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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-12-09 Redistricting Commission minutes (9th Session) 2021 HAWAII COUNTY REDISTRICTING COMMISSION 9'h Session Thursday, December 9, 2021 County Council Chambers 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 ATTENDANCE: Present: Ms. Lehuanani Ah Nee, Commissioner (via Zoom) Mr. `Rina Akamu, Commissioner(via Zoom) Ms. Stephanie Bath, Commissioner Mr. James Hustace, Vice Chairperson Mr. Bronsten-Glenn Kossow, Chairperson Mr. Stephen Lopez, Commissioner Mr. Meizhu Lui, Commissioner(via Zoom) Ms. Jennifer Yadao, Commissioner Mr. Dwayne Yoshina, Commissioner Also Present: Diana Mellon-Lacey, Deputy Corporation Counsel Pat Nakamoto, Elections Program Administrator Cori Saiki, Elections Program Specialist I Dennis Kauka Jr., Legislative Specialist/ Secretary CALL TO ORDER: KOSSOW: Aloha and welcome to the 9h Session of the County of Hawaii Redistricting Commission. Today is Thursday, December 0, 2021. My name is Bronsten Kossow and I'm the Chairperson of this Commission. First, I would like to go over an announcement here. Because of the Coronavirus COVID-19 emergency and State and Federal guidance on large meetings or gatherings and pursuant to the Mayor's proclamations regarding COVID-19, the Redistricting Commission meetings are currently not open to the public to attend in-person until further notice. Members of the public may view or provide oral testimony via the Zoom platform by requesting for this information as noticed on our posted agendas. Thank you for your understanding. This meeting is called to order. The time is 9:33 a.m. ROLL CALL KOSSOW: Mr. Kauka,please call the roll. KAUKA: Commissioner Lui, "Present by Zoom,"Commissioner Yoshina, "Present, in- person," Commissioner Ah Nee, (No response), Commissioner Bath, "Yes," Commissioner Akamu, "Present via Zoom" Commissioner Lopez, "Present, Kona," Commissioner Yadao, "Present, Hilo" Commissioner Hustace, "Present in Kona", Chair Kossow, "Present, Kona." Chair, thank you. You have eight members present. KOSSOW: Thank you. As a reminder, during the meeting, we are working with Commissioners in multiple locations. The audio of the meeting is being recorded so as much as possible, let's try to avoid overtalk as that will make it difficult to transcribe the minutes. Please keep your microphones on mute unless you are speaking. And we ask that for members of the public who are turned in as well. Commissioners in either Chamber, your microphone can be activated by pressing the button at the base. I won't be able to recognize you if the audio is not coming through so be sure to check if that's on while speaking. As I am presiding from Kona, Commissioners here with me,please turn on your light and get my attention to be recognized. For those in Hilo or on Zoom, please speak out with your name if you need to be recognized, and I will do my best to navigate. After I recognize you, please state your name for the recording transcription and proceed. If you don't state your name first, we may interrupt to clarify who is speaking for the minutes. Thank you all. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS KOSSOW: Moving over to statements from the public. Mr. Kauka? Or actually, I'm going to go ahead and say a note here. So, you have three minutes per each item on the agenda to provide your statement. If you are speaking on multiple items,please indicate when you're transitioning. We kindly ask that you wait until called upon to unmute yourself. If there are issues when you're called, after trying for some time, we may have 2 to move on while staff tries to work with you offline, and we'll try to get back to you. When you are thirty seconds remaining, we may indicate this to you, and ask that you summarize. Before you speak, please state your name for the record, and the item that you are testifying on. Mr. Kauka? KAUKA: Thank you, Chair. Our first testifier is Jacob Aki from Common Cause Hawaii, followed by Brenda Ford. Mr. Aki, thank you. You may unmute yourself and begin. JACOB AKI AKL Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, and members of the Commission. My name is Jacob Aki on behalf of Common Cause. Common Cause is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to upholding the core values of our democracy and ensuring a fair and transparent reapportionment and redistricting process. Today we'd like to provide testimony on agenda item new business three (3), review and discussion of County Charter and Code sections that relate to redistricting. Common Cause recommends that the County Charter be amended to include an additional section that mandates the Commission to count incarcerated people at their home addresses as of the census date. We understand that this is something that many members of the Commission is working on, so we appreciate your folks efforts and your folks willingness to consider this particular issue. We would also like to recommend that County Charter Section 3-17 (e) be amended to revise the Commission's public hearing process. We appreciate that the Charter's mandate to hold at least one public hearing in each of the nine districts is there. However, we believe that these hearings should be conducted once a draft plan has been created and approved by the Commission. Not prior to completing a draft of the redistricting plan. We believe that by structuring the public hearing process in this manner, it will improve public participation and increase the amount of people coming to these meetings. But we do appreciate that in the County Charter there is going to be meetings in each district. But we do think there can be some work done in these particular areas. But we also would like to thank the Commission and the staff for also providing the materials. Not just for this meeting,but for all of your folks meeting in a timely manner. And if you folks have any questions, I am here to answer any questions or for any further comment. Thank you. KAUKA: Thank you. Commissioners, our next testifier is Ms. Brenda Ford. Hi, Ms. Ford. Please unmute yourself, and you may begin. BRENDA FORD FORD: I would like to comment on two things. Number two (2) on the discussion of council districts. The possibility of, I assume, more than nine council members or less than nine council members. I will only discuss the more than. Please remember that there's only, in both buildings, West Hawaii Civic Center and Hilo, there's only space for nine council members and those stations probably cannot be expanded. So, that's a small logistical error. And the second thing is adding more council members creates an 3 additional financial burden on the County to pay retirement. Council members get very decent retirement plans after eight years. So, please consider the financial burden you're putting on the County while they're sitting members, and while they're going to be potentially retired. On number three (3) on the agenda, legislative amendments, I would appreciate the chance to comment again, if necessary, at the end of the meeting. Since I wrote the Code, there may be information that I have that you might not have on why I did something the way I did it. If that's possible, I'd appreciate it. Thank you very much. KAUKA: Thank you, Ms. Ford. Our next testifier is Mr. Amedeo Markoff. Mr. Markoff, please unmute yourself and you may begin. AMEDEO MARKOFF MARKOFF: My name is Amedeo Markoff. I don't know what agenda item it is. I don't have it in front of me, but I'm speaking to the boundary lines. Aloha, members of the Redistricting Commission, my name is Amedeo Markoff. I'm the president of the Mainstreet Pahoa Association (MPA). The Mainstreet Pahoa Association is a 501(c) (6). It was formed about twenty-seven years ago to advocate on behalf of the Pahoa Village businesses and the surrounding community. MPA membership is comprised of forty businesses representing hundreds of community members. We have been the voice of Pahoa for a very long time. I'd like to thank you guys for efforts thus far and recognize the challenging nature of your work. I think it's a very important task that you've undertaken. The folks who live here in these districts are going to be dealing with the effects of your decisions for many years to come. Bearing that in mind, there are choices that are directly impact our community, and I want to take this opportunity to ask you to leave the lines separating Pahoa Village into two separate districts as it stands now. That's right, we want two County Council's representing us. This Commission must recognize that Puna is vast and needs all the help it can get. Puna comprises the most underserved in Hawaii County, as far as County services and infrastructure, and yet has the highest percentage of poor and unemployed. As Census data has shown, it's the fastest growing community within the State. Therefore, it is imperative to our community that we receive more representation in council, not less, as our community continues to grow, even today. In addition, we have been severely impacted by the eruption and the COVID shortly, thereafter. And continuity is crucial to our recovery. We are very thankful to our current and past council members and are very grateful to have two folks fighting on our behalf. From a mathematical perspective, each of the nine councilpersons represents twelve and a half percent of the overall vote. Obviously having two folks advocating on our behalf, representing twenty-five percent of the vote is considerably better for our town and the rest of lower Puna. MPA has a larger list of reasons to advocate for this position, but as testimony time is limited, I will conclude that we understand that some community members have said that we need to unify Pahoa town into one voice. But Waimea town has two council seats, and it has proved equally advantageous for them. We're a big community and we need a big voice. Sometimes many voices are better than one and we hope you hear us as we humbly make this request. Mahalo for your consideration. I'm pau. 4 KAUKA: Thank you. Chair, those are the testifiers we have so far today. I'll point out, there was written testimony received, Commissioners. Referring to Communication 33 from Hope Alohalani Cermelj; 34 from Robert Golden; 35 from Common Cause Hawaii; 36 from several people, including Ms. Macdonald; and Communication 37 from Carrie Fischer. These were posted online, and distributed and printed copies should be available in Hilo and Kona. Thank you, Chair. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Kauka. APPROVAL OF MINUTES October 14, 2021 Soh session KOSSOW: Commissioners, we're moving over to approval of the minutes. These minutes have been posted. Hoping you had a chance to review these. If there are no issues, we'll take a motion and a second to approve. Mr. Hustace moved to approve the minutes of the October 14, 2021, meeting. Seconded by Mr. Lopez. The motion to approve the minutes of the October 14, 2021 meeting was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. Absent: Commissioner Ah Nee. KOSSOW: Motion carries. Minutes approved. NEW BUSINESS KOSSOW: Mr. Kauka, if you can read new business 1 into the record. Thank you. KAUKA: Order of the day. New Business: 1. Discussion on census block irregularities and concerns During its September 23, 2021 —3rd session, the Commission discussed tracking any irregular census map blocks and shaping as it reviewed the data received for its redistricting work. Commissioners may discuss any issues encountered with census block information and determine whether to forward recommendations for adjustments to the State of Hawaii Office of Elections and United States Census Bureau for the next census data collection. 5 KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Kauka. Mr. Hustace had introduced this new business 1. I did request a privilege to add this onto the Zoom call. Mr. Kauka, are you already on there? Okay. Then Mr. Hustace, I'll pass it over to you. Thank you. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. And thank you for letting me have this on the agenda. We discussed this previously. And I know myself, and fellow commissioners, noticed and came across numerous census blocks that were of concern for a number of different reasons. And Chair, with your approval, I will share my screen to just kind of showcase some of the issues that I saw, and talk about those, if that's okay. KOSSOW: Yeah. Privilege accepted. HUSTACE: Thank you. Alright, I can do my best to zoom into particular areas. I've decided to use the software that we've all been using,just for familiarity's sake. Initially going through the process of creating maps for the purpose of the draft plan, and working towards a draft plan, I just wrote it down on a spreadsheet. But I thought it would be better to have a visual aid to kind of look at some of these. Chair, I don't know if you want us to strike a motion for sending a message in, or a letter of these block issues first and foremost before we have the discussion. KOSSOW: I think we already createdI think we already voted on making this a priority. So, maybe what we'll do is, once we compile all of the information together, then we can create a motion for that, what the information we have. HUSTACE: Fair enough. Thanks, Chair. So, going to this map here, I basically used the blank template that we had. One of the capabilities that we had. It's either we had it with the current districts, or a completely blank canvas. Then I went in and on one of the pages here, under the view tab, there's a possibility of adding more districts. So, basically these are each of their own district for the purpose of showcasing them individually. I basically have those as, so each district here, is their own. So, currently, I think this list is fifty (50) census blocks that I have concern about. They're basically, for the sake of clarity, they are their own district but. So, I can zoom into a couple of these and we can discuss some of them, for example. So, I'll just start one here for example, since this came in as a piece of testimony and recent discussion as well, is Wao Kele O Puna Forest Reserve. The issue that I see with this census block is, beyond its size, if we put this in one district or another, there are census blocks within it, and there's no breaking line. So, if I put that, all of these census blocks would have to go with it, basically. And for example, I know it's locked right now, but there are roads and other homes and residents that live in this area around this one census block here. So, it makes me wonder if there should be other census blocks neighboring this one in particular. So, that was one case. Some of these are long coastal blocks that I have also captured too. This one runs along miles of the coastline and would prevent any sort of difficulty in creating boundary lines because of this long running—I mean, a lot of these don't have people living in them, but there isn't really a clear breaking point in some of these lines. So, you have these weird jags and runs in the district lines without breaking them. Another one that I came across is, I 6 believe this is in Eden Roc. As you can see, it runs alongside the subdivision, but if you come down here, it pinches the census block and then it carries over to maybe the other side of the subdivision and may not be in the same subdivision. So, that was an area of concern I saw. Chair, I can go through many of these, but a lot of them are, I've kind of gathered based upon their size, and the kind of oddities that they have within them. For example, this one that pinches this community, and this neighborhood, it surrounds and encapsulates another census block down here. And some are a little bit different like that. Some very clear in that sort of regards. Some other ones that I saw across the Saddle Road actually covered across both sides of the Saddle Road. So, while this may have been the Old Saddle Road up Kaumana Drive, it actually goes across the new highway on both sides. There's over six hundred eighty (680)residents in that area. And it's unclear if they live in this area, or they live along the highway. For clarity's sake, there's some issues I saw, and it just causes some difficulty in drawing lines. That was really my impetus. The other one over here was one we came across, this one census block. A lot of this probably follows the ravines, and gulches, up mauka, up along the slopes of Mauna Kea. But this one comes from Honoli`i, all the way down above Wailuku area. We noticed that that was a tricky thing. What I can do to make it easy is to share this with everyone, so you can see it. But a lot of these are—Some of the big ones are an issue, I would imagine. Maybe there are no residents in these areas, but they cut across many different communities along the coastlines and so forth. Some of them are just huge blocks that make it very difficult to find district boundaries. For example, this one along `Akoni Pule Higway. It goes all the way up from the outskirts of Haw!town, almost all the way down to Kawaihae Village. Any sort of problems in the future would be there. These on the Saddle Road. These would be simple changes. They cut across both sides of Saddle Road, but with Saddle Road being a clear potential boundary lines for districts, these should be recalculated and redrawn. The other one I noticed, this one was above Pu`u Anahulu area, but it goes up the slopes of Hualalai here. But all the residents live down here. Along the highway in that area, in the residential area and yet, this whole block shows a hundred and nine (109)people. What do they live way up here? I doubt it. They live way down here. So, this block needs to be redrawn. And of course, one that, I think we're facing, are these blocks along Kaiminani. Fifteen hundred(1,500)residents in here, but they're all living mainly along down these subdivisions along Kaiminani. They're not living out here. So, that's an issue and then also Kalaoa. Most of the residents—There are different residential groups here. People live in Kalaoa, but there are also people living along Kaloko. This should be a divided block, in my opinion. To really be clear and have a clear breaking point between distinct subdivisions. So, that was some of the other, some of the issues I saw. That there were multiple subdivisions within some of these blocks. I'll kind of leave it there. If you give me a moment, I can share it with everyone here. But I welcome any sort of thought or feedback where I can look at any particular ones. We can definitely add any to this list. And we can make this a document that we share and work on together. Thanks, Chair. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Hustace. Mr. Lopez? LOPEZ: I want to applaud Mr. Hustace for the work he's done, the extra effort he did to bring this forth. I think it's been mentioned in the previous Commission as well, but I 7 never, and of course I wasn't privy to all this detail, but I never noticed or understood what the action is or what was the point. Whereas this one, clearly—and I felt that those pinch points particularly that you brought up, I saw those affect me many times in trying to adjust the census blocks. So, thank you for this and I think as a group, we should hardly endorse something like this in our final report as an actual. Not just saying that there's irregularities that should be fixed, but also specifically pointing out those that are obvious and those that we can make a recommendation how to fix. So, thank you for bringing this forth. Very good. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL I also want to commend James for kind of keeping this on our agenda and keeping track of these weird census blocks. I think that actually the area of some of these is a big problem in where the population lies. But another problem is just the size of some districts. They vary so much between zero and several thousand. As we've been trying to manipulate the population, sometimes you need like a hundred and all you've got is a census block with a thousand. So, if they could be a little bit more uniform in terms of the numbers of population, that would definitely make this process a lot easier too. So, that's one thought. The other is that I noticed in the 2011 report, there was a recommendation that this be looked at. But since our Commission ends its service at the end of the month, at the end of our job with drawing the maps, what is the process for making that happen? Obviously, it did not happen over the last decade. So, I guess I'm just wondering, maybe this is a question for corporate counsel, I'm not sure. But I just wonder how we don't let this, even with our recommendation, how we make it happen so that they're not in 2030 saying the same thing. I cede. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. Is there anybody from Elections Office available? Or Corporation Counsel? Ms. Mellon-Lacey, thank you. MELLON-LACEY: Aloha, everyone. This is Diana Mellon-Lacey, Corporation Counsel, and Pat Nakamoto's making her way here as well. As you saw in the last report of 2011, this was given as a recommendation for County administration to draft the letter to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of course, a recommendation is just that. It doesn't require that it be done. And I don't know if it was done or not so, I believe that Ms. Nakamoto has some information. NAKAMOTO: Yes. The information was forwarded to staff at the State Office of Elections. I was told that the information is forwarded to the Census Bureau, but there's no guarantee that they're going to do anything with that information. You can put the information in the report, but then it needs to go further. My suggestion would be to maybe do a letter to the State Chief Election Officer because he is the Secretary for the State Reapportionment Commission. And he would know the dates, because there is a specific period of time where these suggestions can be made for this boundary suggestion program with the Census Bureau. If we would send, or the Commission would send, a letter directly to the Chief Election Officer, asking him for his help in taking care of this 8 problem we have on the Big Island, with the list of blocks that need to be worked on, I think that might be a better way to proceed this time. KOSSOW: Thank you. Ms. Lui, did you have any comments? LUL No, that was helpful. Thank you very much, Ms. Nakamoto. I'm wondering if we can find out in advance, or whether we need to write to the Chief Election Officer first, to find out what that window is just so that we kind of know what our time is, our timeframe has to be. But I do like the suggestion of being very specific. I don't know if they were in 2011. But, with the work that James has done, we definitely can identify a number of blocks that need work, and name them specifically. Thank you. I cede. KOSSOW: I guess perhaps this needs to be a motion for us to open up the communication between the Commission and the Chief Elections Office in the State level. So, we can start doing that. And then we can also integrate Mr. Hustace's plans with the irregularities with the census blocks into this. But I think that's the best way we can move forward as of right now. And then we also can consider this into other meetings. YOSHINA: Chair Kossow? KOSSOW: Is that Mr. Yoshina? YOSHINA: Yes. KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: I can provide some light into this process. Within each decennial census process, sometime during the ten-year period, the Census Bureau does come to the State and holds a number of sessions for the block boundary suggestion process program. And the State is supposed to come in and make these suggestions. I forget the timeline at this juncture but, it would be a good idea to contact the State Elections Office to find out if they have a calendar so that suggestions can be made. I'd like to point out that Mr. Hustace has provided a very good point of departure because I do not believe that many of the other counties, or any of the other counties, have pinpointed the problems as Mr. Hustace has. So, it might be a good idea to contact the Office of Election to find out what the timeline is. And perhaps ask them what would be the best way to input that information. Thank you. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Chair, I'd like to move that we communicate and open a dialogue with Mr. Nago and the State Elections Office. And with the forthcoming approval of the Commissioners, look at these blocks to submit. So, you can put that on hold for now, but at least the motion here is to open a dialogue with the State Elections Office, and see about the timeline. 9 YOSHINA: I second. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace has a motion on the floor. Seconded by Mr. Yoshina. Any discussion? (No response.) No discussion. Mr. Kauka, please call the roll. Mr. Hustace moved to have the Commission open a dialogue with Mr. Nago and the State Elections Office regarding the timeline to submit block boundary suggestions to the U.S. Census Bureau. Seconded by Mr. Yoshina. The motion to have the Commission open a dialogue with Mr. Nago and the State Elections Office regarding the timeline to submit block boundary suggestions to the U.S. Census Bureau was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. Absent: Commissioner Ah Nee. KAUKA: Chair, there are eight ayes. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Kauka. Motion carries. Is there any other discussion regarding the first agenda item here? Ms. Lui. LUL I just wanted to say that, if we could take a look at those ones that have perhaps greater than a thousand people in them, that that might be another thing we need to take a look at. Another slice. