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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-12-21 Redistricting Commission minutes (11th Session) 2021 HAWAII COUNTY REDISTRICTING COMMISSION I Ph Session Tuesday, December 21, 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 Ms. Jennifer Yadao, Commissioner Mr. Dwayne Yoshina, Commissioner Also Present: Relley Araceley, Council Services Coordinator Jon Henricks, County Clerk Diana Mellon-Lacey, Deputy Corporation Counsel CALL TO ORDER: KOSSOW: Aloha and welcome to the l Ph Session of the County of Hawaii Redistricting Commission. Today is Tuesday, December 21st, 2021. My name is Bronsten and I'm the Chairperson for this Commission. First, an announcement. Because of the Coronavirus COVID-19 emergency and State and Federal guidance on large meetings or gatherings and pursuant to the Mayor's proclamation regarding COVID-19, the Redistricting Commission meetings are currently not open to the public to attend in- person. Members of the public may provide oral testimony via the Zoom platform by requesting for this information as noticed on our posted agendas. Thank you for your understanding. Calling this meeting to order. The time is 9:45 a.m. ROLL CALL KOSSOW: Relley, would you be able to do the roll call? ARACELEY: Yes, Chair. Thank you. Commissioner Lui, "Present in Hilo," Commissioner Yoshina, "Present, Hilo," Commissioner Ah Nee, "Present via Zoom," Commissioner Yadao, "Present, Hilo," Commissioner Bath, "Present, Hilo," Commissioner Akamu, "Present via Zoom," Commissioner Lopez, "Present, Kona Chambers," Commissioner Hustace, "Present, Kona Chambers," and Chair Kossow, "Here, Kona." Chair, you have nine members present. KOSSOW: Thank you. Thank you, Relley. I appreciate it. As a reminder, during the meetings, 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 later transcribe the minutes. Please keep your microphone 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 before speaking. As I'm presiding from Kona, Commissioners here with me, please turn on your light or get my attention to be recognized. For those in Hilo or 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, I will interrupt to clarify who is speaking on the minutes. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS KOSSOW: Okay, Relley. We'll head over to the public testimony. ARACELEY: Mahalo, Chair. We have a few members of the public in your Zoom room. I will call them up and they can provide their testimony. Our first person I will be calling 2 is Brenda. If this is Ms. Brenda Ford, this is your opportunity to provide testimony. Please unmute your mic and provide your testimony starting now. BRENDA FORD FORD: Thank you very much. This is Brenda Ford, member of the public. I would like to comment on District 8 and District 7. I gave a lot of thought to this over the weekend. District 8 has been described, with all due respect to Mr. Lopez, as a bedroom community. Let me explain what is currently in District 8, and will continue to be in District 8, under the plans that you have. It has the new industrial center, which includes Costco. It has the airport. It has the Civic Center. It has the courthouse. It probably will have the old industrial center. And therefore, it is not a totally bedroom community. It is a bedroom community up on the slopes of Hualalai. But the father downhill that you go, the most more industrial and commercial it becomes. District 7, the only commercial district that's really in it, is Kailua Village, and possibly some parts of Kealakekua. And that includes the Villages of Honalo and Kainaliu. It is definitely much more of a bedroom community than District 8. Therefore, it is my opinion that Kailua Village should not be divided the way it is currently divided. And the bottom of it, along the shoreline, along Alii Drive, and probably not above it for some of those subdivisions that are split. I respectfully ask that the Commission redo District 7 and 8 to include the comments that I have made. I will be here for the duration of the meeting. Thank you for your time. ARACELEY: Thank you so much for your testimony. Chair, the next person in your Zoom room is Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba. Mr. Inaba, if you plan to provide testimony, you can unmute your mic and provide your testimony. You'll have three minutes. HOLEKA GORO INABA INABA: Aloha kakahiaka, Commissioners. Holeka Inaba. I am the Council Member for District 8, north Kona. And just wanting to circle back on my testimony from last week. And it's to request that all of Kalaoa, north Kona, remain in District 8. It really doesn't make sense to separate the makai side of the highway into 8, and the mauka side into 7. And in addition to that, to make sure that we have Alii Drive all in one district, in District 7. And with that and any adjustments need to be made due to the numbers in north Kona and Kalaoa, I would recommend perhaps that the Nani Kailua, Aloha Kona subdivision, which is currently in District 8, be moved into District 7. And because it's located so close to the rest of District 7's neighborhoods and communities, I think this would make the most sense. So, with that, I just want to mahalo you all again for your work. And please just do what is sensible for Kona. And it would perhaps mirror what's happening in Hilo with keeping District 2 as the central town area, and that would be District 7 here in Kona. And then having District 8 be more similar to District 3, the outskirts, not necessarily the downtown areas of Hilo. So, mahalo nui and have a wonderful Christmas, and Happy Holidays. Aloha. 3 ARACELEY: Thank you so much for your testimony. Chair, the next person in your Zoom room is Ms. Rebecca Villegas. Ms. Villegas, if you plan to testify, you can unmute your mic and provide your testimony. You'll have three minutes. Thank you so much. REBECCA VILLEGAS VILLEGAS: Aloha and thank you everyone for including me and allowing me this opportunity to testify today. Thank you for your hard work utilizing incredible technology and software. But that also poses its own challenges as you're working with mathematical equations and geographic regions. I want to essentially echo the sentiments of my colleague, Holeka Inaba, in voicing the concerns for splitting the areas that have otherwise been proposed to be split. I don't thinkI think it creates unnecessary change and dislocation for certain neighborhoods and communities. In my experience as County Councilperson for District 7, what would make the most sense, and mind you I haven't seen the specific numbers that this would transition, but would be to take Aloha Kona and Nani Kailua, and transition that into District 7. As I've navigated my term in office, describing District 7 has been kind of a fun and interesting thing to do. As a lot of people struggle to understand where our districts are. I would encourage you to reconsider the term kind of commuter rooms or bedroom community, as everybody right now is kind of a bedroom community because we all have to travel in different capacities for where we live. I agree with Brenda Ford's statement and pointing out the importance of all of the civic and business facilities that reside in District 8, along with our wastewater facility. There is tremendous responsibility in District 8 based on those facilities that reside there. In general, I concur with the wisdom of those who have testified for the undesirability of doing any separation of our Business Improvement Districts. All in all, I think I am hopeful that after this redistricting, most of our districts wouldn't have to change as radically as some of these maps have reflected. And instead, would be able to strategically identify neighborhoods within the current boundary areas and transition those. And I just want to encourage and thank each and every one of you for your service. It's a tough job and when people start using terms like gerrymandering, it gets scary. And I just want to encourage you to continue relying on your greatest integrity and all of your broadest vision for the best benefit of our community and thank you for this service on this, what can often times be a very thankless role. So, thank you for your time and attention and energy to these very important topics that will dictate the next ten years of our County. And will go down in history as really relevant and important as we continue to navigate our way out of a global pandemic into a more regenerative time for agriculture and diversified economy. And your decisions being made today will affect that and hopefully support that and continue to connect the areas and the people that feel that tighter connection and that relatability to one another. So, with that, happy holidays and mahalo once again under all these really challenging circumstances. Especially with the tardiness of the Census Bureau getting you the numbers you needed. You guys have been working under pretty brutal deadlines. So, mahalo and Mele Kalikimaka. Hau`oli Makahiki Hou. Happy Holidays. ARACELEY: Thank you so much for testimony. Chair, the final testifier you currently have in the Zoom room is a phone number. So, if the phone number ending in 3037 could 4 unmute their mic by pressing *6, if they wish to testify. Again, the phone number ending withoh, seems like you've unmuted. So, if you'd like to provide your testimony, you have your three minutes starting now. SHANNON MATSON MATSON: Thank you so much. This is Shannon Matson. Aloha, Commissioners. I was unable to access the Zoom link last meeting, and also this meeting. I just keep getting an error code. So, I called in by phone. And I just wanted to start with, I was able to tune in and out at your last meeting on Friday as much as I was able to. And I really appreciate how diligently you are all taking that testimony that you received last week Tuesday and Thursday to heart. I could hear some of the deliberations. And I know that you guys are all trying your absolute best to meet all of the diverse needs of our island. So, I wanted to mahalo you all for that. And then I also wanted to draw your attention. I did submit written testimony. I also submitted,just because I think it's easier to see all of the things I'm suggesting on the actual map tool. I submitted a map that is COH SM those are my last initials SM-1. This was while you were doing the work that you were doing on Friday. So, before the map had gotten altered as far as you have gone at this point. It was based off of the map that everyone gave feedback on, the public map. And I also tried to incorporate all of the wonderful things that Commissioner Hustace has done as far as trying to do the least amount of changing by going with the current map. And I think I was able to accomplish both of those things. I know you're not taking any more public maps. So, I understand if you feel limited, that you can't go and look at this map and use this map. But I would encourage you to really look at it because the deviation is much less. I know you guys got toI think where you left off was a little bit over the ten percent. This map is, I believe above, seven percent deviation. It addresses most of those concerns I just heard from the Council Members in Kona. Except for Nani Kailua, I believe, is still in District 7 rather than 8. But overall, the lines are much cleaner. I believe it met some of those concerns that everyone was feeling about the Kona communities. I also believed that it did a really good job of addressing some of the concerns I and others had about the Puna communities, primarily HPP. I still was not able to figure out a way to keep all of HPP together, but the way that I see it being dividing on your working document, I think is problematic because it's like an upper part of HPP. And then there's going to be some connectivity issues in separating that out from the lower part of HPP. So, I just went straight down the road there and took some of the northern part of HPP and put it in Council 5 and kept the other part in Council 4. The HPP is being split across two council districts, but I do think that the way I am splitting is still allowing for really nice representation for those voices in HPP to have two representatives, two council people, in a way that will make sense for them. And still feel like their voices are being amplified, rather than diluted. Whereas with the current map that you guys are working on, I'm more concerned about the way that's being divided. Also, the most important thing that I took away from hearing all that testimony from the public was the importance of keeping Pana`ewa and Keaukaha areas together, and not diluting the native Hawaiian vote. And I was able to do that as well. I saw that you guys focused on that right at the beginning. And I again, I appreciate that, but because your deviation numbers are rather high, I think that the map that I put forward makes a little bit 5 more sense. So again, I have the luxury of sitting here and making these lines without having to take into account all the other commissioners together working on it. And I know that that work is painstaking and challenging to try to meet everybody's needs at once. But again, because of my unique perspective of having lived in almost every district on this island for a good portion of my life, I do believe that I was able to capture a lot of the testimony and create a map that has some pretty clean lines and good deviations. So, I hope that you could give that just a moment and look at that map that I'm putting forward and have it help you fix some of the things that you will be working on today. Anyway, thank you so much for your time and mahalo for the work you're doing. I'm going to try to stick around a little bit later if you have questions. Again, I'm just tuning in via phone so it's a little challenging, but mahalo again and Happy Holidays. ARACELEY: Thank you so much for your testimony. Chair, those are all the individuals outside of the Commission in your Zoom meeting room. UNFINISHED BUSINESS KOSSOW: Thank you, Relley. We'll head over to unfinished business. Relley, if you can go ahead and read Unfinished Business Number 1, Final Redistricting Plan, into the record. Thank you. ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. 1. Final Redistricting Plan On November 29, 2021, as a reconvening of its November 23, 2021 —8h session, the Commission approved its draft redistricting plan by vote. Pursuant to Hawaii County Charter Section 3-17(e), public hearings on the draft plan were then conducted on December 14 and December 16, 2021. During its December 9, 2021 —9h session, the Commission postponed discussion of further considerations to its draft redistricting plan. This item was on the December 17, 2021, agenda, during which Commissioners may have recorded actions on its Final Plan. The Commission may consider any adjustments and approve a final plan. Hawaii County Charter Section 3-17(d) requires the Commission to file a redistricting plan by December 31 st KOSSOW: Thank you, Relley. So, before we move onto going in depth with the draft plan, is anybody from Elections available? And maybe they can tell us a little bit about the process after the completion of the final draft plan, after it gets voted. ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. Currently, there are no staff from Elections in the room. They may be running into the room now, but they are not currently here. KOSSOW: Okay. If they come over onto the Zoom or inside the room, could you let me know? In that case, we'll move over to visiting the last draft plan. Which I believe was 6 1.5? 1.5, yeah. So, if we can go ahead and pull that up. Would you be able to do that again? Thank you. (Pause.) HUSTACE: Chair, up on the screen we have County of Hawaii Working Doc 1-5, or 1.5. It's the same one that we tabled from last meeting. KOSSOW: Thank you. Do I have any discussion? LUL This is Commissioner Lui. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL I think it would be helpful just to go district by district. And I'm not sure where to start but if somebody wants to jump in and you know, say what they've been thinking over the weekend and taking into account the new testimonies. I can start if needed but if anybody else wants to go. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui, thanks for volunteering. LUL Okay. I think for some reason when I copied this to work on, I don't think I copied it correctly. Because I didn't remember that District 1 was 5.69 under. But I think that because we want to take as little of Waimea as possible, given all of the feedback, and given that District 1 already had encompassed quite a lot of that area, you know, above the Wainaku River, that maybe if we go a little bit further into Hilo, that will give a lesser deviation and make sure that Waimea gets its way. I mean, that way—Well, let's see. Yeah. But right now, I mean the deviations look reasonable in that they don't add up to more than ten. So, I'm actually okay with the way it is, but if needed, a few tweaks could be made, I guess. That's what I'm thinking. But I'd like to see to James just to see whether he has any thoughts on the boundary between 1 and 9. And also Commissioner Yoshina, if he has any new thoughts on the line between 1 and 2. Really because District 1 is mostly Hamakua, we don't really want to take more of Hilo or of Waimea. So, in some ways it's reallyI think I want to make sure that those two other districts are happy. I cede. YOSHINA: Chair Kossow, this is Dwayne. KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: Basically, I was okay with the discussions of the last time. And so, I would agree with what Commissioner Lui is saying. And if the adjustments are small, I guess we could discuss that. But generally, I think District 2 is okay the way we discussed it last time. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Yoshina. Mr. Hustace. 7 HUSTACE: Thanks, Chair. I did take some time over the weekend to make some tweaks around the edges to address some of the connectivity issues around the island. I'll just put it up on the screen if I may. It's for all to see. It's shared there. It's Working Doc 1-5 JH Proposal. So, this is based off of the Working Doc 1-5, and it makes some slight changes on there. And so, back here at the Working Doc 1-5,just from the top of my head—Let's see. If I may, I can show some of the changes here that I suggested in the proposal. And I'll just compare them back and forth here. So, this is our Working Doc 1-5. And this is outside of Hilo. (Pause.) Alright, thank you, Chair. Let me try to reshare that again. Thank you. Okay, let me bring that back up. Okay. So, this is our Working Doc 1-5. And this is a proposal of the area. So, it's just a slight change. And I can flip between them here. So, this is the proposal change. A slight modification. And this is what we have for our Working Doc 1-5. So, there's a census block right here of fifteen (15)people. Maybe to clean the line up a little bit, that one could go back into Council 1 as a possibility. Just to make a cleaner line there. That's an option. The other suggestion on the Waimea side. So, this is, once again, our Working Doc 1-5. Just going to head over to Waimea. This is what we tabled as last week. And then, this was the proposal that I looked at over the weekend with some thought. It looks a little bit uglier for sure, in my proposal. But there's some justification here. So, in our Working Doc 1-5, this census block here, and for the purpose of some of this discussion, I'm just going to turn on the layer of the 2011 council line. For our Working Doc here, we did put this census block, that has two hundred fifty (250)people, into Council 9. And we took ones over here out of Council 9. So, in my proposal, I thought of—The numbers are a little bit different. Its 250, 359. These individuals are used to being in Council 9. So, I'll go back and forth. This is our Working Doc 1-5. This is the proposal. Up here, these people are used to being in Council 9. Whereas these have not been in Council 9 for the past ten years. So, that may be a big change for those communities. So, I'm proposing to bring this subdivision back into Council 9 and relinquishing this one back to Council 1. Also, there is some Pu`u Kapu Hawaiian Homelands just mauka of this area. And the populations aren't that great. It's like six or one. And taking this odd shape up here, would bring all of what is indicated as the Kohala Watershed Forest Reserve, into Council 9, whereas most of it already is. So, that was the proposal. This is what it looks like. This is what we have now. So, bringing that back into Council 9, or into Council 9, as it wasn't before, some of those areas. So, making some of those readjustments there along those boundary lines. That's what I had on my thoughts for edges of Council 1 and 9. I think we're looking pretty good on 9 here. Chair, if I may, I can continue on some other areas that I had some thoughts on. LUL Could we go area by area? KOSSOW: I think Ms. Lui's request was just to go by per commissioner. Is that correct? LUL Yeah. Rather than looking at all of your changes first, James, that we can look at them as we look at the different districts. I just wanted to say also that I agree with your changes, and I think if Commissioner Yoshina agrees with taking that one little thing. It's weird because my document of 1-5 doesn't quite correspond to what you had. So, I was a little confused, but I think putting that one little piece back into 1, right below `Amauulu 8 Drive, that would make sense. And I just wonder,what is the deviation then, James, for 1 and 9? With the changes that you've made. HUSTACE: Thank you, Commissioner Lui. I'll just switch back and forth here. So, with those changesSo, currently in 1-5, the deviation is negative 5.09. And it would bring the deviation up a little bit more to 5.69. For 1 it would be negative 5.69. Whereas 9 is still hovering in a positive of about 0.82. LUL Uh-huh. Okay. Thank you. HUSTACE: So, it does change it a little bit. It does take a little bit more away from L I just proposed that because those individuals are used to being in 9, where the line was before. And we're kind of switching them for another area. I know the numbers there, but for ten years they've been there. So, I don't know if they should just remain where they are. Just for the not as severe of a change. LUL I agree with that except that if the deviation goes up too high it might mean we have to tinker with some other districts, and that might not be so easy. So, anyway, yeah. Thank you. HUSTACE: Commissioner Lui, I think I did see that happen because I increased 1 up a little bit, they lost a few more individuals. So, I did have to tinker elsewhere, and I made some other tweaks elsewhere. Yeah. LUL Got you. Oh, I understand. That's why you were saying you wanted to show those. Sorry. HUSTACE: That's okay. YOSHINA: Chair Kossow, I have a question. KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: Commissioner Hustace, that small area right outside of Hilo, do you know what it's called? I don't have my map up. I can't get it up. HUSTACE: Thank you, Commissioner Yoshina. It's a small—There are fifteen (15) individuals that live there. It borders `Amauulu Road on the north side, I think it says, Kupulani and Maikalani Street. And it kind of goes across YOSHINA: So, it's gonna connect up with that north side of`Amauulu Road? Is that it? HUSTACE: That's correct. Yes. YOSHINA: Okay. So, tentatively I would say that's a tough decision but okay. We'll go with that. Thank you. 9 KOSSOW: Thank you. Is there any other discussion with 1 and the boundaries between those? (No response.) Okay. We'll go over to Council District 2. Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: Generally, I'm okay with what we have. So, I'll just listen to what you guys are talking about. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Yoshina. Moving over to Council District 3. Ms. Ah Nee. AH NEE: Chair, Commissioner Ah Nee. KOSSOW: Ms. Ah Nee. AH NEE: I think right now I am content I think where everything is at right now. And I think if we need the time to focus on some of the other areas, I am gladly to set myself free for that. So, mahalo nui. KOSSOW: Mahalo, Ms. Ah Nee. We'll go over to Council District 4. Ms. Yadao. YADAO: I'm okay with it. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Yadao. We'll head over to Council District 5. Ms. Bath. BATH: I think everybody made the necessary compromises. I'm good with what we have. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Bath. I'll head over to Council District 6. Mr. Akamu. Is he on Zoom? Oh yeah, he is. Mr. Akamu. Thank you. AKAMU: I think the changes are good as they are. If you can Zoom in, Commissioner Hustace, a little, on the Puna border. This block right here of eighty-one (81), which is currently in Council District 5. So, I would suggest just leaving it where it is. It stays the same. It's eighty-one (8 1)people in that block. Additionally, since the numbers are right now balanced between 5 and 6, the strongest testimony that I've heard is from the people that live in that area, the Volcano Village area. And so, if possible, I would advocate for including as many of those neighborhoods as possible in Council District 5 while keeping the deviations still to a minimum. So, bringing the border further, I guess, down south from where it is now, if possible. Otherwise, the border there actually lies where the current council district is. So, I think that's okay. On the south Kona side, I think that's just going to be affected by what happens when we adjust 7 and 8. And we've heard some recent testimony about needing to do some adjustments there. But I'm open and it's easily workable, adjusting, I think, on the south Kona border. So, that's my comments for now. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Akamu. I'll speak for Council District 7. You know, I did a little bit more research. If you want to go back down to the 7 and 6 line. One of the things 10 I want to make sure is that it's on a natural borderline. And so, I'm trying to find a really good place for it to be on a roadway. For example,right now, it kind of cuts through a forested area. Which might be fine with us, but it doesn't have like a you know, it's not on a stream, or it'sSo, I'm just trying to find that balance for that district line. Also, would love to hear suggests from Mr. Akamu on that. And then for the Council 8 side, I did submit three different proposals. We don't have to look at it now. We can look at it later. Three different proposals does put 7 more towards the Keopu side. So, is it going to be on the mauka side. And then it brings portion of downtown into District 7. And with that, that's all I have for Council 7. Mr. Lopez, Council 8? LOPEZ: When we adjourned and tabled this map, I walked away fully recognizing that we need to do something about Kailua town. And Ms. Ford's testimony at that time was very moving. And so, I wanted to look at that. Also, the incursion of District 7 northward, along the highway, using the highway as a boundary. And my phone's been ringing off the hook since. But I recognize that this needs to be done. There is new testimony. And I want to emphasize new, today, that I think we need to absorb and work into what we may change. So, I was hesitant to produce a new map because I wanted to hear today's testimony. And I think this deserves much more attention, as we understood. So, I'll leave it at that. That this map needs further work. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Lopez. And then, Mr. Hustace, District 9. HUSTACE: Thanks, Chair. Pretty set on the southern boundary for District 9. It's a clear breaking line. Not sure if this is like a trail or such, but it's a better line than I would say than the 2011 line that cuts 9 and 8. It includes the resort area, as we received numerous testimony with its colleagues and neighboring communities, and as well as associated Waikoloa Village. It doesn't solve, however, the Waimea issue of keeping all of Waimea together. That's one of those bridges too far possibly. And some of my other maps may address that in a different fashion, of taking Waikoloa Village out of District 9. So, that's something the future commission might have to deal with. But we're going to have to keep this idea of Waimea's going to be split at some point. And just like Mr. Lopez, I've had a number of people approach me about this. But the numbers don't allow us to put all of Waikoloa Village, all of north Kohala, and all of Waimea together. So, I wanted to kind of as I mentioned earlier, lessen the impact as much as possible. So, try and keep people that are used to being in District 1, in District 1. And try and keep as much as District 9 as possible along this boundary line. Where they're familiar and there isn't as much change. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Hustace. Before we go into changing the map up, is Elections on Zoom? ARACELEY: Hi, Chair, this is Relley. They are but they are having some issues with their sound capabilities. So, we're trying to work that out at the moment. KOSSOW: Okay. Just let me know when they're ready. And then, I understand that there's two testifiers that hopped on. 11 ARACELEY: There is one new testifier, a Patrice Macdonald, who is on the Zoom room. Would you like me to call them forward? KOSSOW: Yes, and then three minutes. Thank you. ARACELEY: Thank you very much, Chair. Patrice Macdonald, if you have testimony, you will be given three minutes to provide that testimony. You can unmute your mic at this point to provide that testimony. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (part 2) PATRICE MACDONALD MACDONALD: We do not even have this working version of the map listed on the website. And District 5 is absolutely unacceptable to us because Kea`au belongs to HPP. Our entire district is in Pahoa. Which includes our Pahoa Park, our pool, our forest reserve of Wao O Kele, Kapoho, and Kalapana. And we have 80,000 vehicles from Pahoa driving our roads every day. We feel like that we should have a say in our district. We don't understand how none of the maps got posted on the redistricting site, working version. So, this would give us no town, no fire department, no shopping, no DMV, no fire department. It's just a chunk of kind of upper Puna slums. That absolutely meets no criteria. We thought by now you would move HPP back into Kea`au. And give us back our district. And the biggest problem with this is that, you know, elections are coming. All our candidates are in Pahoa district. Which is our district right now. And we would be without a vote. We already have no services. We got no CDP. We got absolutely no financial recovery from the lava. Recovery which only Hawaiian Acres paid for. And this leaves us with absolutely nothing. Wao o Kele Forest Reserve is our backyards. I live on Wao o Kele Forest Reserve. I don't want it in HPP district. And we don't want our town in HPP district. Which should be Kea`au. So, I sort of thought, since with so many people tried to testify, and nobody answers the phone. No one answered the emails. We thought we'd actually have a chance to redo this but. You spent so much time on Hilo moving seven hundred (700)people, and Kona moving a couple hundred people. We thought by now that we would actually get a district. But this meets no criteria for a district whatsoever. It's a little square. And it has no open space, no ocean, no town, nothing. So, anyway, we had forty-nine (49)people at my house one day, trying to testify on one iPad. And it didn't work because each person has to sign in individually. So, there's a lot of people not being heard. Just want to let you know. This map is not on your website. Your working version of this map. Thank you. UNFINISHED BUSINESS (continued) ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. That was the only new testifier. It seems that we may have Elections in the Zoom room. Debbie, are you there? (No response.) Hello, Elections, 12 I just sent you a link to unmute if you are there. Could you please click that to unmute your microphone? (No response.) KOSSOW: It's okay, Relley. We can come back to them if they solve that issue. ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. KOSSOW: I think the main reason why I want the Elections Office was to just kind of discuss about the final report and the final draft plan. So, we can always come back to that. Mr. Hustace, if you can just go ahead and pull up the 1-5. And then we can—Based off of everybody's, all the Commissioners understanding of their map, I think we can just take—Or you actually had some drafts in there proposals too, right? HUSTACE: That's correct, Chair. There was some. KOSSOW: Did you want to take the floor just to talk about those for a second? HUSTACE: Sure. KOSSOW: And then we'll go ahead and see if the Commission wants to change it for consideration. Thank you. HUSTACE: Perfect. Thank you, Chair. Really the only—and I'll just flip back and forth here between the proposed ideasAs, I mentioned there are a couple here along the Waimea border. So, this is the proposal map here. And this is the working doc here. So, I'm making a couple adjustments around here. It does change the numbers a little bit, so I'll have to make sure we're following that as best, as much as possible. But trying to keep people that are used to those districts in their districts. Okay so, that was on the 9 and 1 border. The 1 and 2 border, the proposal was—and this is a shared file that you're able to see as well—was just to clean up the line here a little bit. And bring this one census block back into 1, Council 1. And then let me take a look here. There were some other slight changes. I don't know if there are any changes along—And I think what I had to do because it changed the numbers a little bit, is I had to shift part of 3 into 2. So, there was this one census block here. Just to bring the numbers in a little bit more balance. This borders Puainako, right outside of the university. So, making that shift here. I think that was the only one there. Yeah. But it's to shift and balance that population out a little bit, between the two districts here. Because I was concerned about the HPP area, and the connectivity. And there's this monstrous block that you're all familiar with out here. This is our map that we tabled. But I tried to switch it a little bit so that the back portion, this large block here, remains in HPP. This one here that cannot be divided up into smaller segments like its neighboring parcels for some reason. I'm not sure why that was drawn that way. But most of HPP has smaller sections, except for some of the ones a little further south. But I was thinking about the connectivity. And as we've heard from previous testimony, and even Ms. Ford, about going through districts, that—So, once again, this is what we've tabled. And this is what I switched it here to see if that would work. So, individuals will be driving through Council 3 and remain in Council 3. And I 13 know there was some, in our map that we tabled, there is some connectivity along Shower Drive. But possibly if we switch it the other way, maybe the connectivity's greater for those individuals that live there. They'd be part of Council 3. Before, they'd have to move into a different district here. So, that remains all of Council 3. I'm open to this one as well. I did try and see what it would do to the numbers. Bringing—And I think Mr. Akamu mentioned this as well. I don't think I switched it on this map. But I did bring back this one area outside of Volcano, back into where the current 2011 lines are. So, you can see the switch there. Just to see what the numbers did. I don't know if it made that much of a difference. It just gave Council 6 a number. Some more people back into its population. And I think we can address this one block here of eighty-one (8 1) individuals too. And I don't think yeah. So, I'm not sure how that affected the numbers, but it did. Basically, it gave Council 6 some individuals back. I did not touch the 6 and 7 boundary. We kept it I kept it where it was in my proposal. So, I'll just switch over to this again. This is our tabled map. And this is the proposed. So, I kept the lines the same there. Now for 7 and 8, I did sweep through in my proposal and take up, you know, the bay, Kailua Bay, all the way out to Honok6hau. And the border was at Honok6hau Harbor. I did take some of the residences in here too. So, it made a cleaner line between 7 and 8. I'll show you what we tabled. So, this is what we tabled in our last discussion. And then made this proposal here. By taking Old Kona Airport, Kailua Bay, and then I'm not sure about these areas. I'm not that familiar, but just tried to create a cleaner breaking line between 7 and 8. So, that's what was in my proposal there. Thank you, Chair. KOSSOW: I'll open it up for questions for Mr. Hustace. BATH: Chair, Commissioner Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: James, question. Can you zoom into your proposed changes to that HPP area? I just wanted to see. I'm open to that change of taking the bigger block. Could you zoom in a little bit more? I wanted to see what you did with that upper I'd like to see the southern part,please. That's in District—May I see what the district 3, HPP, shows there? I thought I saw six census blocks when you had zoomed in. Okay, so there are only four in there, yeah? Could you scroll in a little bit more? Or zoom in a little more? Okay. Yeah, I'd like to hear what District 4 has to say about this. I'm not sure what this change would do to the numbers, but I'm open to it. Swapping out those upper HPP for that lower one. I yield to District 4. Are you okay with the last one? Or you want to change to this? YADAO: I'm okay with it, but it's really hard because some people say split it, some of the testifiers say don't. So, really like, where BATH: Where do you split. YADAO: Yeah. I yield. 14 BATH: So, should weOh, Chair. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: So, Jennifer, should we keep it the way it was? I'm just not sure. What did the numbers do when you made this change, James? HUSTACE: Thank you, Commissioner. Let me look here. Just because I did change a little bit on the Volcano side as well. So, I'm not sure the total equation. In our tabled map, the deviation for Council 5 is a positive of 3.71. And then when I made my proposed changes, both to—Well, that doesn't really affect Council 5. That's actually the numbers between 3 and 4 that are switching there, Commissioner Bath. So, the proposed changes for 3 and 4, they're both positive in my proposal of 3.99 for Council 3, of eight hundred eighty-eight(888). And Council 4 is 3.83 of 852. Whereas in our proposed one, it's at 4.69 and 4.59 respectively. So, I did try and reduce those numbers down in that discrepancy between 3 and 4. BATH: Chair. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: James, I understand that. I'd like to move up to the District 5—District 6 boundary. District 6 Commissioner had mentioned, when he was giving his input, that he'd kind of like to see more of the Volcano community possibly taken out of Ka`u. I was satisfied with what we had `cause it was give and take and the whole process. However, I was interested in hearing what he had to say. What I don't like about your proposed plan is your take-away from the top of District 5. And I was really hoping to hear what District 6 had to say about possibilities of giving more to District 5 because there's that one community that is really aligned with it. But we have to make compromises. And so, I was willing to accept the—what was it? 5.1 that we were talking about previously. I do appreciate the work you've put into rethinking this. But after we're done asking you questions, I'd like to hear from District 6 on this area and what he thinks. I'm not in favor of taking those census blocks and putting them into 6 at this time. I yield. Not taking them out of District 5 and putting them into District 6. Sorry. I yield. KOSSOW: Mr. Akamu. AKAMU: Thank you, Chair. I think if we can move that block of eighty-one (8 1) back into Council District 5, that's where it currently remains. And then I'm totally willing to compromise as long as our deviation allows. Because that is strong testimony from that community, wanting to be kept together. So, we can look further mauka, but I think we probably are right at the limit because yeah, I don't think we could go anymore before we start pushing in the four percent deviation for District 6. So, I think that eighty-one (8 1) is a good compromise. And then from there it would really be just block by block if we wanted to go into that detail. But I think right now it's really good where it's at. So, I 15 just suggest moving the eighty-one (8 1)back to Council District 5. Yeah, thank you. I yield. BATH: Chair? KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: Thank you for that. They'll be very happy if the Commission accepts the eighty- one (81). I would support making that move. I don't think we should start taking census block here and a census block there to try to take more. Everybody island wide has been giving a lot. And I think that District 5 needs to do the same. And hopefully, through this process, the County Council people that represent different districts will be aware of the sacrifice each of the district's made and unified to try to make everybody get the levels of service they need. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Bath. LUL Chair Kossow. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL Can we make these changes then on the map so we can start looking at numbers? KOSSOW: There's a suggestion to make the changes. You can just let us know and then Mr. Hustace will make those changes. Thank you. LUL Okay. There was the one putting that little chunk of 2 back in 1 under `Amauulu Street. Now there's this one of the eighty-one (8 1) going from 6 to 5. I wondered about, you know, the change you made in Hilo. The University of Hilo is in 2 anyway, and I wasn't sure if the census block you were talking about was the one right under it, or the one right next to the University of Hilo. But I wondered what Ms. Ah Nee had to say about that. I guess your point might have been to—that way it gives a little bit more leeway for 4. Was that right, James? I yield. HUSTACE: Thanks, Commissioner. Yeah, it just helped to smooth out some of the numbers a little bit between 2 and 3, and then effectively, 4 after that. LUL I'm sorry. Is it the one underneath? I can't quite see. Could you go back? HUSTACE: Let me just close this up and I can zoom in a little bit more here. LUL Okay. Right under UH. HUSTACE: Yeah, it's this one here. This one is 323. LUL Yeah, that makes sense to me. 16 HUSTACE: It's this one here. Yeah. LUL But I would yield to Commissioner Ah Nee. AH NEE: Chair, Commissioner Ah Nee. KOSSOW: Ms. Ah Nee. AH NEE: Looking further, I think that would be doable. It doesn't look like it's taking too much of what the public testifiers testified on. And I think for now we can give the 323 to District 2. So, I'm content with that for now. I yield. KOSSOW: If you can go ahead and change that over. And then the eighty-one (8 1) census block as well. (Pause.) Mr. Akamu. AKAMU: Thank you, Chair. I was wanting to ask Commissioner Hustace if he could also change that group of nine. That huge census block just to the left of the eighty-one (81). Yeah, so if you zoom in, there's just a few people on that Old Volcano Road, which is right across from that subdivision we just put into District 5. And there's only nine people in there. So, I think it would be a better alignment if we kind of kept those together. Yeah, so that was my other suggestion. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Akamu. Mr. Akamu, I just have a quick question. Did you want the upper portions into 5 as well? AKAMU: Yeah, I think that works. Traditionally, it works as well too. That's all part of that upper `Ola`a Forest Reserve area. So, it's actually really nicely tied to that community there. So, that's perfect, Commissioner Hustace. Yeah, that looks good. Thank you. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace, can you give an update of 5 and 6's deviation numbers? HUSTACE: Thanks, Chair. So, the deviation between 55 is positive of a 4.12. That's nine hundred and fifteen (915). And 6 is negative 4.39, which is negative 976. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Hustace. And then there was discussion from Ms. Bath and Ms. Yadao regarding HPP, with 3 and 5. Sorry, 3 and 4. Do we want to see it going towards the mauka portions? Or towards what it is currently? LUL Can you also give the new deviations for 3 and 4? HUSTACE: The deviations for 33 is a positive of 3.24. That's seven hundred and twenty (720). And 4 is a positive of 4.59. That's a thousand and twenty (1,020). LUL Okay, great. Perfect. 17 BATH: Chair. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: James, could you zoom in more on that again? I keep seeing those census blocks that are south of Highway 130. Oh never mind. Never mind. I was looking at the wrong thing. I wanted to see if District 4 Commissioner, JenniferIf perhaps doing it the way that James proposes is a little bit cleaner. `Cause it connects HPP with Kaloli Point, going from makai to mauka. And having that small area of HPP that's separated, mauka rather than the way it was before. It does seem like it's a little cleaner this way. Not the way that it's up on the screen, the other map. LUI: The reverse. BATH: Yes, that one. See? His proposal has it that way. Do you see how it's a little cleaner? How do you feel about that? YADAO: Jennifer Yadao. KOSSOW: Ms. Yadao. YADAO: Wasn't the deviation less in this one? BATH: Stephanie Bath, Chair. What was the deviation on that? The difference. Did it make it a significant difference in 3 or 4? With the proposed plan. HUSTACE: With the proposal it brings down 4 from a higher deviation, yeah. It brings it down a little bit. BATH: Which would be good. LUL Commissioner Lui. Does it bring up 3? HUSTACE: Yes. LUL Because then by how much? Because that might not work with the ten. `Cause it's gotta HUSTACE: By 0.7 about. LUL It goes up by 0.7? So, it would be 4.7 something? HUSTACE: 3.9. From 3.2. LUL Oh, I see. Oh, okay. That's fine. 18 HUSTACE: Basically, the Council 4 is at 4.59, currently. And so that one was throwing some of the numbers off too because that one was such a high deviation as well. LUL Well, I guess I would agree with your revision as well. Just because I think as Ms. Matson was testifying, a little bit of a bigger chunk of HPP together. That would give them a little bit more clout as opposed to a tiny chunk of HPP being in a different district. I yield. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: I propose we make the switch. Do you need a motion, Chair? KOSSOW: Sounds like we're going to need a motion for this. So, is that a motion? HUSTACE: Yes. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace put a motion on the table to make the switch over from moving Council District 3 up to the mauka portions. And then Council District 4 on the bottom, as his proposal has. Is there a second? YADAO: Second. KOSSOW: Who is the second? YADAO: Jennifer Yadao. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Yadao. Is there any discussion? (No response.) Closing discussion. All in favor, say aye? VARIOUS COMMISSIONERS: Aye. KOSSOW: Any opposed, no? (No response.) Motion carries. Mr. Hustace moved to switch Council District 3 to the mauka portions and Council District 4 to the bottom on Working Doc 1-5. Seconded by Ms. Yadao. The motion to switch Council District 3 to the mauka portions and Council District 4 to the bottom on Working Doc 1-5 was carried by the following vote: 19 Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. KOSSOW: Go ahead and make that switchover. BATH: Chair, Commissioner Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: Since we're talking about District 4, I just wanted to address the testimony of P Macs. In her testimony she says that District 5 owns Wao o Kele Forest Reserve. I understand that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs actually, has stewardship over that. So, I don't think that we really have any say or jurisdiction over where that goes. I live close to that area, and I don't think that the gathering or the protection that the trees that are creating seeds within that area is going to change one bit. Or the cultural practices that take place there will change, whether or not it's in District 4 or District 5. And it'll also kind of align those splintered subdivisions down Kalapana side in with the census blocks. So, yeah, I was concerned about that because of the testimonies but in researching it, I just don't think that there's an issue there. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Bath. Shall we move on? HUSTACE: Chair. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: If I could make the adjustments along 9 and 1, if possible. KOSSOW: Sure. Thank you. HUSTACE: Thank you. And I'll welcome some feedback from Commissioner Lui about it as well. I know you've already voiced your opinion. Just felt that we shouldn't—You know, these people and individuals have lived in some of these areas already. So, I just wanted to switch it back and see how it affects our numbers currently. LUL I'm happy with that. I think that even if people are not happy where they are, they're used to it. And I reallyI yield to you in your knowledge of Waimea. So, yeah, go for it. HUSTACE: Thank you. Yeah, my hope was to use this clean line of Mealani Road. But, these individuals in this block of 250 have already been in District 1 for the past ten years or more. 20 LUL Exactly. HUSTACE: So, I just didn't want to shift it too drastically on them here. LUL Right. I think if we take back that block, that gives you more room to take more blocks closer to Waimea town. HUSTACE: And then there's also the Kohala Watershed Forest Reserve here too. Most of its already—at least this LUL That's fine. HUSTACE: It's an interesting shape. It's not as clean as before, but it includes that Pu`u Kapu together. There's a reservoir up there. There's one homestead. There's a couple that live right along the stream here. And then Mokuloa Subdivision. LUL It also puts the Hawaiian Homeland area there in Pu`u Kapu back with D9, which has a lot of the other Hawaiian Homestead areas. And I think that will make them happy. KOSSOW: James, I got a quick question. I know that there's only one person in that census block. Is there any existing roads to get up there? And do you have to go through 1 in order to go into that area? HUSTACE: That's a good question, Chair. They probably are crossing through Pu`u Nani Subdivision. Do you mind if I pull up an aerial view of a different map? KOSSOW: Sure. HUSTACE: (Pause.) Chair, you might be right. Their access may be—hard to say where that one individual is. I can't see where the homestead is here. That's the reservoir. Or is it this reservoir. Yeah, they might have access elsewhere than I thought, so that might be an issue. So, they may have to remain in 1 then. Okay. KOSSOW: I mean it's not going to offset