Insights on PBS Hawaiʻi is sponsored by Carlsmith Ball.

Aloha State Daily and the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center.

Our general election coverage continues with State Senate District 18.

Following Michelle Kidanis retirement earlier this summer.

A special election will be held to determine who will serve the remainder of the term, with the general election approaching.

Meet the candidates and here, where they stand on the important issues facing their district, which includes by Waipiʻo and Mililani town.

Tonight's live broadcast and live stream of insights on PBS Hawaiʻi.

Start now.

Aloha and welcome to insights on PBS Hawaiʻi.

I'm Yunji de Nies.

State Senate District 18 includes the neighborhoods of Waipiʻo, Waikele, Royal Kunia, and Miliani town.

Senator Michelle Kidani retired this past June before her term was up.

Now, because of that timing of that retirement, there was no primary election.

Instead, registered political parties had a chance to appoint a nominee for a special vacancy election, and a nonpartisan candidate was chosen by lot.

The winner of the special election will serve out the remaining two years of the term.

We look forward to your participation in tonight's show.

You can email or call in your questions, and you'll find a live stream of this program at PBS Hawaiʻi and on our YouTube page.

Now to our guests.

Danielle Bass is the Democratic Party's candidate, who was also appointed by the governor to fill Kidani seat until November.

She was born and raised in Illinois.

And served 19 years on the White Peel Neighborhood Board.

Max Hanna is the nonpartisan candidate.

He grew up in white people, moved to and then back to white people.

He currently works as a lot technician at Cutter Auto dealerships.

And Kelly Kitashima is the Republican Party's candidate.

She was born and raised in central Oʻahu.

She graduated with a hotel management degree from UNLV, and has more than 20 years of experience managing teams in Hawaii's hospitality industry.

Thank you all for being here tonight.

It is wonderful to meet each of you.

You know, because of the way that this election has gone forward, there was not the opportunity, perhaps, for voters to know you in the same way.

So I'm just curious as by background.

How did you become your party's nominee?

And Max will start with you.

Well, it was kind of a big string of coincidences, really, because as as a kid myself, you know, I, you know, I started to fell in love with policy and politics at a younger age, I think, especially during high school when I started to get involved with local elections or even just presidential elections.

And in fact, when I went to college, a high school in my junior year, I was elected class treasurer as sort of a way to build up my political expertise.

And originally, when I decided to go into politics, I was hoping for maybe a congressional run in 2030 when I was 25 years old.

But then I saw that this vacancy was announced, and I saw I was within the window.

So I decided to throw my hat in the ring and put my ideas out.

And here we are.

Okay, what an interesting path to politics.

Danielle, let's move to you.

Yeah.

No, of course, this is actually a longer process, you know, to to become the Democratic nominee.

And there were two routes to, to take essentially there were two steps and processes here.

So first, because Senator Kidani was a Democrat, you had to go through an appointment process.

And so we went through that.

That took about two months.

So from her announcement in June 20th and her retirement on June 30th, we went through a rigorous party process within the Democratic Party, and I was appointed on August 9th, a Sunday, at 650 in the morning.

So it was very it was very long and then very sudden.

And so we've been hitting the ground running.

And actually what was very different in this situation, situation was I was serving as the state senator of the district, as the appointed state senator from August 9th.

And we had to go to the through a second process in the democratic process in the Democratic Party to become the nominee.

So it was open to all Democrats within the Senate district.

They could apply similarly to the appointment process.

And the Senate District Council for the Democratic Party also voted again.

And so that was announced, I believe the vote was August 22nd.

So there were these two processes.

It was a bit confusing, but there was a lot of publicity on that.

And we filed our paperwork with the Office of Elections on August 31st.

So there was a brief time where I was just a state senator and not a politician or a candidate necessarily, and now we're a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination, and we've just been hitting the ground running.

So that's been the experience so far.

Okay.

Everyone's unique.

I know I was just and my story is completely different, but I couldn't I just want to say I believe this younger generation getting involved is so critical.

So I'm glad that you're here.

But my story is completely different.

I again, a special election in a hotel executive and the timing of this actually was amazing.

My son had just graduated from college at Utah Tech University.

My daughter had just got into a private school here on Oʻahu, and so the timing for me personally worked out, but I was honored actually.

I read in a special election in 2020 and came in at I got 47% of the vote.

So politics has always been an innate kind of in my DNA, and I've always been very in tune into our community and policy.

And so when this opportunity came, I was actually very honored and humbled to step up to the calling and believe with my experience and as a working mother, that I could make a difference in central Oʻahu.

Yeah.

Well, let me stay with you for a second and we'll go around the table.

What do you see as the biggest issue facing this district?

It is such an interesting district because you have AG, you have a lot of suburban, but you have big shopping centers and a lot of small businesses.

So it's a very diverse part of Oʻahu.

What do you see as the biggest issue facing?

You know, and I, I humbly want also, you know, Senator Kidani was such a she holds such a legacy in the community.

I mean, when we door knock everybody knows Senator Kidani and I, I truly want to carry on her torch from an education standpoint.

She rallied for the teacher pay raises a did a lot again in the education world.

But I truly am concerned for the the economic state of where we are.

I am concerned that our jobs are declining here on the islands.

Again, coming from the number one industry and tourism.

Tourism is flat, in fact declining year over year.

Majority of our incoming travelers are domestic.

They're not international, which usually spends more is a much more kind of well-versed traveler.

So using my experience again within the private sector.

The number one industry, I would like to bring that into the legislature and use those best practices.

Okay.

Focusing on the economy there.

Danielle, what about you?

What do you see as the biggest issue facing the difference?

Yes.

No.

And thank you for the acknowledgment for Sarah Kidani.

She's she's been just I agree with all of that.

