Where I Came From I was born in Cavite City in the Philippines on June 10th1969. I legally migrated to Hawaii with my mom, dad and my brother in 1970. We actually were looking to live in Guam, but my dad’s brother who was already in Hawaii, invited us to come and visit him and we did.
Our New Home in America
My mom and dad loved Hawaii and believed it to be our new home in America! Instead of packing it up to Guam, we stayed with my dad’s brother for our first two weeks in Hawaii and then rented a small house in Wahiawa Town. We spent our first four years there and eventually we moved not far up the road to a small town called “Mililani.” Mililani was supposed to be this amazing community that had a fifty-year developmental plan.In 1986, Mililani was named an All-America City. It is the only community in Hawaii ever to receive this distinction.
When we first lived in Mililani in 1975, we were surrounded by just pineapple fields, which was a good thing because my neighborhood buddies and I would go and pick pineapples and eat them right as we picked them. Those were some great times! At that time, Mililani was also known for its Red Dirt. I’m not sure why it was, but Mililani had the reddest dirt! True story!
Why Mililani Town
The move to Mililani was because my dad was employed as a laborer with Castle & Cooke Homes, Residential at the time. Castle & Cooke Homes, Residential was responsible for all the development in Mililani and other places like Waipio Gentry, Waikele, Royal Kunia and other places. After 35 plus years, my dad retired as a General Labor Superintendent. To this day, we continue to live here in West Oahu’ Mililani Town for the past 45 years.
Schooling
When I first entered the school system I went to Mililani Waena for my kindergarten years through the 5thgrade. I then went to Mililani Kipapa for my 6thgrade year and then for intermediate school, I went to Wheeler Intermediate for my 7thand 8thgrade years. At that time (1982 – 1984) there was only one intermediate school in our area and it was located on Wheeler AFB. The good thing about going to Wheeler Intermediate was its diversity! We had all walks of life intertwining together. We had the local kids, transplants and military kids who usually were just passing through for a year or two. This was a serious melting pot of kids and for the most part we got along well.
I went on to Mililani high school and graduated class of 1987. From there I entered Leeward Community College or for short, LCC. Jokingly, LCC was teased as “Last Chance College!” I was going after my Associates degree, but an opportunity came along to make some pretty good money while getting an education at the same time. Hence, I got a job as a Plumber’s Apprentice with a union company and was going to trade school at Honolulu Community College (HCC). While working a 40-hour workweek, I would also have to complete 5 years of trade school. Working during the day, we would attend plumbing apprentice schooling 2 to 3 times a week. That was work! I’m happy to say that I finished my 5 years of schooling while working 5 days a week in the scorching sun.
The Jobs I’ve Held and Lessons I’ve Learned
I’ve held many rewarding jobs in my life and have learned a lot about myself in the process. Here’s a listing of jobs I’ve did:
Fast food server (Taco Bell)
Caterer for Paradise Cove (Calico – Summer Hire)
Fast food Mexican cook (Taco Town)
Mental Health Specialist (Kahi Mohala)
Professional Musician (Self-employed)
Asst. Manager (Stars Music & Video – Sears)
Entertainer/Musician (Aikane Catamarans, Inc.)
Union Plumber (Dorvin Leis)
Distribution Manager (Waltlen & Son’s)
Distribution Manager (Aloha Music International)
Small business owner (Missionfield Entertainment Corp. A.K.A. U Da Kine Productions)
There are several very important things I’ve learned in my working life that will definitely help you. Whatever you decide to pursue make sure it’s your passion. Do it with fortitude, a never give up attitude and respect for everyone. Be consistent in all facets of work and always be a student to the business you’re in. Lastly, have integrity and let the words from your mouth be words that encourage and build up others. Never talk ill about anyone for any reason and mind your own business. Always be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. Have nothing to hide and always spread love.
How I Met Her
I’ve been married for 25 years and to the same woman. My wife’s name is Tori and we met while I was working as an Entertainer/Musician on the famous Aikane Catamaran’s. Tori worked as our Cruise Director and lead Tahitian/Hula dancer. Her job was to oversee each sail and to write the International hula show each night for the two sails we did daily. How did we become a couple? Let me first admit that in my much younger days, I was kind of cocky and over-confident of myself. That being said, one night before opening the gangway for the tourist to enter the catamaran, with my swag, I walked up to Tori on the gangway and confidently said “One day we’re going to get married and have 4 kids.” She looked me straight in the eye and confidently replied “Yeah right!” You can say, or as she has said many times “That guy irritates me!” Of course, she couldn’t resist my persistence and we finally had our first dinner date at Pearl Ridge’ Jack In The Box.
Prophecy?
And as I predicted some 27-28 years ago, we were married and have 4 beautiful kids. My eldest and first-born is Isaiah and he is 25 years old, works as a prison guard and has a fiancé, a soon to be step-daughter and a beautiful 1 year old daughter. Yes, I’m a first time grandparent and loving it! Isaiah is aspiring to one day be a Sherriff. My next child is Micah. Micah is 21 years old and works as a leader in the Summer Fun program every year and works full-time as a server and bartender at a restaurant Gyu-Kaku. Micah aspires to become either a Fire Fighter or Police Officer. My third child is my only girl. Her name is Zoë. Zoë is my 16 years old princess! She currently is going to be a junior at Mililani high school. Zoë is a cheerleader for Mililani and she is also in Judo. Zoë is definitely the athlete and she’s also kind of tomboyish being raised with 2 older brothers and one younger, which leads me to my last son, Ethan. Ethan is my 11-year-old boy who lives in a 13 year old body. Ethan unlike most kids his age is really into his hair looking good! I don’t know who he got that from, but I have to say, he does have really good hair! Ethan is entering middle school at Mililani middle school and he tells me that he’s not sure what he wants to be when he grows up, but wants to make a lot of money.
Let me be the first to say that we are far from being a perfect family. If you’ve ever seen my television show “Eh!UDaKineAh?” you’ll see that we’re not. In fact, I’d say we’re a little dysfunctional. But, one thing that I can tell you about my family is that we are all Christians that love God and His only begotten Son JESUS. That to me is the most important thing in this life. That you love and have a relationship with the Lord.
And Now
Currently, I’ve been running my small business for the last 13 years and have been pretty successful producing a local television show. Unfortunately, I have had to give up hosting the television show that I created in order to run for office. Long story short, it’s called “Equal time.” This means a politician can complain about an unfair advantage going to the politician on television and the station would then have to give equal time to the other politician on their network. Best you Google it for more understanding.
There’s so much more to say about me, but that’s it in a nutshell. I hope this has brought you closer to knowing who I am. If you have any questions, I would love to hear from you.
May God bless you and yours,
Candidate tony SOLIS
State Senates District 18