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. HUSTACE: Chair. KOSSOW: Go ahead, Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Ms. Lui. So, what I did as I shared this map, I don't know if I caught that, but I did share it with everyone. So, you should be able to see it under the Shared Plans, County of Hawaii, and it is titled, "Census Block Issues." We can change the title at some other point. So, you can take a look and see what I've put up there. And as we possibly create as an agenda item later on to submit a particular slew of census blocks, please take a look at what I've put in there. I want to make sure that your thoughts are incorporated too, and that we get all of your feedback. I mean this was just a, 10 you know, there are probably fifty (50) or more census blocks that we could all have concern about or have some idea that need to be adjusted or changed. So, I want to welcome your feedback into this. So, if when you have a moment, take a look at this. I would appreciate any sort of other assistance or guidance or if I've missed one, or if you think one is okay, I think we should have those conversations. But it's there for you to review. Thank you, everyone. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Hustace. And thank you for all that work that you did. I know it probably can be a little bit tedious. Mr. Kauka,please go ahead and read new business number 2 into the record. KAUKA: New business number: 2. Discussion on amount of council districts Article III, Section 3-2 of the Hawaii County Charter states that there "shall be nine council districts, each of which shall be represented by a resident elected from that district." Commissioners may discuss this section and consider submitting a recommendation to appropriate entities or individuals that would propose any legislative amendments. KOSSOW: Alright, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kauka. This item here is in regards to communications that we have received in the last,probably about, three meetings ago. I wanted to open this up for discussion. Kind of the process we'd have to go through the County Council in order for it to become a Charter amendment to be put on the ballot. But it would be if the Commission is open to request or to make sort of changes within the County Charter, this would be the moment to do it. Any discussion? Mr. Lopez. LOPEZ: Yes. I don't think that this Commission has the information to propose additional districts or where they should be. Certainly, we can sympathize and empathize with the testimony, but we don't have the power of course to do anything like this. What I think this really is, should be, if there was enough concern about it over the last ten years, a grassroots efforts within the districts where this is really strongly coming from, by going to the Council Member for that district and lobbying for introduction of legislation to propose changes to the County Charter. For us, I think it's—we're stepping outside our purview and I would suggest that it's better done from grassroots through the Council that has the issue. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Lopez. Any other discussion? HUSTACE: Chair? KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace? HUSTACE: I just had a question. Thank you, Mr. Lopez, for those thoughts on that. I appreciate that. I just had a question. When we're looking at, and doesn't have to have an answer to this, and just something to think about. When we look at representation, and 11 we're looking at these political divisions for the island and the County here, the number we're targeted is 22,232. Really the ethical question is, what is a good number to represent? It's really a bigger question, and maybe one that needs to be delved a little bit further into. Like what is that perfect number for a representation ratio for a Council Member? So,just putting that out there. Thank you. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL Just one last consideration as well. I listened to Brenda's concerns which I hadn't thought about. Usually, the decision-making bodies have an odd number of people in them so that it doesn't come to a tie. So, that's just another consideration. Would we ask for eleven (11), as opposed to ten? I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. Any other discussion? (No response.) Okay, without any other discussion or motions, I'm going to move over to agenda item number 3. Mr. Kauka? KAUKA: New business number: 3. Review and discussion of County Charter and Code sections that relate to redistricting The County redistricting process is guided by County Charter Section 3-17 and Hawaii County Code Chapter 36. Commissioners may discuss their experiences working within the parameters of the language from these documents and consider making recommendations to appropriate entities or individuals for proposing any legislative amendments that could improve the redistricting process, including, but not limited to, the timing and content of public hearings. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Kauka. I'm going to pass this over to Mr. Hustace who introduced this agenda item. Thank you, Mr. Hustace, for adding this on. KAUKA: Chair, sorry for interrupting. But before that,just want to state for the record that Commissioner Ah Nee has now joined us. KOSSOW: Thank you very much. Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. I know there's probably—and I'd like to hear some of the thoughts from my fellow commissioners about the process we've been through. I mean, we still have a little bit more to go, but this is something we can keep talking about. I just wanted to offer some thoughts on this. In ten years, this body, this Commission, may have a different suite of technology. I think from the previous Commission, we've had definitely a leg up with the software that we've been given to utilize for the purpose of redistricting. I think unfortunately in our case, we saw the census data quite late in our tenure here. That was a bit of detriment to the whole process, and I think it really kind of waylaid our work a bit in trying to get going and moving on things. We've received some testimony and I appreciate the testimony at the top of the meeting here. Some of the thoughts I've had on the public hearings, and I'd welcome thoughts on this because the 12 public hearings that we've had, the nine public hearings that we've had previously, unfortunately it didn't amount to too much feedback to the Commission. Not enough in my personal opinion. It would be worthwhile to see those hearings following the proposed draft plan and having it kind of reversed and switching those two around. I mean, we have the technology now where people—and it's up to the purview of the Chair, of course, and the Commission, to allow testimony. And I'm grateful for our Chair to allow for these opportunities of testimony throughout our hearings and our meetings, in particular. That may not have been the case in the past. I think different boards and commissions handle them differently. So, we have that flexibility with the technology we have here, that we're using today, we're able to communicate across the island and have people call in and provide testimony given their condition, the location, and so forth. So that there is that possibility, but it'd be interesting to see those particular nine public hearings following the draft plan, and really connect with those communities after the work has really made some progress, and we've submitted a draft plan. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Hustace. Mr. Lopez. LOPEZ: I was likewise impressed, I guess. And Jim didn't use that language but impressed with the statement Common CauseI think it was Common Cause that suggested that we have a plan before we go to public hearing. That struck me as a great idea, but how do we get there? As Mr. Hustace pointed out, we were sorely impacted by the lateness of the census data. We didn't start till like September, I believe. And we did have training in early on, but by the time you get the training, you get the census data, and able to work on something, for me, it goes out the door. So, it was a relearning effort. I think what would aid this entire process is some education to the Commission, and to the public, as we start to get into these things. I think the public is really left out in understanding how we have to deal with census blocks. How you have to deal with throughways, pathways, roadways. How we have to deal with balancing the numbers. And yet, the thought that I picked up over the testimony was that it's—and maybe some of the commissioners as well—you know, we need two hundred(200)people over here. Well,just take two hundred(200) from here, or a hundred from here and a hundred from there and move them over there. We can't do that. There's no way. And I don't think the public really understands what a census block is. I just went through a discussion with somebody asking me this question, why certain things happen. And one of the big awareness was that you can't just move the boundaries where you want to or move people where you want to. You'd have to take a contiguous block. So, as we get down into this, and maybe I can bring it up here, but I think in part of this process, maybe sometime within the next ten years, there can be a primer developed. Just a short booklet about what, how, what are our constraints. What are the rules under which we are bound to make this draft plan, and again, going into things like census blocks, and contiguous nature, and pointing out, maybe, some of these. The pinch point was a real big one for me. That was a real hassle. I think I can move eighteen hundred people, but then when you see where the pinch point is, it's spread across things like Saddle Road. It's just, can't do it, right? So, there's a whole lot of—excuse the term I'll usea whole lot of ignorance on my part and in the public domain as to what our constraints are. And so, when we get testimony, even one came in about reapportionment, which is a non-issue 13 for us. So, whether it's discussion about coming at us about splitting districts, creating more council districts, that's not within our purview. Nothing we can do about that. We don't have the powers to do those kinds of things. Now we can be a vehicle to communicate, but I think there needs to be some kind of aagain, I'll use the word primer, from my college days, is just a way, a short summary of what it is that are constraining us to do the job. And what is the job we're supposed to do? And what are the constraints under which we have to operate? I think if more people knew what that was, we'd have a much better coming together of thoughts for opportunity. Thank you. I yield. YOSHINA: Chair Kossow? KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: Yeah, I'd like to second that idea or concept. My experience over the years has been that there's not much understanding of just generally government. And in this case, the process or the concept of reapportionment and redistricting. There needs to be more public education before the process so that people, the citizenry, understands what is being done and how it's being done. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Yoshina. Any other discussion? Ms. Lui. LUL I think we're kind of all of the same mind and so I might make that into a motion. Which is that there be two public hearings, more at the beginning of this process, and hopefully people will have a full year and there won't be a pandemic going on, that does exactly what Commissioner Kawena was talking about. Which I totally agree with, Mr. Lopez, that really explains the process and what the constraints are. It also just makes me think how important Commissioner Hustace's work is because a lot of it has to do with crazy census blocks. Anyway, sorry, I got off. But the motion would be that there be two larger public hearings that are really informational about the process early on, and that thereafter a plan is presented, that there be nine meetings to go over the map and get public comment at that time. I yield. KOSSOW: Motion's on the table. Is there a second? HUSTACE: I will second that, Chair. KOSSOW: Seconded by Mr. Hustace. Is there any discussion? Ms. Mellon-Lacey? MELLON-LACEY: Yes. I just want to point out that adding additional criteria would require a change to the Code, to the County Code. So, this group could vote to make that a recommendation, but they can't vote that that will happen. If the next Commission can choose to add additional criteria, and it's certainly true that this group was sort of hamstrung from doing that due to the time constraints, but that would be up to them. So, it could only be as a recommendation. It can't be a thing that you could change as a Commission. I just want to make sure that it's clear. 