She has just been such a legacy and a champion for all of Central Oʻahu, Mila, Lani all the way through Kuna.

And I mean, gosh, I'm just she is she has big shoes that we all need to fill, right?

For millennia in Central Oʻahu.

So yes.

No, actually, to your question, I've served as a neighborhood board chair for Mililani Pio for 19 years, as you mentioned, not the chair, but on the board for 19 years and as chair for five.

So what we've heard so far has been really affordability with gas prices.

I mean, with gas is being $5 a gallon, for goodness sakes, energy prices.

You know, while we're experiencing rolling blackouts and blackouts and some infrastructure reliability with our grid, right.

We're seeing a lot of affordability challenges with housing, right?

Even though so much of this district is built out right.

You know, when you're looking at these smaller communities in suburban communities, they're really built out.

And that's why, you know, we're pushing initiatives like the teacher housing workforce or workforce housing project in Mililani High School, where we're using state resources and state land to help our teachers and our Doe educators, as well as staff to be able to move in to that teacher workforce housing project in 2029.

So these are the issues that we've been hearing at the millennium IPO, Neighborhood Board.

And as well as door knocking, public safety is a big number two, right.

Crime in Mililani has been a, you know, just really prevalent in our news media.

It's actually been decreasing.

But we've been seeing that there's been a lot of concern generated when we're dancing.

Right.

And when we're listening to our constituents that, you know, there's just been concerns.

There was a recent drug raid in Milan, which is actually a good thing when you think about it.

Right, because that's enforcing and getting rid of a drug home within Mililani.

Right.

There was a recent shooting in Mililani down in Makapipipi right.

There was an arson, you know, not too long ago, three years ago.

So public safety, I would say, is is second to affordability.

And these are the paramount issues that we're seeing in our district.

Yeah.

Thank you for that.

Max.

What do you see as the biggest issue facing the district?

I mean, that's hard to question to answer because there's so much of it, you know, and I like to add on to like what you said about affordability, because it's definitely a big problem, especially for someone like me who only gets makes $16 an hour, like when I have to pay like $30 for gas every week is a bit of a struggle, of course, especially with rent, because it's like it's hard for me to afford a house because like, average rent is like over $1,000 a month.

And, you know, I'm only making that every paycheck.

That's like, it's it's a rough world, you know.

What do you think that the lawmakers could do if you if you were given this opportunity?

What do you think specifically they could do to address some of those concerns?

Well, I think with housing especially, I think the key answer there is abundance, because I heard of what they call an abundance policy, which is that the reason that it's so high is because there's such a short supply and yet very high demand.

And as the rules of supply and demand go, when demand is high, but supply is low, high prices.

So we need to focus on building more and also doing it responsibly.

And part of that is also with the zoning laws.

Now I understand that it's a it's a city council issue, so we can't have a direct impact on it.

But what we can do is work with them to make the laws more reasonable, to build a, say, high density zoning.

We should evolve that more so that more people can be moved in with less land being taken out.

Because I understand we're on an island and, you know, we have to of course, make a and I actually I absolutely agree with all the points that and I think one other thing that we are missing is government transparency.

One of the things that I've been hearing consistently in the district is government transparency.

It's a it's a one party system.

There's not enough solutions, practical solutions.

You know, again, Senator Kadani was in office for 20 plus years.

But having a fresh perspective is really what the district is looking for.

Okay.

Let's get to this question.

How do candidates and thank you.

For those of you who are writing in tonight, we appreciate the engagement.

Eric wants to know how do the candidates feel about allowing a form of gambling in Hawaiʻi to help bring in revenue to the state?

This is something that has been talked about for years, and any number of forums, whether it's sports betting going all the way to an actual casino somewhere on the island.

We'll start with you, Danielle.

What are your thoughts?

Yeah, those are questions that we're actually hearing very actively in this, in this race already I've been having interviews as well as when I'm interacting with constituents.

And so, you know, in our community, right?

So many of our constituents actually fly to Vegas.

Right.

Nice island.

Right.

And so, you know, it is a great opportunity where we can actually retain revenue here in the state of Hawaiʻi.

And we're not losing that revenue to Nevada to Las Vegas.

So I would say, you know, I'm open to that.

You know, as a gambling in Hawaiʻi, I would think that it's not fitting for Senate District 18.

I don't think that's conforming.

We're talking about zoning.

I'm an urban planner.

Right.

So, you know, I don't think that's conforming when we're thinking about residential neighborhoods of white people Ridge Village Park, Waikīkī, Crestview, Seaview and Kuna.

Right.

These are these are very suburban households.

And so maybe a gambling casino is not appropriate for that district.

And actually that's actually come up.

I don't know if it's come up with you folks, but it's come up of do we want a casino in our district?

So I think that's a no.

But, you know, let's be open to the idea of Waikīkī, possibly, you know, the Aloha Stadium and the redevelopment over there with the NASA development proposed or even, you know, maybe offshore, you know, through one of those cruise ships where we could do it, we could have one casino, have a pilot project and not lose revenue to Las Vegas.

What do you think I would yeah, I'm a little concerned in regards to gambling when you look at it.

You know, I've spoken to, for example, Native American reservations that do have gambling with gambling does come a public safety issue.

You know, we have perhaps drugs, we have trafficking issues, we have a legal activity we have embezzled.

So I think we really need to look at the issue, not as just a revenue generating source, but also an opportunity for our state.

Absolutely.

Again, I'm all about revenue generation.

But looking at like the downside of the impact that it could have in our local communities.

So I do believe that it should certainly not be in a residential area.

Aloha Stadium, I do believe, would be a great kind of entertainment, kind of a Las Vegas, you know, 2.0 in, in Hawaiʻi.

But it needs to be regulated.

It needs to have enforcement.

It needs to have very, very strict, sort of policies and guidelines.

