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<br /> <br /> <br />Page 13 <br />1 <br />careful in how you spend County money -- sometimes goes <br />2 <br />overboard. And I'll use Steve Yamashiro as an example. <br />3 <br />Boy, you talk about conservative. He would not raise <br />4 <br />taxes. <br />5 <br />MR. HIGGINS: My classmate. <br />6 <br />MR. KIM: Good. Now I know where his <br />7 <br />attitude comes from. <br />8 <br />But, you all know, if you've been here at the <br />9 <br />time -- went through about a ten-year drop in revenues <br />10 <br />and was a really bad time for Hawai ʻ i. He made the <br />11 <br />decision in his last two or three years, "Under no <br />12 <br />circumstances am I going to raise taxes for people who <br />13 <br />are having a hard time." And that's your conservative, <br />14 <br />you know, attitude on raising taxes, which is a good <br />15 <br />one. <br />16 <br />So, when I come on board after him, if you <br />17 <br />continue that because -- but all that time, every <br />18 <br />community in the County of Hawai ʻ i was pleading for <br />19 <br />so-called protection services -- fire services, road <br />20 <br />services. And so, when revenues started to pick up, you <br />21 <br />know, we hired 350 police officers in a limited time <br />22 <br />because our revenues allowed it; but then you get this <br />23 <br />image of, "Wow, what a spendthrift" -- but still within <br />24 <br />the budget. You know, I don't control that budget. <br />25 <br />I will end that part of that with this. I am <br /> <br />ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES <br />(808) 933-9800 <br /> <br />