Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast

E25: Why Flipping HI Govt? Gary Cordery on Corruption & More...

• Dawn O'Brien

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O, CORRUPTION, what corruption? Hawaii has won "Most Corrupt State in U.S." for years running. We're paying sky-high prices for gas & groceries, housing & everything else. Is there any HOPE?!  Local businessman & advocate for the people, Gary Cordery shares how hope is possible by flipping the political system so that government actually serves people & saves Hawai'I. Really?

Vote Gary for Gov. More info? GaryCorderyforGovernor.com. 

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SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Aloha Alive, the heartbeat of Hawaii. As your hostess with the most is for his highest, you know, viewing Ohana, as you join us right now, thank you for your time and your eyes, your heart. But you know that I, Auntie Dawn, always try to bring you something that is very near and dear to the heart of Keakua, our God. Keakua Manaloa, Keakua Maoloa, the God who is so great and so powerful. And one of the areas that I see that and have watched it in our state is in the area of politics. Now, don't tune out. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I got a good guy here today. He's a dear brother and good friend of mine, both you and your wife, Kim. Welcome, Gary Cortery, Gary for Gov.

SPEAKER_03

Wow, Don. Thank you. What a warm, warm introduction. And it is a true pleasure to be here. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

And it is great joy. We share great joy.

SPEAKER_00

We do, and so much hope. And I was tempted to name this episode Politics in Paradise, the black eye of Hawaii. But you know what? There's bigger hope because as a Christian woman, as a Christian man, and you've been a pastor, I've been a minister. Um, if we just focus on the black eye and the bad and the evil and say there's no redemption, no hope, then we need to get out of the business of Jesus Christ. Now, the other I was tempted to do the other introduction that I love doing for you because I've introduced you a few times as part of Aloha Freedom Coalition, is uh the my favorite moment with Gary and Kim, and we've had a lot of moments.

SPEAKER_04

Indeed.

SPEAKER_00

A lot of um great events, wonderful moments, accolades, great things. But we were at a uh at an event over at Bud Stonebreaker's property in Waimanalo. Yeah, you country. That's right. And um you you were getting up to speak, and as you after right after somebody else had introduced you, you were getting up with a national speaker also, and your little grandson, I think he was six or seven.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's about right. Yep.

SPEAKER_00

And he yelled as you walked up there, go get the pop pop. Yeah, he calls you pop pop.

SPEAKER_03

All the grandkids call me pop pop.

SPEAKER_00

I love that.

SPEAKER_03

And the oldest is now a freshman in high school.

SPEAKER_00

Now he's a little more reluctant to call me pop pop, but there's a lot of good, it's such joy, you know, just to see the whole little body, he was giving you his whole mind, body, soul, and strength. He was straining, go get him pop pop. I'm just the cutest. Like if you, and you know, we both love the Lord in the good book, and Jesus says, if you can't love me as a child has faith, a childlike faith. And blessed are the children. He always brought them up because they have such a purity of heart.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, they do.

SPEAKER_00

So if you got the kids' vote, the cakey vote, you got my vote. Boom.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, right. That's what it is. You know, they say out of the out of the mouths of babes, boom, it comes right out.

SPEAKER_00

Boom, shuck a Jesus.

SPEAKER_03

They just don't edit, they just speak what's actually there.

SPEAKER_00

Authentic to the highest degree. And you and I love that. In fact, I'm gonna pivot on that point. We were just speaking as we were getting started about authenticity. And what I love about you and Kim is you are the real Jesus deal. You really are the real, real deal. You and I have been in ministry for decades here in this beloved Aloha state, and uh sometimes we see that uh even leaders in church or pastors tend to not be very authentic or real deal.

SPEAKER_03

You are the real Jesus deal. Oh, thank you. That's a that's a very nice compliment. Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you for hearing what I'm saying. Yeah. And with that said, I was looking at some of uh my questions for you, and you basically just responded and you said, uh, I want to connect public policy to the experience of people's lives, not high, lofty principles with issues, the same issues we've been facing for decades. What do you mean by that, Gary?

Lessons From The 2022 Governor Run

SPEAKER_03

Well, uh I'm running for governor, which is a small introduction piece. So anyway, this is not the first iteration as well. Remember in 2022? Right. We learned a great deal in that first 2022 run. Really catch us up because that was your first time up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You went straight for the governor's seat and you're going for governor again for 2026. So this will be airing up until that point, it'll be live. But you you what did you learn from that run? What's new and exciting for you? Yes. And you're running as a Republican.

SPEAKER_03

Great, great question. So, what we really learned is that people actually need to get to know you.

SPEAKER_00

Wow. Right.

SPEAKER_03

So people get stuck in this mind mentality where you need name recognition, you need money. What they really need is they need relationship.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

People need to know that you're for real. You mentioned it in your tee up, which thank you very much. When people actually listen to our meet and greets and they see us and they interact with us with QA and this kind of thing, they recognize that it's a pro-Hawaii, it's a real campaign for the people.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

This is not a campaign for a right or left or all it's a pro-Hawaii campaign because all of the people have the same, they share the same basic needs.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Same dreams, same hopes. And then there's this presentation out there that we've heard for decades now. Ever I can't remember the last time when politicians stood up and said, We want to fix a problem. Instead, they identify a problem. Right? So we have health care, homelessness, cost of living, education. It's the same story over and over and over. And what I realize is there's a way for politicians to actually stop talking about platitudes and start connecting with people.

SPEAKER_00

Wow. I love that because I can't even spell platitudes, but I sure can. I sure do know people. But I I hear what you're saying, and of course I'm jesting. You know, I was just this morning, I live and work in Kalihi, which is part of town here in Honolulu, and I was at Gulik Delicatessen, and there were three ladies in line in front of me. I was grabbing the crew some lunch, and somebody said, Oh, yeah, it's so expensive nowadays. Uh prices shot up, and they were talking about the prices there in the delicatessen, which of course we know and I turned around, I said, inflation, shrinkflation, all flations. And the two ladies turned around, they were laughing, and they said, Yeah, but they're not inflating our paychecks. We're not earning more. And they said, and and we work for state, we work for the government. And I said, But don't they have cost of living on allowance? And they said, Yeah, I think that's part of the federal mandate. But all of that to say this, Gary, is the local people are feeling it. These are the everyday Janes or uh Kale Alohas who are going to the local delis, grabbing a little bit of lunch, grabbing somebody's kid a dinner or whatever it is. And we're talking about the struggles that have been endlessly so since the beginning of this state.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So how do you sit here today and say you're running for governor and it's about people?