But I am concerned for public safety, especially on these islands being that other, again, Native American territories or have experienced a negative impact even though there are revenues generating.

Yeah.

What are your thoughts on gambling, Max?

I definitely see myself supporting it, like mostly through the lens of like every time I watch the news, like at least once a month, I see news about HPD seizing a gambling house that tells me there's a lot of demand for gambling, even though there's an easy way to do it.

And so I definitely see a way we can legalize it.

But I also agree to your point about doing it right and doing it thoughtfully, because there is definitely concerns about it.

But me, myself, I think it would be a good idea to at least start the idea of legalizing it, but we definitely should take our time with it to make sure that it's done right.

Okay, you know, enforcement's a real problem.

I was talking to a white Kelly resident who is a retired HPD officer, and she was telling me that she actually worked against, you know, residential gambling, you know, these illegal gaming homes, you know, in various residential areas.

Thankfully, it wasn't in a district 18.

Right.

So but that was her work, you know, for for years in her PD and what and the story she shared was they would go in, they would do all this recon, they do all this work, right.

And and finally be able to raid that home and within, you know, after months of just residence in the neighborhood complaining and complaining about high traffic, illegal activity, right?

Guns, drugs, you know, late nights, loud noises, all of it.

And after they did the raid.

Right, the folks in that in those homes would actually come back and bring back the gaming.

They bring back the TVs, they bring back the computers.

And so I agree that we really need to increase the enforcement.

Right.

But I think that while we're seeing this with illegal gaming activity, this is why we need to have an offset with legalized gaming in a special district area like the Aloha Stadium entertainment district in Waikīkī, okay, or even possibly Kapolei to.

Yeah, we've got quite a few questions coming in, so let's try to get to as many of these as love it.

Bring it on, Kelly.

Let's lead off with you some central or who residents support rail while others oppose.

Obviously we know rail is not in the district, but what is your stance on rail and why?

Well, it's interesting.

When I ran for city council in 2018, I was very concerned with the cost.

I propose an audit.

I am a proud Holo Holo card member and so I do love to ride the rail.

It is a beautiful vantage point, so if anybody has ever not rode the rail, I highly encourage it's to see the farms and the green and the I know from such a vantage point is absolutely beautiful.

I agree.

Yeah, I am concerned at the cost.

So when you look at the actual project itself, right, we're severely delayed.

The cost going into this project is not the construction cost.

These are administrative costs.

They're litigation costs there.

What was I say, a change order cost.

So I would love to, you know, if, if, if and when elected really audit the heart spending because this is not about contract or excuse me, the construction.

This is not about jobs.

I would also like to see it perhaps expand.

I think it's an opportunity for us to bridge West Oʻahu to UAH, West Oʻahu to Waikīkī, West Oʻahu to other parts of the island, or even perhaps even North Shore.

So I am a huge proponent for rail.

However, I would like to see and look at and audit the books because I do not believe the spending is being appropriately spent.

Danielle.

Strong support of rail actually, you know, of course.

Right.

We always need accountability when we come to public financing.

So we need to make sure that these that these monies are going directly to the build and construction and the the future construction, the operation and maintenance of rail, as well as the workers who keep it running.

Right.

And so you know it, Kelly reminded me of a of a quote Senator Kidani actually said multiple times, especially on the Senate floor, is that we put three pukas in the mountains.

She actually yelled this into on the Senate floor, you know, when she voted to approve the the get tax on on rail, we put three pukas in the in the laws.

Right.

The people of central West who definitely need rail.

And I'm a firm believer of that.

As neighborhood board chair, our neighborhood board of millennium IPO has strongly supported rail, in fact, to the point that, you know, when the city and county took away the park and ride facility that was promised to our district right when that vote was made by, you know, the people, right?

Our district was promised that we would have a park and ride facility right next to Pearl Highlands station.

We'd have a dedicated on and off, on and off ramp access from H2, and that would benefit the people of Seaview, Crestview, Gentry and Mililani.

So that's been deleted.

That was deleted about 3 or 4 years ago.

And our white neighborhood board on behalf of this district was largely oppositional to that.

And we communicated that to then Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, who is the heart chair.

And so, you know, I'm thankful that the mayor and that heart, as well as DTS, are very familiar with our district's position.

I am a strong proponent that we need to bring back that park and ride facility with a money with extended monies to rail, so that our district, which was promised access to rail, will get access to rail through a park and ride at the Pearl Highlands station.

What are your thoughts, Max?

What are your thoughts on rail?

Well, I definitely agree.

We need more of it because, you know, I visited Japan several years ago and I remember being in Marvel almost of their subway system, and I was like, man, why doesn't America have anything like this?

So, like, you know, rail is a good first step to that.

And, you know, we definitely need more of it.

But people are frustrated with how long it's taken because rail was first proposed to correct me if I'm wrong, I think it was like 2000, 2008, 2008.

Yeah, yeah.

Dated technology for sure.

Yeah.

And plus they're now saying it'll be 2038 by the time it's done, which is like ten years overdue.

So it's kind of like what's going on.

So like we definitely need to take more accountability as to one where the money is going and also why it's taking so long to approve the construction.

And because if we expand it, we can not only expand it to other residents, as you said, with our district, with the park and pay, because we definitely need that.

But like we also just because if we're going to lessen traffic on the H-1, which we can all agree is a good thing, we need to expand our services.

Okay, let's get to some more of these.

And Maxwell, stick with you for this one.

I'm a resident and a what are the candidates opinions about the recently passed HB 1804?

And for those who are not familiar, including myself, establishing a commission to research and make recommendations on long term care financing, we know that this district in particular has quite a few.

Although that is of course, the case for all of Hawaiʻi.

What are your thoughts about recommendations for perhaps some state sponsored long term care financing?

