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Pacific Resource Partnership, a nonprofit representing the state’s largest construction union, today launches its second annual Partners for Democracy program with a new group of 30 Hawaii residents focused on learning the fundamentals of campaigning politics, issues affecting public policy and community advocacy.
Five of the 28 2022 graduates were elected to public office, including state Rep. Darius Kila (D, Honokai Hale-Nanakuli-Maili), who credits the PRP program and his fellow participants with inspiring his political career.
“I just wanted to learn,” Kila said. “The best thing about the program was being able to go in with no expectations but leave with so much knowledge.”
A notable discussion of the 2022 session focused on Hawaii’s declining middle class, which Kila said “absolutely” influenced the legislation he introduced during the 2023 session that restricted the purchase of real estate by residents from Hawaii. The bill ultimately failed, but “the program allowed me to think outside the box in crafting legislation and policy.”
This year’s Partners for Democracy program will hold the first of nine monthly meetings at the Alohilani Resort in Waikiki. Throughout the session, participants will participate in intensive workshops focused on media training and strategies for elevating messages about issues they care about, according to program director Ian Terayama.
Participants will also hear from speakers including political strategist Christine Pelosi, daughter of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with Governor Josh Green, Kauai County Mayor Derek Kawakami and former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
This year’s cohort includes 11 women and 19 men from the island of Hawaii, Maui, Molokai and Oahu with backgrounds working at the county, state and federal levels of government.
Mark Anthony Clemente is currently the office manager for State Representative Daniel Holt (D, Sand Island-Iwilei-Chinatown). A recent graduate of the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law, Clemente began working as a session staff member in 2017 for state Rep. Lauren Matsumoto (R, Mililani- Waipio Acres-Mililani Mauka) .
“With several years of experience at the Capitol, I felt it was time to expand my skills and knowledge,” he said. “I know what’s going on in the (Capitol) building, but how do we get here?”
That curiosity inspired him to apply for the Partners for Democracy program, he said.
Clemente, who lives in Waialua with her family and 5-month-old son, said she doesn’t see herself running for office anytime soon, but hopes the program will provide her with a network of contacts and knowledge for the future.
He said he will enter the program focusing on affordable housing, land use laws and the construction industry, as it “provides thousands of well-paying jobs for local people.”
PRP represents more than 6,000 construction industry members and approximately 240 general contractors statewide. While the program is fundamentally rooted in the idea of elevating local leadership and providing guidance for future endeavors, “it’s not a charity,” said Colin Moore, a UH political scientist.
He called the PRP training program a “sophisticated operation.”
“I don’t think there’s any direct expectation, but the PRP manages it because they want to elect politicians who are sympathetic to their goals, which is fundamentally construction,” Moore said. “It favors both groups, but I think they’re doing it because they want to get attractive candidates who are very much aligned with their position. … It’s a little bit of a different strategy than giving campaign donations, because you’re directly trying to recruit candidates that you think they will be good. Get involved in the process one step earlier.”
Kyle Chock, PRP’s interim executive director, disagreed, saying interest in PRP, the construction industry or Hawaii’s unions play no role in who is selected for training.
“I think that would be the absolutely wrong premise to build a future generation of leaders that we want to contribute to Hawaii, that we would force them to agree with any point or opinion that we have,” Chock said. “That’s not what we’re trying to achieve.”
Clemente said he would not have wanted to be part of the show if an agenda was being pushed. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser interviewed Clemente and Chock together, which represented the first time they had met in person, they said.
The program is non-partisan and so is the application process, Terayama said.
“We don’t ask for political information,” he said. “We’re asking for their backgrounds, their Hawaii stories.”
After completing the program, some participants may be offered placement in a local or continental political campaign. Terayama said the program is an investment not only in potential candidates for the position, but also in the staff who work there.
“As someone who is a former political staffer, I’m really excited to help these people find meaningful growth and find other ways to help and support their communities,” he said.
According to Chock, PRP will invest in the Partners in Democracy program over the next 10 years, with the goal of producing 300 graduates.
“Not every cohort will feed 10 candidates and five of them will win; there will be variations on that,” he said. “But the idea was to create an investment over a long period of time where we hope to be able to do our part to increase civic engagement and create a platform that gives people visibility.”
