PUHI — Tiger Lily Kaynor, 15, isn’t old enough to vote, but she said it’s important for younger people to become involved in politics because they have more progressive ideas.
“We’re going to inherit everything from our parents, so if we don’t make an impact now, we’re going to inherit more problems later,” she said.
That’s why the Early College student attended Monday night’s speed dating forum with county council candidates at Kauai Community College.
If people don’t vote, Kaynor said things will remain stagnant.
The teen said she’s concerned about the impact the tourism industry has on the environment.
“Things like water diversion and like monumental development that isn’t well planned, that’s concerning and also providing funding for education, that’s a big thing, especially since I go to a charter school,” Kaynor said. “I know that we have like an extreme lack of funding, we’re always doing fundraisers for the students.”
Kauai County Council candidates Milo Spindt, Adam Roversi, Luke Evslin, Felicia Cowdin, Juno Apalla, Norma Doctor Sparks, Mason Chock and KipuKai Kualii, took turns answering questions from student moderators.
About 40 people attended the forum hosted by Student Government, the History Club and Community Coalition Kauai.
Pre-nursing major Mark Baltazar said he wants to make sure community voices are heard.
“These are the people that are going to be doing that,” he said. “They’re going to be listening to the community and putting it to work to whatever level it is at either county or state.”
It’s important for the younger generation to be involved in the political process because over the years, Baltazar said he has heard many people say voting is a waste of time.
“I truly believe that we can make a difference and it’s people like the councilmembers here that are present that are actually listening to the concerns that just average people have and it’s something we can change,” he said. “I believe that we can reach that utopia of every person knows they are worth something, that they are loved, that there is a reason why they exist.”
Since they’re the next generation of leaders, Beorn Chantara, a business and hospitality major, said it’s important to get students involved in the political process.
“If we want to make a difference in our country, if you don’t like the way things are going,” vote, Chantara said.
Ryemin Liddle, who is majoring in law, political science and minoring in history, said “we stand on the precipice of a new age both in politics, in environmentalism, in evolutionary thought process.”
To gain the millennial vote, candidates need to be good people, he said.
“For so long we’ve been told the political system is inherently corrupt, or we’ve been given this cynical worldview from around six because our parents and grandparents all had these horrible things whether in the Vietnam War they protested or supported,” he said.
And for so long, that worldview has jaded his generation’s opinion about politics, Liddle said.
“What we really need are inspiring leaders that actually stand for what we believe in and represent the interests of the common man,” he said.
Nursing student Nicholas Hauge said he cares deeply about this community and its future.
“It’s incredibly important because we have to live here for the rest of our lives, or we plan on it,” he said. “As a student here, going to school here, it’s really important for us to understand this and be part of the community.”
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Bethany Freudenthal, Crime, courts and county reporter, 652-7891, bfreudenthal@thegardenisland.com