I would I would definitely say that is a good thing, because we need to make sure that our kūpuna are getting all the benefits that they deserve, because after all, they've been paying their whole lives into the system.

And, you know, and as someone from the younger generation who may not see those benefits when they reach retirement, you know, I'm deeply concerned with that.

And I want to make sure that not only my gen but, you know, the current gen and the next gen will have their benefits.

So I definitely agree we do need more oversight.

But I think what we also need is just more, legislature to make sure that our benefits are secure and that our government can't touch them, like the way Social Security is.

Okay.

What are your thoughts on perhaps some long, long term care financing?

Well, I think that that's great.

I think right now, you know, especially with this federal administration, we're seeing so many cutbacks right from nationally.

Right.

We're seeing cutbacks in social, you know, or even conversations about cutbacks in Social Security, Medicare.

Right.

We saw just last year with the federal government shutdown that people didn't even get their paychecks while they were serving in our armed forces.

Right.

And so there's been so many cutbacks that we've been seeing at the national level, you know, from from the president and from Congress, right, that we need to have that safety net here in Hawaiʻi.

We need to make sure we're taking care of our people, our kūpuna, as well, and just make sure that, you know, these benefits, these financing, this financing for our our elders and us in our future is actually there for our futures, right?

That, you know, when we put into systems, we actually get that back, right?

And not get it to Max's point.

It's not cut by governments, especially the federal government.

Yeah.

Okay.

What are your thoughts?

Yeah I mean absolutely agree.

I mean, I kūpuna again as a native Hawaiian woman, I mean kūpuna is our our legacy.

It's, you know, who we learn from and traditions are passed down but absolutely support long term care.

And I believe in this role again you know it's we drive so much policy.

We create so much policy.

But I also think it's about removing regulations.

So it's like how do we even get to this point where our kūpuna are not even taken care of?

I mean, the fact that we're even having this discussion that we have to build a bill to take care of our kūpuna, I think is unacceptable.

And that is not even non-negotiable.

But I believe in absolutely taking care of our kūpuna and removing more and more red tape, if there ever were, and if ever there were national or federal cuts to this, especially from a Native Hawaiian standpoint.

As a senator, I would fight for more funds at a state level to make sure that this is funded.

Okay.

You brought up your ancestry, so I'll lead you on this one.

Kimo in Kunia says, do you support providing additional funds to the native to the Department of Health and Homelands to get more Native Hawaiians on their land?

Why or why not?

We do know that two sessions ago it might be three.

Now, there was a large payout to Department of Hawaiian Homelands to really boost the amount of people to get off of Da list, and there's been a huge boom in what they've been able to do in terms of clearing that list, but still so many to go.

So what are your thoughts on additional funding?

That was Kimo you said is, well, thank you for that question.

I mean, if we had an hour, I would love this is a very passionate topic for us.

You know, Jonah Kūhiō was the first Republican congressman for the state of Hawaiʻi after the illegal overthrow of Hawaiʻi.

And, you know, he started the Department of Hawaiian Homelands.

And I am disheartened.

I am sad that families have waited and have died on the list.

And so we're moving in the right direction.

But right now, we're still handing out paper leases.

This is not like, hey, here's your permit and start building.

It is a very slow it is a very unacceptable process.

So I would love to have those very candid conversations with DHL and hold them accountable because they are getting the funding.

Hawaiians are still on the list waiting and they're getting paper, not permits, but just paper promises.

Promises don't equal housing.

So I would, again, as your senator, be very upfront and having those very candid excuse me conversations to hold them accountable.

What are your thoughts for Kimo tonight I agree.

You know, I mean, this goes back to promises.

We're talking a lot about promises tonight, right?

Where government made a promise, right?

In the case of rail, there was a promise by the city.

It was taken away in the case of DHHL and native Hawaiian homelands.

For the people of Hawai'i, especially our native Hawaiian, our native Hawaiian ancestors and current, you know, native Hawaiians in Hawaiʻi.

They were promised for so long from Congressman, Jonah Kūhiō.

And so I just think that, you know, the federal government needs to continue to finance these promises made, as well as the state of Hawaiʻi needs to follow through as well.

I strongly support DHHL providing housing and the legislature providing additional funding to this.

We need to continue to support our Native Hawaiian community, and I think that our federal government needs to follow through as well.

Okay.

What are your thoughts about expanding funding for DHHL?

I definitely agree with that.

And I would also like to add, I know the legislature made this notion, I believe it was a few years ago about the potential of naming a piece of land as an official reservation for the Native Hawaiians, and I am curious to see if that would help with the problem, because if they have their own like sort of self-governance, then maybe it would help to bring the issues more to light and also to have give them more power in a sense, to make good on these promises and to keep them, keep them coming for the future generations.

So I would be I would open up discussion to that.

I just had one last comment.

The policy that we're currently working off of was created in the 1970s.

It is a very outdated policy.

So the fact that we are still operating on a 1970s policy in 2026, I think is very irresponsible.

And again, as someone in government, as your senator, this policy needs to change and we need to get those calculations up to par up to 2026.

Actual projections.

You know, we've been talking about the diversity of the district, and there's a viewer here asking about agriculture.

Danielle, if you would lead us up on this one.

This is from Verna, who says there's agriculture in this district.

What would the candidates do to maintain that element and not lose more farming land to development?

We also know that there's a lot of housing that has been stood up in that area.

So there is that tension.

Of course we need housing.

We also need our ag land.

So how do you balance that?

Yes.

No, I think that's that is the story of Senate District 18, right.

It's always it's you know, it was agricultural land.

And you know, over time since the 60s up until now, right, there's been development Mililani, Waipiʻo Gentry, Coral Ridge, Waikele, Crestview, Seaview, Wright, Phillips Park and even Royal Kunia.

