The Waihee Legacy II
Price of Paradise · Hawaii Public Radio · aired 1994-08-21
Guests: John Waihee (Governor of Hawaii)
Duration: 1:08:51

[00:00:01] Randall Roth: Aloha, this is Randy Roth, host of the Price of Paradise radio show. My guest today, Governor John Waihee is with us today as an encore. He was here several weeks ago, and our informal survey confirmed my own belief that it was a particularly interesting conversation. Unfortunately, the KHPR antenna was broken that day, and so our audience was unusually small. We had only 9 or 10 calls, mostly from folks who listen to KKUA on the neighbor islands. So we prevailed upon the governor to join us again. Governor Waihee, welcome again to the Price of Paradise radio show.
[00:00:35] John Waihee: Good morning and aloha.
[00:00:36] Randall Roth: And I hope that Chuck Friedman keeps the antenna up this time. You know, and I and I got his number this time, so if
[00:00:42] John Waihee: Yeah, I do too. I went and memorized it last night.
[00:00:44] Randall Roth: If we have any technical problems, we'll have him call your old buddy, Chuck. In getting ready for today's show, I asked your your communications director Carolyn Tanaka for some offbeat information, a few things that don't appear in the standard resume. And one of the things she provided was the fact that you were a small businessman in high school.
[00:01:02] John Waihee: Oh [unintelligible — audio glitch] yes. When I was in high school, I had this ambition to be uh to own my own used car lot, you know? Well, we went out and I got cars and I fixed them up and I resold them, and I
[00:01:13] Randall Roth: Make a lot of money?
[00:01:14] John Waihee: Well, actually, I was starting to make a profit then the government came along and they ticketed me for having a band abandon vehicles and wiped me out. My first experience with government helping out business ended up with me going broke.
[00:01:27] Randall Roth: A victim of heavy-handed government?
[00:01:29] John Waihee: That's exactly it. All right.
[00:01:31] Randall Roth: Well, I want to tell our listeners that one of our goals today is to take as many calls as we possibly can. Our number is 955-8821, and all I ask is that you keep your question or your comment as short as possible so we can get as many others on the air as we can. A basic rule, no speeches. Governor Waihee, there's a booklet that's out and available called The Hopes and Accomplishments of the Waihee Administration. I encourage people to get a hold of that, take a look at it, list many, many things that you've accomplished over the last almost eight years. Of those many things, what are you most proud of?
[00:02:06] John Waihee: You know what I'm most proud of is probably that in the book, and that's the fact that we were able to pull people together, often times with very diverse points of view to accomplish what the book sets forth. As a result of doing that, you know, we we began the process of educational reform, we restored uh our efforts in the environment, we worked with uh Hawaiian affairs and Hawaiian issues. We set about creating independence for people that uh in the welfare system and uh covered our our citizens with health. All of those things were many, many programs.
[00:02:38] John Waihee: But essentially, the reason why there was deadlock in in in all those areas was that people really couldn't get together, you know, and we needed to we needed to take the leadership and get them moving.
[00:02:49] Randall Roth: What's missing? In other words, what would you do differently? What's your biggest disappointment over the last almost eight years?
[00:02:55] John Waihee: Well, in terms of the, you know, a particular uh project, my biggest disappointment was obviously the uh uh failure of the rapid transit system, not passing rapid transit. I know that's a controversial issue, but I I'm I'm totally convinced that our not having done that is going to cause a lot of problems for this island in the future. And if I was going to do it all over again, I think I would pay more much more attention to getting more citizens involved earlier. Uh we were sort of responsible for the for putting together the funding context on that project. And we left uh essentially to the the city, the uh communications with the citizens.
[00:03:34] John Waihee: I think this time around, we'd probably get in there a lot earlier and talk to a lot more people.
[00:03:40] Randall Roth: Low Kalapa, who heads up the the Tax Foundation here in Hawaii, one of your favorite people. Uh one of his quotes is the next governor will inherit a messed up, convoluted system of finance management, and I think he's uh kind of looking at you as he's saying that. What's your response?
[00:03:57] John Waihee: Well, let me just say, let me begin by first of all talking about Low, you know. And and and Low's a, you know, Low is actually one of the most brilliant uh technicians that I know.
[00:04:07] Randall Roth: He's also a regular listener, so I I I suspect we'll hear from Low in just a moment. Go ahead.
[00:04:11] John Waihee: Yeah, he's one of the most brilliant uh uh tax, tax uh technicians that I know. And if I need information about how the taxing system works, or or or how it ought to work and what some of the um objectives of it are, Low is the kind of person that or the the person that I would go and ask advice from. On the other hand, he he does suffer a little bit from a brilliant uh technician's malady, and that is that he has a tendency to be utopian in his solutions. And so, you know, he uh which makes him therefore a good technician uh technician but a terrible policymaker.
[00:04:49] John Waihee: And let me give you a classic example. Low will tell you that we ought not to have the uh the educational facilities special fund in Hawaii, that the legislature ought to be free every session to readjust the resources of the of the state government. And that's that sounds great in terms of our political theory. Yet, what he fails to mention is the fact that it was that way for over 50 years. And as a result, our ours, as a result, our schools were um deteriorating. There was no really regular repair and maintenance programs. The facilities were falling behind.
[00:05:27] Randall Roth: So sometimes, the convoluted system of finance management is necessary in order to get things done?
[00:05:32] John Waihee: Well, sometimes that's a misstatement, because what really happened was it was a choice of us prioritizing. And so we got the legislature to create a special fund that said that before we spend money for anything else, we'll spend it on school facilities. As a result, we built, you know, 12 new schools, over almost 700 classrooms, all of these kinds of things in the last uh eight years where prior to that, you never saw that happen. So, you know, yeah, it's great theory, but is it good policy?
[00:05:58] Randall Roth: All right. Well, we've got a whole lot of people on the line. Let's start with Dan from Kapahulu. Dan, you're on the air. Hello, Dan.
[00:06:05] Speaker 3: Hello, Governor. I've always respected your uh beliefs and your sense of fair play that all citizens of Hawaii have the same equal rights. When do you believe that gays and lesbians will be part and have the same place at the tables everyone else and have the same rights that everyone else takes for granted?
[00:06:21] John Waihee: Well, I think that first of all, they like any situation uh involving human rights, what will generally happen is the laws will probably progress faster than the society. And uh every year we make more and more uh we get better and better in legally, anyway, in recognizing the rights of all of our people. Unfortunately, I think it's going to take a little while before all of society uh catches up with this. But you know, the they should be something that we're all working for.
[00:06:53] Randall Roth: Thank you, Governor.
[00:06:55] John Waihee: Thank you.
[00:06:56] Randall Roth: Thank you, Dan. Our next caller is David from the Big Island. David, you're on the air.
[00:07:00] Speaker 4: Yes, good morning, Governor.
[00:07:01] John Waihee: Good morning, David.
