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Hawai`i County Charter Commission — Public Hearing March 29, 2019 <br />Oh and thank you for giving up your Friday afternoon and evening. <br />CHR. ADAMS: Thank you. If I could ask Renee Dufault please to come. Great. <br />Sir. <br />`AINA AKAMU: Proposal No. CA -9 and CA -18 in support and Proposal No. CA -8 and CA -27 <br />in opposition. <br />MR. AKAMU: Aloha awakea kakou, my name is `Aina Akamu. I am here <br />representing myself. Thank you folks so much for providing this opportunity for <br />us to provide testimony to you today. First I would like to state that I was born <br />and raised here in Ka`u. Kali is my home. My family has lived here for <br />generations. I am fortunate enough that I can trace my genealogy back 66 <br />generations through the opu`u kahuna genealogy of this island, so I am definitely <br />rooted in in this place. I am a part of the Ka`u Hawaiian Civic Club. I am the <br />education and scholarship Chairperson. I am also a faculty member at Ka`u High <br />School. I teach the construction academy and the culinary academy there. I also <br />volunteer for Kali athletics. I am usually at most of our home games. I also am <br />one of the community stewards for the Kahua Olohu Makahiki Grounds here in <br />Ka`u. One of the lands that was purchased by the PONC fund. Besides that I am <br />the senior class advisor. I am the culinary club advisor. We are taking a trip to <br />Japan for the first time ever, Ka`u High School since 1881, first international trip <br />we are ever having taken this year, so I am definitely invested in this place. <br />First I would like to say that I do not support changing of the two-year to four- <br />year terms for CA -8. I think it is our Council member's jobs to be involved in the <br />community and get to know the community so that we want to re-elect them <br />because we know they are fighting for us. We don't want to be forgotten and <br />Kali is used to being forgotten, so we would appreciate having our Council <br />members be even more accountable to us rather than less accountable to us. <br />I also support CA -18 transferring PONC to the Department of Finance. Currently <br />the PONC Commission is administered by the Department of Finance. It lies there <br />as one of the community stewards that have put forth the request to purchase <br />PONC lands as well as to put forth a stewardship grant, it is difficult going <br />between two departments. I believe the County Parks and Recs (Recreation) <br />doesn't even want this kuleana anyway, so I do support transferring it to keep it <br />all in house in one department under the Department of Finance. I think that <br />would be a good idea so I do support CA -18. In terms of CA -9, additional staff <br />for PONC funding, I think this is extremely important as one of the community <br />stewards, it is so difficult for us to put forth a grant honestly it is a three to four <br />year commitment of being on so many things and being available to do so many <br />things and collect testimony from the community and try to... in the meantime as <br />our friend said, spend your own time, money, and effort to still maintain these <br />sites while we are hoping, wishing, and praying that the County will come <br />through and purchase it. So we have got to do this work for three to four years to <br />Page 7 <br />