And there's even proposals that are, you know, that were approved by the Land Use Commission for Royal Kunia phase two.

Right.

And when you go across the street and when you're on Kunia road, right, you see nothing but again, and it's beautiful.

And so, you know, when I've served as the state sustainability coordinator for nine years now and, you know, actually that's actually one of the things I'm most enjoy about working in this district as the state senator for district 18 is because I have strong relationships with the agriculture community.

I've been working with them, advocating for them.

Our state legislature has been pushing for food security in the state of Hawaiʻi.

There's so many laws in terms of, you know, having 30% of local food in our day as well as, you know, just making sure that, you know, so many of our departments meet benchmarks between 2025 to 2050 to ultimately procure and purchase right, local food along the way.

And so, you know, I was just out in our agriculture community in Kenya yesterday all day, and I was so thrilled to be there.

Right.

We're seeing really exciting work in terms of when I was down at the Hawaiʻi Agricultural Research Center.

And so there's some exciting work in camelina over there.

As for biofuels in the future of biofuels, and I just visited the Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau as well up there.

And so we got briefing into how we can better support agriculture, right?

When we know that agriculture needs water.

And when you look at Kuna, they need water.

And so that's one of my, my, my actual priorities as state senator is to bring a water line down that way and work with our utilities, work with our CIP to so that we can actually have water resources to Kuna, and we can have fire hydrants in Kunio.

What a concept, right?

There has been extensive amount of fire in that undeveloped land in Kenya, and that's because we don't have those water resources for our farmers.

So I strongly support actually protecting that Kuna ag land that's just westward of Kunia Road.

And I think when to your question about housing, we need to actually reallocate housing, you know, to what Max actually said, work on high density issues, specifically transit oriented development along the rail line when we're thinking about Kapolei East, Kapolei, Waipahu, Pearl city, ʻĀiea.

So these are opportunities where we can develop housing along the transit oriented development line along the rail.

And we can protect that ag land so we can hit our food security goals for the state of Hawaiʻi.

Okay, Max, what are your thoughts?

How do we maintain the element of AG while not losing more farming land to development?

That's Vernon's question tonight.

I think the answer there is all about balance, because we, as you said, we definitely need to find out where we can build houses to lower costs, but also make sure that we have the land that is necessary to grow our food.

And growing more food is honestly best for the state, because if we have to rely on, imports for most of our food, you know, that's just that's just not a very good way to live.

Because if anything were to happen, it could only take a couple of weeks to for all of us to be starving.

So we definitely need to lessen our dependance on at least imports on food.

So really it's just finding that healthy balance and just, you know, using the right agencies to do the studies necessary to find out how much houses we need to build by also maintaining our food dependency.

Okay.

What are your thoughts?

I was just curious.

So you said that we had a food security goal of 2030.

Where are we pacing?

Are we on track or are we behind the curve or where are you still has to give out their report.

And so that might be at the end of this year.

We'll find out soon.

But so are we looking at 30%.

Are we like are we losing a lot of.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So the law actually requires that by 2030 the duo needs to procure 30% of local food on our, you know, students meal plans and whatnot.

So so we're not at 30% yet, right?

Because it's 2026.

They're still working on it, but by 2030 they need to hit 30%.

So I'm sure the Doe will still, you know, provide reporting on that.

Yeah.

So I think it's an accountability issue.

I mean I love having a I'm all about a target and a goal.

But you know, having an actual accountability, making sure we're hitting that goal, I believe that there is this this newer generation, there's a resurgence of farmers and this love of land, this love of ʻāina.

I mean, again, as a native Hawaiians, I know we lived off of our land.

And, you know, how do we just bring that concept back?

I'm so incredibly humbled and proud to be a board member of Ulua, which is a Hawaiian learning center in Kapolei.

And we're teaching the young keiki of West Oʻahu again how to fish, how to hunt, how to again live off the land.

But I do believe there's cohorts out there with, you know, grow farm.

We should have incentives.

I love the pilot program with the school lunches, but I do feel that we definitely cannot rely 80% of on imports.

I mean, that's just again, in this we lived off the land for many, many years and we really diverted from that.

So, agriculture and is a huge opportunity.

Farming enterprising is a huge opportunity, especially from a revenue standpoint for even export as well.

I know each of you bring your own strengths, and so this viewer is kind of tapping into what your particular interest is and what your strength would be at the ledge, asking resident here, if elected, what committees would each candidate like to serve on and why?

I know that you don't necessarily get to serve on the committee that you want to.

Those are assignments, not necessarily.

Don't just raise your hand, but in a perfect world, if you were able to choose for yourself.

Kelly, you know, I know you're from hospitality.

So I'm adding something, of course.

Right.

I mean, take a while.

Yes.

You know.

Yeah.

But let's start with you.

What committees would you like to serve on and why?

Absolutely.

You know, I well, first I do fiscal responsibility is very high on my priority list.

And so I would love to sit on the I do believe coming from an executive position.

My role as a general manager, prior to this, I was managing a resort of 257 rooms, 75 associates on 23 acres with a PNL that had revenues and expenses.

And so I think we really need to take a deep dive into our our budget, line by line, looking at ways to perhaps eliminate or cuts and then looking at diversifying our revenue.

So coming from tourism, I do believe that I have a special and a very, very good pulse on market trends and how we can get creative.

I'm saddened to learn that HTA was not funded adequately, especially looking at our numbers year over year are declining.

Mexico is spending hundreds of million dollars of advertising to get visitors to their destination.

I do believe they're underfunded, so I would love to fund HTA because if we're not marketing to the right customer, we're not supporting then hotels and then local businesses.

And, you know, the trickle down.

At the end of the day, we have to remember tourism is 80% of our economy.

It's not going anywhere anytime soon.

So we need to create that base and we need to make sure it's funded.