[00:07:02] Speaker 4: Um as I see it, at least here in the Big Island, we have a a once in a lifetime opportunity uh and that is to do some reforesting on the the X sugar land. And unfortunately, uh all those in power, uh the word reforestation simply means put a wood chip farm in.
[00:07:19] Randall Roth: A what?
[00:07:20] Speaker 4: Wood chip farm. Oh, okay. Yeah. Sure. You know, put eucalyptus in and grind them up every seven years and sell the wood chips. And we have an opportunity really to put some native American Hawaiian forest back, but nobody seems to want to do that.
[00:07:35] Randall Roth: I've heard the governor talk about that.
[00:07:37] John Waihee: Yeah, well, well, I first of all, I I think that uh I think that your idea that we reforest uh a lot of the sugar lands is a is a good one. I I don't agree that the everyone just wants to put wood chips uh farms into into place. Some of that is going on and some of that may work, but there's a lot that we could do. We just came out as a matter of fact, with a joint um reforestation plan, that was done between the state, the environmental groups, and the federal government.
[00:08:06] John Waihee: That calls for a reforestation industry and supports the concept and we and I do very strongly of uh restoring hardwood and native woods forests. I mean getting core back and developing things that um not only would be uh good for us economically, but also environmentally. Right. So I think I think you I think your sound and and David, I'm not going to be around too much longer as governor, so I need people like you out there insisting that that continues in the future and I'll be I'll be joining you with that.
[00:08:35] Randall Roth: Thank you, David.
[00:08:36] John Waihee: Thank you.
[00:08:37] Randall Roth: Thank you. In case you joined us late, you're listening to the Price of Paradise radio show. I'm Randy Roth, and my guest is Governor John Waihee. We're live and your phone calls are welcome. Just call 955-8821. And I'll add that this is a two-fer this morning. You get two Waihees for the price of one.
[00:08:54] John Waihee: Oh yes.
[00:08:54] Randall Roth: Our volunteer on the phones this morning is Lynn Waihee, and she's screening out all of the uh the call. No, no, no, I'm kidding.
[00:09:01] John Waihee: Totally unbiased.
[00:09:03] Randall Roth: Totally unbiased.
[00:09:04] John Waihee: In fact she in fact, she she thinks it's fun when somebody asks me tough questions. She's has a weird sense of humor.
[00:09:12] Randall Roth: Our next caller is Martha from Hawaii Kai. Martha, you're on the air.
[00:09:15] Speaker 5: Good morning, Governor.
[00:09:16] John Waihee: Morning, Martha.
[00:09:17] Speaker 5: And good morning to Lynn. Lynn, I'm going to give the governor a hard one, I think.
[00:09:21] Randall Roth: She's smiling, Martha.
[00:09:24] Speaker 5: Go ahead. Um, Governor, I would like to know, uh, why in your August 25th press release on the Waihole Ditch, you're able to promise that the water will stay on the leeward side uh, when um, the Water Commission, which has been holding public hearings and has promised a later decision on the issue has not yet operated. How can you bypass your constitutionally authorized commission?
[00:09:50] John Waihee: Well, uh first of all, the the ultimate decision on the allocation of water is obviously up to the Water Commission. What we were um what we were talking about is the position that the state is taking. And our position, despite the fact that the uh AMFAC dropped out of that petition, it was uh that's the context of that story. AMFAC requested that the water remain in the ditch, and then dropped out of the petition, we uh took it up and said that we will be uh fighting for that position, and that as a result of AMFAC dropping out, the water would not be shifting back to the windward side.
[00:10:25] John Waihee: Uh at least not until in in some final decision was made by the uh Water Commission. Now the reason why I feel that that is important is because we have like very very extensive agriculture on the leeward side and we need to continue uh if we're going to very extensive agricultural lands on the on the uh on the leeward side. And if we're going to continue agriculture, they we are going to need this water. Secondly, we also need the water to recharge uh recharge the aquifer. Having said that, though, there is some water that as I indicated in that press release that needs to be returned to uh where it originates on the windward side.
[00:11:05] John Waihee: And that's really the decision that the Water Commission, I hope uh makes, how much we we's return. But I don't think they're going to take all the water back uh to the windward side, at least I hope not.
[00:11:15] Speaker 5: Governor, uh you the um administration and other people have not really explored the possibilities of conservation uh effluent and a lot of others a new techniques that are um being developed now. And um this is a uh this is a long-term decision.
[00:11:34] Randall Roth: Martha, let's ask him if if he agrees with that and if he does, why haven't they?
[00:11:38] John Waihee: Well, first of all, uh we have and Bruce Anderson has made part of his uh career at the Department of Health, actually the the study and the um insistence that a fluent be used for uh for for irrigation purposes, especially in the low Ewa plains. Uh one of the things that has uh slowed that down a bit is obviously [unintelligible — audio glitch] cost of doing it. But it's becomes more and more cost effective as time goes on. Uh and I think that we will see that happening in the future.
[00:12:10] John Waihee: Uh we are though talking about more than than just the amount of water that would be we reply would be available to that kind of recycling. And the question is how much more is needed to keep the leeward coast uh green?
[00:12:28] Speaker 5: Governor, the um Waihole Ditch has water that will be coming uh returning to it whether or not and uh the main water goes back to the um windward side.
[00:12:40] Randall Roth: You're right, there is a small amount of water that will come over.
[00:12:43] John Waihee: So the Waihole Ditch will not be dried up. No, well, yes, not it won't. And there will be some uh always some water coming over to the uh leeward side. The question again is how much should be coming over to the leeward side?
[00:12:56] Randall Roth: And as as referee of this match, I'm blowing my whistle. Martha, thank you. Thank you, Martha.
[00:13:00] John Waihee: As you and you made my wife happy at least.
[00:13:03] Speaker 5: Bye-bye, Governor.
[00:13:04] Randall Roth: Thank you. Bye-bye, Lynn. We can always count on Martha for a great question. She's a regular. Uh next caller, Mary from Waikiki.
[00:13:11] Speaker 6: Oh, good morning.
[00:13:12] Randall Roth: Good morning, Mary.
[00:13:13] Speaker 6: Uh mainly I want to emphasize that Governor Waihee than um I we all have our own selfish interest. Uh I am anti gambling, and uh I have certainly appreciated your stand against gambling and I the general impression is that most people want it and I think it is so wrong. And and I think the public needs to be reminded over and over and over again or or constantly, actually how how deleterious gambling would be. Uh
[00:13:43] Randall Roth: Can you talk a little bit about your stand against gambling?
[00:13:45] John Waihee: Yeah, I thank you, Mary. And I think that all of us uh have got are pretty much, maybe we aren't, but I think many of us are pretty much aware of the socially evils associated with gambling. I think there's something else though, that we ought to be concerned about as well. And that is that if I was a small business person, particularly on Oahu, I would be very terrified if gambling was to be if legalized, especially casino gambling, was to be allowed on this island.
[00:14:10] John Waihee: And the reason for it is this, uh our tourism industry is really established in a way that encourages people to leave their hotels, to go out and to shop and to participate in the community, to see, to see various things. And as a result, the uh we have been able to generate really an economy of small businesses. Now, the the gambling industry is the exact opposite of that kind of tourism approach. What what you do when you have a casino is you you encourage people never to leave.