the deviation. Since it's only one person, but. HUSTACE: Chair. KOSSOW: Hustace. HUSTACE: And what's interesting is—And I came across this as doing these, looking over this. As you can see, I just put the yellow line up on the screen for the 2011 Commission work. This line goes down a stream, but there isn't a census block anymore that corresponds with that stream. So, somehow, somewhere along the way over ten years, that census block has been altered. So, there isn't a stream breaking these subdivisions anymore. So, I'm not sure what happened there. Thank you. 21 LUL They fudged it. KOSSOW: All right. Any other discussion regarding 1 and 9? (No response.) Okay. We'll go down to 9 and 8. You said you both are good with 9 and 8, the district line there. HUSTACE: That's correct, Chair. KOSSOW: Okay. We'll move down to 8 and 7. Mr. LopezOh, do you mind turning off the current district line? HUSTACE: You got it. KOSSOW: Mr. Lopez, do you have any comments? LOPEZ: I'd like to revisit that area around Kailua town. And I'd like to revisit that area where we took the mauka side of Mamalahoa Highway into District 7. So, let's do Kailua town first because I think that helps smooth it out. I did notice in Mr. Hustace's proposal, that he did take that District 7 up into Honokohau Harbor. And I also noticed that same thing in one of your proposals that was dated earlier, a few days ago. Mr. Hustace, can you bring up your proposal for this area, please? (Pause.) And zoom in on that. Zoom in, yeah. HUSTACE: Anywhere particular you want me to zoom in? LOPEZ: Say again. HUSTACE: Where did you want me to zoom into? LOPEZ: That expansion. Where you took Kailua town up to, I believe you said the harbor. HUSTACE: Yeah,just the border. It just cuts along the access road to Honokohau. That's where it breaks. LOPEZ: Okay. That's on the south boundary. Is it on the Honokohau Road? HUSTACE: Yes. That's Honokohau Road there. The harbor road. Kealakehe Parkway, I think it's still called. LOPEZ: Thank you. Go down towards Kailua town, please. Okay. And I noticed that your proposal also goes east bound in that area. What is your motivation for that? That you would change the draft plan to do that portion. 22 HUSTACE: It was just residences that were close by to the core, kind of the urban Bay area that were just closer by. And it brought the mauka portion back to more connected areas. LOPEZ: Okay. So, no other reason than just neighborhoods closer to core town. HUSTACE: Yeah. And I know we have some issues. There's a couple census blocks that are difficult in here as well. LOPEZ: Yeah, they are. Yeah. And I remember Mr. Kossow was looking for a border south of that along a streambed. Can you point out where that is so that I can see the growth that you've changed? Or the impact of your change? Mr. Kossow? HUSTACE: Chair KOSSOW: That's the Wai`aha Stream. LOPEZ: Right there? KOSSOW: Yeah. Mr. Lopez, if I may? I have a question for Mr. Hustace. LOPEZ: Uh-huh. KOSSOW: The other issue I think too is the mauka portions of Nani Kailua. They all drive down in Nani Kailua. So, there's not—You know, there is a side road that goes through there now that I think about it too. LOPEZ: Go ahead. I'll let you finish. HUSTACE: Yeah, Chair. I thought there was a road here. I can't quite read it. Is it Hienaloli? KOSSOW: Yeah. It's the old sugar cane LOPEZ: Oh, Hienaloli. HUSTACE: Is it a traversable road there? KOSSOW: Yeah, yeah. LOPEZ: That's right where the border is. Where you have it now. That's the old trestle road. KOSSOW: Indirect—never mind. Thank you. 23 LOPEZ: So, right now, if you lift the deviations, so I can see what you have for 7 and 8 presently. Okay, they're comparable. And we stilloh, okay. This is in your map. Okay. So, if you go back—okay. Now I understand what you're doing. If you go back to the 1.6 that we're—currently on the table. HUSTACE: Sure. LOPEZ: Okay. Let's go up to the mauka area. Right there. Yeah, thank you. If you zoom in on that. Go down to south of Makalei. Right where it's just south of Kalaoa. That whole—see those. Right on the border. I can't see the number, the 145 up-103, 145. I'd like to shift those back into District 8. Again, based on the testimony we received last week, and today. It was very consistent. Can we try that? HUSTACE: Sure. Chair, I'll switch those over to 8 LOPEZ: And then I want to see how that does the deviations. HUSTACE: Yup. You got it. Will do. So, I'll just switch all the Kaloko Drive north up into 8 again. LOPEZ: Yeah. Down to Palani Road junction. HUSTACE: Okay. So, that breaks there LOPEZ: I believe that's it. HUSTACE: at the junction there, at Palani Road. And the deviations I have right now are, Council 8 is at positive 7.92. That's seventeen hundred and sixty (1,760)people. Council 7 is negative 14.76. Which is negative three thousand two hundred eighty-one (3,281). LOPEZ: Okay. So, we need to put more of 8 into 7. HUSTACE: That's correct. LOPEZ: And try to be at something closer. All right. I like your idea of taking Kailua town south all the way up to Honok6hau as you had in your proposal. And that will put Kailua Village all in one district to satisfy what we heard today, and previously. Can you do that? HUSTACE: Sure. LOPEZ: Yeah, and all that too. And what's north of the harbor? HUSTACE: That's the national park. 24 LOPEZ: Okay. We'd just be. HUSTACE: So, with that change LOPEZ: Yeah, we're still off. HUSTACE: A little bit, yeah. So, Council 7, with that change is at negative 6.76, negative fifteen hundred and two (1,502). And Council 8 is negative 0.9, negative nineteen (19). LOPEZ: Yeah. There's a census block of a hundred and seven (107)right there. That is all large agricultural and coffee fields. What's that? Can you zoom in on that census block of a hundred and seventeen (117)? (Indiscernible.) That's a residential—Yeah, these are high-end residential homes. Nani Kailua up to HUSTACE: Keolani? LOPEZ: That isOh no. KOSSOW: That connects to the top road. LOPEZ: Well, it's a jeep trail. It's actually private property. We have a problem with people coming from Mamalahoa down through Nani Kailua, through private property gates. So, that one hundred and seven (107) is it? HUSTACE: Yes. On the right-hand side there, yeah. LOPEZ: May I put that in District 7? HUSTACE: Sure. LOPEZ: That didn't look like it did anything. HUSTACE: Just a slight change there, yeah. LOPEZ: Yeah. Okay. Hoene used to be in District 7 before the last census. How about that whole block right there, where Hoene Street is? That's Aloha Kona. HUSTACE: The one that says twenty-nine (29) individuals? LOPEZ: Pardon me? HUSTACE: I'm sorry. Which one, Commissioner? LOPEZ: Down here on the left. 25 HUSTACE: On the left. LOPEZ: You've got a hundred and . You have quite a few census blocks in there. HUSTACE: Three seventy-four (374). LOPEZ: Yeah. You have to start from the bottom up. Yeah. How does that shift? Makes it a little better. Okay, stop there. HUSTACE: So, that puts Council 7 at negative 4.07, negative 904. Council 8, negative 2.78, negative 617. LOPEZ: Okay. BATH: Commissioner Bath. What were those numbers again? Population numbers. HUSTACE: So, Council 7 is at negative 4.07. That's negative nine hundred and four (904) individuals. Council 8 is negative 2.78, negative 617. LOPEZ: I'd like to then yield at this point`cause I think the numbers are close enough. It satisfies the testimony I heard this morning and carried over from last week on the mauka portion. So, I'd like to yield and go over and allow Chair Kossow to provide input. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Lopez. Can you scroll up just a little bit? Thank you. So, this is very similar to one of my three proposals that I had. Three different ideas. There's mixed feelings, I think, in the community just in general. You know, one says the other thing, one says another. So, it's going to be—Either way we try to divvy it up, you're going to have people not be satisfied with the outcome. I do agree with Mr. Lopez's changes onto the Honok6hau. I'm a little bit worried on the Ke6pu Mauka side. But there's nothing we can really do about the makai portions. Because the census blocks runs all the way through that mauka—makai in between. As you can see, it runs through that area. And one portion is, you know, you have subdivisions and then the other portion you have nothing. So, I'm a little bit concerned about that. A little bit outside of our reach because of the census, the block irregularities. And then my other issue would be those on the southern portion of Nani Kailua. Now, I understand that three hundred and seventy-four (374)—May you scroll down there? Now, majority of these individuals belong to that subdivision on kind of the mauka portions. That's where you can kind of see those roadways in there. But there's a lot of people that's within that one street on the south side. So, if it was divvied up, I mean, it would be a lot easier to complete this task. But obviously, we have to make a hard decision here. And I think that this is perhaps the best that we can accomplish here, based off of compromise here. To that I yield. Is there any other discussions? HUSTACE: Chair. 26 KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Is it worth—and this is just for my understanding—Nani Kailua is on both sides of Nani Kailua Drive. Is that correct? The subdivision there. KOSSOW: I believe so, yes. LOPEZ: Yes. So, Nani Kailua Drive goes right through the center. HUSTACE: And so, it's not—Because this weird block here along Wehilani Drive, some of the residents in that block are also in Nani Kailua, right? So, is it worth putting more of Nani Kailua together with that group then? I know you'd be splitting Nani Kailua right down the middle. But it seems like some are already in this 374. Is that correct? LOPEZ: Question. You said that Wehilani is associated with Nani Kailua. In what way? HUSTACE: Just in a sense that the census blockIf I zoom in here on Nani Kailua, there's a street called Hoene Street, there are people that live on the south side, right? LOPEZ: Oh. Yes. That is the southern border of that whole Kailua subdivision. HUSTACE: And so, they're being counted in this large census block, as well as people that live along Puia Road and Wehilani Drive. That's my understanding. LOPEZ: Oh, I see. HUSTACE: This is one of the blocks that we flagged as for irregularity. And so, should we put more of their compatriots and neighbors together with them if they're being counted in a different block? LOPEZ: I would have to say—My sense says yes because to separate Hoene from the southern edge of Nani Kailua doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's one neighborhood, right? So, I would suggest to Commissioner Bronsten that that's not a bad move for the reasons you just cited. KOSSOW: Go ahead and move that back into Council District 8. LOPEZ: Oh, I misunderstood. I thought we were going to take those three bottom ones and put `em in 7. KOSSOW: Oh, I see. I see. Okay. Thank you. LOPEZ: Yeah. HUSTACE: Numbers? 27 LOPEZ: Yeah. Could you read it again? HUSTACE: So, 7 is at negative 2.36. That's negative 525. And 8 is at negative 4.48, which is negative 996. LOPEZ: Okay. Still within our acceptable range. Thank you. HUSTACE: Yes. And Chair, it does pass integrity check at the moment. KOSSOW: Okay. Is there any other Commissioner that wants to do a review with Mr. Hustace here? YOSHINA: Chair Kossow. KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: Yeah. Could I ask for a short break here? KOSSOW: Thank you. We'll do a five-minute recess. Come back at 11:20. Thank you. YOSHINA: Thank you. (Five-minute recess.) KOSSOW: Calling meeting back into order. Just asked a question for if any Commissioners wanted to take a look at anything in the draft proposal. I believe we called this 1.6. And then Is it shared to everybody? Okay. HUSTACE: I'll share it right now, Chair. KOSSOW: Okay, thank you. Is there any other questions, comments relating to draft proposal 1.6? LUL It's Commissioner Lui. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL I move that we accept Draft 1.6. VARIOUS COMMISSIONERS: I second. KOSSOW: Can I get a clarification for your motion? Is it that this is going to be finalized? Or LUL Yes. 28 KOSSOW: I just need some clarification for the record. Thank you. LUL Right. I move that we accept this as our final plan. BATH: Commissioner Bath, I second. LOPEZ: Second. KOSSOW: Thank you. Motion on the table by Ms. Lui. Seconded by Mr. Lopez. Is there any discussion? (No response.) The only comment I have is, first of all, thank you everybody for your work in this Commission. You know, we did work really, really hard on this. We're not going to make everybody happy. That's something to note. And I appreciate you and all the staff as well. Any further discussion? LOPEZ: I whole heartedly support that statement. Thank you. Ditto. It was very tough at times, a lot of times. A lot of disagreement. In the end result, this was a great team to come together and finish this project on time with all the late starts we had. It all worked well. Thank you. KOSSOW: Any other discussion? (No response.) Before I call for the question, is Ms. Mellon-Lacey available? LUL Yes. MELLON-LACEY: Yes, Chair Kossow, I am present. KOSSOW: Thank you so much. So, I have a couple questions. This vote requires a specific number. Do you know what that number is? MELLON-LACEY: As far as I know, it's a majority vote. Let's see. KOSSOW: Yeah, but it can't be a unanimous vote. I have to do a roll call vote and I think MELLON-LACEY: Yes, you have to do a roll call vote. Yeah. KOSSOW: Okay. Thank you. Okay, then we'll just go ahead and do a roll call vote. Relley, you can call the roll. ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. Roll call vote for the motion,just to restate it, is to accept this draft 1.6 as the final draft for the Commission. Ms. Lui moved to accept CoH WorkingDoc 1-6 as the final draft plan. Seconded by Mr. Lopez. 29 The motion to accept CoH WorkingDoc 1-6 as the final draft plan was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. ARACELEY: Chair, you have nine ayes. The motion passes. KOSSOW: Thank you. Thank you, Relley. I appreciate that. And thank you, Commissioners. Our job here is done. The final plan has been motion carried. So, with that being said, we're heading over to—Excuse me. I'm trying to pull up my agenda here. We're heading over to Unfinished Business Number 2. Relley, if you can go ahead and read that into the record. Thank you. ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. 2. Report Transmitting a Final Plan Pursuant to Hawaii County Charter Section 3-17(d) and Hawaii County Code Chapter 36, Article 6, the Commission shall submit a report to the County Clerk transmitting the final plan chosen by December 31. The Commission conducted a preliminary discussion on the reoprt at its December 9, 2021 –9th session, during which it requested information on the outcomes of the 2011 Redistricting Commission Report recommendations and a draft outline from support staff. This item was on the Decmeber 17, 2021 agenda, during which Commissioners may have recorded actions on its Report Transmitting a Final Plan. The Commission may further discuss, review, consider content, and approve its report. KOSSOW: Thank you, Relley. I believe Mr. Kauka sent over the—Excuse me. I'm trying to find it here. Communication 59. This is the 2021 Redistricting Commission Report. It will be updated by myself and Mr. Hustace. However, I do need a motion, so that way, Mr. Hustace and I can work on that report and finalize it. Unless everybody wants to meet next week for this reason. LUL Commissioner Kossow? KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL In terms of the report, I had written something saying that I thought we should add a section. KOSSOW: Oh! Thank you, Ms. Lui. Yes. Your Communication 65, here. If you want to take a minute to talk a little bit about that. Thank you. 30 LUL Yes. Perhaps the best place to put it would be after number six, so it would become number seven and everything else would move up. But I feel like in order to respect the public, I know when I looked back on the 2010 Redistricting Plan I was like, why did they do that? Why did they put the boundary there? And I think this time because we did get a lot of public testimony, and have had extremely transparent process, and I think have appreciated that. But now that we have a final map, since people are not all going to be happy, I think it would be really helpful for them to know our rationale for where we drew the boundary lines. So, I would propose, and I will make it into a motion, that we add a new section to the report. And that we all write a brief statement as to why we agreed to draw the boundary lines where they are. And I submitted, partly for my own benefit, but I drafted something that would be perhaps a template for what people could do. Or they could do it the way they wanted to. I yield. KOSSOW: Sorry. Was that a motion? LUL I do want to make it a motion, to add a new section to our report that gives the rationale—That each commissioner will give the rationale for why they agreed to have the boundaries where they did. KOSSOW: Thank you. Motion's on the table. Is there a second? BATH: Commissioner Bath seconds. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath second. Is there a discussion? HUSTACE: Chair. KOSSOW: Mr. Lopez and then Mr. Hustace. LOPEZ: Yes. I couldn't vote for this because I don't believe that individually we should stand on our design the design for our district. In many cases, it was imposed on us by the factors, by the compromise, and certainly we didn't have a lot of time to work on it as other commissions have. So, it just opens up the opportunityI mean, I expect to hear a lot of negative feedback already. So, we did the best we could, not going to make everyone happy. And I don't really want my phone ringing any more than it already has. So, I think a general statement in support of the plan, given the constraints, educating the public on why, under the constraints that we had to deal with. And maybe even illustrating in some sense that, what the census blocks are and how you can't just draw wherever you damn well please. I think that's more appropriate. Just a general statement from the Commission, and not individual. Thank you. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Just a question about the motion. Is it specific to each of the districts that we represent? We're only speaking to our district, then? 31 LUL Originally no. I was thinking each Commissioner would say something about their own district. And I don't know, Commissioner Lopez, whether you read what I drafted, but for District 1, I was clear that there were things that we would have liked to do but could not because of the deviation numbers. And I was thinking that that would help people understand, and therefore, my phone would not ring off the hook. I yield. BATH: Chair, Commissioner Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath, thank you. BATH: I hear both perspectives, and what I'm wondering isI wouldn't object to meeting one more time. It would give each of the Commissioners an opportunity to write something down. Their thoughts in terms of justification specific to their district. They could present to the Commission, and we could adopt collectively as a Commission would be another option. So, it would be a general consensus explanation, rather than specific. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Bath. Any other discussion? YOSHINA: Chair Kossow. KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: I go along with the comments made by Commissioner Lopez and Commissioner Bath. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you. Ms. Mellon-Lacey. MELLON-LACEY: Thank you, Chair Kossow. I would point out, I think in the report from 2011, I know you had sort of a shell, I don't know if you had the whole report. That there was a section at the end that was called Recommendations. It had a variety of things included in it. Some were actual recommendations about the process. But then there seemed to be notes from other commissioners regarding boundaries of the various areas, and suggestions that they had. So, it was kind of a miscellaneous section that allowed each commissioner to kind of speak for themselves without requiring the group to, you know, weigh in on each person's input. So, that might be another option. That was what was done previously. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Mellon-Lacey. Any other discussion? LUL Ms. Lui, again. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. 32 LUL Yeah. I read that stuff from the previous commission, and it was kind of all over the place, and wasn't all that helpful. So, I feel like I would prefer if we were a little bit more organized in terms of what we're explaining. Really, the goal is to make the public to inform the public, and to make them as aware as possible of the choices that we faced and why we made the decisions we did in the interest of transparency. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. Any other discussion? (No response.) Relley, call the roll. ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. Ms. Lui moved to add a new section to the Report that includes each Commissioner's rationale for the decisions made on their district boundaries. Seconded by Ms. Bath. The motion to add a new section to the Report that includes each Commissioner's rationale for the decisions made on their district boundaries was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lui, Yadao. Noes: Commissioners Lopez, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. ARACELEY: Chair, you have five votes in the affirmative. With four votes in the negative. The motion passes. KOSSOW: Thank you, Relley. Motion carries. Is there any other HENRICKS: Chair Kossow? This is Jon Henricks, County Clerk, sitting in the Hilo Chambers. KOSSOW: Mr. Henricks, thank you. HENRICKS: Yes, while we're still discussing Item 2 on the agenda the Commission is yes. Correct? MELLON-LACEY: Yes. HENRICKS: And the Commission was provided Communication 59, which provides a template or a draft of the final report that will be submitted. This is an excellent draft and as I look at it now, the items to be added have essentially been decided today with your 33 previous vote on your final draft plan. Much of this is going to be extracted from that vote. Which means that it's just really plugging in things that the Commission has approved as a body already. So, I'm very comfortable with that. The Commission won't have time to call another meeting prior to December 30'h to adopt a report that would include maybe items that this draft didn't consider. So, I just would caution the Commission about deviating too much from the template that's provided. I just would want you all to feel comfortable as individuals, and as a body, with the final report that is submitted. And without the opportunity to review that and vote on it as a body, deviating too far from this template that Mr. Kauka has created would deprive you of that opportunity. So, I just wanted to bring factors forward as you further discuss. So, I would suggest that if there are going to be any deviations, inclusions, amendments, or modifications to this draft plan, that the Commission actually hash it out today and make motions and vote on those things so it's clear how this Communication 59 is going to be modified before submitted to the County Clerk to enact this draft plan, or this plan excuse me, this Redistricting Plan. I would further ask that a motion be made to adopt Communication 59 as the draft plan. So, it's clear that the Chair of the Commission, and Vice Chair perhaps, have been authorized by the Commission to complete this report on behalf of the Commission. And then submit it to the County Clerk for enactment. That is all. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Henricks. All right. So, does everybody have Communications 59 here? And they read through it. Does anybody have any issues with it? I'll open it up for discussion. LUL Commissioner Kossow? KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL Yes. I mean, I think we accept this, except that we just passed something that added a section to it. And I guess I would say that, in the spirit of the last Redistricting Commission, when they overturned a rule that said that your choice of a map was not based on the lowest deviation, but that community interest was an even more important factor. I feel like this particular report, like the last one, was really all about numbers. It wasn't about communities of interest. It wasn't about what people's concerns were. And so, I feel like the addition of a section that's more qualitative, if you will, as opposed to quantitative, would be really helpful to the public, and would be a service to them, as a revision of the template. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. Any other discussion? Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Chair, I'd like to add one exhibit to the draft plan as well? If possible. KOSSOW: Okay. What's your motion? HUSTACE: I move that we add into the exhibit, the irregular census blocks as proposed. And indicate that that's some of the challenges that we faced. 34 KOSSOW: Okay. Motion's on the table. LOPEZ: Second. KOSSOW: Seconded by Mr. Lopez. Any discussion? HUSTACE: Chair. