2021-10-25 Redistricting Commission Public Hearing minutes (District 5)

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keep this quick. I am a resident of County Council District 5. And I wasn't sure what to expect this evening, but I haven't had a chance to review all the maps in full either. And I don't see it anywhere posted in this room, with like detailed clear maps of what we're even discussing. So, I was hoping I was going to walk into a room where we were going to get some sort of presentation. Maybe get some information. Have maps to look at. And then be able to have a like legitimate discussion and give some testimony. So, I'm feeling a bit frustrated. I'm somebody who has access to the internet. I have a college degree. I should be able to navigate this sort of stuff and figure it out. But I am struggling, and I know this is decision needs to be made quick. I know that it's not anybody's fault here regarding COVID and all other extenuating circumstances. Yet, I don't feel like the public is getting their chance to really understand the process. I believe on your meeting on Thursday, which I'm planning on attending if I can, that there's $20,000 that you were budgeted to be able to advertise to the public. I've heard zero advertising on the radio (indiscernible. Audio cutting in and out.) This is something that I'm following closely. Full disclaimer, I ran for office in 2020. I'm planning on running again in the future. So, this of course is very salient to me. Oh, it says your internet connection is unstable. That's a big problem in our district too—is lack of internet. So, I don't feel like people in my community were made aware of this meeting. I don't feel like they have any idea, what's going on and what the process has been so far. And I know that the Chair and Vice Chair, and the rest of the commissioners, have done their best to keep this as transparent as possible, but I don't feel like that is really happening. So, my suggestions are that we need to have this round of meetings all over again, after we have had adequate time to really get the word out. That there needs to be some newspaper articles. There needs to be a really big push publicly on the radio. That I would love to see that whole $20,000 spent on advertising before we have these meetings. And I would love to come into this room and have the proposed plans on the wall really clear for us to see, for us to know what we're talking about. My last comment, I'm wrapping up, is because of the rural districts that we are discussing tonight, the areas that most of us live in, we really don't want to see our subdivisions split. It's so challenging for us to get the representation we deserve already. And if our large subdivisions continue to get divided up across representation, we are just not getting our voices heard. It's really, really challenging. So, I would encourage whatever decisions are made that you all do your absolute best to keep all the large subdivisions together. And that's my time. Mahalo nui. HUSTACE: Thank you. ARACELEY: Chair, we have Brian Ogawa in the Zoom room. If he'd like to provide testimony. HUSTACE: Thank you, Relley. OGAWA: No. I just listening. Thank you. HUSTACE: Mahalo. We'll give it a moment here. If there are other people that want to give testimony either, you know, new testifiers. And we'll see if anyone else would like to join us. And then for the last bit of time we can go back to some of the guests that 4