Departments, Budgets, And Real-World Impact

SPEAKER_03

It is about people. I mean, people what people don't really understand about government in Hawaii is how government policy is actually initiated. How is it actually implemented in their lives? Because we think it's the legislator and we think it's the governor. It's actually not. It's actually these departments. Nice. Right? These departments uh they actually implement policy. Yeah. And so when our lives interact with public policy, it's not with the legislator. Like you may have an issue in your neighborhood and you call your legislator and say, hey, listen, can you fix this? This has been an annoying problem, it's bad, it's unsafe. We need a traffic light, we need the bathrooms fixed, et cetera. And they actually have no idea.

SPEAKER_04

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03

The reason that they don't know is because they don't implement policy. If it's a transportation, it's department of transportation. If it's education, it's DOE. If it's right, if it's land issues, it's DLNR. So those agencies actually receive the distribution from the from the legislative branch, the money to implement policy.

SPEAKER_00

So that's where you say department.

SPEAKER_03

That's when I say departments, I'm talking about these departments.

SPEAKER_00

Department of Education.

SPEAKER_03

You can take any one of these. They all have a budget request. It goes to the executive branch, they hash it out with the legislative branch, and then it's issued to these departments. Once that department receives the money, they implement public policy. And this is why you see the cost of living go up and up and up. Because those who are connected with the people, they're not connected, they're not connected because they're with the people, they're connected to the budget.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So when you ask them to actually fund something, they don't actually know what they're funding.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

They have a request that comes from the from the department. And so these department directors and deputy directors and their staffs, they they establish what they think they need for the fiscal year, 26 as an example.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

They tell the government we need 2.5 billion. Wow. Let's take the Department of Education as an example.

SPEAKER_00

The biggest pie. The biggest one. The biggest slice in the pie.

SPEAKER_03

So they say it's$2.6 billion, that's what they need. It's actually actually it's$4.2 billion, but they don't tell you about some hidden costs. So they get this money and they decide how to teach your kids how to distribute that money throughout the departments to ensure that our cakey in Hawaii actually are educated and prepared for the future.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

At that point, nobody has a say. Right. Those departments determine. And yet the people on the street, they're struggling with their finances. They're wondering why can't I pay for my groceries? Why can't I pay for my medicine? Why is my property taxes so high? Why are the roads never fixed?

SPEAKER_00

Because they're not asking plate lunch.

SPEAKER_03

Why is my plate lunch cost 15 bucks? Right. So when you actually talk about people, what's going on, you know, people don't realize that next year HECO's rates are going to go up 30 percent.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my word. Wait, that's our electric bill.

SPEAKER_03

We are already the highest in the nation.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

So they're gonna just keep raising these rates. And so what the government does is it says we need more money to do what? Not to fix the problem, to fund a department.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

Who decides what they need? The department needs. So who decides what the department's direction is? The governor.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So you started originally saying, well, you're going for governor.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

People have asked me in the beginning, even in 22, why don't you run for like state office? Right. Why don't you why don't you work your way up the chain?

SPEAKER_00

Right. Start as a re uh representative, a senator, maybe the neighborhood board.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, like I have 15 years to work this thing out.

SPEAKER_00

Or we have 15 years to stop making my plate lunch$15. That's right.

SPEAKER_03

So, you know, what we need, and the reason I'm going for the horn, and this is exactly what God said. This is a this is a God-centered obedience-driven conversation. Good.

SPEAKER_00

And call it out, and with boldness, we are stating it clearly for all to hear.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So this call in 22 was to go for the horn, and the reason for that is our governor, the governor of this state, is the most powerful governor in the nation.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

People actually don't understand that.

SPEAKER_04

They don't actually realize I never thought that it is very true.

SPEAKER_03

Because our governor appoints all the de directors, all the deputy directors, the attorney general, all the judges, all of the commissions, all appointed by one man.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So when you think about governance in Hawaii, how do we gonna change the policy, how it impacts the people in Hawaii, is not by changing legislative, you know, whether you get we need more Republicans or whatever. We need more balance. We hear this all the time. We need more balance. Right. Right. What we really need is we need a governor to select department directors and deputy department directors who fear God, who understand what integrity is, who understand what transparency is, who understand what service is, who understand what it means that their policy is actually impacting whether the mother and the father have to go to work.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So and not just whether they have to go to work, let's be honest, Gary, but how many jobs you have to work. Because a lot of us in the state of Hawaii, if I dare say, have to work two to three jobs per person.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Per parent. And it used to be a one parent, like traditionally back in the day, I was born in 1970, so my dad went to work. And then after a few decades, my mom needed to start going to work too to make the same income to support the same household.

SPEAKER_04

That's right.

DOE Spending, Hidden Fringe, And Outcomes

SPEAKER_00

And now they have multiple jobs each, right? Well, my dad's passed on to glory. But you get my point. I do. It's not just a one-income home, it's multiple job to both parents.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. So think of the stress that that causes on the family. Yes. Think about the kids who don't who whom mom's not at home. Right. They come home from school, what do they do? They either surf their phone, go to their room or hang out with their friends. Yeah. Right? There's no there's no there's no connection. There's no inheritance. There's no legacy being built there on a day-to-day basis. Just the nuts and bolts. Yeah. When Kim and I go to the mainland to visit our kids, we don't go there to go do things. We go there to wake up in the morning, have breakfast, do the dishes together, go to the park together. Because it has to do with legacy. It has to do with the relationship. It has to do with what's going to last, what can be passed down. And when we live in so much frustration and struggle here in Hawaii, that one that one parent income is no longer enough.

SPEAKER_00

No, because we have the highest cost of living in the nation. We have the highest taxes in the nation. Oh, yeah. So I thank you. And for those of you watching, I know I have to take a breath to like calm myself down. But this is the reality we face, and that's why we have also the worst traffic in the nation. We are, as a favorite friend of mine, Mike Buck, he was a radio show host for many, many decades and years, and you love him as well. You're a conservative radio show host as well. But he said, Don, we're becoming number one on all the lists we should be last on for a Paradise Island state. And we're first, uh we're first on all the lists we should be last on, and we're last in all the areas we should be first on. For example, working out outside, enjoying our beaches. That's right. I always crack the joke when I'm touring people around my island. Oahu, I said, I haven't seen this beach since the last time you visited from the mainland, right? That's when locals go. We don't have time. We don't have time. So thank you, Gary, uh, for that. And that you're connecting public policy and telling me about departments are what runs it. Because another thought that quickly comes to mind is, and I've worked uh in the DOE system for some time and Hawaii DOE is the use it or lose it budgetary philosophy. That's right. That if you don't use it, so let's say if you're the governor and you gave me$1,000, I requested$1,000, and I only use$800, um, next year you're gonna say, Don, you only needed$800, so I'm gonna give you maybe$750 and you can suck it up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But and that's my simple understanding of finances. That's just it. So we need to understand departmental politics as well. And go ahead.

