The Argonaut with Jason Economou

In this episode I sit down with Joe Kent, Executive Vice Preisdent for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii to discuss housing policy and the difficulty behind solving a housing crisis. Specifically, we talk about polcies moving forward in Hawaii that might help, as well as policies that have been proposed (like eliminating short term rentals) that may have unintended consequences. 

Joe grew up on the Big Island and attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Minnesota State University, where he obtained his degree in education. Kent was a public school teacher for eight years, at King Kamehameha III School in Lahaina, Maui, and Sleepy Eye Public School in Minnesota. He also is a former student fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education.

I was grateful for the opportunity to record this episode because Joe is an extremely thoughtful person and a great conversationalist. I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did, and I encourage you to email me at [email protected] with any questions or comments you might have. I will be doing a listener mail episode soon, so keep the messages coming. Similarly, please like, subscribe, share, comment, and review!

Mahalo,

Jason 

One episode with Matt Jachowski wasn't really enough, so I invited him back to the show for another interview. The first interview we recorded, which was released as Episode 4, was actually recorded several months back, and some things have changed since then. The biggest change is that Maui's Mayor has proposed eliminating transeint vacation rental use for approximately 7,000 apartment zoned condominium units on Maui. This proposal has gotten a lot of press, and people are beginning to realize that this is a far more complex issue than one might assume. Matt is a voice for making better decisions based on data, so I was pleased to have him on to help us make a little more sense of the issue. 

Throughout our discussion, we will be referencing data that can be found at https://app.helpingmaui.org/data/public . I encourage you to check out the website and the data refenced, and reach out if you have any questions or observations. Emails are always welcome to [email protected], and I encourage you to like, subscribe, comment and share this episode. 

In this episode I interview Matt Jachoski, Director of Data, Technology, and Innovation for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. Matt was born and raised on Maui, he is reasing a family here now, and he has been the driving force behind several efforts to get displaced residents in home after the August 8th fires. These efforts include Maui Hale Match, and more recently HelpingMaui.org, an effort to house those displaced by the Maui fires with support from the American Red Cross, Hawaii Community Foundation, County of Maui, and State of Hawaii.

Matt Jachowski is genuinely one of the smartest and nicest people I know, and it was a pleasure having him join me for this discussion. This interview was actually recorded several months ago, so some of the info is a little dated, but the conversation seems more relevant now than it did when we recorded it. 

As always, please like, subscribe, share, and/or review if you enjoy the show. Also, please email questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]. 

Mahalo! 

Welcome back to The Argonaut with Jason Economou! In this episode I reflect and expound on my recent discussion with Sterling Higa, Executive Director of Housing Hawaiʻi's Future. I dig a little deeper into factors that impact housing affordability, as well as the practical, regulatory, and social barriers that keep communities from addressing the housing crisis. My remarks, and perspective, focuses primarily on Maui, but communities throughout the US are facing similar problems. 

If you enjoy the podcast, please like, subscribe, comment, review, and share! 

Send questions or comments to: [email protected]

On this episode of The Argonaut with Jason Economou, we are joined by Sterling Higa, one of Hawaii's foremost advocates for attainable housing and housing policy reform. In our discussion, Sterling explains many of the key elements causing the housing crisis in Hawaii today, and shares some thoughts on how the system can be improved upon. If you want to begin to understand the issue of housing and why there isn't enough of it today, this episode will help. 

Sterling Higa co-founded and serves as executive director of Housing Hawaii's Future, a nonprofit movement creating opportunities for Hawai‘i's next generation by ending the workforce housing shortage. He lives in Ha‘ikū with his wife and four children. Prior to co-founding Housing Hawai‘i's Future, Sterling was a lecturer at Hawai‘i Pacific University and a writer for Honolulu Civil Beat and Hawaii Business Magazine. Sterling serves as Vice Chair of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, board member of Stand Up Maui, and an advisory council member for EAH Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing developer. He also served as a member of the Building Beyond Barriers Working Group which was created by Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green's emergency proclamation. 

If you have questions, comments, and/or suggestions, please email them to [email protected] 

Mahalo!

This first episode lets you know more about the host of The Argonaut, Jason Economou, and the pupose of the show. If you have questions or comments, please reach out via email to [email protected]