Full Name: Dennis B. Miller

Name on Ballot: Dennis B. Miller

Age: 48

Political Party: Democrat

Running For: House

District: 22

Email Address: dennis@democracyinhawaii.com

Current Job: Owner of Spa Pure

Place of birth: Boise, Idaho

Campaign website: www.democracyinhawaii.com

Job history past 10 years:

Co-Owner and operator of Shiatsu & Massage Center since 2001. Co-Owner and operator of Spa Pure since 2008.

Ever run for public office? If so, when? Outcome? No

Other civic experience or community service?

None, except for, perhaps, sign waving for Bernie Sanders, from September 2015 through March 26, 2016

Anything else you’d like voters to know about you?

Aloha! Creating a livable wage will end most homelessness and chronic unemployment. It will also save the taxpayers. Let’s help our businesses to raise the minimum wage to $18, & lower the cost of business in several significant ways, starting with a State Single Payer Health Care Plan.

What makes you qualified to be a state representative?

I’m a Waikiki Day Spa entrepreneur.

Together with Petula, my wife, we have managed Shiatsu & Massage Center (average annual sales: $900,000.00 for the past three years) for about 15 years and Spa Pure, in the Courtyard Hotel, for eight years. My bachelor of arts degree is from UH-Manoa.

Gov. Ige says he will once again propose increases to the state gas tax, vehicle weight tax and state registration fees to help pay for state road projects. Do you support his proposal?

Yes. Our infrastructure has to be taken care of, but, we also need to fight government waste with financial transparency. If we help our state auditors to verify and reveal to the public how every taxpayer dollar is spent, we can stop “overcharges.”

If the Legislature is again asked to extend Oahu’s half-percent excise tax surcharge to finance construction or operation of the rail system, would you support such an extension?

The state is not an endless piggy bank. Rather than agreeing to each new price increase every two years, we might consider to change the plan, or to change contractors. Personally, I recommend bridging the rail over existing roads, rather than buying all the adjacent land.

Should the state play a role in cracking down on illegal vacation rentals in Hawaii?

Yes. The state can increase tax revenue by hiring more Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Department of Labor inspectors. Many businesses are operating on a cash basis. This creates an unfair situation for honest businesses. Illegal home-VRs need to be shut down. Licensed home-VRs need to pay a 15 percent room tax.

Should the Legislature require that police officers in Hawaii use “body cameras,” and help to fund the use of those cameras?

Yes. Wearing and maintaining in working order a body camera needs to be a job requirement for police officers. We also need to dramatically improve training for our police officers. By ending homelessness and ending chronic poverty, we will end a lot of the stress our police face.

Dozens of police officers in Hawaii are disciplined each year for committing crimes or violating departmental policies, but little information is released about the officers or their cases. Do you think there needs to be greater public disclosure?

Without transparency regarding our public servants, the public won’t trust what we can’t see. The public needs a good, reliable police force. The police force needs the support to make that happen. Requiring a third party to investigate accusations of crimes by police will help to build trust.