2021-12-14 Redistricting Commission Public Hearing minutes (Final 1 of 2)

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think you really need to take another look at that. And if you put us back in Kona, the Kalaoa area, that means you'll have a way to put more of the Waimea people back into the Waimea District 9. And I think that would ease a lot of the issues. For one thing, Kalaoa, we being part of Kona, all of the County services, the roads, the schools, the parks, any of the facilities that we frequent and utilize are connected to the Kona districts, 7 and 8. We do not, I believe I can speak for Kalaoa, as a past representative of the area, we do not utilize Waimea or Waikoloa very much. You know, we probably do travel that way sometimes, but there's about a twenty-five- or thirty-mile gap of vacant, you know, open space between Kalaoa and Waikoloa. There's maybe a little scattering of homes in there, but not many people. So, I would really, really urge you to take a look at that boundary between the north side of Kona and where you begin District 9 again. I think if that puts too many people in District 8-1 know District 8 has grown a lot. I think some of those people could flow into District 7. Districts 7 and 8 usually utilize all of the same resources, the same parks, and facilities, and the council members usually work together, and I think we would have a good representation by keeping District 8 and 7 more cohesive. So, please relook at that line between 8 and 9, and move it back so that Waimea is, as Mr. Richards has expressed earlier—District 9 would still be traditionally well represented. And I think District 8 would be in a lot better shape staying with Kalaoa being part of it. So, mahalo. Mahalo for your time and all of the work that you've done. Like I said, I understand what a tough job you have. So, thank you for reconsidering these maps and doing some more work. Aloha. KOSSOW: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. Mr. Kauka, Hilo? KAUKA: Our next testifier in Hilo is Mr. Jon Olsen. OLSEN: Good evening, Commissioners. I want to start off by thanking you for wading into this. This is no small task. I recognize that. My concern with this is the deviations that we find in District 4 and 5, in particular. Three (3) maybe not quite so much, in the fact that it's almost four percent deviation in 4. We know that historically population under counts in the Puna district have been traditional. People who don't want to be found don't get counted. Our population tends to be largely lower income. You start talking about Federal dollars, and fewer Federal dollars will flow in that direction based on that under count. The continuity of the area, under the old system or the system as it is currently, you have District 4, which was to the east of Highway 130. District 5 was to the west. You have a large percentage of lower sized lots in 4. In other words, basically the one acre and under. And then on the other side of the highway, are two to three-to- five-acre parcels going to the west. So, the change there is (Please note, there was an audio interference at this time.) What was that? Okay. Anyway, and those are my concerns. I would hate to have us end up in the situation whereby the over count—Again, getting back to the subject of Federal dollars flowing into the community to assist with our low-income situation. We have almost four percent under this process. So, that's my concern there. But thank you for your work. KOSSOW: Thank you. We'll go over to Relley. 4