SPEAKER_03

Uh, really, departmental politics is where it's at. And that's not that's not isolated to DOE.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So the way that these departments function is whatever they don't fund, they don't give back.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So even when you think about unfulfilled positions within the department, as an example. So DOE has about 75 positions that aren't filled. You hear this in the public sector all the time. We need more teachers, we need more policemen, we need more firemen, all of these public sector jobs. We need more. Well, the legislators actually fully funded every position.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So think of it. They fund for a hundred positions, but this the department only hires seventy-five.

SPEAKER_00

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03

They don't give the money back.

SPEAKER_00

And where's that money going?

SPEAKER_03

That money is now dedicated to offer it as incentive pay and rewards for administrators. This actually in the department in 24 actually was$12 million. Holy smokes. So you don't think about the fringe when these departments and what they what it adds up to. But can we call this? When you take that across the board, all the departments, it is$300 million a year in money that comes out of the d out of the legislative branch to the departments. It's not used and it's not returned. So when we talk about how to reorder these departments with people of integrity and honor, I I couldn't not do that. When you have a department and you know, No, you could not.

SPEAKER_00

$300 million. I'm sorry, it was taking me a little while to respond, because my brain has a hard time wrapping itself around this truth you're telling me.

SPEAKER_03

Dropping the bucket.

Family Stress, Cost Of Living, And Culture

SPEAKER_00

Which is you called it fringe, I was gonna call it fat or pork fat, and now I'm like, there's other F-words I can't say and won't say because I'm a Christian woman.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But$300 million.

SPEAKER_03

No, it's pay plus fringe. So that's an interesting way that the budget works as well. The budget only tells you about what the pay is. So when the Department of Education says our budget is$3.6, no,$2.6 billion, which is$19,000 per student, the actual number is$4.2 billion because they don't tell you about the fringe, which comes out of retirement, right? Your fringe benefit. And then it also has the cost of cost of uh finance for capital improvements. They don't tell you these things, but this money is always being spending money, it's down the space. This is why they're always saying we don't have enough money. So you have a shrinking base, we have out we have outbound migration, you have a shrinking school population. It's getting to be an issue. You've seen it in the in the public. Uh Civil Beat just did an article on it. They're going to consolidate schools. They're doing what they can do. Why? Because their budget is tied to the pupil.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_03

And the people are struggling. We get to want to get real about this. The people are struggling because the kids are being passed through.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Our kids get tested and passed. That's not education.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's not. And that's been for a number of years, and it's even on civilbeatright.org is uh a certain news outlet, and we'll talk about news outlets in a little bit. That was a question I had for you. But it talked about in this article, and this was in 2022, 2023, so it was right after the global lockdown, and it was noting that our students in the state of Hawaii their grades were down. Well, no duh. We shut down schools for a year, year and a half, and then we let them back in, and now they're behind, but they're actually down. One report I read is down an entire grade. So let's say Don O'Brien's 14, I'm at Hilo High, and I should be a ninth grader. My education level is actually eighth grade middle school still, because I'm one grade down. And reading levels, math levels, etc., it's all down. So thank you for saying we have the highest cost for education because I'm in there and I get surprised when I hear, and I didn't say the word corruption yet, but we'll get there. Is I hear numbers thrown around because I work in the education department and they say, Oh, well, so and so wanted to do a seminar, and even if it's only three 30 minutes, it's gonna be$10,000. And I about lost my lower jaw to the ground. And I said, How in the world is this person who is an experienced DOE official say that they are deserving of$10,000 for 30 minutes or$20,000? I think we could use that when you're serving public schools where I, as a public school girl or my parents, could never have thought about getting$10 or$20,000 for one 30-minute session. That's right. You're not gonna work 30 minutes for$10,000 or$20,000, but this is getting padded into the Hawaii DOE budget because they know the system as you're talking about fringe and about the base pay. Right. And this to me is where we have a crying shame for the state of Hawaii, and you and I have been fighting against it for many years. So thank you, Gary, for governor 2026.

SPEAKER_03

I can tell you one of the one of the things that undermines everything that's possible is systemic corruption in Hawaii. Everybody knows that. We were just gonna get to the word. One of my friends just said, hey, listen, why why are you always talking about change? We know that everybody knows there's corruption, but who cares?

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

It's become so commonplace.

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_03

Right? So you hear these things like in the federal, the Doge's reveal and all this stuff. What we need here in Hawaii is an office of transparency, audits at the state level, and audits within the department.

SPEAKER_00

Come on, call it out.

SPEAKER_03

We're gonna hire a bunch of finance people and we're gonna have a look. Auditors across the board. Because that's that number of 300 million across the departments, that's just payroll.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

That has nothing to do with facilities, nothing had to do with education materials, all of those things. When you added those things up, we have more than enough resources. The people of Hawaii are incredible that they've shouldered this burden for so long.

SPEAKER_00

At our own expense.

SPEAKER_03

At our own expense, but there's no performance. There's no performance criteria.

SPEAKER_00

They're getting an F minus as far as I'm concerned. There's a safe F word for you, F minus.

Corruption, Missing Accountability, And Audits

SPEAKER_03

I locked a lot of teachers, and what they really want to do is they want to get rid of this test and pass process. So we so what we've done is we've decided we're gonna test the kids. And if they can't pass pass the test to move on, we lower the standard.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

This is what they're doing. I met this young man, he's a teacher, eighth grade, McKinley, or in no central Oahu, goes to his administrator and says, My my my students can't read.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

The administrator says, You will pass them on. They get passed on to the ninth grade and the tenth, and then they graduate to the street, but they can't get a job. Because they can't read, they can't do that. They can't read it. They can't do math. Right. Right. And so these are. Yeah. And if you actually ask the teacher to account for their their tactics or their their teaching, you cannot. Right. Because they're they're part of this union thing. They have protection. We had them. My daughter went to College Hill. Right. There were there was a teacher, we were like, oh my gosh, this is not possible. And they just transferred her to another school.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So this is what I mean about integrity in those who pick to run the school.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, way, Hawaii.

SPEAKER_03

And we need to actually decentralize, you know, and we need to figure out a way to get it off of one gun. Get it off of one one board.