[00:14:46] John Waihee: And uh therefore, you you end up with places like uh Atlantic City in New Jersey where you have this great heightened activity along the the Boardwalk and total economic devastation just a few blocks away. I don't want to see that happen to Hawaii. I don't want to see our hotels and resorts start to turn in on themselves and really shorten the opportunities for small business. So I think the the social and economic concerns uh just not justify us legalizing gambling in Hawaii.
[00:15:18] Speaker 6: And Governor, isn't it just a big subai that that you know, that it'll help you say, oh the money, we'll put the money to education or uh I've yet to see anything that shows that it really has had an economic benefit to them.
[00:15:32] John Waihee: Well, I think that first of all, the experience across the country shows that it really hasn't worked that way. Then what has happened is that when you get the when you get money ostensibly targeted to something like education from gambling, what it does is usually replaces money that's already going into education. And secondly, gambling has a way of uh fluctuating and not being a consistent source, so it's never been a good source of funding for any kind of priority program.
[00:15:57] Randall Roth: You know, the two of you are preaching from the same book, and and Lynn is is wanting me to get to some tougher questions so
[00:16:03] Speaker 6: May I mention just one other thing, the gay activism, they have denied me of my civil and human rights uh because of the activism. I have been they have destroyed my life and that's why I'm against I'm against them, and I and I people Okay.
[00:16:23] Randall Roth: Well, you ought to get out there and keep to keep up the fight, though, because uh we don't need gambling in Hawaii. Thank you very much, Mary.
[00:16:29] Speaker 6: Thank you.
[00:16:30] Randall Roth: Thank you, Mary. Lily from Ina Haina, you're on the air.
[00:16:34] Speaker 7: Yes, I have a question.
[00:16:35] Randall Roth: Go for it, Lily.
[00:16:36] Speaker 7: Okay. I was wondering what the governor thinks about teaching uh the gay lifestyle in public schools as a normal way uh of a lifestyle and having the public schools teach that.
[00:16:52] Randall Roth: Well, I'll tell you, that's the topic of the day, isn't it?
[00:16:56] John Waihee: Um, you know, first of all, I think that uh at some age uh all that all that our children ought to be educated on all aspects of life. And so it's um it's not something that we ought to hide in our educational system. The gay lifestyle is a part of our island's uh society. Now, how it's taught I think is is is a little different in the sense that I don't think that we ought to be teaching things as normal. I think this is informational, and ultimately, this is something that belongs to an individual. Um so, yes, if you ask me, should we be teaching it as normal? No.
[00:17:37] John Waihee: But should we be teaching it? I would say there's a place for it in education.
[00:17:42] Randall Roth: Thank you, Lily.
[00:17:43] Speaker 7: Thank you.
[00:17:44] Randall Roth: Well, we have a caller from Kaimuki by the name of Chuck, and I wonder if this is the fellow. I wonder if this is 734-4363. He got my phone number, really. Chuck Friedman, the Governor's former communications director. Go for it, Chuck.
[00:17:58] Speaker 8: Well, uh I'm not going to take down any radio transmission towers if if my uh question isn't answered correctly.
[00:18:04] Randall Roth: Thank you. We appreciate that. But if anybody doesn't have electricity this morning, you just heard the number to call.
[00:18:13] Speaker 8: Hopefully the power's on for everybody. Uh question, different type of question. I'm wondering with all the campaigning and everything that's going on and and uh of course, you've run in a lot of campaigns. What you think in Hawaii um are the key ingredients to to a successful campaign.
[00:18:31] John Waihee: Well I think that the first thing is is a good message. And the second thing is to get enough people out there to um have enough resources out there to get the message out. Now, if I was um going to look at a message uh for people, I think that if it depends on the office that you're running for. I think if you're if you're running for a legislative office, people like an an advocate. If you're running for the executive branch like the mayor or the governor, I think people ultimately want to know if you can
[00:19:00] John Waihee: handle the job, you know. Once they get the the character issues are obviously are important upfront. People want to know you, if you're the kind of person that they would like to have in that office, that, you know, you demonstrate some integrity, and uh, and the and the rest of it.
[00:19:15] John Waihee: But, at a certain point I think uh check, people want to know whether you can handle the job. If there was a disaster tomorrow, uh would you be able to do it? If there's a crisis in government, can would you be able to propose something? Do you demonstrate any kind of leadership? I think those are the uh those are the types of things that you you need to get out. Um, and then get to talk to as many people as possible.
[00:19:39] Randall Roth: Just one quick follow-up. Is Is it different in Hawaii from most states, or is that there are there things that distinguish the way we campaign significantly here?
[00:19:47] John Waihee: Well, we have whole signs here, you know. I mean, I never saw that in any other Although, they're they're starting to happen. Believe it or not. Well, we in Hawaii are starting to give up on sign holding. Uh, other states are picketing pick picking it up. But yeah, there are some difference, Chuck and some of it has to do with the fact that we have you know, a number of different cultures and that influences the way we approach uh political uh activities.
[00:20:14] John Waihee: And I think it has as much to do with being an island. There's a way of making things vibrate through the community here that may not uh exist on the mainland. On the mainland, you know, there's a sense of of openness and and political messages get lost. People uh have, you know, in a sense, um, uh, don't don't have as much institutional memory, and they also have a tendency to be more negative.
[00:20:37] John Waihee: I think that despite the fact that there's a great deal of dissatisfaction, or more dissatisfaction today than uh, maybe in the past with government in Hawaii, people over here basically still want government to work. Uh, and that's a major difference. I think in the mainland, they gave up 100 years ago.
[00:20:55] Randall Roth: Okay, I'll get off the line, or Linnell.
[00:20:57] John Waihee: Either that or you got to get a more specific question. Chuck you got to get involved with this group uh, Pop 94. And get questions that are specific for politicians.
[00:21:06] Randall Roth: They're a bunch of rascals, every one of them.
[00:21:09] John Waihee: Thank you, Chuck.
[00:21:10] Randall Roth: Okay. Thanks, Chuck. You're listening to the Price of Paradise Radio show. I'm Randy Roth, my guest is Governor John Waihee. We're live, your calls are welcome. The number is 955-8821, and neighbor islanders are invited to call collect. The number again, 955-8821. And when you call, say hi to Linnell Waihee, who is um manning the phones or our volunteer on the phones today.
[00:21:32] John Waihee: You know, Chuck, Chuck is sort of interesting because Chuck was involved with um, political campaigns over the years himself, and I couldn't help but sit there and think about um, the kind of things that we did in 1986, when I first ran for governor.
[00:21:47] Randall Roth: Way behind, no money.
[00:21:49] John Waihee: Way behind, no money. And what we had to do then as opposed to what I did in 1990, when we had a lot of money, Way ahead, yeah. Way ahead, and uh it was just two different races, you know. And I I think Chuck was trying to get there somehow, and or at least get some differences going.