So I would love to sit on WAM anything related to Native Hawaiian issues and anything related to tourism.

Okay, Danielle, how about you?

What are your interests and why?

Yes, Wham!

I mean, we're already, you know, is already benefiting that the WAM chair is, you know, a colleague as Senator Dela Cruz who also represents Mililani.

And so I would love to serve on web as well because we're seeing so much, so many resources come to this district, especially when it comes to, you know, the value added product center in central.

Oʻahu, right.

A lot of financing coming from the Senate into Central Oʻahu, especially when we're talking about food security and Central and Kuna farmlands and food production.

And so we're seeing pilot programs at Melanie High School, you know, in terms of how they're partnering with high school and, you know, making sure that we can meet these 30% goals by 2030 and getting that local food.

So I think that we're seeing a lot of this funding coming already in to the district.

You know, we've had wonderful champions with Senator Dela Cruz as well as Senator Kidani, both serving on Wham.

So I find it to be a natural next step to serve on when and continue that long legacy of bringing money back to Central Oʻahu, especially when we have this teacher workforce housing project, which is the first in the state.

Right.

And so now the next step is to finance that, right.

We already cleared the finance, the final environmental assessment that was finished just, you know, earlier this spring.

And so now they're going into the permitting with the city and they need the funding to start building.

Construction is scheduled to be 2027.

So we need more state money to come to Mililani and Central Oʻahu when we're not.

You know, I guess after Wham!

I love infrastructure.

I'm an urban planner, right?

I love, you know, the balance of sustainability and development.

I love actually figuring out how we achieve energy security and food security because we're islands in the middle of the Pacific.

We're extremely vulnerable, as we learned with the two hurricanes.

And so we need, you know, of course, to finance these resources, but we need to actually build them too.

So I'm very interested in serving on transportation as well.

And, you know, open to agriculture and energy.

These are my strengths.

I love I love just bringing back and fighting for our community.

That's something I've been doing as neighborhood board chair for all these years.

And on the neighborhood board is what I've been doing here in the state Senate so far is just fighting for our community, for our constituents.

We've been calling our office.

So I think we need to strengthen our infrastructure and we need to finance it.

Okay, Max, what about you?

What committees would you want to be on and why?

I mean, that's tricky because, like, I have so many different interests because, like, you know, when I talk to people, like, I always present myself as the ideas candidate because it's really just hearing what ideas they have.

And then if, if I agree with them, you know, I bring them into my campaign because, you know, really it's about what they want done, you know, and it's like, you know, as far as my policies are concerned, like, I know my two biggest ones are on taxes and energy.

So I would definitely see myself on budget or energy.

But, you know, I also have a keen interest in transportation, as you said.

So I wouldn't mind serving on that as well.

And or if anything, like on technology too, because AI is definitely a concern for me, and especially with how it's beans, it seems to be implemented like way quicker than we're even have time to process, like what it's going to like.

I think we need to take like more accountability to it.

So I would say my top two would be a budget and energy.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

What's interesting of course, you know, we referenced at the top that this is the sort of a special circumstance and a different kind of election.

And so there are arguments, I think, for each of you in terms of the party you represent.

And so I'm curious to know, you know, you did mention that you feel like there should be a diversity of voices.

And I know that there is also an argument to be made for being part of, you know, the larger majority.

So I would love to hear.

And then, of course, there's the independent voice.

So I would love to hear from each of you about why, you know, electing you as also a representative of your party would be good for the for the voters.

Danielle, we'll start with you.

My goodness.

Well, because I'm born and raised in the district, right?

I mean, my family has strong, deep roots and and white people.

And that goes not just to my own family, but my husband's family as well.

And so, you know, we've we are a strong family of public servants and veterans and military.

And so, you know, we've always been serving that's the that's actually the mentality I grew up with.

And that's why I've been in public service for over 21 years, right, in the legislature and the executive branch.

So to me this is less about Partizan activities, you know, I mean, I, of course, vote Democratic, but I don't believe this isn't really too much about party.

This to me is about serving my home community.

I've always been doing that, you know, and in the state government, I've been serving Central Oʻahu and in central Oʻahu.

Right.

19 years on the neighborhood board, I've served in school community council, on the millennial lions in our churches.

And so to me, this is just natural, right?

This isn't about partizan issues.

This is about serving community, serving the people that raised me and just really just fighting for them and making sure that we have the resources coming back to our district, because that's the job.

Okay.

Kelly, what are your thoughts?

I think as a conservative, I mean, I, I'm whenever I talk to a group of people, I'm like, raise your hand if you want higher taxes, no hands raised.

Raise your hand if you want more regulations.

No one's.

So I have a very, you know, fiscally responsible conservative view.

I do believe in the family foundation as well.

And so that's where no party is perfect.

I mean, on any of our sides, I mean, this is again, we're all human.

But I do believe I'm an interesting kind of a hybrid candidate in the sense that I'm coming from the private sector.

I'm not a bureaucrat, I'm not a lifelong government employee.

But I am relatable.

I am a mother of two.

Like I understand the struggles of Hawaiʻi middle class families.

Like I have a child that's 22 years old that's driving from college.

He's still on the continent.

He does not plan to come home because there's no opportunity.

I have a teenage daughter who is in multi-sports.

We have to commute every day in.

If you think about it, one hour in, one hour out, that's ten hours on the road.

And so I empathize, and I 100% feel the compassion of the middle class families in Central Oʻahu.

I understand that, and as a working mother again in the private sector, I look forward to bringing that skill set into the legislature.

So I believe that I'm relatable, but I also bring hands on practical solutions into the legislature as well.

Okay.

And Max, as someone who is not part of either either dominant party, you know, what's the argument for that independent voice, do you think?

Well, I mean, I'm basically Ross Perot.

Really?

