COM 0666.002 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Hawai i County Clerk counciltestimony~n,co.hawaii.hi.us To: Hawai i County Council Committee on Planning The Honorable K. Angel Pilago, Chair The Honorable Dominic Yagong, Vice-Chair From: Marie Dolores (Dolly) Strazaz Com. Date: Tuesday, 18 September 2007 1:00 PM Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa Subject: Support of Council Bi11176 Establishing a Hawai i County Cultural Resources Commission I am writing as a resident of Hawai i County, as a member of an informal taskforce group on historic preservation and as a representative of an informal Hawai i Island organization, the Hawaz i Island Alliance of Historical and Cultural Organizations, in support of Council Bill 176, establishing a Hawaz i County Cultural Resources Commission. I am a professional historian and archivist by trade and have been involved with preservation in Hawai i since 1975. I served as a member of the State Historic Places Review Board for 8 yeazs in the 1980s and 1990s and in state government as the head of the statewide history and humanities program. I have also served on the board of the Big Island Visitors' Bureau. In all of these capacities I have come to appreciate the wealth of historical and cultural resources that we have on the Island of Hawaz i and, in the yeazs that I have lived in Hawai i, have also seen the tremendous loss of such resources on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Lanai. From several points of view, cultural, educational and economic, it has become critical to place cultural and historic preservation in the limelight in the County of Hawai i...not only by means of the nice words we say about it, but also with a structure in our local government that puts emphasis on the importance of the unique treasures and communities that we still have on this island. Studies show that by 2015 only 43% of the residents of Hawai i will be local born. One part of that fact means that there will be that many fewer individuals who get the story of our place passed down to them through their families and social networks. It is, therefore, important to at least have reminders of that past, that made Hawaz i what it is today, still in our presence and part of our future. It is also important to be able to keep Hawai' i unique for ourselves as well as for our future visitors. If we were to lose that, we could lose that quality that is so special to ourselves and that sets Hawaii apart from other travel destinations. Comm. No. (o G ~ • Z Ref. To: Ref. Dat