[00:22:06] Randall Roth: Well, he told me that story about you being way behind, 36 points behind a few weeks to go.
[00:22:11] John Waihee: Oh yeah, that was a great story. It was a wonderful. In fact, you know, this is my little thing with horoscopes, you know. And I remember that morning, uh, he came came over to [unintelligible — audio glitch] the when the when the poll, I think it was the advertiser poll came out, and I went to the I went to open up the newspaper, and if I didn't go to to the front page first, I went back to the horoscope section. It says you would you are going to have a bad day. And then I turned it up front and there it was, we were 36 points behind. Yeah. But it actually pulled the campaign together and we uh, but you know running from behind you have to be more entrepreneurial. You have to get out there, you have to take more chances, um, you have to get to uh take positions.
[00:22:52] Randall Roth: Now, you had both experiences at different times. I'm reminded of of our current primary race for the nomination from the Democratic party. We've got Jack Lewen, who has little money, uh, way behind according to the polls. And we've got Ben Cayetano with all the money in the world, by comparison, and way ahead in the polls. What do you think?
[00:23:10] John Waihee: Well, I think that uh, you know, what Jack needs to do is he needs to get out there and he needs to be aggressive with his message.
[00:23:18] Randall Roth: Is he being aggressive with his message?
[00:23:20] John Waihee: I think he is. I think he can probably do a little bit more in in communicating it better. I think uh, and that's what you need to do. You need to know more about how to get the message out. Having a message by itself without the means of communicating is not it's not good, so Give him Give him some advice. Let's assume he's listening. What are you going to tell him? How to run a better campaign?
[00:23:41] Randall Roth: One piece of advice. Come on, we'll we'll get him Okay. I say if uh if I think that uh he needs to be seen. He needs to He needs to deal with this issue. Jack needs to deal with this issue. This is Jack's biggest issue. He is I don't I think he's doing it on He's doing well on the substance, he's doing well on how to get things out there. He needs to deal with the issue that most people still don't believe he's going to win.
[00:24:07] John Waihee: And so, if I was If I were Jack right now, I'd I I'd spend a lot of the next week and a half somehow persuading people that I in fact can win.
[00:24:18] Randall Roth: How do you do that?
[00:24:20] John Waihee: Well, I I I I you just needs to get out there and do it. But that ought to be his issue. I mean, that's that's what he needs to overcome. If he doesn't do that, the certain There's a certain percentage of the votes that Jack would normally get that he won't receive. Um, and uh in terms of um, uh [unintelligible — audio glitch] it'll show up. So he gets I would spend some time doing that. Uh, if he has ads, if he has any resources at all, um, you got to do that. Now, my wife is going to cringe, but when I was in that situation, you know, we we mortgaged the barn, Mhm. house, the condo. She got really upset about it.
[00:24:57] Randall Roth: I think you had her standing in supermarkets, shaking hands.
[00:25:00] John Waihee: And all of that stuff. But you know, that's what that's what you need to do. Now if uh you know, Ben's running Ben's in the in the opposite situation. He's obviously the leader, he's much he's much closer. In that particular By the way, he's you know, the exact opposite Mhm. in the general race. Mhm. But in this race, he's the more like we were in 1990.
[00:25:17] John Waihee: Now, if I was Ben, I you know, I would uh, first I the way I what I would want is I want to make sure that uh, obviously you want to win the primary, but I want to make sure that I can pick up all the Democratic pieces after the primary. So he has It's a very delicate situation, very sensitive situation. Because on one hand, he needs to defeat Jack Lewen, but he also needs to get make sure that Jack Lewen and his supporters Mhm. remain Kayetano supporters in the event of uh uh, you know, of this thing going the way I think that most people are predicting.
[00:25:52] Randall Roth: Now, I know you're a Democrat and you're not going to uh, say anything good about the non-Democrats. But let's pretend for a minute, that for some strange reason, there isn't a Democrat on the general election ballot.
[00:26:04] John Waihee: Isn't that Yeah. Well, that's a conceivable.
[00:26:06] Randall Roth: Who would you vote for? Who would you uh, and and why is the big question?
[00:26:10] John Waihee: I mean, But unfortunately, he's off the ballot.
[00:26:14] Randall Roth: You're you're not going to give me a serious answer, are you?
[00:26:17] John Waihee: No, I'm not going to give you a serious But, you know, I I think that um, it's it's interesting because this is an interesting race. That the Republicans are are, you know, the sort of like the incumbents, and they they have to play defense. And every day, it's a matter of the Republicans making sure that their early lead is not chipped away at. And so, in that race, I think that uh, uh, you know, my the the advice to to Ben and even to to Frank, Mhm. [unintelligible — audio glitch] same thing like the advice I gave to Jack Lewen, you got to still let convince people that you can in fact win.
[00:26:56] Randall Roth: This is the Price of Paradise Radio show. We're live. Our phone lines are open. Just call 955-8821. Here's your chance to hold Governor Waihee's feet to the fire.
[00:27:07] John Waihee: Yeah, and if Low's out there, you know, I He must be out of town or he would have called by now. He's up at my house, you know, on on on Friday. He so, as I said, he's a nice enough guy.
[00:27:18] Randall Roth: On uh on our Pop 94 effort to get questions from the community, uh the single biggest category where we got questions was government, and within that category, an awful lot of folks seemed to think that government is too big. Uh that may have been related to the fact that right when we were getting started gathering the these questions, there were headlines on the front page of both newspapers that state workers are up 41% during your era. Do you agree with the statistic? And if so, do you think that government has gotten too big in Hawaii or or it hasn't? Can you just talk a little bit about uh your thoughts on that?
[00:28:00] John Waihee: Well, I think that first of all, we need to um there's always room for being more efficient and for trimming government uh in terms of its um and it's effectiveness. And so, you know, at the right at this moment, we're going through the process of uh trying to reach a goal of of cutting back of a 1,000 positions in government.
[00:28:23] Randall Roth: That's kind of a spit in the bucket though, isn't it? Or
[00:28:25] John Waihee: Well, is I I don't I if it is, it's sure causing a lot of pain. Right. And, and the pain and and the because ultimately, government is about employees. I mean, this is not This is government is not a venture capital company. I mean, we don't uh we don't go out there, invest money with a small staff. What what essentially government does is provide services. So when you say that you're going to cut back on government, you're essentially cutting back services.
[00:28:54] John Waihee: And uh in the last eight years, the growth in government has primarily occurred, primarily occurred in education and in human services. I mean, in the department of uh of education for example, I think we increased the number of educational personnel by 4,000 almost 4,500 workers. And that's that's the that's the over uh the majority of the increasing government.
