RAM GAD POD

Aloha Listener,

First and foremost, let me apologize for my personal audio in this episode. My mic malfunctioned and I didn't find out until after. Still, Mike Molina's audio is great, and he does most of the talking. By the way, in this episode I chat with Councilmember Mike Molina, who is currently running to be the next Mayor of Maui County. Fans of the show might remember that I interviewed Councilmember Molina way back in December 2019, and interestingly enough, I think I asked him about a run for Mayor way back then. In this interview, we touch on his ideas to address affordable housing and economic diversification, as well as his thoughts on recent additions to the Star Wars universe. If you want to learn more about Mike Molina and his campaign for mayor, I encourage you to check out his campaign website: https://www.votemikemolina.com/

Mahalo for listening, and please subscribe to the podcast for more interviews. 

Jason

Aloha Listener,

In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Jason ( A.K.A. Jack) Schwartz, candidate for the Kahului residency seat on the Maui County Council. Jason might be familiar because he has been a candidate for office several times in the past, and he is also the host of a popular show on Akaku called The Neutral Zone. If you want to learn more about Jason Schwartz and his run for Maui County Council, I encourage you to visit his campaign website: MayTheSchwartzBeWithYou.us [Note: This might be my favorite campaign website domain name ever].

Mahalo for listening, and please subscribe to the podcast if you want more interviews like this. 

Jason Economou

Aloha Listener,

In this episode, I chat with Alana Kay, candidate for Maui County Mayor. Alana was a pleasure to chat with, and she shares a lot in this interview, but to learn more about her and her policies in detail, I encourage you to visit her campaign website: www.alanakayformayor.info

Mahalo for listening, and please subscribe to the podcast if you want to hear more interviews from the candidates. 

Mahalo,

Jason

Aloha Listener,

With the primary elections right around the corner, RAM has kicked off our candidate interview process. Our first interview is with Dave DeLeon, candidate for the Makawao-Haiku-Paia seat on the Maui County Council. Dave's names is probably familiar for a few reasons: Dave was Government Affairs Director for RAM for about 10 years, he's authored hundreds of stories as a local journalist, and he is currently serving on the Maui County Charter Commission. If you want to learn more about Dave after this interview, check out his campaign website: https://www.DaveDeLeonMaui.com/

Mahalo,

Jason

Aloha Friends,

This episode covers proposed legislation to phase out transient vacation rentals in the Apartment zoning districts. This legislation will be in front of the Planning and Sustainable Land Use Committee on Wednesday, November 3rd, for the first time, but you can still act even after that date. I initially recorded this as a Hot Topics webinar for RAM members, but it is too important not to share as a podcast. Here are some links to help you submit testimony on this issue, as well to help you follow along:

As always, thank you for listening!

Aloha Friends,

This episode includes audio from a recent Facebook Live event that I did with Lori Tsuhako and Linda Munsell from Maui County's Department of Housing and Human Concerns regarding Maui's Emergency Rental Assistance Program. To learn more about the program, or to apply for assistance, please visit mauicounty.gov/mauirenthelp, or check out the video on the RAM Facebook page: https://fb.watch/6l-jFrqNCY/

Mahalo,

Jason

Aloha Friends,

Recently I circulated a little essay I wrote regarding upcoming real property tax changes for Maui County, and it generated a lot of questions. In particular, folks wanted to learn more about Bill 129 and the long-term rental real property tax exemption it creates. This episode covers your questions, addresses some possible scenarios where the exemption would apply, and discusses some of the potential negative impacts the legislation might have. Since this episode gets into some details that might be difficult to follow, I'll also link to the script in Thursday Things.

Enjoy!

Jason

Aloha Friends,

Today's guest is Jeff Gilbreath, Executive Director of Hawaiian Community Assets. Jeff and his team have been tasked with creating Maui County's Affordable Housing Plan, and we want you to get involved! Please visit www.MauiHousingPlan.org to sign up for virtual community meetings, share your thoughts via the Housing Plan Survey, sign up for updates, or take the pre-qualification assessment. Similarly, if you are interested in learning more about Hawaiian Community Assets or getting involved with their work, please visit www.HawaiianCommunity.net. 

Mahalo,

Jason

Aloha Friends,

I've been a fan of Deborah Caulfield Rybak's writing since I first moved to Maui and saw her articles in Maui Time, so I was excited to see that she recently started her own blog at politicsonmaui.com to continue reporting on local politics. After Deborah accidentally sent me one of her recent articles on "dark money" in the local elections, I reached out to see if I could get her on the show to talk about the election results. Thankfully Deborah is awesome and she was happy to come on and chat. If you've been liking the casual feel of the more recent episodes, you'll definitely like this one. This is one of those interviews that reminded me of how lucky I am that I get to do this as part of my job. Even on issues we disagreed on, Deborah was a pleasure to communicate with. Deborah Rybak is someone you should all be following, and I sincerely hope you enjoy getting to hear from her on this episode. 

Mahalo,

Jason 

Lately, the majority of the questions I've been getting all relate to the proposed charter amendments that will be on the Maui County ballots this election cycle. The charter amendments can get pretty complicated and there are a lot of folks trying to tell us how to vote, but not many people are explaining what the charter amendments actually are or how they will impact us. In this bonus episode I do my best to try and explain the charter amendments in a fairly objective manner without necessarily telling you how I think you should vote. I hope this is helpful and I encourage you to share it if you do find it helpful. More information on the charter amendments can be found at http://mauicounty.us/maui-county-charter/