Jason Evans of SilverShark Media speaks with State Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English.
In this podcast Senator English talks about growing up in Hana, pursuing a Master’s degree in Pacific Island Studies, why he decided to first run for office in his 20’s, what the role of a State Senator is, why sea level rise is such an important issue for him, how sea level rise affects the road to Hana and how he approaches different phases of a solution, the early decision making process he went through during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic (including closing the road to Hana and working on food distribution for the East Maui community), the decision to reopen the road in July, some of the factors that contribute to the ongoing decision making in regards to any reopening of Maui (and the state), how this pandemic has led to a shift in how we approach the tourism industry, his hope to implement a traffic management system going forward for the road to Hana in particular that would lessen congestion in East Maui while providing more opportunity for revenue into the local economy, and what advice he would give someone from the younger generation that is interested in running for public office.