[00:29:21] John Waihee: Now, if we're going to cut back on government, and you're not going to cut back on education, and you're not going to cut back on needy uh programs for for needy people, then the 1000 uh positions essentially are going to come out of old line traditional services. And that's where we're targeting. And these are the side This is the side that actually gets uh gets cut. So, can government um, is government too large? I think government is as large as people demand the services for government to be ultimately. this year. I mean, it's gotten too big. It needs to be scaled back. And I know you challenge them uh
[00:34:31] John Waihee: I'm going to do more than challenge them. I'm going to give them a budget that does it. And I want to see whether or not they're going to stick by it. See if they can swallow that? Yeah, I mean, you know, this is this is I I decided I might as well have fun this election myself. So, I have all of these guys running out there saying, you know, we had to cut back government back, yeah, okay. We are going to do it, we're going to do the hard part for for all any of the candidates for governor. We're going to go out there, and I'm right now taking the heat, folks, for these for these, and then folks means gubernatorial candidates, for cutting back the size of government. We're going to go out there, we're going to reduce it by 1,000 positions.
[00:35:07] John Waihee: I'm going to give it to you on a silver platter. I want to see you stick with it. That's the challenge.
[00:35:13] Randall Roth: Well, and you've asked them where they would cut?
[00:35:16] John Waihee: Sure. Because when when they get these 1,000 positions, um they could change it. They could change it. We we have decided as a matter of policy to avoid cutting in education and to do as little part cutting as possible in the human services area. So that means that we're going to be uh discussing uh regular line agency personnel.
[00:35:38] John Waihee: Now, you know, people will will tell you that the priorities ought to be as I just describe it. But when the highways don't get handled or something doesn't get fixed, and they start to scream about it. I mean, I, you know, for example, I have a letter right on my desk right now, and it's in and it's it's in and you talk about the growth of government. And it's from the prosecutor's office, and four prosecutors are asking me and saying, you know, you can't do this. You can't cut back these kinds of programs because it's going to affect our ability to fight crime. Mhm.
[00:36:15] John Waihee: And I [unintelligible — audio glitch] hundreds of letters like that from all different subjects. It's tough to cut. Sure, because, you know, and but then again you have to ask yourself what your priorities are, and why aren't county prosecutors being funded by county funds, and all of these types of questions.
[00:36:32] Randall Roth: Have the candidates for governor this year made their priorities clear? Do you have a sense for where each one would cut? Or are they simply saying we need to scale back government?
[00:36:41] John Waihee: I think they're just saying it because it's a popular thing to say. I think the people the people out there you know, one of the things we have to face that is that I think most citizens, or a lot of citizens, not most citizens, but a lot of citizens think that they're not getting their bang for their buck. That their money that they're putting into government uh is not getting the They're not getting the kind of returns that they ought to have for it. And I think that's fair. And I think every so often uh, we need to reinvent rejuvenate government and we happen to be going through that time.
[00:37:11] John Waihee: So it's the thing to say. However, uh the as a practical matter, Mhm. thing to say but tough to do. Sure, thing to say it tough to do. I you know, and I don't think they're clear on their priorities.
[00:37:23] Randall Roth: Let's go to a caller. John from Maui, John, you're on the air. John.
[00:37:27] John Waihee: Hi Randy, and hi Governor. How are you, John? And Randy, I like your show.
[00:37:30] Randall Roth: Thank you. Great.
[00:37:32] John Waihee: And uh Governor, I'd also like to thank you over the years for your your strong anti-gambling stand.
[00:37:38] Randall Roth: Thank you.
[00:37:38] John Waihee: And we've seen a lot of things in from the Maui Chamber of Commerce uh to not support any legalization. And now for the question, uh do you think that there is any kind of a serious move in Hawaii to legalize drugs? Of course, when we say drugs and narcotics, there there are lots of them, but do you think there's any uh any seriousness to the move that that might be taking place in other
[00:38:00] Speaker 1: parts of the country.
[00:38:01] John Waihee: Yeah, I think that we're beginning to see some of that happening here and it's kind of a a cyclical thing. You know, um back in the my first term, and about 1989-88, um the the we were able to have a coordinated effort that essentially wiped out marijuana uh for the most part, the marijuana industry in Hawaii and that was done with with the cooperation of ourselves, the uh county governments and the federal governments. Now, it's sort of interesting that having done that, we see now, you know, people openly espousing uh a law that would forbid government from going out and eradicating marijuana. So, I I I you know, it is cyclical and I think that at the present time, we probably see uh we're seeing more of an effort, an open effort um to decriminalize uh uh drugs in in Hawaii. I I I don't agree with it, but uh it's it's there.
[00:38:59] Speaker 1: Great.
[00:39:00] John Waihee: Thank you, John.
[00:39:01] Speaker 1: Yes sir. Thank you. We have another call from Maui. David, you're on the air.
[00:39:05] Speaker 3: Ah, good morning.
[00:39:06] Speaker 1: Good morning David.
[00:39:07] Speaker 3: Good morning Governor. Um I'd like to know, why have you done so little to replace sugar and pineapple, as in the We obviously need something to replace sugar and pineapple and basically nothing has been done to do so.
[00:39:26] John Waihee: Well, I well, first of all, I I think uh that um a lot has been done, actually. And the question is, what can be done uh economically, uh [unintelligible — audio glitch] economically viable manner. Uh one of the things that we are doing, which was discussed earlier, was the um was the was to was to support and create the lumbering industry. Uh in in the past few years, there's also been a transition in the within the agricultural businesses themselves. Here for example, in the Big Island, you saw a tremendous shift in the last few years to um uh uh train turnover from sugar to to macadamia nuts, uh to different kind of diversified agriculture. Diversified agriculture is now one of our most viable industries. I think though, that one of the reasons why it's been a slow tedious process is that despite the weaknesses of the uh sugar industry, it it has remained a a viable agricultural alternative. And so, you know, a lot of decisions were made to to keep that running as long as possible. I I wish that we could uh just transfer huge scale industry like that overnight to a different agricultural crop. Uh just, but it doesn't happen that way. Even the lumbering industry is going to take a number of years.
[00:40:42] Speaker 1: Let's go to the Big Island. Charles from the Big Island, you're on the air.
[00:40:46] Speaker 4: Hi. Good morning Charles.
[00:40:48] John Waihee: Good morning.
[00:40:49] Speaker 4: Uh, my question to you is, um why did you sign that Senate bill 3045? Uh Uh-oh, when they know the bill by number, you're in trouble. Go ahead, Charles. It's a, it's a land grab bill.
[00:41:03] John Waihee: Okay. What What is the number? it establishes the Agribusiness Development Corporation. And you signed that into law without any um uh notification to the public. Uh or, [unintelligible — audio glitch] snuck by the uh uh into the Senate and passed in the House. And my question is, uh uh did you look at the bill? Did you study it? Did you know what are the reasons for? Oh yeah.