SPEAKER_00

One leader, which is the governor. And when you say that, Gary, what it makes me think automatic instant is, and I'm just a regular Hawaii citizen. I really am the regular, I would say Jane Doe, but maybe it's K aloha dough.

SPEAKER_03

I don't think you're regular, my dear. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

You're kind. But I went to public Public school. I feel like I have been local for many years and lived here in this Ina, lived in the land, and I watch what's happening. And if I can think it through as a Hilo High student grad, I think everybody's seeing it. And as you just said, that was shameful. Ao weigh is how we say it in Hawaiian. Um, that that person said, We all know corruption exists, but what are you gonna do about it? So just get used to it. It's like saying we're a bunch of fish swimming in a fish tank and it's a sewage tank at this point, it's filled with doo doo and all kinds of other poison. But because we've survived it for 40, 50 years as this Democrat supermajority, let's just keep letting it happen for our baby guppies. Which, by the way, you mentioned when you visit your keiki, you have to go to the mainland. Yeah, and that's what's happening to many of our Ohana is now we there's the mass exodus and the diaspora of Hawaiians, where even Governor Josh Green himself said there's more people of Hawaiian ethnicity living outside the state of Hawaii than inside their own islands of Hawaii. That's right. And this is just a few of the Awe, Aoi, which is it's a weeping noise that the Hawaiians make. Just think about the sound of that. Awwey, awake. When you and I mourn something, we weep and are we break. And so this is what we are saying today, Gary. Thank you for saying this. I'm gonna say it, we're drawing a red line and saying no more. That's right. And if you used to listen to me on a certain radio station, uh I got let go in 2014 for political reasons because I didn't tow the line for the politics here, and I I would do it again for our Keiki and our Ohana, our Lahui, is we're saying, not on my watch, that's right, and not in his house. That's right, that there is integrity and there's hope because there's good people. We watched the red wave, and I'm like you, Gary. I don't like to have to say I am on the right or the left because those are two sides of one hole, right? It's one body. Yeah. Um, I'm not neither uh, I will say this for myself. I'm not the elephant, I'm not Republican, I'm not the donkey, I'm not Democrat, I'm a Christocrat, I'm with the dove. Christocrat, I love that.

SPEAKER_03

There has to be integrity and truth. You know, there are solutions and they they find themselves in virtue.

SPEAKER_00

There we are.

SPEAKER_03

We have to be a virtuous people who fear the living God and actually understand kingdom principles and how you can take what appear to be complex problems and you boil them down to fairly simple common sense solutions. Yes. If this state wanted to fix things, it could.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Don't tell me that we cannot fix homelessness. Come on, we can fix homelessness. Why don't we fix homelessness? It's big business. You want to know what homelessness is? That's a big cash cow for this state. So if we actually decided we wanted to fix homelessness in Hawaii, we could.

SPEAKER_00

Call it out.

SPEAKER_03

Now there are some people who want to live on the street. Okay, fair, fine enough. That's I'm not talking about them. That's the thing. I'm talking about people who have who have just down and out and they're on the street.

SPEAKER_00

Families who can't make one car payment or house payment and then they spiral out one one.

SPEAKER_03

Into houselessness. Right.

Nepotism, Executive Orders, And Fees

SPEAKER_00

One car accident, one health challenge where it cost thousands of dollars, and now this family finds themselves out there. I see these families, Gary, you see them out there, and they're with children. They have littles out on the street. And those are our people. So you're right. Houselessness or homelessness is a cash cow for these committees that meet. It drives me nuts to read the news and say, oh, a new governor has appointed a new homelessness director or whatever committee. Yeah. And so-and-so is the head, big name, you would all recognize who it is. And X amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, to study and do another survey of homelessness.

SPEAKER_03

And then you issue more money to NGOs. The state issues and a lot of hundreds of millions to a non-government organization. But when you look into the fine print of these organizations, you find them all very well connected politically.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

Right. Even you just saw this thing, the insurance commissioner, a new insurance commissioner, the previous State House chair who was defeated. He's now the insurance commissioner. I thought, huh, I wonder what he knows about insurance.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_03

And how it's just such a blatant example of nepotism in this state. We need people who are actually qualified for positions. Can we just take I could say we can just open the open well, we have white pages, remember that?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

So you you would open the phone book. You could open the phone book and just pick a name. Somebody of common sense who can actually recognize the problem and simple tasks to begin addressing the problem. Instead, we have we have politicians and NGOs who actually are entitling the people, and this is the problem in Hawaii. Our governor, through these E.O.s, executive orders, he's done 90 now.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

It's a staggering number.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So people may not realize, but he sets aside the state constitution when he implements an EO. Yes. So as an example, he's doing these kuhales as a solution to homelessness.

SPEAKER_04

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

So a kuhali is a little uh 200 to 300 square foot rental, put on a piece of ground, oftentimes no sewer, no water, no power, it's all brought in. So they bring this as an accessory.

SPEAKER_04

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

And the people become entitled because the government is now giving them a handout. Who said Hawaii's people are not enough?

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_03

I say they are enough.

SPEAKER_04

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

I say that we have industrious, strong, hardworking people who have more than enough.

SPEAKER_04

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

All they need is for government to get out of the way and actually offer opportunities for them to move forward. And there are plenty of ways to do that.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

So we're regarding housing. I can remember when owning a home was not just a dream, a far-off dream. Oh my gosh. We can do that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and now it's a it's not just a dream, it's a crack pipe dream. It's like so far out of our reality that our kids have to move to the mainland, and now we're moving to the mainland to afford a decent house for a decent family. I love that you're bringing this up and uh talking about executive orders and uh the governor of the state. And we know we've been what I called, and and some of you watching, thank you for again tuning in and wanting to know the other side. There's always two sides to a story. I was editor-in-chief way back in the day when I was in college and in high school, but especially at UH Hilo, and my mentor, advisor said, Don, you've always got to hear both sides of the story. Good journalism hears both sides. Even if you think, no, it's a sealed deal. This guy is right. There's no way the other you listen to the other side, and it's even in scripture that way that you believe one side until you hear the other, and you're like, wait a minute, now I believe them. That's reason together. Thank you, Gary, for bringing this to our attention. And I don't think there's enough of that. One of the original questions I sent to you, and I'm gonna just say it as a statement, is that we no longer have any type of investigative journalism in the state of Hawaii. Yeah, I'll stand by that statement. That's a true story. I'll say it right to you.

SPEAKER_02

That's right.