14 KOSSOW: Ms. Mellon-Lacey, this is Bronsten. Is this under the Code or is this under the Charter? MELLON-LACEY: Well, the Code spells out the criteria for the public hearings. KOSSOW: Right. MELLON-LACEY: And then it states in the Code that if you want to add additional criteria, the Commission could do that, but there's a timeframe which in that has to be done. You can't really implement it for the next, beyond a recommendation. `Cause it's not in the existing Code now, to add more public hearings. KOSSOW: Does the Code allow—and I apologize for my ignorance here. Does the Code allow to be amended by any sources besides us? MELLON-LACEY: To amend the Code you have to go through the Council. And that would have to be proposed and voted on. KOSSOW: If this Commission were to write a recommendation to the Council? MELLON-LACEY: You can make a recommendation. I just want to make sure that's clear, that it's going to be a recommendation. Because the way it was phrased, it sounded like there was some thinking that it was something you could just implement by vote. You can vote to make the recommendation, and surely present it that way. KOSSOW: Okay. So as for an idea flow chart here, the recommendation is made by this Commission. And it goes to the Council. Council will take that, and where does that go? MELLON-LACEY: Well, the Council would then have there would have to be work on specific wording for it and there would have to be a vote on it. KOSSOW: Okay. MELLON-LACEY: Sorry, it is also in the Charter too. That prior to completing a draft of the redistricting plan, the Commission shall hold at least one public hearing in each of the nine council districts. And upon completion, the Commission shall hold at least one public hearing in east Hawaii and one in west Hawaii. So, that's 3-17 (e). Sorry. Thank you, Dennis. YOSHINA: I have a question, Chair Kossow. KOSSOW: Hold on one second, Mr. Yoshina. So, as far as the Charter goes, both sides would have to go through the Council. And then if they see it fit, they can improve it. 15 MELLON-LACEY: I'm sorry I don't have the Charter in front of me, but it can be proposed to the Council and then it also requires the signatures from the public. And then would have to be added to the you know, be voted on at an election to change the County Charter. KOSSOW: Okay, thank you. Thank you for that. Mr. Yoshina, and then Mr. Lopez, and then Ms. Lui. And then we'll have Ms. Ford chime in after that. So, Mr. Yoshina? YOSHINA: Okay. You know the Charter says at least one, so you could have more than one. MELLON-LACEY: Oh yeah, you can have more. YOSHINA: Second question I have is, who sets the calendar for the Commission? Isn't it the Commission members? MELLON-LACEY: Yes. YOSHINA: As a Commission we could establish that calendar, right? Is that your answer? MELLON-LACEY: Yes, the Commission can establish its calendar but in the Code Section 36-4 (16) it says, if the Commission establishes criteria in addition to those enumerated in the Charter and this chapter, the Commission shall use impartial criteria that meet standard of fairness principles. It would be something that the next Commission would do if they wanted to have additional hearings. I guess my point is, this Commission could make a recommendation if they wanted that. To either change the Code or try to change the Charter, but the Commission itself can't make that change. The next Commission, if they decide to have more hearings or incorporate additional criteria, they can do that but that would be up to them. Beyond a recommendation, this group wouldn't have the power to make the next Commission necessarily do that. That's all YOSHINA: Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I thought this Commission was, at the moment, we're discussing suggestions to be made. That's all I'm trying to establish. Thank you. MELLON-LACEY: Okay. I just wanted to be clear too because I wasn't clear from the motion. So, thank you. KOSSOW: Mr. Lopez. LOPEZ: Yes. I was on board with Ms. Lui's motion, except that—somebody please correct me if I am wrong but in a public hearing, it's one-way communication from the attendees to the body that's holding the public hearing. So, to put an education process in there, I don't think would work. That portion has to be something entirely outside of 16 public hearing. So, there's, to me, is the flaw on the motion. Although, I understand and agree with the attempt. Thank you. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL Well, maybe I can amend my motion. I did understand that it was a recommendation. We're not adding—Well, let's see. There's still eleven meetings, we're sort of reversing the order. So, rather than seven [sic] first, and then two, it would be two first and then seven [sic]. So, it's not really adding more meetings necessarily. But I guess I would amend my motion to say that this would be a recommendation to the County Council to change the County Code, and then possibly the County Charter, to make the process . I mean the goal of all of this public hearing stuff, is to make it more transparent and to get more public input. So, I do feel that the first two meetings should be informational. So, maybe, Commissioner Lopez, maybe public hearing is not exactly the right term. But it would be public educational meeting, or something like that. Because if people don't know the process, it's going to be harder for them to comment intelligently once we do have a map. Thank you. And I would love to hear what Brenda has to say. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui, so I have two things. So, you said seven. I just want to correct you, it's nine. LUL I'm sorry. Nine plus two. Sorry. KOSSOW: Second one. You did say amendment to your motion. Is that what you want to do at this time? LUL I think Ms. Mellon-Lacey was saying that it sounded like I was saying we could just implement it. So, I wanted to amend it to say that we would make this a recommendation to the County Council. KOSSOW: Okay. Thank you. Any other discussion from commissioners? Mr. Lopez. LOPEZ: I think, I don't disagree with you, Ms. Lui. I just want to take out the educational part from the public hearing terminology because the Commission itself would have the ability, I believe, to schedule educational meetings independent of the public hearings. I think that's probably the better way, doing it through a recommendation outside the public hearing context. Am I being clear? I'm not sure. I hope so. Ask me if you don't get it. Thanks. LUL Yes, that's fine. I accept that and I was actually making that first recommendation on the basis of your comments, which I agreed with. YOSHINA: So, Chair Kossow? KOSSOW: Hold on. Hold on one second. Mr. Lopez, you yield? 17 LOPEZ: Yes, thank you. KOSSOW: Okay. Mr. Yoshina, thank you. YOSHINA: Just point of clarification, I need to have Mr. Lopez clarify his understanding of a public hearing and the content of the public hearing. Because I've been to public hearings where public information and for lack of better term, education is done. So, I may have a different view of what a public hearing is. LOPEZ: Thank you for the opportunity to provide what I believe a public hearing is, having sat in on many of`em. It's a forum hosted by some entity to listen to input on the topic of discussion. Whether it be legislation or what have you. Anybody can come and offer their expression of view and provide input. But it's not a forum where those on the dais, like us, can exchange dialogue with the testifier. It's a one-way communication. That's why when we have our public hearings, we remain silent. We hear what people have to say, and there's not opportunity for debate or discussion. So, while you may have I won't say may `cause you certainly have—sat in on what you call a public hearing where there's education in the form of the public telling us what they see in the education having been presented to them, that's fine. But we're here to listen and not to debate and discuss. That's my best understanding of a public hearing. Thank you. I yield. YOSHINA: Okay, thank you. KOSSOW: Alright, thank you. So, the motion's still on the table. Is there any other discussion? (No response.) Without hearing any, Mr. Kauka, please call the roll. Ms. Lui moved to make a recommendation to the County Council regarding revising the Redistricting Commission's public hearings process by way of changing the County Code, and then possibly the County Charter. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. The motion to make a recommendation to the County Council regarding revising the Redistricting Commission's public hearings process by way of changing the County Code, and then possibly the County Charter was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. KAUKA: Chair, there are nine ayes. 18 KOSSOW: Thank you. Motion is carried. Is there any other discussion regarding anything to do with the Charter Sections 3-17 and the Code Chapter 36? Mr. Lopez? LOPEZ: Thank you. Yes, given the discussion and the motion that was made, if it's appropriate, and please correct if it's not, I move that this body made a recommendation to the next Commission to develop a primer of the methods and constraints under which the Commission operates. And also hold public sessions to educate the public on those items if that makes sense. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Motion's on the table. Is there a second? HUSTACE: I'll second that, Chair. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace seconds. Any discussion? Ms. Lui. LUL Well,just to note that I know that Common Cause does that, and has done that in the past, both for the State and for the County to some extent. So, I'm just not sure I want to put that burden on the next Commission. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui, you yield? LUL Yeah, I yield. KOSSOW: Mr. Lopez. LOPEZ: Yes. Please help me with that. Did anyone see anything in the public domain that came from Common Cause in Hawaii County as to what our constraints and limits are? I pose the question because it's not my awareness. Thank you. HUSTACE: Chair? KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: This is not particular to that question, Commissioner Lopez. It's really another question to you and how I see it as, is more of a standard operating procedure for the commissioners. I don't know if that's the same mindset you had, but it's a material. It describes the task and the role of the commissioner for this particular job. At least that's what I'm seeing from this. Correct? LOPEZ: Yes but going into a little more detail about what rules are we governed by. And I don't mean stating HRS blandy blah, I mean we are organizing census blocks. We have to move contiguous census blocks. We can't have disassociated councils, the districts. We can't cross a boundary when we go to a voting place, and so on. Those are the constraints under which we develop our maps. That's what—And again, not going into the legalese and confusing people with HRS code, but just bullet points. A, B, C, D. This is the road map under which we consider map changes. That's in addition to what you 19 just said about the roles, responsibilities, the detail under which we consider. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Any other discussion? BATH: Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: The last speaker spoke about the many we can't, we can't, we can't, we can't, we can't. I'd like to remind everybody that my understanding on this Commission is that we are supposed to do one thing, and the most important thing, is to draw lines which we can do. And those lines ensure that every potential voter, every citizen of our County of Hawaii has their voice heard, over and above anything. That is what I understand our purpose here is. And if I'm wrong, it's because I haven't been trained to understand that the task here is something else. I yield. KOSSOW: Any other discussion? Ms. Lui. LUL I don't know if this is possible, but I think that, would it be possible to have like a tiny bullet point thing, as Commissioner Lopez suggests, as to what our constraints are, at the two public hearings. Just so that people have some understanding. Because I do feel like people end up being very unhappy, but it's because partly they just don't know what the constraints are. I yield. I mean, yeah. KOSSOW: Any other discussion? BATH: Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: So, I made a statement and I'm just asking the Chair if I'm correct? Was I trained? Do I have it right that that's our main goal here, or our main purpose to draw lines? That every voice is heard? `Cause that's important to me to know. Is that why we're here? KOSSOW: That is one of the reasons why we're here, yes. BATH: And the other reasons? KOSSOW: Our other reason BATH: This is a serious question. This is serious. KOSSOW: I take this question very seriously. I thank Ms. Bath for asking the question to the Chair. The purpose of this Commission is to create political boundary lines. It's also 20 to give representation for our members of our community into our local government. But what Mr. I'm not too sure what you're alluding to, Ms. Bath. Mr. Lopez wants an educational stance on—for our public. And we don't have enough of that. Ms. Bath, you still have the floor. BATH: Yeah, so I think that the education isn't I just wanted to clarify what our purpose was. So, I understand that it's to ensure that the public has a voice in elections, and that it's fair. And so, I like the idea, but I wanted to make sure I got that right. That that's our main goal, to make sure that everybody has a voice. Then I can continue in my thoughts as far as education. I just wanted to clarify that that is our goal, drawing lines to ensure that everybody has a vote. Is that correct? KOSSOW: I believe that's correct, but perhaps if you need Mr. Lopez to hash out his motion, we can do that too. BATH: No. No. You don't have to. I just needed clarification so I can speak to his motion. KOSSOW: I believe that was the premise of his motion, was to provide education. BATH: Okay so, I like the idea of having education for our public. I really like having education for the commissioners as well. Some on our Commission are well versed on this, others of us are new to the process. And there was a big—we got the census information late. And this is all about education. Educating people to how the process should go. And so, what I'd like to see for future commissioners, is for one thing getting the census numbers on time, and not having a pandemic. But that's an act of God, not man. What I'm really trying to say is that we can have a lot of education and things, but if we don't maximize the time that we have as a Commission, so that we can get together and we can talk about things—We're talking about this now, and we had weeks and weeks of down time where we could have had this dialogue as we united as a Commission. And so, I'm grateful that this motion is on the floor now so that it can be something for other commissioners to do so the process isn't as messy as is what we've been through here because of a lack of connectivity. So, the education is good, but I wanted to put out the reasons why. I yield. KOSSOW: Mr. Akamu. AKAMU: Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to share that when I joined this Commission, I myself was very new to all of this. And one of the things that I did was, I went into the 2011 Commission folder, which is public on the County website, and I read all of the reports. I read all of their old minutes. It took some time, but I did my best to try to educate myself. Additionally, if I had questions about what my roles or responsibilities was, I'm very appreciative that also posted on the 2021 Commission public site is Communication Number 1, which is the presentation by Mr. Rosenbrock, which outlined the system, census blocks, and that was very informative to me. So, I referred back to that document often throughout this process. Additionally, I found that Communication 21 Number 2, which was the training on the redistricting law, that was presented by Corporation Counsel, was also very helpful to me. And on slide three (3), it laid out very clearly our roles and responsibilities, which was in addition to completing a draft and redrawing the lines. Also included, holding our public hearings, etcetera. So, I did find that for myself, a lot of the information was available there so I could educate myself on our roles and responsibilities. So, I found that very helpful. In regards to the motion, I think making a recommendation to the next Commission to create a primer is a good idea. But I also think that some of that information for that primer has already been presented and is available. So, perhaps the recommendation would be to try to make these public documents more available through outreach, social media, by perhaps leaving hard copies in various places in the communities for people to visit, etcetera. So, although I would support a recommendation for a primer, our Commission could have also done that. But, you know, we were definitely under the gun with the time. And if we did have the time, we perhaps could have done that. But I also see that as separate from the outreach and education portion of the motion, which I do believe can be done more of. I do just wonder about how the next Commission would be able to do that, and how we would word our recommendation to strongly urge that they immediately and initially start considering outreach efforts. So, that's my thoughts on the motion. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Akamu. Any other discussion regarding the motion? (No response.) Mr. Kauka, please call the roll. LUL Could you please restate the motion? KOSSOW: Mr. Lopez, would you mind restating the motion? LOPEZ: Yes. The motion I best recall is for this Commission to submit a recommendation to the next Commission that they develop a primer that communicates, that's available to the public, in very simple terms, whether you have a computer or not, or can get to theI'm sorry, I'm going off tangent here. Develop a primer that very simply illustrates the duties of the Commission and the rules under which they must develop a draft plan. And to do it in very succinct, easy to understand language, without reference to a lot of legal discussion. Something the average Joe on the street can pick up and understand. Thank you. LUL Thank you. KOSSOW: Mr. Kauka,please call the roll. Mr. Lopez moved to make a recommendation to the next Redistricting Commission to develop a primer to educate the public on the duties of the Commission and the rules under which the Commission must develop a draft redistricting plan, using layman's terms. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. 22 The motion to make a recommendation to the next Redistricting Commission to develop a primer to educate the public on the duties of the Commission and the rules under which the Commission must develop a draft redistricting plan, using layman's terms, was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. KAUKA: Chair, there are nine ayes. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Lopez. And thank you, Mr. Kauka, for that. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (part 2) KOSSOW: Mr. Kauka, is Ms. Ford still on the line? I totally had forgotten about her. I apologize profusely. Ms. Ford, I believe you're on. BRENDA FORD FORD: Thank you very much. I do have a couple of comments regarding the primer, which I think is a great idea. There was one that was submitted by me, at the very beginning before you guys got started called, How To Do Redistricting and Have it Stand Up in Court. But there's a more updated version, and I suggested the updated version is the correct one you should be using. My suggestion, and I like the idea of bullet points, because the public is not going to read eighty pages and understand it. But you could take that and do some bullet points from it. And make the job a lot easier on you, or whoever. Also, please remember when you all came on board, you were kind of lost about redistricting. You knew basically what it was, but you were kind of lost, didn't know how to use the software. A new Commission is going to be in the same spot when you start. So, if anyone's going to write that primer, or extract from that other document, I would suggest that it be this Commission. You know the pitfalls. You know what the public needs to understand because they're coming after you in public meetings and complaining as you put a line where you shouldn't do. So, that's my suggestion on that one. I want to commend James Hustace on the census block work. I know that took a lot of time. So, thank you, James. I mentioned about the financial things. But that's it for right now. You guys are doing a good job. You're working hard and I appreciate it. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Ford. 23 NEW BUSINESS (part 2) KOSSOW: Is there any other discussion regarding agenda item number 3? Hustace? HUSTACE: Chair, if it's appropriate at this time, I think this also falls under some of the testimony we received, and I was curious. We've had this conversation before about incarcerated persons and the population count. And I don't know—I can't remember the motion we had previously that we passed, but it was to pursue that at greater lengths from my understanding, and up the ladder as well. And I don't know if that had any traction or if it made any progress, and if we need to have any follow up on that. KOSSOW: I believe we had a communications regarding it. Is Ms. Mellon-Lacey still available? It might have been the Office of Elections. Ms. Nakamoto? (Pause.) Mr. Hustace, do you yield? HUSTACE: Yes, sir. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL I believe it was my motion a couple of meetings ago, that weIt seemed like it was a State legislative issue as to where incarcerated people are counted. So, the motion, I believe that was passed, was that we communicate that to our legislators to make sure it's brought up and that something gets changed over the next ten years, before the next redistricting process goes on. I'd have to go back and look at the minutes to see what that motion was. Sorry. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. Any other discussion? HUSTACE: So, Chair, I just wasn't sure if—the status of that. If we've madeIf that's come across your desk to sign and send on to legislators or Elections Office. And if we need to make any further action on that. KOSSOW: Is Ms. Nakamoto still available? Or Ms. Mellon-Lacey? And/or. NAKAMOTO: Hi. I don't have that information in front of me right now and I recall speaking with, I think it was DBEDT. They provided us with some information, but I would need to go back and read up on what they said,just to refresh my memory. KOSSOW: Thank you. Just for the record, Communications 17.1, which was Ms. Lui requesting counting incarcerated Hawaii residents. Mr. Lopez? LOPEZ: I have a different recollection. Was that actually a motion? I remember that Ms. Nakamoto was asked to find out where are incarcerated counted. Either in their location of incarceration or the home location. And she did reply that the powers that be count them in their location of incarceration. That's my recollection of this topic. I don't recall 24 a motion, but it could very well be there to submit a recommendation. Thank you. Is that 17.1? Is it I'm referring to? KOSSOW: No. It's Ms. Lui's letter transcribing that to the Commission. LOPEZ: Okay. Thank you. HUSTACE: Chair, I believeI think that communication was dated October 20''. So, I think action was made on our meeting on the 28h if I'm not mistaken. So, I don't know if those minutes areI think they're still in draft form at the moment. `Cause that would have been meeting number six. KOSSOW: Right. Ms. Lui? LUL Why don't we table this until those minutes come out because I do remember that I did make a motion after Ms. Nakamoto told us that they were counted in the place of incarceration, which I didn't agree with. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. KAUKA: Chair, this is Dennis. KOSSOW: Mr. Kauka. KAUKA: Perhaps this might help, or just to provide some clarity, I do have the draft minutes for October 28h. They were posted yesterday online, but not in time to be on the agenda today to be approved. But page 36 of those minutes, there was a motion from Ms. Lui, and I'll just read. It was, Ms. Lui moved for the Commission to write to legislators at the State level to ask them to draft and pass legislation to count incarcerated people in their self-designated permanent address. The motion was seconded by Mr. Yoshina, and the Commissioners approved that. That was on October 28h. KOSSOW: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kauka, for that. Was it just to the legislators? HUSTACE: Chair. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace, thank you. HUSTACE: I'm just looking at it further. Thank you, Mr. Kauka for identifying that page. I think it also was amended to—Yeah, really the State Reps, State Senators, and even include State Election Office, but I don't know if they would be able to take any action on it. But at least be included in that. I think the action has to be made from the legislator/legislators. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Hustace. Any other discussion? 25 HUSTACE: So, Chair, we're tabling it right now then for if we find out more? Sorry, it was KOSSOW: Yes. We'll go ahead and table theSo, we'll look a little bit more into Ms. Lui's motion from the 28h meeting. `Cause it sounds like we already had passed something in order to write a letter to them. But, Ms. Lui, I see your hand is raised, so why don't you go ahead and take the floor. LUL Well, given Mr. Kauka's pointing us to that place, it doesn't need to be tabled. It's just that now a letter has to be written at some point and sent to the parties that were named. So, there's no further action needed. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. Ms. Mellon-Lacey? MELLON-LACEY: Yes, Ms. Nakamoto does have some information. She's coming forward. NAKAMOTO: Okay, thank you. I was able to locate the information about the count of the felons. What we were told was that the prisons are designated group quarters. And after the last census, the count would be associated with the address of the GQ, the group quarters. So, the inmates wereInformation was taken from the location they were at the time the census was taken. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Nakamoto. YOSHINA: Yeah, Chair Kossow. KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: I believe that some of these questions are better answered by the U.S. Census because they established the manner in which they count people. So, you might have to pursue that matter with the U.S. Census if you're going to do this. My understanding is the U.S. Census conducts its census by counting people where they are on the day of the census. And so, they established those rules, I think. Thank you. NAKAMOTO: Yes. The communication stated that a census taker was given access to individuals to complete a census form. The group quarters falls under the American Community Survey. It's a monthly survey of prisons and college dormitories often they fall into a sample of a few—They do this a few times a year depending on the size of their population. So, based on what Mr. Yoshina said, the count was associated with the group quarters, which would be the facility that the inmates were at, at the time the census was taken. Thank you. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. 26 LUL From my understanding, there are states that have changed the rules so that inmates are counted at their place of permanent residence. I think that Common Cause did comment on this, and I think they might have more of that information. But, I would just say that the first motion should still hold, and that we should make that request to our legislators. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. Do we have any other discussion regarding this incarcerated peoples? (No response.) STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (part 3) KOSSOW: Mr. Aki, are you still available on Zoom? JACOB AKI AKL Aloha, Chair. Can you folks hear me? KOSSOW: Yes. AKL Okay, sorry about that. Yes, so we can definitely share information that we have to you folks. We did submit that to the Commission in previous meetings, but I can resend to you folks, as well as to the Elections Office. But we'd also want to also make a point that, you know, the change at the State Office of Election would only be relevant to the State reapportionment process. Just to also clarify that for the County to If the County would want, for your folk's process, to count these people where they are at, or where their home address is at, it would also need to be amended in the County Charter as well. So, if there's any changes made at the State level, that would be for the State Reapportionment process only. So, the County should proceed in making the changes in your folk's County Charter as well. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Aki. I'm just reading through Common Cause's Communication 35. It does recommend to review and discuss amending and mandating it through the County Charter and the County Code sections. So, we can either write the letter to the legislators, which we know, I assume from what the information I have received, is that it would only affect the Reapportionment Commission. Or we can make a recommendation to the Council for this. So, I'm open for discussion and open for questions. HUSTACE: So moved, Chair. That we write a letter of recommendation to our Council to making this adjustment as well. If it coincides with the State work, then we need to follow suit. And I don't know if the State's going to do it, but we can try and do it on our end at least. KOSSOW: Motion's on the table to write a letter to the Council regarding the incarcerated peoples. Is there a second? 27 LUL Second. KOSSOW: Seconded by Ms. Lui. Any discussion? (No response.) Without hearing any, Mr. Kauka, please call the roll. Mr. Hustace moved to have the Commission write a letter of recommendation to the County Council to consider amending the County Charter and Code sections to account for incarcerated people in their self-designated permanent addresses. Seconded by Ms. Lui. The motion to have the Commission write a letter of recommendation to the County Council to consider amending the County Charter and Code sections to account for incarcerated people in their self- designated permanent addresses was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. KAUKA: Chair, nine ayes. KOSSOW: Thank you. Any other discussion regarding new business 3? (No response.) No further discussion. We'll call a five-minute recess, and we'll convene back here at 11:10. And then we'll go over to agenda item number 4. Thank you. (Five-minute recess.) KOSSOW: Calling the meeting back into order. Mr. Kauka, if you can go ahead and read agenda number 4 into the record. KAUKA: Chair, thank you. We're just having some camera issues. While we're adjusting that, before we move on to the next item if it's okay with you, we didn't actually like close the last one, so I think we're okay, but staff were having a discussion earlier. Just in terms of forward movement, in case there's kind of follow up later on the motions that were approved at the October 28h meeting for letters to the delegation of the legislature and also to Elections, do we need to kind of just determine clarity on where/who the content of the letters are coming from? Who's generating this? Staff can certainly help, of course, with format and preparing these. But I'm not sure if we have clarity on who exactly these letters are coming from upon the Commission? 28 KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Kauka. I kind of was under the impression it was between myself and Mr. Hustace unless any other commissioner wants to do it. KAUKA: Okay, thank you. That's great. New business item: 4. Discussion of Draft Plan On November 29, 2021, as a reconvening of its November 23, 2021 —8h session, the Commission approved a draft redistricting plan by vote. Pursuant to Hawai`i County Charter Section 3-17(e), public hearings on the draft plan are scheduled for December 14 and December 16, 2021. Any adjustments to the draft plan would not be made by the Commission until after the public hearings. Commissioners may discuss potential considerations that have been identified and any public comments received since the draft plan was selected. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Kauka. Also, the camera for the Hilo Chambers is off. Are you guys there fixing it? KAUKA: Thank you, Chair. Yeah. We have audio right now, but the technician is looking at that now. KOSSOW: Okay. I apologize. Thank you. KAUKA: It's okay. KOSSOW: So, is there any discussion regarding the draft plan? HUSTACE: Chair? KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Thank you. I requested this on here and thank you for allowing for a moment about this. We've all had like an opportunity to let it sink in a little bit and think about the draft plan. We cannot make any changes at the moment of course, until after the public hearings and our future meetings. But,just wanted to gage any thoughts from the commissioners. And I will definitely provide some of the insight into my thoughts regarding the map and some possible tweaks that I will be proposing in the future and having discussion about. And Chair, if I may, I can always share the current map if you'd like me to. KOSSOW: Go ahead. HUSTACE: Thank you. So, I'll bring it up from the ESRI website, the application that we've been using. But we also have, as you're aware, it's also up on the public domain, the County of Hawaii Redistricting website that we've been working with, with the County and Erik Lash with the County GIS team. And so, these plans are up here, on the top, with the current one at the front, and the draft plan is the second one. So, they're very 29 front and center for the public. What is it now and then what is being proposed. So, I'm grateful for that work that's being done to put those out there. I'll throw out some ideas about what needs to be—kind of what I think needs to be tweaked a little bit. Particularly, with the district that I'm sitting in, for Council 9. And some of the changes that we need to make a little bit. LOPEZ: Point of order. HUSTACE: Yes. LOPEZ: I appreciate what you want to do but as a point of order, I think we're introducing second thoughts to our draft plan before it's put it for the public to consider. And we may be putting things out there that we shouldn't be or that will deviate from their independent consideration. I just don't feel comfortable second guessing a plan that's not gone to public hearing but is submitted as the final draft. Thank you. I yield. I propose that the Chair reconsider introducing this subject at this time before the public gets a chance to review. KOSSOW: So, you're requesting to table? LOPEZ: I'm requesting that this come up after the public hearings. Yes, because it's an item on the agenda, yes, table it until after the public hearings. Thank you. KOSSOW: Okay. There is a request to table. I think there should be a motion because I don't want to speak for the rest of the Commission if they want to talk about this subject. So, we'll just useIf you want to go ahead and motion it, and then to table this discussion. LOPEZ: Yes. I move that we table this discussion until after the public has a chance to review the final draft plan. KOSSOW: Is there a second? LUL I'll second it. KOSSOW: Seconded by Ms. Lui. Any discussion? (No response.) Mr. Kauka, please call the roll. Mr. Lopez moved to table New Business agenda item number 4, Discussion of Draft Plan, until after the public has a chance to review the final draft plan. Seconded by Ms. Lui. The motion to table New Business agenda item number 4, Discussion of Draft Plan, until after the 30 public has a chance to review the final draft plan was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, and Chair Kossow. Noes: Vice Chair Hustace. KAUKA: Chair, there are eight ayes. KOSSOW: Alright, thank you. Thank you, Commissioners. We'll table agenda item number 4. Mr. Kauka, go ahead and read number 5 into the record. KAUKA: New business item: 5. Discussion of report transmitting Final Plan Pursuant to Hawaii County Code Article Chapter 36 Section 36-10, the Commission "shall submit a written report to the county clerk transmitting the final plan chosen by the Commission." Commissioners may conduct a preliminary discussion on the content and responsibilities for the report and develop an outline. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Kauka. I believe everybody received the 2011 Redistricting Commission final report. As far as I'm concerned, if I can have Ms. Mellon-Lacey? MELLON-LACEY: Yes, Chair Kossow? KOSSOW: I'm just curious `cause this is just the discussion of how it's being written and what not. Who will be writing this? And where are we transcribing it to? MELLON-LACEY: Well, first of all,just as a reminder to everyone, the essential elements that must be included in the final plan are covered in Section 36-10 of the Code. So, there's a list of ten things that are supposed to be included in the report. It would be my understanding and I'll call on Mr. Kauka, but it would be my understanding that the Elections Office—or not the Elections Office the County Clerk's Office would be providing the support help to produce the report. But the actual content of the report would require the input of the Commission. For example, it asks you to justify any divergence from any of the requirements or criteria and provide written justification. Some things are very proforma, like number eight(8), minutes of all meetings and hearings associated with the Commission. I'm sure that would be something that Mr. Kauka could collate and put together for the report. But the reasons why the plan is decided ultimately, those are things, I think, the Commission would have to provide. Mr. Kauka, do you have any input on this, as far as the assistance you would be giving the Commission in the actual production of the final report? 