[00:41:24] John Waihee: Well, well first of all, I think uh Charles, I want to thank you for asking that question because that's a perfect follow-up to the last question when we talked about the transference of, what are we going to do about the replacement of sugar and large-scale agriculture. And essentially, what we're going to do about it, and I should have completed my answer and maybe made it a little clearer, is replace it hopefully with small-scale agriculture, small farms, and diversified crops. And what we needed in order to do that was a vehicle that would allow us to remove some of the barriers that were created to support long large-scale agriculture, that now block small farming. For example, the ability for a small farming for small farmers to have their own water resources, small farmers to take advantage of what was formerly uh large-scale landholdings. Now, if you're referring to the Agricultural Corporation Bill, then I, you know, I more than read it. I I actually introduced the legislation, and we introduced the legislation to create in the private sector in uh a private organization that would maintain the infrastructure that was already in place with these large-scale uh businesses and uh and support the transference of that infrastructure to small farmers. So, for example, on the Hamakua coast on the Big Island, with the closing of Hamakua Sugar, you had miles and miles of irrigation, which would essentially go to waste. Uh and now with this agribusiness corporation has the ability to keep it running. There also was, by the way, Charles, a whole a lot of public debate. This this was not an unknown bill. This is a bill that uh first of all, before we introduced it, went through a whole series of public hearings, it went through a series of public hearings in the legislature, and indeed as a result of all of this public debate, it left it did not resemble that much of the bill I introduced.
[00:43:18] Speaker 1: Let's let Charles have a quick response to that.
[00:43:20] Speaker 4: Yeah, the quick response, well, I haven't got a quick response, I have a long response. I need the quick one.
[00:43:24] Speaker 1: But it's also the kind of bill that either you agree with or you don't like. Absolutely.
[00:43:27] Speaker 4: Well, because it's not that I don't like it, but what it does is it establishes a uh uh an 11-member board non-elected. Uh three members of the board will be cabinet heads of the Department of Agriculture and the rest will be appointed by the House and the Senate. And uh that doesn't uh it doesn't it doesn't give the people, the small business, uh the small farmers, any control because they're going to have to lease the land from the uh big business and it were right back where we started from. Big business is going to control the land on all of these islands. And and I can't see where where it's going to benefit the small farmer.
[00:44:05] John Waihee: Yeah, well, I you know to a certain degree, I think uh Charles, Charles point needs to be recognized because number one, um uh what what this bill was an attempt to do was to was obviously a series of compromise. I original proposal was to make it entirely private. It didn't quite work out that way, but the choices were the choices were um whether or not government itself should take it over directly or we should have, even if they are appointed by the legislature, it's not necessarily the best people to appoint people. That's right. But uh, but there still would be citizens on the board. And and Charles, you you know, the bill can be improved, and we got to keep working on it. But the other side of the coin is not to have a bill would have meant uh the at least in the case of Hamakua and other places, the loss of extensive uh infrastructure that was already in place. Well, that thank you Charles. Okay.
[00:44:53] Speaker 1: Thanks a lot. We've got a bunch of people waiting. Uh Mary from Waikiki, I know you're on the air before, we'll give you another quick one, go ahead.
[00:45:01] Speaker 5: Thank you. Uh I want to give the governor a chance to justify uh making uh six state employees permanent who were temporary. And of course the news we get is sometimes distorted and I I give them a chance. I don't know how Oh, six state employees permit. Well, first of all, there were more than six state employees that were made permanent in this last uh last budget. I think it was more like 40 something. And uh what you need to know, number one, was that the um uh none of those employees, despite the justification, and in many cases, there were individual justifications for uh making them permanent, but none of those employees were made permanent as a result as an initiative of of the administration. Uh you know, because there is a normal process where you go through the civil service department and get uh become a permanent employees. What happened was that the legislature decided very cleverly to include that particular item on the budget and while the governor has a line item uh veto ability, I cannot line item uh provisions. And so the choices that you have in that situation, unfortunately, is to either veto the entire budget and call them back into session or to sign it and accept the um accept the results. And uh you know, it's part of our democracy. It's a kind of it's one and again, you know, it's uh it's one of those choices. And I did receive some letters by the way, for some very concerned people who did feel we ought to veto the entire budget. You have to pick A or B, and the right the right choice. Yeah, you know, we can't and I can veto anything on the budget specifically, if it deals with appropriations. But anything that like a proviso that makes people that are temporary permanent, uh the governor doesn't have the ability to veto it and it's a question of you know, what's the greater good.
[00:46:50] Speaker 1: Thank you, Mary. Appreciate your call.
[00:46:52] Speaker 5: Okay, thank you.
[00:46:52] Speaker 1: We have a call from Bill in Moiliili. Bill, you're on the air.
[00:46:56] Speaker 6: Aloha.
[00:46:57] John Waihee: Aloha, Bill.
[00:46:58] Speaker 6: Uh, Governor, I want to give you sort of a hypothetical, see what you think. In the last, oh, what, almost 25, 30 years since Jack Burns, we've had Democratic administration, Democratic controlled uh legislation. And the cost of living here, with the size of our government, I mean it's about 40% higher than the mainland. And um do you Most people say that it should only be about 10% higher when you factor in shipping and stuff. Do you think it's fair to say be this is a lot of times, a Democratic administration's fault for getting us so expensive because of all the budget and welfare things we have?
[00:47:36] John Waihee: Well, I think that that's the easy way to make an explanation. But do you think it's fair? No, I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's fair because I think that uh what uh affects the cost of living ultimately is the policies that we have, and the policies that we have are the result of what people want. Whether they're Democrats or Republicans, ultimately, legislators, governors uh need if they're going to remain elected uh do what the uh public what the public wants done. Now, in Hawaii, contributing to our cost of living, in addition to the the distance of transportation, are certain kind of uh policy issues that we have. We have made, we as a society have decided that we want open space, that we want to protect the environment. And therefore, we set us we we have uh put up uh processes that make it very uh difficult and time-consuming to for example undertake construction. And that's a constant debate as to how far we ought to go. I think we ought to a lot of that ought to be streamlined uh and uh but at the same time, I don't think any of us for example, want to see the uh have uh the, you know, the play the Waimanalo Wahiwa Plains uh with the closed down of sugar all suddenly become housing. And uh you know, and those kinds of things. And so, it's it's sort of a balancing act. I think that uh what people ultimately need to know is, you know what Togo said, you know? Sometimes you meet the enemy and it's yourself. And we are now going through a time when people are expressing different sense of policies. Mm-hmm.
[00:49:14] Speaker 1: We're figuring it. We're figuring out there's no such thing as a free lunch.
[00:49:17] John Waihee: Well, also it's frustrating the free lunch but also you may be figuring out that there ought to be some balance. Right. That is not in you know, that housing is important. And that's the reason why when when I came to to office, uh you know, we um we went out and bought lands in Ewa for housing. I I rezoned something like 10,000 acres from agriculture uh to to housing across the state. And and because in the past, we kept on insisting that we should never do that. And while I I do believe in keeping Hawaii as green as possible, I also know that if we don't do something about it uh about housing, we we none of us are going to live here. We're going to have to move on, we got a bunch of I'm sorry Bill. Thank you. Thank you, Bill. Bye-bye. Lucy from Manoa, you've been waiting patiently. You're on the air.
