By Jesika Henson
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Together with other ralliers and students, MHS’ Aikea Club gathered outside City Hall on March 13, in order to protest and call for the passing of Bill 16.
“(Bill 16) will regulate hotels and its owners so the conversion of hotel rooms into condos are limited,” said Senior Aina Iglesias, “It will also protect the workers from getting kicked out of their jobs because of the continuous conversion of hotels.”
The Aikea Club at MHS, the first in the state, recently gathered at City Hall, to rally around the issue of condo conversion, the process of entitling an income property or other lands currently held under one title to convert from sole ownership of the entire property into individually sold units as condominiums. “There were, I would say, a thousand people there,” said Aikea Club adviser Amy Perruso, “And, at the corner of Punchbowl and Beretania, (they were) holding signs and marching and, you know, doing this big event.” Iglesias added, “We brought everyone in a community and we were all powerful as a union, as a whole group and it also helped to have (influenced) the City Council member’s idea (that) there are a lot of people for this bill, so they’re like, ‘Oh my god, we need to do something about it.’”
More than rallying and protesting, Aikea Club’s real goal is to get involved in the community and become an agent for change. “It’s a really energized group of people, because they have a vision, or like some coherent sense of what the future could be like, for ordinary people in Hawaii and I think they really want to bring people together to consider different alternatives,” said Aikea Club adviser Amy Perruso, “I mean, if they’re not knowledgeable, that’s the thing- then they’re not going to be motivated to be agents for change.”
For the Aikea members, the rally was a success. “It was so successful, because Bill 16, the bill that we’re trying to pass in the City Council, it passed the first reading,” said Iglesias. Perruso added, “I felt like ordinary people were asserting themselves and claiming their voice, and I think that too often, people disagree with policy and they know that policy hurts them, and they are just so cynical and angry about it that they’re paralyzed, and I see that happen so often that that can kind of produce you more cynicism, so it’s nice to see people saying, ‘Actually, we would like something different, thank you very much’.”
In the coming year, after Iglesias graduates, Junior Nicole Antos will take over as active president of the MHS Aikea Club. “My main goal for next year’s Aikea club is to get as many people as I can involved,” said Antos, “I want to motivate people to be politically active and stand up for what they believe in. I want students to be educated about all the issues in the community and know they have the power to make a change.” Even though Iglesias is graduating, she will continue to be involved in the Aikea movement. “Even though I will no longer be in Mililani High School I’m still going to come and support (Antos) and shape the club a little bit, influence them, lead them to the right direction,” said Iglesias, “As for myself, I will still be involved in the Aikea movement, there is an Aikea Club at UH, and I will be attending UH Manoa so it fits perfectly, like I’ll be in it anyway.”
While still currently pushing City Council to pass Bill 16, the Aikea Club members hope to be involved in more rallies, protests and board meetings in order to create a change in Hawaii.
