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

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LOPEZ: That was your request, right? KOSSOW: Sorry, go ahead and repeat that. LOPEZ: At least that's what I heard. KOSSOW: Oh, the Alii Drive portion? LOPEZ: Yes. KOSSOW: I'm sorry. I didn't catch your question. LOPEZ: Okay. KOSSOW: What was the rationale behind that? As far as I know, if we keep all of Alii Drive sort of together, it is part of central Kona, or Kona proper. Actually, central Kona goes all the way to Kainaliu. That's all, technically, a part of central. And then when you go to the new Alii Bypass, which is mauka of Hokuli`a, that Alii Drive connects all the way into there. And there's some future road developments in the lower portion as soon as you get into the Keauhou area. That's going to eventually bring in a new road access throughout that side. So, my goal was just to keep one huge County road inside one district. LOPEZ: Okay. I understand your rationale. I would offer a differing opinion, that those two ends of Alii Drive are extremely oppostie ends of the development spectrum. We got one that's town, and highly populated, a lot of business. And then you got the other end that goes off into presently nowhere. So, what happens there is a shift of District 8 away from the traditional, if you will, business and governmental sector of the district. And brings in a district that has a much more diverse aspect to it, between agricultural or remote, versus highly concentrated urban. Two different perspectives. So, that's my input to this. I understand where you're coming from and on the surface of it, I wouldn't disagree. But having lived here for as long as I have, it's like trying to bring together two very different perspectives. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Lopez. I think the other part to it is one that you know, connectivity. We talked about connectivity a lot today. When it comes to the roadways. And then historically too, if you want to, we talked about traditional districts. I know that Council District 8, obviously historically, runs through the northern part of Kona. But it does get a little bit difficult because when we talk about traditional,parts of Miloli`i was part of the most southern part of Kona, in the traditional sense. In this case, because of population growth, I think it would be best if we just split up Kona proper, north Kona, south Kona, into Ka`u. And this is the product that we have. I think my rationale behind it was just to ensure that we have that representative that knows the district, but also has a feel for both business and agriculture as well. `Cause District 8 does have business and agriculture, sun farms, and solar farms, and what not. So yeah, every district is going to 19