[00:50:02] Speaker 7: Good morning. Thank you both for having this wonderful show. I'd like to ask Governor Cayetano his opinion of the office of Lieutenant Governor being charged with running elections. I do think Ben Cayetano has done a responsible job, but don't you think there's great potential for conflict of interest under that system?
[00:50:19] Speaker 1: Can we have a a quick answer, good or bad?
[00:50:21] John Waihee: Well, it's I don't know anything the question is what's better. You know, because there are inherent conflicts with um running for office yourself [unintelligible — audio glitch] running the office. But on the other hand, where do you put it in government where you don't have that kind of conflict or you would have less conflict and [unintelligible — audio glitch] proposition has been the creation of a commission but the commission is usually appointed by politicians. And so you get you involve more political influence into the process. And that's that's really the really I think the bottom line. I don't think anybody wants to keep it there as such, including the Lieutenant Governor. But the the question is where do you put it which would make it better? Seems he doesn't want it and the other folks who are running for the position don't want it, but uh Yeah, well, I was lieutenant governor, you know. I'd much rather somebody gave me something really important to do where I could be seen, you know. Uh but elections are important, but and and they're also controversial. It's it's a kind of thing that you do and if you do it well, nobody cares about it and and if you do anything you know, that's controversial you get blame for it. So, uh but again, you know, where do you do it? Thank you, Lucy. Appreciate your call. Thank you. Fumiko from Kani Ohe, you're on the air.
[00:51:31] Speaker 8: Good morning and thank you very much for the program. First of all, a statement. The state office of information that was set up over here in Kanioe Yes. I think that is marvelous because I am visually handicapped, I have the stroke and I am in my 70s. And I was using my old driver's license for ID. I wouldn't go into town because it's so inconvenient with the handivan and all. Now that we have it and I understand there's danger of being closed. Yes. I was wondering what you can do or anybody can do to keep it alive at Fumiko, are you a registered lobbyist? No. Oh, this is a great time to do it, Fumiko. In fact, you bring up a point. You really reinforce a point we were talking about earlier. You know, the office of information were uh that that system was set up right across the whole state to do precisely what you're discussing. And yet, when when all three candidates, when they were out there, or four candidates, I should say, talking about reducing government, one of the things they're talking about is to is to uh is to actually cut the Office of Information because they see this as a uh as a as a waste of government money. But as you can see with Fumiko, that's not that you know, she doesn't think it's so. We even, in our scenario, are going to have to cut back on some of the staffing of that office because the resources aren't there and we're having to choose between um between uh funding things like education and Office of Information. But these are the choices, folks. So, if candidates are listening out there, it's not as simple as getting on a on a television program on a radio show or on a paper and say, I'm going to shrink government. Government is providing services for people like Fumiko and her office. Your buddy check. Friedman says all the easy, all the easy choices have been made. Oh sure. Because I've had my friends from from Manoa, from Kaimuki, from Waimanalo, come over to Kaniohe to have their IDs. They all refused to go into town. Because why, you know, here you are, first of all, it's convenient for the residents who live uh on the windward side, but it's also just plain convenient. No, but from Kahuku too, you know. We need we need to move on, Fumiko, you're you're an excellent spokesperson for that cause. I appreciate your call. Thank you. Thank you for the call. You bet. Our next caller is Fay from Waikiki. Fay, you're on the air.
[00:54:01] Speaker 9: Uh yes, Governor Cayetano. Uh earlier you mentioned that the increase in government uh excuse me, has been in the areas of education and human services. And my question is, why has education then continued to decline in in terms of the overcrowded classrooms, uh deteriorating facilities? Um Yeah, why are why are things in as bad a shape as they seem to be? Right and uh there's been real no increase in the services, uh in terms of technology, health and counseling or recreational services to uh in the schools.
[00:54:43] Speaker 1: Let's have a a quick response, we're running out of time.
[00:54:45] John Waihee: Well actually things have not declined. what we've done is that people have gotten their expectations have gotten higher. I as I indicate, in terms of facilities, you know, 12 new schools have been built, almost 700 classrooms, five new libraries, gymnasiums and we have put over 4,400 uh uh people in in in in the classrooms. Now, we are also reducing class size, by the way. One of the reasons why these there's so many new people uh coming into the educational system is because we have reduced class size. Can we continue to do this by just adding more and more dollars into the system? The answer is no. I think in addition to what we've done, the system also has to to become more effective. We've got to look at things like year-round schools. We've got to keep uh working harder to uh make things better. And people you know, ought to remain uh dissatisfied until the system is perfect. Should people vote for an appointed school board or stay with the elected school board? Oh yeah. The answer is yes. They ought to have an appointed school board because it allows for accountability. Then you can call the governor up and say, you know, I don't like what you're doing with education and I am going to vote against you. So now we we can't blame you because you point to the folks we elected to run this. Yeah, everybody points to everybody. And and the fact and and the fact that there that's that's true. Now either we ought to have an elected school board or we ought to have what I proposed this uh session uh, you know, after and that is a totally independent board of education. And then just let them raise their own money, set their own be held accountable. Totally accountable. Okay. Fay, thank you for your call. We've got several more waiting. Louise from Honolulu. Louise, you're on the air.
[00:56:22] Speaker 10: Yeah, for my big My big concern is the way Kato has manipulated to build hotels and golf course on in Hana. That's the jewel of all of Hawaii. And how could he do that? I mean how could it be loud? He's an evil man. He's ruined the whole island of Oahu and now he's going to go and do the same thing everywhere.
[00:57:00] Speaker 1: and Hong on Lulu. The one that tried to build a golf course in Wana and until I organized uh a strong effort to um push them out and and replace the Hawaii.
[00:57:07] John Waihee: I I'm sorry, I who I I who Kato, the one that's built 400 golf courses.
[00:57:15] Speaker 2: Luiza, I'll tell you what. Leave your phone number with um Lynn Wahe who's on our phone and we will get back to you, but right now we're both drawing a blank on who she is.
[00:57:25] Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't know who you are talking about. I do know that uh with regard to Hana, that the uh I think that the the idea of um development over there is something that is cause a great deal of concern to everyone, including myself. And something you're watching very carefully, but I I don't know the individual you're referring to. Okay. I believe we'll try to follow up with that.
[00:57:45] Speaker 2: Thank you, Louise. We'll we'll get back to you. Uh, last caller and then I I want to uh see if we can get Lynn Wahe to step in here in the last couple of minutes of the show. Bill from Palolo, you're on the air.
[00:57:55] Speaker 3: Oh, hi. Hi, Bill. Um, when you were Lieutenant Governor, uh Mr. Wahee, I sent you a request asking for drinking water data from the uh
[00:58:05] Speaker 2: Oh, Bill. Yes, Bill.
[00:58:07] Speaker 3: When I was when I had my when I had my own radio show, you used to call up a lot.
[00:58:11] Speaker 2: No, I didn't. I thought you did.
[00:58:13] Speaker 3: But I I've been sending uh you request and other Democrats in the legislature request about truth and drinking water. There was a bill introduced uh House bill 2956 by Calvin C and Senate bill uh 2391 by uh Senator Matsunaga.