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: And if I may, I can show a map, if you allow me, Chair KOSSOW: Go ahead. HUSTACE: to really extrapolate and show the work that—some of the challenges that we had here. So, I'm going to share on my screen . And I shared this with you. All of you have access to this as well. I'll just make sure. I'm going to open up the irregular census blocks that I've shared with you. Well, while that's opening up, I'm going to be very clear and blunt with you that there are more census blocks in this that I believe are irregular and have caused us some issue. This map has over a hundred and twenty (120) census block that I've flagged. Included the two that the Chair and Commissioner Lopez indicated to me last time at our last meeting. So, I've added from this—From our last discussion, I've added about another fifty (50) census blocks into this map. And I would like to include this as part of our exhibit. And I know this is being already submitted to the State Elections Office, and hopefully upwards the chain, to the U.S. Census Bureau. But I would like to include this work in the documentation. Thank you. KOSSOW: May I ask a question? I agree with you, that it should be a part of it. I think the 2011 Commission also incorporated that as well. But I noticed it was only like four or five census blocks. I know this might sound a little time consuming but is there a possibility you can—You know, each census block has a name. Is there a possibility to get that name on a spreadsheet, so that way we can put that into the final draft? HUSTACE: Yeah, I can work on that, Chair, and put that in as a spreadsheet. Yeah. KOSSOW: Okay. Thank you. That'll be along with the map I would assume, yeah. HUSTACE: Yes. KOSSOW: Okay. Any other discussion? LUL This is Commissioner Lui. On James' motion and proposal. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. 35 LUL Yeah. I do agree with it. In terms of the last Commission, they put it into Exhibit 8, I believe, which was Recommendations. It wasn't in the report per say. But I'm fine with it in the report. I guess my concern is follow-up. `Cause it doesn't seem like anything happened in the ten years between the last one and this one. So, I know it's a little bit out of our hands, but I'm also wondering like we can put it in here, but I'm concerned about follow-up, I guess. But I agree with the motion. KOSSOW: I think I can comment a little bit about that, Ms. Lui. LUL Okay, thank you. KOSSOW: The Exhibit 8 is a part of the final draft—or the final report. So, either way it would be, you know, it is in that report. And then as for the—You know, we did—This Commission voted and approved the Vice Chair and Chair to submit a request to the Chief Elections Officer. So, we did submit a letter, especially with the current census irregularities. Now I don't know how or who's going to be the point of contact after this Commission completes on December 31". But I imagine it would probably either land on the Elections Office, or the Clerk's Office. LUL Well, I wasn't sure then, James, if your motion was to put it in Recommendations, or to put it into this report that's outlined in 59. And I guess the reason I would like it to be in the report itself is that I know when I was looking back over the materials, and I saw final report, I read the final report, but I didn't really necessarily read Exhibit 8 right away. Because I didn't know that it was part of the final report. So anyway, again, we're trying to make this as easy for the public to navigate as possible. Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you. I think Ms. Ford is on, and she has like a minute left in her testimony. So, Ms. Ford, you can unmute. You have a minute. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (part 3) BRENDA FORD FORD: Thank you very much. I appreciate this. I have a couple of comments/suggestions. I think you're doing great. Everything's fine. However, I doubt that any group, like the Census Bureau, is going to do this without you telling them how to break the census block between Point A and Point B, or between Point C and Point D. So, I'm concerned about that. And you might get some good information from a Supervisor of the Office of Elections. But before you leave, I think you need to choose somebody to go to that special meeting that was discussed way back in the beginning, where they actually do talk about breaking up census blocks. We need a representative at that meeting, if that meeting should take place, to take care of where to break the census block. `Cause I don't believe the Census Bureau is going to do it on their own. So, you might want to consider those two things before you leave. Thank you. 36 UNFINISHED BUSINESS (continued) KOSSOW: Any other discussion from the Commission? Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: I would be willing to attend that meeting on behalf of the 2021 Commission. And I would appreciate your support on that. BATH: Chair? I have a question on that. It's Bath. KOSSOW: Hold on one second. So, motion's still on the table, okay? For the census block irregularities to be on the final report. So, let's make sure that we're still on topic here. Ms. Bath. LUL Just a minute. I had that question for James that wasn't answered. Did you mean in this report that's outlined in 59? Or did you mean in a separate exhibit, as in the last time? HUSTACE: I'm amenable to any location that the Commission, that my colleagues, feel is best. Whether it's in the final report or is an addendum. I'm happy with either one and welcome thoughts on that. LUL Well, why don't you put it into your motion though. That would make it easier. Thank you. One or the other. HUSTACE: I believe my motion was for it to be in the final report. KOSSOW: It was. Yeah. LUL Oh, okay. Good. Thank you. BATH: Commissioner Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: I wanted Diane's thoughts on whether we as a commission have the authority, or whether we can appoint somebody to sit on the census committee. MELLON-LACEY: Yes. Thank you, Commissioner Bath. I wanted to bring this up. This group's work is done upon approval of the final plan and submission of the final report. And so, any participation in further actions around amending census blocks or whatever, could be undertaken by people as individuals, but not as representatives of this Commission. BATH: Thank you for that clarity. 37 KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Mellon-Lacey. YOSHINA: Chair Kossow. KOSSOW: Sorry, Ms. Bath still had the floor. Are you pau? BATH: Yeah. I thanked Diane for her insights, and I yield. KOSSOW: Okay, Mr. Yoshina. Thank you. YOSHINA: Yeah, I would suggest that Commissioner Hustace be in touch with Office of Elections at the State level. And keep that alive. And perhaps the County Clerk could also keep that matter on the front burner. Because I think the block boundary suggestion program will start at the half-way point in the next decennial. So,probably around 2025. And most of us will be gone. I mean, our Commission is done, I think. So, I think the follow-up needs to be done by the County Clerk and by Mr. Hustace. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Yoshina. All right. Any other discussion on the motion? HENRICKS: Chair Kossow, this is County Clerk Henricks in Hilo. KOSSOW: Go ahead. HENRICKS: I just wanted to note that this report is really going to one place. So, anything in it really comes to the Clerk's Office. So, information that would be that I, that the Clerk, or you know, the Clerk's Office really isn't able to follow-up on. I don't know if it will—I don't want the Commission to be disappointed, that would it expect something to occur. So, when I'm looking at this report, I'm looking at everything that our Office needs, and the Elections Office needs to complete this process. Not that the information you guys are talking about isn't valuable. Obviously, it is, or you wouldn't be talking about it. But I don't want there to be any expectations that requests or information that the Clerk's Office would be able to take that information and create a program or a plan that would then, you know, adopt the Commission's feelings. Especially since it's been pointed out. You know (knocks on wood), come January 1, this Commission will not be in existence anymore. So,where would we go to for further guidance? I don't think we could take that torch up. As an Office that mostly conducts ministerial matters and doesn't really take positions on hardly anything that is outside of its purview and operations. YOSHINA: Chair Kossow. KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: If that's the case, I would like to also be identified as a contact person for follow-up. Thank you. 38 BATH: Chair, Commissioner Bath. KOSSOW: Ms. Bath. BATH: I was just curious, with the County Clerk's Office, if there's some information that isn't numbers and what you need to get this process done,just having it as a matter of record on the report, I'm feeling good about just because HENRICKS: Sure. BATH: Because we can refer to the document that was submitted, or others can. So, it would be a matter of record, and sort of an accountability. HENRICKS: Right. BATH: So, in that sense, I think that it's okay. Even though it might be a little fluff. Or some people might think it might be a little fluff. It would be appropriate for that reason though, yeah? As a matter of reference. HENRICKS: Chair Kossow, may I respond? KOSSOW: Yes. HENRICKS: Yeah, and I don't disagree. Not really any harm, it's just about managing expectations about what's included in the report and what would happen after the report is accepted. So, yeah. You know, if that's the Commission will, to include information that would be kind of auxiliary or supplementary for the record,part of its experiences and what it views would be helpful for others to know going forward. Again, and just simply put, you know, the Clerk's Office wouldn't take the extra step of assuming that it should be forwarded to any particular parties either, right? They would have to kind of find it on their own, or be made aware of it by somebody else, unless. Because again, the report just comes to the Clerk and it's not—there's no copy on here, so. We're not really comfortable with making those kinds of discretionary decisions after that point about what happens to things. So, to your—Yes, Ms. Bath, no harm. But just managing expectations about what we can and cannot do after, you know, come January 1. BATH: Thank you. I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you. So, we still have—Mr. Yoshina? YOSHINA: Yeah, so I have a question to—for you, I guess. So, after we write this document, we get copies of it, right? HENRICKS: I mean, I absolutely know it's a public document. Anybody can request a copy. 39 YOSHINA: Okay, so HENRICKS: This kind of goes backoh, sorry. Please. I don't want to interrupt your train of thought. YOSHINA: Right. So, if I wanted as a private citizen, to send this document to the Chief Election Officer, I could? HENRICKS: Absolutely. YOSHINA: Okay. Thank you. HUSTACE: I call the question, Chair. KOSSOW: Thank you. Thank you. Can you restate your motion? HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Motion was to include as an exhibit in the final report, the block irregularities, as disclosed to the Commission and the public, that are able to see it on the website. KOSSOW: Okay, I'm closing the discussion. And then, Relley, if you can go ahead and call the roll. ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Hustace moved to include the proposed irregular census blocks into the final report as an exhibit. Seconded by Mr. Lopez. The motion to include the proposed irregular census blocks into the final report as an exhibit was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. ARACELEY: Chair, you have nine ayes. KOSSOW: Thank you, Relley. Any other discussion regarding the report here? HUSTACE: Chair. 40 KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: I move we accept Communication 59 as a template for the final report, to include the previous two motions as supplemental. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Hustace. Motion's on the table. Is there a second? LOPEZ: Aye. KOSSOW: Seconded by Mr. Lopez. Any discussion? (No response.) Relley, please call the roll. ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Hustace moved to accept Communication 59 as a template for the final report and to also include the previous two motions as supplemental. Seconded by Mr. Lopez. The motion to accept Communication 59 as a template for the final report and to also include the previous two motions as supplemental was carried by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Ah Nee, Akamu, Bath, Lopez, Lui, Yadao, Yoshina, Vice Chair Hustace, and Chair Kossow. Noes: None. ARACELEY: Chair, you have nine ayes. KOSSOW: Thank you. Motion carries. Any other discussion regarding the final report here? LUL Yes, Commissioner Kossow. It's Commissioner Lui. KOSSOW: Ms. Lui. LUL I just wondered what the deadline is in terms of the writing of the report. Because in terms of those two other items, we need to get our thoughts into them by a certain date. So, I'd like to know from him, what it is. So, that way each one of us can write something short about the rationale for our districts as we please, however we want to do it. And submit it to the Clerk's Office before they have to get that final report in. So, as you're putting it together, when would you say the deadline was? 41 HENRICKS: (Pause) You're asking the Chair, correct? LUL Oh. No, I was asking you. HENRICKS: I apologize, Chair Kossow. I thought she was addressing you for the request. KOSSOW: I was thinking the same. I was like, I have no idea. HENRICKS: I don't like radio silence. That's terrible, but. KOSSOW: Mr. Henricks, thank you. HENRICKS: So, 31st is not an option to submit the report. For a good reason. Lovely holiday. Thirtieth(30th)would be the last possible day. So, I think, you know, internally, if Chair and Vice Chair, who I know are going to working with Mr. Kauka, maybe the 27th. If that's reasonable. That would, you know, give time to . LUL Is that Monday or ? HENRICKS: That's Monday of next week. LUL Of next week. So, but it gives us HENRICKS: Homework. LUL It gives us homework. It gives us like four or five days. And it's really not hard. `Cause I wrote my stuff up in like fifteen (15) minutes. HENRICKS: Does that sound reasonable to you, Chair Kossow? KOSSOW: That sounds reasonable. Thank you. HENRICKS: Yeah. I think the goal was to, you know, as I understand, submit the report. Maybe even on the 29th, if possible. So, I think that'll be—give the proper amount of time. LUL So, get it to you by the end of the day, Monday, the 27th. And it's nothing you have to really edit. It's just something you would pop into report. HENRICKS: Yeah, I don't think we'll be editing it. Because the agreement made today was that—and I want to really honor that being that it was a motion and a vote. So, editing of anything is LUL So, it should be easy to pop it in. 42 HENRICKS: Typos only. And we don't expect any of those. Not from this group. (Laughter.) And that would be up to Mr. Kauka. You can submit those things directly and he'll plug them in and complete the report, alongside Mr. Kossow and Mr. Hustace. LUL Okay. Thank you very much. I yield. That's it. KOSSOW: Thank you. Any other discussion regarding Unfinished Business 2? (No response.) Okay, without hearing any, we're going to move over to Announcements. Relley, if you could go ahead and read the announcements. ANNOUNCEMENTS ARACELEY: Thank you, Chair. Your announcements read: Archived videos of past Commission sessions as of the September 23rd 2021 (3rd session) are available for viewing on the Commission YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzBy9MDfzQXm2yqq2sklag LUL Would you repeat that? No, I'm just kidding. ARACELEY: Oh goodness. (Laughter.) Any other announcements by Commissioners or Commission staff may be provided. Contact phone number for Commission information: 808-961-8020. Commission email address: redistrictingcommission@hawaiicounty.gov. KOSSOW: Thank you, Relley. I would like to thank the Commission. It was an honor to work with you all this past year. Thank you to the staff in the Elections, and Clerk's Office, and Corp Counsel for their advisory and working in the back end, and getting things done. I hope everybody has a Merry Christmas. And is there any other announcements? HUSTACE: Chair. KOSSOW: Mr. Lopez and then Mr. Hustace. Thank you. LOPEZ: Yes. We've thanked the staff. We've thanked the team and support. And really, the public that came out. Unfortunately, we didn't get much during the district hearings. But, boy, when we got the draft plan out, they came out. And it really speaks to the recommendation from Common Cause. That perhaps the process needs to be turned upside down, you know, and get a draft plan out early and getting more public input. Give us more time. So, that's something to consider. But I want to end by personally thanking Chair Bronsten Kossow and Vice Chair James Hustace. This, in my opinion, was exceptional leadership. Both in controlling the meeting, and in getting the business done in a very short period of time. I wasn't sure that I agreed to Mr. Kossow when he early on said that I think that we can get this done in time. I didn't think so, but he did it. And the effort that Mr. Hustace put into this, over and above, in guiding us, having the 43 maps ready, leading us through this process, was just invaluable. And it made the difference. And I thank you both, men, very much for that. Thank you. YOSHINA: Chair Kossow. KOSSOW: Mr. Yoshina. YOSHINA: Yeah, I just wanted to add my two sense. I wanted to thank the staff for their hard work. I know how much effort goes into staffing a group such as ours. I'd like to thank Chair Kossow, and Co-Chair Hustace, for their work. And then I'd like to thank all of the members of the Commission. It was a pleasure working with you guys, but if I don't run into you guys again,just know that you have my aloha and mahalo. I think I should also thank the Corp Counsel for her good work. I mean, I think it's tough when you come in and get asked legal questions. So, have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. Thank you. KOSSOW: Mr. Hustace. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. I just want to echo the sentiments of my colleagues here. I want to thank all of the public that came out to testify and support us in our process here and guide us in our evolution of the maps. And I wanted to thank my fellow Commissioners for their hard work and sticking with us, and really putting their nose to the grinding well here and getting it done. I appreciate Diana with Corp Counsel. The support from County Clerk's Office, and all of our staff. And then of course, Elections Office for getting this process going with us here. You've all done an incredible job together as a team. So, I'm grateful for your comradery and your leadership across the island and the County here. And of course, a big mahalo nui to Chair Kossow for your leadership in guiding us through this process, and really taking this on. Mahalo. Thank you, Chair. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Hustace. Ms. Bath. BATH: I'm not going to take the time to repeat what everyone has already said. I have a lot of gratitude for having the opportunity to sit on this Commission. And to learn and to grow individually. And to represent, not only District 5, but the island. What my experience has been is that this was rough. This was rough. And we had some difficult decisions to make. And we had special interests because we knew our districts and the people there. And we came together, and we gave, and we took, and we compromised. I like to think that this very process of drawing lines so that we can have representatives to represent our voices, and the process that we did,will be modeled by those that represent us. And that they could work with the unity and the compromises that we as Commissioners here did. So that a level of service can be delivered fairly to our island home. Focusing on health and safety first, and then the rest. And I thank you so much for being who you are in this process. Aloha. I yield. LUL Chair Kossow. 44 KOSSOW: Thank you. Ms. Lui. LUL Well, first to say that Patrice Macdonald was correct, that the 1-5 was not put up on the public website. So, that they could not see it before today's meeting. And I would hope that this one gets put up as soon as possible. I looked for it the other day and it wasn't up on the public site. On ours it was, but not on the public site. MELLON-LACEY: Can I just clarify? LUL Sure. KOSSOW: If I may comment to Ms. Lui really quickly? One five (1-5) was on the public site. We did confirm that, so. LUL Really? KOSSOW: I think it's a matter of going into the tabs and finding that. LUL Hmm. `Cause I couldn't find it either. Going to that particular—Anyway, okay, well good. So anyway, we'll get the next one up as quickly as possible. I was going to say that I feel like this was really an exceptionally community driven process. And Chair Kossow, I give you a lot of credit for that in allowing the testimony the way you did, allowing people to testify at any time. Making sure that everybody got heard. That was really great. I feel like the Commissioners were not, as in many cases around the country, politicians with a special interest in mind. Everybody was representing their community and did so really well. I feel like our listening to the public testimony in coming up with our final map was really exceptional as well. And I just feel, again, very proud to have been part of this body and appreciate every single one of you. And I won't repeat all of the other thanks that others have done. Thank you. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Lui. Any other announcements? HENRICKS: Mr. Chair, this is Mr. Henricks. KOSSOW: Mr. Henricks, thank you. HENRICKS: Yeah, I've been observing from afar and of course been involved in some of the processes behind the scenes. But I've been watching your meetings and I just say it's aappreciate the amount of effort and care that everybody took to get to this point. I think the public can be very, very proud of this Commission's work. And it will be, you know, it will stand for a decade, and they can take pride in how much, you know, the active listening that went on. Not just with each other, but with the public. And also, you know, really taking to heart staff recommendations and guidance on all kinds of things from all kinds of areas. Just appreciate seeing public service in action. It just warms my heart because that's what it's all about. And I think that everybody did a wonderful job in 45 just providing exemplary public service. And that's something that really is critical and stands out in this process. And of course, would like to thank everybody that contributed from a staff side. Too many to mention individually. There's so many people that had to come together on our staff to get this done in a short period of time. Travelling around the island, doing all of those things necessary, but everybody did it. No one grumbled one time. They're very happy to do it. They enjoyed working with the Commissioners. And I'd just like to say lastly, I just thank the mayor for doing—and Pomaika`i, for doing a heck of a job finding the right people to sit on this Commission. That is always the first step and the most critical step to success. So, you know, waited to the end, but that's clear that it worked out. So, I thank the mayor and his staff for setting this Commission up for success. And again,just lastly, you know, thank you too, Chair, for your leadership and of course, how much work you put into this, and never lost sight of anything and working along Mr. Hustace wonderfully. Mr. Hustace, contributing his special skills that really pushed the Commission to put forward the best map possible. So,just watching it all from behind the scenes, it was really gratifying. So, thank you for this opportunity to speak. KOSSOW: Thank you, Mr. Henricks. Ms. Mellon-Lacey. MELLON-LACEY: I don't want to go into a long litany, but I really want to tell you all how proud I am of you for all the work that you've done, for the way that you've conducted yourself, for the way you've listened to the public. For how much meaning you've, you know, given to this process. And to thank you very humbly for this service because I know you had to put in so much time so quickly and get up to speed. And you all did it! And so, I really, really feel proud to have had the opportunity to work with you. And I wish you all Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year. Thank you so much. KOSSOW: Any other announcements? AH NEE: Chair, Commissioner Ah Nee. KOSSOW: Ms. Ah Nee, thank you. AH NEE: I want to reiterate what everybody has said. I just want to say thank you for allowing me to come in the fourth quarter stretch and learn this game real quick. My hat's off to every one of you for allowing me to be a part of this process and to learn and to grow and to give back to my community. So, mahalo nui. Ke aloha nui `ia kakou a pau loa. Happy Holidays and I yield. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Ah Nee. We really went for a blitz on that one. Any other announcements? (No response.) Okay. ADJOURNMENT KOSSOW: Is there a motion to adjourn? 46 HUSTACE: So moved. KOSSOW: Motioned by Mr. Hustace. LOPEZ: Second. KOSSOW: Seconded by Mr. Lopez. All in favor say aye. (Various commissioners say aye.)Any opposed, no? (No response.)Motion carries. The 2021 Redistricting Commission comes to a close. We are adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Nicole Bello, support staff to the Commission 1 47