COM 0796.000 2008-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 1 The County also cannot sustain Hawaii Island as a unique and wonderful place on its own. That is the ongoing work of the County, residents, and other stakeholders, working in collaboration. This report focuses primarily on areas of County activity and responsibility so that residents can assess the challenges we all face, the ways in which the County responds to those challenges, and the role of other organizations in improving our quality of life. Since this report is being prepared by the County Planning Department for consideration by many stakeholders, it leaves to readers the important tasks of assessing the data and deciding what to do next. This report is meant to support lively and informed discussion of the County's future, not to reach conclusions about quality of life and what is to be done. Methodology 1 To track progress toward achieving General Plan goals, the report compiles annual "indicators" of the state of Hawaii County. An indicator signals whether change is occurring. A good indicator suggests what sort of change is taking place, and whether it is small or large. Indicators in this report should help policy- makers and the public decide whether the County is moving towards its goals, and whether it is moving fast enough. An indicator represents a trend. It provides a measure of larger, more complex facts that matter to people and can help the community decide when action is needed. Importantly, however, an indicator does not necessarily indicate what action is appropriate. Care should be taken to avoid "teaching to the test" — that is, fixing the indicator, not the larger problem of which the indicator is symptomatic. The indicators in the report were selected for several reasons: • The information speaks to a goal, policy, or standard enunciated in the General Plan. • The information is measurable and quantifiable. • Averages or samples are gathered regularly — in most cases, annually — so trends can be followed from year to year. • The information is being collected already, although it may not be published. The General Plan instructs the County to prepare this report annually. This is unusual — in most t communities, an indicator report is issued, but not updated. The first report was prepared for fiscal year 2008 - 2009, and this is the second report. In future years, the list of indicators is expected to be stable, with some refinements and additions as better measures become available or as stakeholders identify key problems and indicators to be considered. Future reports should therefore help Hawaii County's citizens track trends and see whether County initiatives are sustained. This report provides graphic accounts of indicators, with minimal commentary to help the reader assess the trends. Tables of the indicator data are provided at the end. Conventions used here include: • Fiscal Years Annual data are provided for fiscal years beginning July 1 and ending on June 30 wherever possible. The fiscal year from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 is identified as FY 2009. For all tables, notes indicate whether fiscal years (FY) or calendar years (CY) are used to summarize data. • 1 2 Hawaii County General Plan Annual Report, 2009