How am I like I think the best way to I'm really enjoying.

Yeah, I think the best I think the best way to describe where I lean politically is like when it comes to fiscal issues, I would say I lean more conservative in the way that taxes and government should be run, but socially, I lean more liberal because I do understand a woman's right to choose, for example.

And I'm very pro-union.

In fact, my father is in a union, and because of that, we live as good of a life as we do.

And I'm very proud of that.

So like, you know, really it's just I'm really a voice of people who see the Partizan politics and see that like, no matter what side they're on, they really tend to do the same thing and not really deliver, and they're frustrated by it.

And, you know, I hope to be the voice of someone that says, well, you know, they may not be in it, but I'm in it and I will not, like, quit when they come after me, because I will keep talking about the issues that I believe are important.

And no matter how much pressure they put on me, I'm still going to advocate for it.

Okay, I want to ask all of you this is a question from Michael and Michael.

Thank you for bringing this up.

What ideas do the candidates have about approving transparency and ethical practices in the legislature?

Also, did they support term limits for legislators?

Obviously, we have our lieutenant governor who has stepped down and is under investigation.

There are a lot of calls for more campaign spending restrictions.

And really, you know, a lot of people who are very disappointed in what has happened with the lieutenant governor's office and all that we've seen in the months since.

So what are your thoughts about improving transparency and ethical practices in the legislature?

And just a yes or no on whether you support term limits?

Well, and in regards to the first one, I think the bigger issue is just the fact that money is so involved in politics because as we've seen, the effects of Citizens United, and I think we can agree that it's had detrimental effect because it makes politicians focus more on the special interests rather than the voice of the people.

I think if we can limit that to some degree, that would go a long way.

And as far as your second question, I'm personally not in favor of term limits.

Only because government is has a way is supposed to be slow, because the way our government works is so that good laws.

I heard us saying is that good laws take time and bad laws die.

And it's because of the process of it all.

And I agree with that.

So if we have term limits, it kind of limits a person's opportunity to get an issue out given just because it takes years usually to get the thing to law.

So and I think instead of term limits we should at least have age limits.

So like let's say once you reach retirement age or age 70 you're no longer eligible to run.

So like you would serve out your term and then you leave.

Okay.

As a young person on the candidate, I can I can see why you thank you for that.

What do you say to Michael tonight, Kelly, about the idea of.

Yeah, I think that's a that's a great question because I said as I walk the district again, transparency is I would probably say, you know, the third on the list of but right now we have a very imbalanced government, right.

Our legislature the minority is maybe 2 or 3 compared to in the Senate.

Right.

20 I'm sorry, 2 or 3 legislators to 23.

That is not a balance.

I do believe that I have a unique servant hearted ability to create relationships, and I think that's going to be critically important when you are drafting bills and crafting bills to create that relationship and, and, and have those dialogs across the aisle.

And so I actually think there's a lack of transparency.

And we've been under a one party system for way too long.

So now is the time for change.

I do believe that Central Oʻahu, looking at the data, runs very conservative and that they are ready for a fresh perspective in regards to term limits.

I absolutely agree there should be term limits.

I have a solution.

Again, I come from the private sector.

Government may run slow, but we don't have to be okay with the status quo.

Okay.

And what are your thoughts?

Transparency.

Yeah.

I mean, you know what?

It just makes sense, right?

So having served on neighborhood board for so long, right.

For 19 years, that's actually subject to sunshine law.

Everything is transparent, right?

And so our city councils are transparent right through that law.

And so I don't know, it just makes sense to me.

I'm I'm used to transparency, you know, operating from the neighborhood board system and operating from the city and county level as well as being in the state government.

Right.

You know, I mean, everyone is, you know, putting in requests and whatnot.

So I feel like transparency is just a natural thing for me.

And in terms of ethics, I mean, absolutely, we need so many.

We need strong ethics laws.

You know, I come from a family of military service and veterans and public servants.

And so these people, you know, when we think about public servants in Hawaiʻi, these are people dedicating their livelihoods to the general public of of Hawaiʻi.

And so, you know, it's really to uplift government, uplift services.

And so we need to ensure that those ethics, you know, are maintained and, yes, brought into the state capital.

So strong support of transparency, strong support of ethics.

And in terms of term limits, I actually agree with you, Max, because, you know, when you think about it, it really comes down to what is that number, right?

So if it's going to be, you know, two terms, right.

You know, and for what, four years or whatnot or 2 or 6 years, you have problems in terms of executing the law.

You actually passed, you know.

And so I'm thinking about that teacher workforce housing project, for example, you know, that took years.

That was years ago.

The legislature approved it.

Right.

And it's been it's been taking years to get it through the community.

Right.

Get it through, you know, permitting and getting it through the city and county to then get it financed.

Right.

So that's taken five years just to get it, you know, starting to build.

And so when we think about term limits, you know, I can appreciate the concern there because I have concerns about people serving too long.

You know, I agree with you.

I'm a millennial, right.

There have been too many politicians serving too long, especially in Congress.

Right.

And I think that that's what we're all having as a conversation in the midterm elections in Congress.

Right.

And so, you know, I'm open to the conversation about term limits.

I'm actually pretty concerned about what that number is.

And, you know, I think where I'm coming from on that is to make sure, right, if you're going to be advocating and championing, you know, funding to the district, you want to see that through, right?

And you want to be there to nurture and take care of that project or law that you've just fought so hard to execute.

Yeah.

Okay.

We are almost out of time, but I want to get to a few more of these, so let's try to power through them.

And this is an interesting sort of biographical question, and I'm curious to see how each of you sort of will take this on.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of working at the Hawaiʻi capital other than Miss short Appointment?

We'll start with you.

Yes, I actually worked in the Hawaiʻi State Capitol since from 2005 until 2017.

