COM 0666.022 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Hawai i County Clerk coenciltestimonv(a.co.hawaii.hi.us To: 1-fawai'i County Cowrcil The Honorable Pete Hoffmann, Chair The Honorable Dominic Yagong, Vice-Chair From: Marie Dolores (Dolly) Strazar Date: Wednesday, 17 October 2007 1:00 PM Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa Subject: Support of Council Bill i76 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 Hawaii Island organization, the Hawai i Island Alliance of Historical and Cultural Organizations, in support of Council 13111 176, establishing a Ilawai'i County t:ulturai Resources Commission. 1 am a professional historian and suchivist by txsule said have been involved with preservation in Hawai i since 1975- I served as a member of the State Historic Places Review Board for 8 yeses in the 1980s and 1990s and in state government as the head of the statewide hisWry and hunratrities prognurr- In all of these capacities I have come to appreciate the wealth of historical and cultural resources that we have on the Island of Hawaii and, in the years that I have lived in Hawai' i, have also seen the tremendous loss of such resources on' 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 govemment 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 Iota! bom. One part of that fact means that there will be that many fewer individuals who get the story of ow place passed down to them through their families and social networks. It is, tlrercfore, importuat to at lesut Isave remurders of that past, that made Hawai i what it is today, still in ow presence, ow present, and part of ow future. It is also important to be able to keep Hawai i unique for owselves as well as for ow futwe visitors. Many of them came today because we are unque acrd it would be nice to have them keep taming, indeed even helping us to preserve what is unique about us and ow land- / Comm. No. G G LZ Ref. To: hr~ ,ottnci ~ Raf. Date OCT 1 7 21101