SPEAKER_00

Because there was a time in the history of Hawaii when we were the most literate people on earth. We had 91 newspapers. That's right, right? 91 in both English and Hawaiian. So the Hawaiians brought the printing press, right, with the missionaries. Incredible. Queen Kahomanu asked them to bring it, they brought it, they started printing Bibles, printing 91. Today we're a one-paper town.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Rail, Stadium, And Project Mismanagement

SPEAKER_00

Literally a one-paper town. I mean, I begin to grow fangs and sprout back hair when I'm talking about this because it gets me so passionate about searching for the truth. And we need to hear a balanced side of the truth. Thank you for bringing the balance. And I think it's by design that they're hiding things. Oh, absolutely. That they're giving misinformation, disinformation, and straight bold-faced lies. That's the real simple word. Lies.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. So when we come That is misinformation. Why do we re-why do we restate things and make it palatable, if you will? It's misinformation. It is not misinformation. It's an absolute deception. Yes, it is. That's what misinformation is. Yes, sir. Deception has a purpose. Yes. You don't deceive for no reason. There it is. There's a purpose for the deception. Absolutely. And the worst form of deception is self-deception. So I gotta be honest with you, we have somebody in charge who's living this fantasy.

SPEAKER_00

Like he's the best governor in the state of the government. He wants to be president.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. To oppose the CDC. Right? Because he's opposed to everything that makes sense. Yes. It doesn't have to be. He he he's given our the Attorney General some$12 million to sue the Trump administration. Now you may not like Trump. You may not like his principles. Right. But you don't dedicate the resources of the people just simply to oppose.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_03

Why not engage?

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Why don't we have an honest conversation about what really matters for the people?

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

And let the people speak.

SPEAKER_00

Let the people vote.

SPEAKER_03

Let the people bring the decision. We we live in a republic. Individual liberty. Yes. Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thank you. Self-government.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Not government by the government. Right. From the government. For the government.

SPEAKER_00

And I was just going to say what you're alluding to, that you are of the people, you are by the people, and you are for the people. But the government we have in place in the state of Hawaii, and I'm looking right at you because this is a strong statement on my behalf, but I stand by my words and I'm mindful of what I'm saying is that we do not have a government in the state of Hawaii that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. This sounds like perhaps a cliche, you may think, or a saying or a trite saying from back when you were reading your textbooks and high school social studies, or when you were a child reading about history, but there is such goodness to the things that we were founded on. They weren't trite little sayings, they were truths, and they're still true to this day. That's right. Gary, thank you for bringing that up. I um I have watched Governor Green doing what he's doing. I think he has the best last name for what he's been doing. It's a green agenda.

SPEAKER_03

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00

And his number one donor, and you can check his files, includes Pfizer, which is Big Pharma, and they give big money to their big guys. So, how do we get off that track of being funded by private organizations when you're a public official? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Very difficult.

SPEAKER_00

The corruption is really difficult. Yeah. You and I risk even talking about it and putting this on air in this way.

SPEAKER_03

The issue is retribution.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

So retribution from political figures throughout the community restrain people from actually participating. Yes. I hear that. You know, I'm a contractor, by the way. People don't realize this. I'm a general contractor.

SPEAKER_04

He works for a real job.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, a real job. Imagine that. And I signed the check on both sides. Imagine that as well. What a concept. A business person running a state government, which is a business.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

This is what we need. Somebody who understands the lay of the land, understands what resources are available, and understands how to budget and do all these things. And I can tell you when I w when I ran in 22, I would go around and ask people I knew. I said, hey, can you support the invest in the campaign? Oh, well, I'm behind you 100%, but I can't give. Well, how come? Yeah. Because my name will show up on my name will show up in campaign records and I'll have retribution.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So this is very common.

SPEAKER_00

And retribution, if you're a young person watching and it's outside of you, you don't want to Google it. It means it's a type of revenge. Yeah, it's revenge. You will pay. You will have uh consequence and they will get you.

SPEAKER_03

You want to get your project done? Better be careful. Don't cross the government. You want to build a church? You need that, need that? Mm-hmm. We better watch out.

SPEAKER_00

And this is the gospel.

SPEAKER_03

Better not speak from the pulpit. Better not talk about politics. Right. These are the issues that people face because this is the undercurrent of corruption. When I mentioned earlier that corruption is undermining all that's possible, it's because there's no freedom.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

We're designed to be free. Our rights don't come from government. No, sir. We have inalienable rights that come from God alone.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

But we actually have to walk in that. There's a certain authority that we get to walk in in this community that says no. It says no to that.

Voter Apathy, Retribution, And Turnout

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I do not bow to that false God. But our God says in his good book, where the spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. There is freedom. That's right. And we are free for freedom's sake because God gives us that. Thank you, Gary. So I agree with you. And yet there's that, as you said, that undercurrent. I grew up in the state of Hawaii, and there have been different experiences throughout my lifetime and the lifetime of my parents who who were the first to um immigrate here. And it you understand, you don't say certain things, you don't act up a certain way because you do get. I've had friends speak out on the side of uh what's not popular and what's not in the winning positions in government, and they had union contracts pulled.

SPEAKER_03

That's right.

SPEAKER_00

Right? Because the unions are a big part of politics here.

SPEAKER_03

I've had them come to my job.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

They came to my job. Hey, we just want to check to see if you're OSHA compliant. I said, Well, I'm so glad you came because I'm I'm all about that.

SPEAKER_00

We're fully compliant.

SPEAKER_03

We're fully compliant, and we're in we're full we agree with you completely. But where do these guys come from? It's this unspoken pressure to comply. We will never comply our way out of totalitarianism. You must stand. Yes. The people 60% of this state do not vote. You wonder how we're gonna win?

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

Think of it. 60% That's a majority. 60%. Yeah. It's a supermajority.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

I would go in and knock on doors. Hey, are you voting? No. Why why would I bother to vote? Right. Why would I bother?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It's a waste of time. My voice, you need to change this. My vote, my voice doesn't matter. And all we have to do is convince people to say your voice does matter because this is your Ohana. That's good. These are your kids. This is your future. So this conversation about outward migration, and you mentioned my own family, right? This is exactly why they've left. And the people who are leaving Hawaii? Who exactly is that? It's people who can actually afford to leave. Yes. Think about it. And who are those people? They're small business. They're families who are functioning, they're working hard, they recognize, they see the handwriting on the wall. Yeah. They know that the future is bleak. Yes. And so they say, exit stage right while I still can. Yeah. And this is what's going on. And so what happens?

