2021-11-23 Redistricting Commission minutes (8th Session Part 1)

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BATH: Okay. So one of the things that I don't like that I said with the other plan, is that this plan is putting District 5 more into District 4. District 5 doesn't really belong in lower Puna. I want to emphasize again that the people that are living in that area, they polarized towards being in lower Puna, being in District 4. The children attend, some of the children that you have in District 4, and the children in District 5, will be attending the same school, which is okay. I'm just seeing that, it's just if you scroll down, having that whole area where the lava flow went, that's in lower Puna,put into upper Puna where there's really little or no connectivity, other than Highway 130, is problematic for me. And I think it will be for the public as well. It's really important for me to represent Council 5, and to some degree in this case, Council 4, to make sure that their interests are being met. This is kind of butchering Puna up. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Bath. Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: Yeah, Chair Kossow. I want to echo what Commissioner Lui mentioned about her comments on Hamakua and Hilo. I also want to echo your comment about P6hakuloa going into, coming back to east side. I would guess that you would connect it up to Council 3. Is that correct? KOSSOW: Yeah, that's correct. YOSHINA: Okay. And just as a point of information here, if you wanted to give District 1 a little bit more population, perhaps you could consider moving the Honoli`i line back to the Wainaku River, I think it's called. Right outside, right north of the Dodo Mortuary area is a river. I don't know if you can see that. But that would separate `Amauulu and that area, back into Hilo. And it'll keep the Pi`ihonua community together. The other concern I have, and I don't know how we approach this, would be to maintain the integrity of Council District 6 by moving the lines more into Kona. Historically, traditionally, Ka`u was Ka`u. And I understand the point about the population base but, at some point by moving that Council District 6 line into Kona, you're going to dilute the communities: Wai`6hinu and N5'51ehu and Pahala. So, if there is some way of maintaining the integrity of the Ka`u district, the historical integrity of that district, I would be in favor of that. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Yoshina. Any other discussion? BATH: Commissioner Bath. I agree with Dwayne on that one, for sure. The Ka`u. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Bath. I'm sorry, Ms. Bath, go ahead. BATH: No, I yielded. Thank you. KOSSOW: Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: The challenge forSo, in the current map we have, both District 1 and District 6 are well under that standard deviation there, six below. So, they have to take 14