2010-08-12 THU HONUA - Laserfiche WebLink

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ROHR: Yes. I will tell you the answer to those objections. They’re saying that because I have a B&B in Hilo that somehow this doesn’t affect me. It affects me very much. When Aloha Airlines went out of business our business dropped by 40 percent, and then it picked up again another 20. I know day to day why people come to Hilo, because I sit at the breakfast table for an hour and a half and talk to them. We’re lucky if people come to Hilo. They get really good deals over on the Kona side and everyone says, oh, the weather is great, the white sand beaches. People want an experience about history and beauty. And they are, they’re on the DBED Website. They have a special page about the Hilo-Hmkua Heritage Corridor, which goes from Hilo to Waipi‘o. It’s the old scenic train route. The original train company went bankrupt over building that route. In the 20’s it was the rage. People would get on that train, they’d stop it on the tressels, on the bridges, and let them take photos. It’s still beautiful. And the description that they used in the 1920’s still applies and still draws people to drive around the island. If it wasn’t for the beauty of the Hmkua Coast, people might just go to Volcano and skip Hilo. All of the businesses here in town are dependent upon the beauty of the Hmkua Coast and the unobstructive views to and towards the shoreline area. The DBED determined that $380,000,000 worth of income was created off of heritage-related businesses and that that could increase three times. That’s for the whole island, so let’s just say Hilo is a third of that. A $100,000,000, all the people who take, -. You know, I’m surprised they’re not here. But they never, they’re too busy. We all work seven days a week. So I believe that -. WOODWARD: Okay, let me just try and answer the question a little bit. There were three points that were made in the objection Hu Honua sent to you. One was that you were not timely; and you’ve addressed your concerns about the process. But, in fact, timely is defined as when we held our first meeting. That is what the definition is. The second point they made is that your status is no greater, no different than the general public. And you’re saying that anybody who lives in Hilo because it’s close enough that that’s not the case. Is that -? ROHR: It has nothing to do with distance. Okay, it has nothing to do with distance at all. I fell in love with that property first. It was a diamond in the rough and I used to go for drives on Sundays; and that’s how I know that property. I was the one who loved it first. And I’m the one who keeps going back to take a walk and finding gates closed; and, you know, I have problems with accessing it now. I became a member of PASH, and Elaine became a member of PASH, you know, because of all these access issues at Pepe‘ekeo. And I was nominated on the Board by Jerry Rothstein. And he used to come to these hearings with me before he was killed. But it has nothing to do with distance. If you go talk to -. Okay, my old real estate clients, one of them works at the Harbor. The Harbor Master is a historian and his expertise is in the Hawaiian, Hawai‘i Consolidated Railroad. Go talk to him. And she works in his office. She said to me, “Claudia, we went for a Sunday drive and the gate, there’s a gate now, we can’t drive to the old light house.” And I said, “Yeah, you can’t.” But you know what? People still try. And they park and they go to the point, and they enjoy it. It’s called a Sunday Drive. That’s where I go for my Sunday Drive. Anyway -. WOODWARD: All right. Let me, let me go to the third issue and then -. 10 EXHIBITC