
  I've kind of grew a passion for affordable housing and how I can help my community.
• 31:52
  And so,
• 31:53
  you know, I,
• 31:53
  I think that in the future, I'd like to go into real estate development
• 31:57
  and really work on affordable housing, especially in Hawaii,
• 32:00
  coming back here and helping my home out
• 32:01
  with one of the the, you know, the biggest issues that will face.
• 32:05
  I think that's something that I really want to tackle.
• 32:07
  And so yeah, so I guess the Youth Commission directly influenced that,
• 32:11
  you know, being exposed to all that, you know, the issues that,
• 32:15
  not only youth but the everyday citizen faces
• 32:18
  and on Oahu really sparked my, my interest in that field.
• 32:21
  So, yeah.
• 32:24
  Well, guys, we've been here.
• 32:25
  I know that your time is valuable.
• 32:28
  Is there anything that we missed?
• 32:29
  I don't think so. Yeah.
• 32:30
  I think we got to talk about ourselves a lot.
• 32:32
  Yeah, it's it's really interesting.
• 32:36
  Well, I thank you both for being here, and I wish you a happy new Year.
• 32:39
  Happy new year.
• 32:40
  Thank you. Have it, I guess.
• 32:41
  And next week,
• 32:42
  we'll be back with Mayor Rick Blangiardi right here on the One Oahu Podcast.
• 32:45
  Until then, all of them.