[00:58:30] Speaker 2: When when they've got the number of the bill, Governor, you're in trouble. Go ahead, Bill.
[00:58:34] Speaker 3: Well, that these bills were killed by uh your environmentalist guy Duke Banum and your environmentalist guy Senator Anthony Chang, who are now running for the city council. I wanted to comment and not ask any questions because it's futile to ask questions. I've been doing it for 11 years now. Uh I'll ask a question. Is anybody, is anybody in the Democratic party going to make our drinking water an issue?
[00:59:03] Speaker 2: I I I don't know, Bill. Um, let me just say this that the the people who introduced your bills also appear to be Democrats. So and Duke Banum, when you say your guy, um you know, has his own reasons for doing what he what he wants to do, but I I obviously they are Democrats who want to make drinking water an issue. And I know Bruce Anderson in my in my administration is very concerned about it.
[00:59:26] Speaker 3: Uh Bruce Anderson is an excuse governor as well as Jack Lou and I don't understand what you're saying here. What we've got is a drinking water cover up. We've had it for 11 years that I've been volunteering to work for it. And uh I understand that uh simply nothing is going to be done. I don't I don't know one candidate uh Democrat, Republican, best party, uh that is trying to make our drinking water an issue. It should be.
[00:59:52] Speaker 2: Well, I I'll tell you what. Uh I I think there are Democrats that are, you know, concerned about it. But if you don't know any if you one part you didn't mention was my the party from my good friend Ira Rotter and uh the Green Party, you know, you may want to give them a call too, uh or at least find out where they stand on the issue. Thank you, Bill. Appreciate your call.
[01:00:13] Speaker 3: I remember I gave you a plug.
[01:00:16] Speaker 2: Um something that Carol Tanaka sent to me uh indicated that Lynn Wahee at one time said that uh when she met you in high school, that you had a great sense of humor. You were warm and charming, but you didn't seem especially bright. And I know in response, you've called Lyn a goody goody and teachers pet and uh welcome to the studio by the way, Lynn.
[01:00:39] Speaker 4: Okay. Good morning.
[01:00:40] Speaker 2: And uh I'm just wondering if um if you want to explain the context of those you want to explain the context of those remarks just a little bit.
[01:00:47] Speaker 4: I was talking you thought I was bright. I mean, I think you thought I was so nice, but And he hung out with a bad crowd or something like that. I don't know. Oh dear. Um I never thought my words would come back to haunt me like this. Uh actually, um if I didn't think he was so bright or bright, or very bright. Sort of answers.
[01:01:09] Speaker 2: Yeah. It was when I initially met him, okay. Oh, I see. When he made the dean's list at National Honor Society and all. Then I knew I I married a genius. I see. Is she really good Goodie? Oh, she's a goodie goody. And and she was irritatingly so when we were in high school. She wouldn't come around and she wouldn't talk to me or anything else. But uh later on when we when we we got together, but she was really shy actually. Mhmm. And so uh having married me, though, uh she ended up doing things like um campaigning and speaking to large group of people. She actually, she does, you know, she speaks to large groups of people sometimes than than I do. But let me, you know, just say something about he commented on. It couldn't be that I didn't hang around with people like him because I married him. So I would really was, you know, I I I picked up stray puppies and things like that also so.
[01:02:01] Speaker 2: A stray puppy and a failed businessman. Fail businessman, future politician. Yeah, it's sort of interesting, but here we am, I'm ending the the end of my career, and I keep telling people that you know, what what Well, it's not the end of your career. Well, not as as governor, you know, as governor. And as Titler head of of my party. Uh and uh and and I keep telling people that uh you know, Lynn has more job offers than than I have. There seems to be more use in the society for uh former school teachers than they are for ex governors. I don't know. Speaking of job offers, I know you wouldn't answer if I asked a question now. As a as a goody goody teacher's pet, she cannot lie. What are you two going to do? Are you moving to Indonesia? Now don't look at him. Look at me. I I I know you can't lie.
[01:02:44] Speaker 4: We will do what we will do.
[01:02:46] Speaker 2: Oh, she's been hanging around you too long. Too long. Well, she also has very strong opinions about that. You should ask her what's her opinion on it but but don't answer it. Um we've just got a minute or two left and and I know you're you're familiar with this Pop 94, which is is an attempt to get more citizen involvement in this year's election. Can you tell us just a little bit about that and maybe leave us with some advice to the community? Well, first of all, I think it's it's an it's an exciting process. And that's by the way, I I don't necessarily agree with all of the things that are discussed in Pop 94 and I don't, but I don't think that's the intention of it, at least that's what I understand. It's an attempt for people to actually get involved in the in the in their in their government and to ask the tough questions and then make decisions and and to bring out information. I frankly think that this is kind of a 1990s, maybe 21st century rejuvenation of what the political process used to be under the political parties at the turn of the century. I mean, I think this is what the Democratic party did, this is what the Republican party did when they were when they were fresh and when they were out there trying to get people involved. I think the Democratic Party is still trying to do it, but, you know, having a party label is a little bit more difficult. And so, you know, this is this is like uh grassroots um organizing with technology. You know, using the the tools today. I I'm I'm actually quite excited about it. 15 seconds advice to the community. Get out there and participate. Ask the tough questions. Ask specific questions and by the way, don't worry about asking questions that you think the media asks wants you to ask. Ask what concerns you. If the road in front of your house is not being fixed, and that's what concerns you, ask that question of the candidates. Don't have to go through a litany of, you know, something else before you get there. I mean, get to what really bothers you.
[01:04:43] Speaker 2: Well, thank you very much, Governor Wahee, and and Lynn Wahee. I appreciate both of you stopping in. My guest this week was Governor John Wahee, with special help from Lynn Wahee. This week's show was produced by Susie Roth, with technical assistance from Jeff Ilarte. Join us next week when my guest will explain workers compensation insurance and identify the sticking point, the specific reasons reform has been so elusive. As always, we'll be live and your calls will be welcome. It's sure to be interesting, enlightening and provocative. You've been listening to the Price of Paradise radio show. I'm Randy Roth. Hello, how.
[01:04:23] Randall Roth: worry about asking questions that you think the media asks wants you to ask. Ask what concerns you, if the road in front of your house is not being fixed, and that's what concerns you, ask that question of the candidates. Don't have to go through a litany of you know something else before you get there. I mean, get to what really bothers you.
[01:04:43] Randall Roth: Well, thank you very much Governor Wayhey and and Lynn Wayhey. I appreciate both of you stopping in. My guest this week was Governor John Wayhey with special help from Lynn Wayhey.
[01:04:52] Randall Roth: This week's show was produced by Susie Roth with technical assistance from Jeff Ileri. Join us next week when my guests will explain workers' compensation insurance and identify the sticking points, the specific reasons reform has been so elusive. As always, we'll be live and your calls will be welcome. It's sure to be interesting, enlightening, and provocative. You've been listening to the Price of Paradise radio show. I'm Randy Roth. Alohal.