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

The pop the tax base is shrinking. Yes. But the government is saying we need more. Right. Right? Well, just make just put that on the scale.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So you're going to have more and more of the government taking more and more, but you have less and less people paying. So that means their rate has to go up.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

So you see these new policies all the time. All of these agencies have overlaying fees and regulations. They all they overlap.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And now you have different uh climate change uh uh organizations and departments. They also have another layer of fees and taxes. We don't call them taxes, but they're taxed. Because if you don't get if you don't pay the fee, you don't get you don't get your license.

SPEAKER_00

You don't get the service.

SPEAKER_03

You don't get it. So I do they give it back when they see the overlap? Oh no. Do you think they give it back? No, sir. Of course not. I I actually went down, I actually went down and registered our car about eight months ago. Yeah. It's a BMW, it's a nice car. Right. Eight hundred dollars.

SPEAKER_00

Holy smack down.

SPEAKER_03

Eight hundred dollars. So you multiply that by a family of two or three.

SPEAKER_00

Right. And you need a car to get to work or go wherever.

SPEAKER_03

And you gotta pay your insurance. Right.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_03

These are mandated things.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Right. So these are the kinds of things that are crushing people in the state.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

Why is it and isn't that money supposed to go to take care of the roads?

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_03

Department of Transportation. I would hope so. Yeah, you're supposed to.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Isn't like 47 cents on every gallon of gas supposed to help take care of the roads? I sure hope so. I don't see the roads getting much better.

SPEAKER_00

I see them getting a lot worse, and I see a lot more road construction in addition to the epic fail rail that's cutting through my town of Kali. I'm not even going to start on that. And all my students at Nana Coolie when I used to teach at high school, we already know Anti Don. You can call them the Epic Fail Rail, with which has a no-end in sight budget. Anyway, we're not going to touch it. We're not going to touch it.

SPEAKER_03

It's a good example, though, of what's wrong with the state. Thank you. We're about to launch a new stadium project. Right? We have a partnership between the government and car developers. That's right. They're so they're about 600 million short.

SPEAKER_02

Holy shit.

SPEAKER_03

Now they've already wasted 300 to 400 million on the previous administration in planning. They've wasted, they've actually written they've already written this off.

SPEAKER_00

In the David Ege administration, and now we're in the Green administration.

SPEAKER_03

And it's supposed to be supposed to be opening in 2028. Now it's pushed to 2030.

SPEAKER_00

And we have such a great record with the epic fail rail that's still being built and X amount of dollars just flying out of the state of Hawaii.

Election Integrity And Registration

SPEAKER_03

So the question is what is the solution to these kinds of systematic failures? What is stop putting people in charge of projects that don't know anything about construction?

SPEAKER_00

Well, and it was interesting to me to see the recent headline at the time of this filming that Colleen Hanabusa is now stepped down as the heart, which has to do with the rail transit, heart director. And I thought to myself, I'm sorry I stopped paying attention because it makes me so angry. I did stop watching that news. And I don't necessarily aspire to those to people who say that. Oh, I stopped watching the news. It's just always so negative. But I missed that she was the director, and now she's stepping down, and it was a suddenly, and she said, Oh, I'm so sorry I wasn't gonna, I was gonna meet with you, Governor Green, or this, that, and and you I read a bunch of excuses that are made. I'm sorry, Colleen Hanabusa and your wonderful family, if you're watching this, but I heard the excuses coming through because I'm a taxpayer in the state of White.

SPEAKER_02

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_00

And it's another person I thought, I didn't realize you knew how to run rail transit or try to salvage this project. So to your point of we are we are having a very incestuous relationship where somebody loses an election and then they show up as a director of the tourism, or they show up as this here, or they're now Josh Green's PR person, or and I think to myself, wait a minute, you're just being sidelined to come back later in another position of power and leadership. Let me pivot because we're coming in for a landing. Yeah. And you and I could do this all day.

SPEAKER_03

We need hope.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

I can tell you, you know, in these meetings that we have on a regular basis, they're called meet and greets for the campaign. Go to Gary CorteryforGovernor.com.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, Gary Cortery. Gary CorteryforGovernor.com. You'll find off screen.

SPEAKER_03

You'll you'll have you'll find in there the opportunity to participate in meet and greets. Thank you. So I start talking about this the state and the condition of our state, and pretty soon it just gets so heavy, I gotta go break out. Yeah. Because we need hope.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

And there is hope.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

We should not shrink back as though we're not that as whether we're not the head. We're we are not the tail. Come on. We are the head. Yes, sir. God has given provision, favor, and abundance to have righteousness in government because people will prosper once that's so.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's a promise.

SPEAKER_00

That is a promise.

SPEAKER_03

God said you put righteous people in government, the people will prosper.

SPEAKER_00

And I was going to say it's not just a promise, it's God's promise.

SPEAKER_03

It's God's promise, exactly. That's good. Good clarification. Exactly. So that's the that's the call. Yes. It is a magic a matter of calling people up to the God-given gift of who they've been made, how they live their lives. I love that. How they are with each other in relationship, how they show up at work. Yes. Is vir virtue and conscience functioning at a high level? Do they go to work and just hang out and not produce? Are they on the state dime? Right. Right? Right. No. We have to we have to change the culture.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

It is a cultural shift in this state. It will create great abundance. And it it is not pie in the sky. Yeah. It is practical policy implementation from the departments.

SPEAKER_04

I love that. It can be done. It's practical.

SPEAKER_00

It's actually historical.

SPEAKER_03

It is historical.

SPEAKER_00

It is our state motto. Uamao kea okaina i ka pono. Hallelujah. The life of the land is in righteousness. And it started that way under the Mo'i, the royalty of this land. That's right. And as the original constitution and republic that was Hawaii. That's right. So as it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end. How are we going to make that difference, Gary? How are you aspiring to that? And and and walk us through. We know that elections are coming 2026. Every uh key positions are up. Governor, lieutenant governor, we have representatives and senators. What is the landscape gonna look like for that? And I'm gonna ask you a backup question. Why should we register? You started touching on that as well. But first, what is it gonna look like?

SPEAKER_03

What is it gonna look like? Well, you know, in 2026, and there'll be an August, there'll be a primary in August 8th, 2026. That will determine who's actually gonna run for the general. And that will happen in November 8th. So what happens between now and then? There'll be candidates going out there and they'll make in their presentation to the public.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

This is the public's opportunity to engage with these people and find out, not about what they say, but look and see how they live their lives. Yes. Look and see what they how they've acted in the past. Have have they are they a uh an incumbent? Are they running again? And if they did, how did they vote?

SPEAKER_00

Did they serve the people? Yes. That's good.