So I actually started after I left Air Force ROTC and began the graveyard shift in the Hawaiʻi Clerk's office, and was and worked there for about two years, and then worked in the Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives as an office manager.

From 2007 to 2017.

We managed five committees from tourism, Consumer Protection and Commerce, health, transportation and Water and land.

So I have a lot of experience at the Capitol and then in the executive branch nine years there.

So that totals my 21 years of service.

And I'm very familiar with the Hawaiʻi state capital.

Okay.

So I have clearly have not been at the Capitol.

I, I am concerned I mean, going back to term limits, I mean, the longer you're in there, I mean, I think we're also normalizing corruption in a very unfortunate way.

And, you know, Hawaiʻi I think is ranked the nose number one corrupt state in the US.

And I think that is highly embarrassing.

But what I think, again, I am bringing to this position is that again, I'm coming from the private sector, the tour tourism industry, our number one industry in Hawaiʻi that with executive experience managing people, managing teams, understanding a budget, understanding market trends, understanding where the revenue can come from that is going to be a different perspective.

Again, I am not I don't I don't even plan on being in this role for lifelong.

You know, this is not where I definitely want to be, but I do feel that my skill set will bring a fresh perspective to the legislature.

And that's where my strengths come in.

Okay.

This is a question about experience.

Have you.

Do you have experience at the state Capitol at any in any way?

And if not, why is that perhaps a good thing?

Well, I think in a way, the way it is a good thing is that they don't they're not a part of the machine, so to speak, not to throw shade at anyone.

But, you know, it's in some ways it's good to be an outsider because you don't think of politics in a way of like, oh, if I support this vote, this, you know, this campaign will support me later on.

And instead they think of like, is this a good idea for my constituents?

And if so, how should I work with that?

Okay.

We just have a few minutes left before we get to a closing statement.

I would love, you know, we can read about your resumes online.

I'm sure your websites are full of all of your accolades and accomplishments, but what's one thing that you wish that the audience knew about you tonight?

Max, will start with you.

Well, I would say, you know, I've lived I've lived a pretty normal life to say, you know, I graduated Kapolei High in 2023.

I have worked at ever since then.

I've worked.

I worked in AV exchange for two years as a store worker.

And actually in 2025, I tried to go to the Citadel.

I don't know if you guys know what the Citadel is.

It's a military college because I wanted to serve.

Yes, but I after one semester, I came back home and I was actually in the hospital because it turned out I was going through DKA.

So it turns out I have type one diabetes, which, yeah, it's nice.

So I couldn't serve in the military.

So after that I dropped out.

And now I've just been back here and, you know, I've been kind of thinking of like what I should do with my life, you know, as far as, like what I really want to do.

And politics was kind of came back into my life in a sense.

And when this opportunity came up, that's when I thought, you know, this is the time to at least get my ideas out and see what the people think.

Okay.

Thank you.

Just one thing briefly about each course.

I would love to just share that I am.

I've always told my teams that I am a servant hearted leader, and what that means is I don't manage from the top down.

I don't really believe in titles.

I really believe that we service our associates or our community.

And so I have a servant hearted leader style.

I am open to always listening, to finding solutions, and to collaboratively working together to find and solving problems.

Okay.

And one thing you wish that the audience knew about you.

Oh my gosh, how much I love the art district.

And I think that that just goes back to my family and my upbringing and just working for the district in my community service, you know, Milan High grad.

So, you know, go, go public school.

Not 2023 though, but, you know, and I just I think with me.

Right.

I've always served our community and that's really my passion.

That's what's in my heart and that's what's in my now.

And that's why I'm here serving our community as a state senator since August 9th.

So I hope to continue to serve our district.

And you I've hit the ground running.

And, you know, I'm very accustomed to fighting for our district, and I'm going to continue to do that.

Okay.

We have less than two minutes, so not really time for a full closing statement, but just perhaps, you know, one sentence that you want to leave with us tonight.

And, Danielle, we'll start with you.

Oh my gosh.

Just, you know, mahalo for this opportunity.

I've actually never met Kelly and I've never met Max.

So this is just great that we're able to meet.

And, you know, just I'm very grateful for the district.

I'm grateful for Senator Kidani and her strong support.

Of course, Governor Green and his strong support.

Just mahalo.

And, you know, as I've been walking through the district and attending, you know, 26 events in the last month, you know, just so grateful to serve our district and hear, hear the positive responses we've been getting.

Okay.

Thank you Kelly.

I, I just want to say that I again, 100% empathize with the middle class families of Central Oʻahu as a working, hard working mother of two.

Again, my son just graduated from college is not going to return home.

We need to create more opportunities for someone like my son.

I want to establish amazing generational wealth for my daughter to even perhaps come home one day.

But I fully empathize, and I, I have 100% compassion with our district and wanting to bring that mother and that executive leadership into the Capitol.

Okay.

And, Max, you've got about 20s left for a final thought.

Well, I'll I'll say to the voter directly, you know, every election is important and you shouldn't waste it, you know, and you should do your research.

Think of what the candidates stand for and whether that's me or Senator Bass or Miss Kitashima.

You should vote your conscience.

Okay?

Thank you so much.

What a great way to end tonight.

Mahalo to you for joining us.

We do thank our guests.

Of course, the candidates for state Senate District 18, Democrat Danielle Bass, Republican Kelly Kitashima and nonpartisan candidate Max Hanna insights is off next week.

What do join us for Hawaii's town hall?

What does the future hold for Hawaiian culture, language and identity?

Hawaiians a new way forward.

That's next week on Kākou.

I'm Yunji de Nies for insights on PBS Hawaiʻi.

Until next week.

Aloha.

Insights on PBS Hawaiʻi is sponsored by Carlsmith Ball, Aloha State Daily, and the University of Hawai'i Cancer Center.