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Message Yage 2 of 3 that the homestead program is self-sustaining, and that the only way to generate income to develop housing for those native Hawaiians is to lease out prime lands to for-profit entities. The brochure also implies that the pending legislation will, in some way, impact the pending construction of the new Wal-Mart supercenter, athough the newspaper has already pointed nut that that is a moot point, as the r.ounty planning rommission has no jurisdiction over DHHL property. By the way, the flyer was mailed from Honolulu, which in7pfies to me that someone from another island is attempting to tamper with our local politics. No menfion is made as to why they think there is a connection between the graves discovered at the site of the supercenter on Oahu, and the devekupurent ui such a faciFiy un Ehu Hawaiian hurrw lands in Hilu. As far as anybody can tell, this could just be an effort from local businessmen to stave off competition from an entity known to bring lower prices into communities where lack of a competitive market has albwed a small clique to benefit unfairly at the expense of consumers. it has been my observation that the presence of Wal-Martin Hilo has acompanied (and probaby significanty assisted) Hilo's economic revival over the last ten years, that native Hawaiians have benefitted disproporfionatety from its presence in the form of jobs, training and lower prices (since native Hawaiians statistically tend to have bwer incomes and a higher propensity for consumption over savings) and, through the lucrative lease arr<zngements, homes and streets. Gone arc the days when local businessmen ftiendty with the governor can get sweetheart leases in prime locations for far less than market value, to the detriment of the DHHL beneficiaries. The last ten years have seen an enormous increase in the number of families put into homesteads after decades of stagnation on a waiting Est that seemed to be going nowhere. Where were the local businesses during the first seventy-five years of the homestead program? This smear campaign does a tremendous disservice to an organization that probaby employees more native Hawaiians than any other retail company in the state. By the way, you might say I could be a tittle biased. My wife has worked for Wal-Mart for thirteen years, and although she's onty an assoaate, she has a very generous compensation package, comparable to that of many of my co-workers at the university. My daughter tried for months to get a decent job at many of these small businesses with no avail, but Wal-Mart hired her and trained her and she is making more than she woukf have if sl7e irad yore to any mom-and-pop operation 87 Hik7. rViy sun worked at Wal~iart on Oahu for about eight years - - and, though he now works in the construction industry, I'm sure the discipline and sldfis he acquired as a department manager in Wei-Mart have helped him significantly in his current posfion. My daughter-in-law still works for Wal-Mart and her pay is relativety generous, which helps immensely with their growing family. All of them are native Hawaiians. And for those, Nke our former council chair, who tout the benefits of working for momand-pop operations, I have something to say. If you really believe that N's better working for them, you are probably in one of two categories: 1) Your mom and pop, uncle and aunty, etc. were running the store or 2) You never worked in one. My first job (for 18 months) was in a neightwrhood supermarket. I was the only non-Asian working there. For 18 months, onty one person worked in the parking lot all day Sunday cleaning out the garbage cans full of discarded plate lunches, partially consumed sodas, etc. Although new employees came and went, I stayed on garbage detail. Younger high school students hired attar me got pay raises and training to be cashiers. I got to do the once-weekly emptying of the upstairs apartment trashcans (think six-day-okf pampers and discarded kitchen garbage). I was roufinety verbally abused by the owner's nephew from Japan (He was a former pro boxer and he once threatened to kill me. 1 told him to give k his best shot.) ,compelled to work in the reefer with no warm clothing (although they came in to check on me with fur-lined jackets), and the onty employee in the store scheduled to work until closing on every holday and holiday eve two consecutive years, from Thanksgiving Eve through New Year!.'s..-Eye. { y6t tU GS1ei7 t0 niy W$$' Sw7 argue with a cook at their nearby restaurant BkYOUt 17is pay one evenh7y. TPre cook wanted minimum wage ($1.60) and the organization would onty pay him $1.10. This was several months AFTER the state labor department give the owner a record fine for violations of the minimum wage law. I'm glad my daughter never had to go through that. Growing up in Leeward Oahu in the '60s we had little choice, as the vast majority of the opportunifies were only available at mom-and-pop operations that favored their own ethnic group over all others, and expected non-members of their group to take a decidedly secondary role in the business, if they were even lucky enough to get a job. People like me were hired to do work that they didn't want their sons/daughters/nieces/nephews doing. I'm sure it's improved a tittle since then, but your average high schooler or recent graduate hired at amour-and-pop has virtualty no chance at upward mobility at most of these operations. Take a spin down to our own locally-owned supermarket chain and check the organizational chart. It's no coincidence that everybody at the top comes four the same ethnic background. I'm sure most council members won't have to worry about that, since sorrieone will fix their kids up with a good job, no n7atter what. Our fan7ily had to do it the hard way. Thank you, Wal_Mart. http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.rand=fdae92165dwi 10/17/2007