SPEAKER_03

This is what has to happen. You must get to know those who are in the legislative branch. You gotta go do your homework.

Policy Priorities And Kingdom Principles

SPEAKER_00

Judge a tree by its fruit, that's right. The Ulu doesn't fall far from the Ulu tree. You're not gonna get guava from a rose bush, you're not gonna get grapes from a thorn bush. So I love that. Look at their track record. And primary is August 8th. So that's like based on the word prime, which is first. So that's like JV. Okay, so you gotta make JV team the junior varsity to get to the varsity team. I'm breaking it down simple because I want to go after the 60% who are not yet voting. That's right. Especially the young people coming up who I think are really sick and tired of the sick and tired in the state.

SPEAKER_03

They should be sick and tired. They're the ones who are paying the price for corruption in the last 30 years. They are literally, this generation is literally thinking their future is in mom and dad's garage.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

That the biggest thing that they're gonna own is a nice car and a loud stereo. I say that there's an unprecedented life for the people of the state.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

The young people of the state have every right to believe that if they give themselves in merit, in authenticity, and integrity, that should they should reap the rewards because that's exactly what God said. We will reap what we sow.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, in the land of the living. That's right. So register to vote.

SPEAKER_03

Register to vote is absolutely fundamental. And it is easier than ever. Yes. You know, so I just came. I don't know if you listened to the Office of Elections meeting today.

SPEAKER_00

I'm sorry I was filming my own stuff today.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so you you probably want to, you know. Ah my gosh. I can't even tell you. But we have election issues in the state.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yes, we do. And we have for a long time.

SPEAKER_03

And we have for a long time. But it's coming to a head. So they've, you know, there's been a pig that was issued uh and they've actually made a determination that the the previous election in 2024 was corrupted. Because there's no what a shocker. So this is a big deal because this is why the young people say, why should I bother? Right. Even in the national elections, people say to me all the time, well, you know, how come Hawaii gets called before how come it gets called before you know the vote is even done?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, before the polling booths are closed. We're not even voting yet, and I already know who the president is.

SPEAKER_03

So we need to push for in-person, single day, with an ID. Not electronics.

SPEAKER_00

Let's just go back mail in.

SPEAKER_03

Can we just exercise enough wisdom to say what we're doing doesn't work?

SPEAKER_00

It's not even wisdom, it's common sense. But go ahead.

SPEAKER_03

So we must pre- so people must call their legislators. This this decision is still possible. Wow. We can still shift for the 2026 election. Walk in. Remember, we should go to the school.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

Go to school, get your little paper, make your name in that. But you have to register, you can go to your phone. How do I register to vote in Hawaii? You can do it on your phone. You can do this in about five minutes. Yeah. Why is this so important? You want to have to leave this state?

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

You want a job? Yeah. You want to be married to the government?

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03

Or do you want to actually raise your own family? Yes. You want to be able to determine what what future is going to look like.

SPEAKER_00

What books my children will read in first grade.

SPEAKER_03

This is the beautiful thing about the governor's authority. He actually can he can actually suspend the funding for these kinds of positions. These kinds of positions I say positions, I mean criteria. Sure. Teaching criteria. These are tactics. There are so many tactics because the governor is so powerful that if we actually put people in places of responsibility who will actually do what is right for the people.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

Right? Oh, I'm not honestly. Honestly, the kingdom principles live and breathe and burn on the inside.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

And they will they will determine our steps. Yes. Right? So we have these mountains of government and mountain all these mountains, right? You know, it's a fairly common phrase in our seven mountains. The seven mountains, right? Well, the government mountain must come down.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

And it must be replaced by kingdom principles.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

Aloha Defined And Lived

SPEAKER_03

It doesn't mean that everybody's going to turn into a Christian just because a believer is in the executive branch, but it does mean that the principles of the kingdom, they're like gravity.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

People don't really realize that they're governed by gravity, but everybody jumps, everybody comes down, right? They know it by experience.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

But we haven't had an experience where you've had kingdom principles applied to government policy.

SPEAKER_00

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_03

This is the distinction that I'm making. If we put people who fear God and put kingdom principles in places of authority in the in the departments of this state, we will see change that we have never seen.

SPEAKER_00

A tidal wave of the city.

SPEAKER_03

And it goes across the board.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

I mean you think about OHA, it's like, why is Kaikaheli running OHA? Like, really? Mm-hmm. These are the kinds of decisions that that Hawaiians that are kingdom principle minded need to actually govern. Not once who are worried about the budget and making more money. And there's, you know, go to our website. I can tell you, we're speaking to all of these issues. There's so many issues, it's hard to narrow it down to three or four. Right. But obviously, cost of living. Good. You know? Why don't so we're going to eliminate GET on medicine and food?

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_03

How many people have said that? Over and over. Why aren't we actually why doesn't somebody actually from this state go to the Department of Interior and say, let's can we just deal with this uh Jones Act? Can we just deal with this?

SPEAKER_00

It's such a conundrum. It's so confusing. And they've talked about it for so many administrations, but nobody's done anything. Going back to the political promises, and I'm not going to go off on that vent because I know we're trying to land the plane here. But again, it comes back to me, Gary, of the people, by the people, for the people. That's right. And uomo kea okaina i kapono. We are an American state that is supposed to be operating in righteousness. And that's what you are aspiring to. That's what you're calling for. And if we change governor for 2026, and I'm talking about not Democrat, and I say that at my own great risk, but I stand in righteousness of God. I have no fear of retribution. And you do the same. Gary for Governor, what's the website again?

SPEAKER_03

Gary Corteryforgovernor.com.

SPEAKER_00

Gary Cortery for Governor.com. It's going to come up on the screen. I'm going to bring us in. Thank you for saying it's a word of hope. We're not looking at the black eye of politics as much as we're looking beyond that to the great hope of Hawaii. Because if we draw breath, we still have hope. That's always been a firm belief of mine. But one of my um one of the last questions we ask every guest, and thank you, Gary, for talking about some of your platform, but it's available on the website. That's right. And you're going to be addressing cost of living, you're addressing corruption and mismanagement by having accountability and having the office of um accountability, transparency, and truth. Thank you for addressing housing and home ownership and um also education. The last question, two questions I always ask people, and this has to do with the aloha state is what is aloha to you, sir?

SPEAKER_03

Wow, what a beautiful question. In the moment, it's like when you meet somebody, you can look in their eyes and you don't have to you don't have to make something up. You can actually just be present.

