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MASON: My English name is Melvin Mason, Jr. `O wau `o ko`u inoa H5'M5kua Ke`e'aimoku. I
<br /> was born and raised in Hamakua up in Honoka`a, also raised in Waipi`o Valley, Valley of the Kings,
<br /> very sacred and very beautiful place. It's a, you know, it's a blessing, you know, to actually come
<br /> from there. And just because of the culture and how in that I actually grew up in it where with my
<br /> kupuna, you know, being able to teach and to exert not just with farming kalo but with the culture
<br /> and traditions and values and also ma ka `olelo Hawaii, with in our `olelo Hawaii, you know, the
<br /> older language that I've learned, that I grew up with. And, you know, the things for me is that I
<br /> understand culture and traditions and values and the `aina, the wai, ulu wai, and I've seen often, you
<br /> know, if many—and I do respect, you know, other people's testimony even against it. But I am the,
<br /> I am actually the CEO of Keahole Hotel and Suites LLC. I was the one who actually propositioned
<br /> and proposed this to be built. A real kanaka, not a foreigner coming from America or Japan or
<br /> China. I'm Hawaiian. And the reason why I did it is because I saw an opportunity. And I saw the
<br /> opportunity that, in the respect with `aina, I'm very much—my father is actually buried in Mauna
<br /> Kea with six other kings who was on my ancestry. And the things for me with this is, you know, this
<br /> testimony, which I greatly appreciate, you know, Madam Chair and Commissioners, and for me, it's
<br /> a very interesting concept because it is very cultural. And when I approached this idea and came
<br /> through envision, and I had met Chauncey, you know—honestly, I went through a lot of hoops and a
<br /> lot of, a lot of red tape, black tape, purple tape, blue tape, white tape, everything that had, even with
<br /> Ethics Board, and I was actually one of the main guys who started to develop and direct this process
<br /> but she attracted and brought some of those allies. And, actually, it also created the development.
<br /> I'm the former CEO and president of Keahole FBO I LLC, which is actually the big development
<br /> with the FBO at the end. And, for me, the hotel, it's a very cultural-base buildout. There is a
<br /> requirement to actually building this place, ana ma ka `olelo Hawaii, you have to actually speak,
<br /> able to speak Hawaiian, read Hawaiian and write in Hawaiian. I wrote a curriculum actually in, in
<br /> Hawaiian; it went tourism, hospitality, customer service. And I actually, he's implementing into a
<br /> CTE department, the DOE. I've already, I'm also the CEO of Kalea Goal [phonetic], it's a drone
<br /> education company, and we are the first guys in history that actually put Hawaiian language in
<br /> training with technology. And we are contracted actually various schools that we do this already.
<br /> My all hopes is this, you know, everybody is always making the excuse that, you know, our kids are
<br /> leaving; I'm building this for kids to stay. This is an opportunity and place to actually be able to
<br /> make this happen, because the way this design, you know, talked about water, I can answer that;
<br /> actually, I have a commitment and agreement to,with NELHA, to run on the ocean, the oceanwater.
<br /> I'm also a former, consulted also Koyo USA, brought investment money to develop the bottled
<br /> water company called MaHaLo Water. And the thing for me with this development, being from
<br /> where I'm at, is that I saw the need and the want, and because people were talking about, you know,
<br /> the money and it's running out and CAFRs this and that; well, I'm the only guy who actually
<br /> offered, even in the beginning when I met Chauncey, for five acres I was willing to pay eight million
<br /> dollars for 35-year use of land. And the part that really comes down to this land is that I compare
<br /> myself to the DOD; Perl Harbor, a thousand acres,people like talk about environment, go look at the
<br /> USS Arizona, leaking fuels stay up today, and nobody doing nothing. Yet a thousand acres paying
<br /> one dollar. Well, the offers that I put on the table is because, why I push this is because my pressing
<br /> against even government are stopping to raising taxes on the people. Enough. This is an
<br /> opportunity because of the taxes they are taking away from the county level, from the tourism tax.
<br /> For me, it's a lease, there is a lease, going to be paying rent, and even in proposition negotiations,
<br /> there'll be a percentage of earnings. My whole thing is that it's not just helping myself as a
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