31 KAUKA: Thanks, Diana. From what I heard that you relayed, certainly, of course. I'm happy to help compile those components of the report. I think the phrase you used is proforma. A lot of it is information that we'll have from the final plan product. I can certainly plug that in. What I can do is already outline a skeleton part of the report, using the 2011 template. And I'll start circulating that to the Commissioners, and we can see where the gaps are. MELLON-LACEY: I think that's an excellent idea because I'm sure we have the template which is designed to put in the information that's required. And then, additional things that the Commission may wish to include, the recommendations, and that sort of thing would be specific to this Commission. Does that answer your question, Chair? KOSSOW: Yes, thank you. I was just trying to ensure that we can do this on a timely basis. And I see on the written report here, the County Clerk accepted it on December 27''. Does this report need to be completed prior to the submission? This is what is being submitted. MELLON-LACEY: I'm not sure I'm following or understanding. KOSSOW: Is this report required before December 315th MELLON-LACEY: It's required by December 31 St KOSSOW: Okay, thank you. I'll open it up for any other discussion or questions. Mr. Hustace, thank you. HUSTACE: And just for the sake of clarity I think, I don't know, the County offices are probably closed on the 31 St. So, we'll probably have to submit that before the 31 St. That's just my guess. MELLON-LACEY: Dennis, is there a schedule that you have specifically for the completion in your mind? KAUKA: I don't. A lot will depend on the Commission reaching its final conclusions with the final plan. But just to kind of answer that question, yes, the County offices will be closed on December 31. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace, do you yield? HUSTACE: Yes. Thank you. KOSSOW: Mr. Lopez. LOPEZ: Yes. On this report, in the recommendations, the very last page, is there any mechanism to follow up on the recommendations of the Commission? And maybe, what the requests were made of like the Office of Elections to follow up with the Census 32 Bureau? Non-students, nonresident, military, extraction numbers be provided, on and on. Even to the point of asking the County Council to consider alternate plan requirements or increasing the Council district deviation, the 5.99. Is there a correspondence? Is there anything in the records that maybe we can get a hold of? Were any actions taken on these things? And the reason I ask is, what's going to become of our recommendations? That's why I'm putting it in that perspective. So, I guess I'm asking maybe perhaps Dennis, if he can produce with this document or give to us any documentation or communication that supports actions on these recommendations. Dennis, thank you. MELLON-LACEY: This is Diana again. You have to bear in mind they are recommendations, so they don't have a binding authority. But I'm sure Mr. Kauka can trace back and see what specific follow up occurred. LOPEZ: Thank you. It would be good to have that. I realize the pressures of time, but in good stead so that we have a chance to review before we submit our report. Thank you. KAUKA: This is Dennis. Chair? KOSSOW: Go ahead, Dennis. KAUKA: Thank you. Mr. Lopez, thank you. I just wanted to be clear, so were you asking of the 2011 recommendations, by that Commission, to sort of—to perform some research and see and track where those recommendations, how they were followed up on? Is that your ask? LOPEZ: Yes, but more specifically, I would expect there is communication records that support any action taken to submit what the recommendations were to the bodies that were specified, should receive. Like the Office of Elections, like the County Council, and so on. So, what I'm looking for is something that said, this report didn't just get filed and nothing, nobody ever did anything. And maybe that's the case. That's okay. I'm just trying to find out. Or is there communication that supports that these recommendations were submitted? KAUKA: Thank you, Mr. Lopez. What I can do is do some research on that, and I believe the Commission, it wasn't originally on schedule, but we have a meeting scheduled for next Friday following the public hearings, on December 17. And I'll circulate a report on that and provide one at that meeting. I'll follow up on what the recommendations were. LOPEZ: Excellent. Thank you very much for that contribution. KAUKA: You're welcome. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Lopez, and thank you, Mr. Kauka. Any other discussion regarding the report transmitting for the final plan? Ms. Lui. 33 LUL Yeah,just to follow up on Commissioner Lopez's question. It says number four(4) of their recommendations, has delete Section 36-9(2) because it places too much emphasis on numerical deviations. And that is something we have talked about, but I don't know whether that section is in there or not. I'm sorry, I just don't have it. The next one, about the 5.99, that one was changed because we have gotten that directive. I yield. Just wondering about that alternate plan requirement. If maybe Elections knows that one. Thank you. I yield. KAUKA: Chair, so that will be—Elections is here but, that'll be one of the items of the 2011 Commission's recommendations that I'll look into. It will be part of what I provide at the next meeting. KOSSOW: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Kauka. LUL Okay. If I could just ask that that be done at the beginning of our meeting, because as we change the map it would be helpful to know that. I yield. KOSSOW: (Pause) Thank you, Ms. Lui. Just writing down a memo here. Any other discussion regarding 5 [New business number five]? (No response.) If not, we're going to move over to Reports. KAUKA: Chair, this is Dennis. KOSSOW: Mr. Kauka. KAUKA: Just as we're having this discussion, you know, one of the components of the written report requirement is a written description of the council districts. It's referred to in the report as Exhibit 4 and as I'm looking at that, I mean perhaps, I'm not sure if there's any Pat's gesturing that she'll come to the table. But just as a staff question, I'm wondering how that written description was generated in the past so that we know how that gets in there because it's pretty detailed. HUSTACE: Chair? KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: This is to Ms. Lui, under four (4) there, it says delete section 36-9(2). I'm looking at, I think, the current iteration of the Code. That section was removed from the Code. So, it says, 36-9 was repealed. LUL Ah. Thank you. HUSTACE: Thank you. KOSSOW: I apologize. Dennis, go ahead. 34 NAKAMOTO: Hi, this is Pat Nakamoto. I'm going to respond to Dennis' question about the legal description for the final plan. Once the final plan has been approved, ESRI will provide us with a legal description of the boundaries. And then our staff will go, and they will proof the boundaries just to make sure that all of the information that has been electronically provided to us, is correct. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Nakamoto. Any other discussion here? KAUKA: Chair, this is Dennis. So, also with following up on the recommendations of the past Commission, I'll also have by the next meeting, that skeleton report that I mentioned. So, that the Commission will be able to review at the next meeting, at least the outline of report, similar to 2011, and make any determinations on what further information would need to be completed. KOSSOW: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Kauka. I appreciate that. Any other discussion here for New Business 5? (No response.) Alright. We're going to move over to Reports. Mr. Kauka? REPORTS KAUKA: Update on outreach for public hearings The Commission may receive an update on outreach efforts for its public hearings from support staff, including map dissemination and address any questions. KOSSOW: Any discussion on or any questions for the staff? Mr. Lopez. LOPEZ: Yes. In the outreach to the publicI haven't seen this, pardon me if it's available but I haven't seen it—Is there the link to the public viewing area of the maps, in that outreach? KOSSOW: I think that question is for Elections staff. KAUKA: Chair, this is Dennis. Yes, the link is on the public notice on the public hearings. We've also sent it as a hyperlink as part of the messaging that the draft plan is available online to all of our subscriber lists. The direct link is also available on the Elections homepage, and we've continued to work with our IT Department to have that prominently featured in other areas of the County website. LOPEZ: Okay. But it is in the printed outreach information. Is that right? KAUKA: Yes. LOPEZ: Thank you very much. Very good. 35 NAKAMOTO: Pat Nakamoto, Elections Administrator. I just wanted to give the Commission information on what we have done with the hard copy maps. We delivered the three feet by four feet(3' x 4') maps to the twelve (12) libraries around the island. And we also went out and we tried to place the smaller maps, which are eleven by seventeen (11"x 17") maps, on bulletin boards, and in different areas around the island that were considered high traffic areas. So, we placed at least two or three in each of the nine council districts, in mini-marts, or community stores around the island, on bulletin boards. So, there was a total of about twenty-eight(28) sites that we placed these smaller maps at. And there were two post offices, one in Kealakekua and one in up in north Kohala, that had bulletin boards that we were allowed to place the smaller maps on. So, the maps are already out there in the field. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Nakamoto. And thank you for the staff who are putting that out into the public. I really, really appreciate that. Is there any other questions we have for our Elections staff? NAKAMOTO: I also wanted to include that we added information on the map which provided the two public hearings that are the upcoming public hearings, the one on December 14 and 16, and we provided the site and the times on those maps also. Just to have that information out there. Thank you. KOSSOW: And then as far as an update regarding the budget, is there any—Did you folks have any issues with getting scheduled out with the newspaper? SAIKL Hi, this is Cori. The update on the newspaper is, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and West Hawaii Today will run a half page newspaper ad beginning on December 12'', and it will run through December 16''. The cost of that is going to be approximately $13,000. And then additionally for another $1,200, we have online advertising. It's like a banner on both the Tribune-Herald and West Hawaii Today's websites. KOSSOW: Thank you. And then, what was the cost for the printouts of the big maps, and the small ones? NAKAMOTO: For both the large maps and the smaller maps, approximately the total cost would be about$600. KOSSOW: Thank you. BATH: Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: Did you say there were a hundred and twenty-eight(128) maps of the eleven by seventeens (11x17) distributed island-wide? 36 NAKAMOTO: No. We distributed—There's about 28 sites that we placed these maps at around the island. And we tried to target at least two or three in each of the council districts. BATH: So, there were twenty-eight(28)total maps? NAKAMOTO: That were distributed. BATH: And you distributed evenly amongst the districts? NAKAMOTO: Yeah, we tried to. Because in some areas, it was harder to find places that would allow us to post the maps. But there should be at least two in each district. BATH: So, are there any other maps that the commissioners can put up? Because two maps for upper Puna won't reach the people. NAKAMOTO: Sure, if you would like some of the maps BATH: I'd love NAKAMOTO: Yeah—we'd be happy to give you some to post. BATH: Oh, thank you. Okay. NAKAMOTO: Sure. HUSTACE: Chair? KOSSOW: Ms. Bath, do you yield? BATH: Yes, I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you. Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Just for clarity I think, Chair, the two to three for each of the current districts is on top of the twelve libraries. Is that correct, Ms. Nakamoto? NAKAMOTO: Yes, that's correct. HUSTACE: Okay. Thank you. KOSSOW: And then, you folks are doing the additional big map printouts for the public hearings, correct? For next week? NAKAMOTO: Yes. We will have the big maps. One at each site. 37 KOSSOW: Thank you. I had one more question, and it might have been for Cori. Did you get the invoice from the radio station? SAIKL Yes, I did. In fact, I just paid it on Tuesday. KOSSOW: Okay. What was the final amount on that one? SAIKL Off the top of my head, I can't remember, but I can go get that information for you. KOSSOW: Oh, no worries. If you can give us a report for the next meeting. SAIKL Okay. Alright. KOSSOW: I'm just curious of how much money we will have left over and if we can do a little bit more advertisements, if need be, for this next week. So, thank you for that. Any other questions or comments from the commissioners? BATH: Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: I wanted to check in with the other commissioners on if two maps or three maps in their district—Well, having the libraries have the big maps is great. My concern as far as public outreach is that people are working during the day or doing things, and they can't access the libraries and they're limited in that capacity. I think it's a really great place to have them. When I think of two or three of these larger maps, that are good, being dispersed in each area, it might be easy for the smaller districts like Hilo or the Kona areas. But in Puna, I think of the bulletin boards that the County knows about in the subdivisions in upper Puna. If Hawaiian Acres had one. If Fern Acres had one. And if Kea`au town center had one. And let's say the health food stores had one. That would be four right there. I had thought we were going to work with faith-based organizations and get them out to that. We're not going to do that one? NAKAMOTO: I'm sorry, but this is the first time I'm hearing anything about faith-based organizations. I didn't hear about any of that. BATH: Oh, okay. I guess maybe I was talking about it to somebody else. I was just asking the other commissioners if in their districts, did they think two maps or three maps of this size would meet the needs of the people? Oh! We did have a discussion about the schools, and we couldn't do that because we were going to have—We don't have the time to go through administration. So, I'm just wondering, I don't think that for my district even three maps would even close to cut it. NAKAMOTO: We have the smaller maps. If any of the commissioners would like to have maps and distribute them or post them in their community, and they're more 38 familiar with the areas, they're more than you're more than welcome to come and we can give you more maps. We also have maps in our Kona office. The smaller maps. So, if the commissioners on the west side of the island would like to pick up some of those maps to distribute or to post, they can contact our Elections Office in Kona also to get those maps. BATH: Bath. KOSSOW: You still have the floor, Ms. Bath. BATH: Oh, thank you. Thank you for that. My concern is we're about four days out from the meeting and the Kona low just came through. Some people don't even have power or internet access still in Puna. And I understand that that might be true in Ka`u and some districts, so. And I'm limited in my resources and time right now to be able to go. It's a huge area and driving it just isn't practical at this late date. I just wanted to express my concern on that. `Cause I've been getting calls and emails from people. How do you get into the site? When are the meetings? People don't know they're not—They try to go into the site and they're unable to do it. So, there's a concern of the information getting out. I know you're doing your best. I'm just not exactly sure. I just keep referring them to your office, is what I've been doing. But, okay, I'll take as many as I can. But I'm interested to hear from the other commissioners to see what their take on it is. I yield. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath, I have a quick question. You said that the link wasn't working? BATH: Well, this has been an ongoing issue in my district, and I've heard in District 6, part of District 6. `Cause some of the people in District 6 still sort of polarize towards the District 5 gatherings, and a little bit from District 4. People don't have a clue. There's still people that don't know that the redistricting process is going on. And with the Kona low that came through, it was a mess. People didn't have power and then they didn't have Hawaiian Tel when they had the fiber optics. It's unfortunate, but people are not—People don't know. They have no clue that we're doing a redistricting process right now. And these are people in the community that are super active, that are trying to get into the process. And as I said, I just refer them to the Elections Office to get help. But if they don't have an internet connection, they can't do that. So, yeah, I guess we're doing the best that we can but I'm not sure if it's good enough to reach the people at this point in our community. I yield. But I'm curious to see what other commissioners have had experience with. KOSSOW: Mr. Akamu. AKAMU: Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to share that I'm really appreciative of the County staff. Ms. Nakamoto, as well as all of her colleagues, for organizing all of this information for our communities. Having just two of those big maps is problematic in a big district like Ka`u. However, I do want to acknowledge that at our last meeting, Ms. Nakamoto did ask the commissioners to share with them directly if there were any particular spots that they would like the eight and a half by eleven (8 �/z x 11) maps 39 dropped off at. And commissioners were able to contact Ms. Nakamoto to let her know specifically of other locations or community places to put those. I do remember Ms. Nakamoto also sharing that, commissioners can request as many copies of the maps that they would need to distribute or pass on to other community groups to distribute. And I believe that's still available to request. So, Chair, I'll just ask to remind the commissioners, perhaps before we leave today, to contact Ms. Nakamoto and the County staff directly. And see how we can connect with the organizations that we know in our communities. Specifically, for Ka`u, we're distributing information through the Ka`u Calendar. In print, it has about a ten thousand (10,000) circulation. So, it goes out to all the residents' homes for free. There's also the Ka`u Calendar blog that has high traffic and it's updated every day. We have been posting information about the new maps and where they can read the public notices that are posted for the community. So, we've been utilizing those means in Ka`u and it's worked fairly well. But I agree, we definitely have connectivity issues in Ocean View. So, that's one of the communities that we, here in Ka`u, want to reach out more to. And we were definitely affected by all the rains and the floods. So, we definitely have just a few more days left before our next meeting, next week. So, anything that we can do and work with our networks to get this information out would be great. And I really thank Ms. Nakamoto's staff for all the behind the scenes work that they do to get us this information to distribute. So, it's been a challenge, but we're doing our best in Ka`u, and we'll definitely do our best for these next few days to try to get more support. Thank you, Chair. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Akamu. Mr. Kauka, is there a possibility we could do a press release regarding the meetings? Or is that already kind of done already? I'm just curious if we have to ask for a press release and to go to things like the Ka`u Calendar? Or some of these other small news entities as well. KAUKA: Chair, we certainly can. That's something I can also prepare as a statement and send to you. We can send it to the media context that we have. I am in contact with the Mayor's Office Public Information Officer. That's something I can ask him to spread to the Mayor's media networks as well. KOSSOW: Okay. And then if any other commissioners have maybe somebody that they can send that Dennis can send this to, I would suggest that maybe just let Dennis know. So, that way he can send it out to everybody. KAUKA: Yes, please do. And Chair, I would just add that there are members of the media that are also part of our subscriber list. Reporters from the Tribune-Herald, West Hawaii Today, Big Island Now, that receive every notice that we send out on information on the Commission's activities including receiving the link to the maps and agenda information. KOSSOW: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Kauka. Do I have any other questions regarding the reports? HUSTACE: Chair? 40 KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Nakamoto. Is it possible for myself to stop by the Elections Office here, in West Hawaii, today following our meeting to grab a stack of some maps? NAKAMOTO: Yes. Sure. I'm not exactly sure how many she has there, but I know she has some. I think we dropped off about 20 or 25 with her, and it was for the public. But if you want those maps, we can always get more maps out there to her, and you can take whatever she has. HUSTACE: Thank you. I appreciate that. I'll probably swing by there and grab a few that I can distribute on my way back up north. Mahalo. KOSSOW: I'll fight you for it. (Laughter.) Okay. Any other discussion? BATH: Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: Yeah. I'm so happy that District 6 has the Ka`u Calendar. That's such a wonderful resource. Julia and them, they're just great. We don't have that in upper Puna and you guys got it down. I totally forgot you had that. So, good for you. I wasn't suggesting that Elections wasn't doing a great job and doing what you can. I appreciate all of your help. I was under the impression that you—when you had mentioned that you know spots where you could put up the maps. I had assumed that like community association buildings were amongst those, but apparently, they weren't. So, it was an assumption that I made, so I didn't ask you or tell you about those `cause the County comes out there a lot. So, thank you though. NAKAMOTO: We were concentrating on more high traffic areas. You know, like where a lot of the community would go. Like the community stores or the post office,places like that. BATH: Yeah, they also go to the community centers. So, it wasn't that I was being incomplacent [sic] in not getting back to you on that. It's just an assumption that I made. So, I can post some of those there. I yield. KOSSOW: Alright. Thank you, Ms. Bath. Any other questions or concerns? Comments? KAUKA: Chair, this is Dennis. KOSSOW: Mr. Kauka. 41 KAUKA: Thank you. Just on the social media end, `cause I know that's one aspect that the Commission expressed interest in. And we had used the term boost before. I forgot actually that boosting on social media is a pay for. So, our team that manages the social media Facebook page for the Office of the County Clerk did try to pursue it. I know we made Chair aware that there—it was sort of a, I guess I used the word, convoluted process to authenticate the page as being part of an orginization. So, the work around is that we will, on our Facebook page. And it's another way of getting information out there to those who are plugged in, of course, to these types of platforms. We'll put out information on the public hearings daily, starting today, including of course, the link. And we would encourage commissioners who are users of social media, of course you can create your own posts, but if you follow "COH - Office of the County Clerk,"you can also share those posts,just to exponentially create the outreach there on that end as well. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Kauka. Without hearing any other reports, I'm going to move over to announcements, and I'll pass it back over to Mr. Kauka. ANNOUNCEMENTS KAUKA: Sure. Thank you, Chair. So, yes of course, the major announcement is just that public hearings, for those watching, on the draft plan are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 14 and Thursday, December 16. Again, that start time is at 6:30 p.m. Just to be clear on what's on the notice, in-person testimony will be welcome on both dates, at both sites. So, those locations will be at the Hilo County Building, Council Chamber, which is at 25 Aupuni Street. And the Chamber is located in Room 1401. Also, the West Hawaii Civic Center Council Chamber, at Ane Keohokalole Highway, on Building A. We are encouraging folks to register to testify,just so that we can expect a number, but we will accept testimony for anyone who appears. Another option is virtual testimony on the Zoom platform, and dial-in as well. And of course, written testimony is continuously accepted. We want to encourage those who may be watching to call the Commission staff number, which is (808) 961-8020, for more information. Or you can email redistrictingcommission@hawaiicounty.gov. The staff does its best to provide information to anyone who contacts us. ADJOURNMENT KOSSOW: Is there any other announcements from the commissioners? (No response.) Alright. Can I have a motion to adjourn? HUSTACE: So moved. KOSSOW: Motioned by Mr. Hustace. YOSHINA: Second. 42 KOSSOW: Seconded by Mr. Yoshina. All in favor say aye. (Various commissioners say aye.) Sounds like the motion carries. We are adjourned at 11:57. Have a great day, everybody. Aloha! Respectfully Submitted, N 4k Nicole Bello, support staff to the Commission 43