SPEAKER_04

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

We can live our lives with our arms crossed, positioned, and being right. Or we can we can stand open-armed, open open armed, and we can embrace that person. Whatever their scenario, whatever life's whatever life's experiences have brought them to that particular moment, that we can actually be with one another in such a way that there's life exchange.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

You know, the Allah spirit is I mean the its expression is all over you know bac backyard barbecues and talking story late into the night and going to the beach, and maybe it's just maybe you're in digging a ditch, maybe you're digging a footing, but there's still a measure of grace, grace, and honor and joy and a willingness to pick the other up.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

We talk about Malama and the Ohana and all of these th they're all a part of that declaration, the Aboha spirit. But really, it's in this moment. Like I I get to have Aloha with you right now.

SPEAKER_00

This is Aloha. So this is how it is.

SPEAKER_03

So we just actually reach for one another and embrace and then you know take what take what shows up and practice committed communication. Just be committed to the to to prefer the other.

SPEAKER_00

I love that.

SPEAKER_03

We prefer one another out of the grace of God, right?

SPEAKER_00

And I love that you touched on, and sometimes it's even in the digging of a ditch. I just saw on uh IG or social media, uh, somebody spun out and got into an accident, went off the road by Kualoa Ranch. Yeah. You know, that that hairpin kind of curved. And instead of people just passing by, you saw a couple of local boys jump out of their truck, pull over, jump out, and help to get the car back out onto the road and on their way. It's early morning, right? We're all trying to get to the colour.

SPEAKER_04

How inconvenient.

SPEAKER_00

Right. But that aloha spirit showed up even in the digging of a ditch or in a bad moment. That's especially when it shows up.

SPEAKER_03

It's in simple things too. I mean, that's a pretty dramatic example. Right. I'm walking down the street, I see trash on the ground. Come on, there it is. I could either choose to bend over and pick up that trash because it doesn't belong there.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_03

That's the lost spirit.

SPEAKER_00

That's good.

SPEAKER_03

We would care for one another in the simple task and make our land and make our lives better.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Or when I merge into traffic and I flash the shotgun. Exactly. Thank you. Thank you for letting me through, smiling at somebody across the aisle at the you know, grocery store. Who is your aloha hero? Last question. Somebody who lives true, pure aloha, past or present.

SPEAKER_04

Oh boy, that's a great you know, I should have read your notes.

SPEAKER_03

That's what's beautiful about the conversation.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, authentic, real.

Blessing Over Hawaii And Closing

SPEAKER_03

You know, um, there's people in my life right now who just continue to live and give and love. I I I I gotta tell you. Uh Wendy Lowe, Cheryl Toyofuku, yes, Melissa Iona. Hey now. These are people that are involved in my life in a daily basis. It doesn't have to be the well-known.

SPEAKER_00

Right? Like Mother Teresa.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it doesn't have to. I mean, there are those people. Absolutely. You know, there's and there's there's there's thousands of them.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But when I think of that, I think of I think of my wife. I think of you, honestly. You know, so we can connect after a a period of time, and it doesn't have to be some awkward quirkiness. We can just connect. I think I think uh to narrow it down to one person, it's absolutely impossible. I think it's I think it's uh I think it's a present tense conversation. That's good.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I love your answer, Gary, because well, because you mentioned your wife and Kim is a phenomenal woman. My wife's but you also mentioned a number of ladies, and I know each and every one of those ladies, Cheryl and Wendy and uh Melissa. Yeah, and thank you for mentioning me, but it it's a caco thing. It is. It we often say to raise a child, it takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a community. The base word of the word community, and you know this as a public communicator for many years, is commune, to come into oneness with each other. It's also the base word for communion. When you and I come to church and we rem do this in remembrance of Jesus, we break the body so that we can partake together. Yeah, and there's a sacredness, it's kapu, it's holy. And so thank you for saying it's not just one person, it's our whole aloha state, and it's probably gone beyond the waters to the continent, it's gone to other continents, not just the mainland or um what they call the continent now, is corrected by a Hawaiian. Don't say the mainland, because we're also a mainland, right? It's like saying you're the main character, but I'm the main character too. So thank you for that answer, Gary. That was it, wasn't even diplomatic. You weren't trying to be a politician about it. That's not you.

SPEAKER_04

I try to not do that. It was the overflow of your heart, your mouth spoke. So thank you.

SPEAKER_03

It's such a treasure to be with people who who honor one another. Yes. And it it that expression of who they are is is uh is a gift.

SPEAKER_00

Culture of honor.

SPEAKER_03

It's a gift, and it breathes, it breathes and brings life.

SPEAKER_00

It is true, aloha. Yeah, and it is the spirit of Kia Kuo Manaloa. Yeah, Gary, as we go out, do you have a scripture verse that you can speak over the state of Hawaii? Because I trust you, I really do. I don't say that a lot as a child of trauma, but I trust you as a good shepherd.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Do you have a scripture verse you would speak over the state of Hawaii as we finish here?

SPEAKER_03

I don't have a specific verse, but I would speak a blessing.

SPEAKER_00

Please do.

SPEAKER_03

Father, i i we speak a blessing over this state.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

We recognize, Lord, that every good and perfect gift comes from you. Lord, that we can strive and work hard and do all the things that we can do, but at the end of the day, Father, we we trust you, we seek first your kingdom. We ask, Lord, that you, God, would pour into this state your presence. Yes, Lord. Lord, we ask for we ask for redemption in every way. We ask for restoration. We ask for abundance, Father. We ask for grace and we ask for justice, Lord. You said that the foundations of your throne are righteousness and justice. Yes. So out of that, Lord, exudes mercy and kindness. So I pray over this state, over this studio, over Don, over this show, over those who are listening, God, a sense of God's pleasure and glory and that you would be lifted up in it all. In Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_00

Amen.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So wow, thank you, Gary, former pastor, forever friend, and good brother. You know, I teach choose aloha in the schools, and as you were praying that wonderful blessing over the state of the aloha state, the state of Hawaii, I teach choose aloha instead of choose hate, bullyings, choose, you know, other bad things. Choose love, choose aloha, sacrificial godly love. And I always leave them with three words and I have the kids do it with me. Will you help me? I say, okay, aloha, and you make a heart. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Always wins. Always wins. Aloha always wins. Always wins wins. And I hope and pray because you embody aloha, that aloha will always win with you. Thank you for watching. Aloha Alive, the heartbeat of Hawaii. Don't forget to check him out on his website. It's GaryCordery for Governor.com. Yes. And you can also see his whole calendar there. He'll be going around the state. And what you see is the real Jesus deal. Vote Gary for Gov. Aloha.

SPEAKER_04

Aloha.