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go. To think that just because there’s a process to review applications that everything is fine, I
<br />don’t think that’s going to work. It’s unrealistic to think that there’s going to be communities
<br />that say, “Eh, that’s a great idea, let’s have it here.”
<br />But we’re talking, we’re not talking about institutions and we’re not talking about large-scale
<br />facilities. We’re talking about group homes, you know. And the only way we’re going to heal
<br />our island, and which is what we’re trying to do -. We’re not trying to send our problems
<br />elsewhere, we’re trying to take care of it here. It’s the same with prisons, we want to ship away
<br />our prisoners, out of sight, out of mind. Ninety-five percent of them are coming back and
<br />returning directly to our community. The threat isn’t from those getting help and getting
<br />treatment, the threats are those from still in our communities not in a group home, not getting
<br />treatment.
<br />You know, there’s a concept in Hawai`i we call malama kekahi kekahi. It means to take care of
<br />our own. And that’s what we need to do. If we don’t help our kids who need substance abuse
<br />residential treatment in a community-based setting, then we’re setting them up to ship them away
<br />later as adults because they didn’t get the help they needed. So I just respectfully request that the
<br />Commission support the amendment as proposed by the Planning Director. It’s not for a specific
<br />program, not for a specific geographical location, but merely to help those on our island that
<br />need it. Mahalo.
<br />ALAMEDA:Thank you, Mr. Kenoi. Any questions for Mr. Kenoi? Commissioner
<br />Siracusa?
<br />SIRACUSA:Yes. Are you speaking today to us as an individual or as the Mayor’s
<br />representative?
<br />KENOI:I am speaking today as Billy Kenoi. The Mayor is not here. I told Chris
<br />that I would speak. I just talked about it, I reviewed this with the Mayor, the Mayor is also very
<br />concerned about this issue. And he is balancing the interest of the community and wants to
<br />mitigate impacts of homeless people in communities. But he wholeheartedly supports the
<br />concept of group homes in the community. What I said is from my heart and my experience as
<br />an Executive Assistant with the County of Hawai`i. Okay.
<br />ALAMEDA:Commissioner Iwashita?
<br />IWASHITA:Thank you. Good morning, Billy, or afternoon, I guess. Thanks for
<br />coming. Going through all of this, I guess my, one of the things I’m thinking about, I’d like your
<br />input on, you know, this whole nimby thing. There’s, one of the good things is people come out,
<br />you know, it’s these kinds of things. That’s why I say, you know, when we do our, eventually,
<br />our Community Development Plans, we’ve got to tell everybody that one of things they have to
<br />decide is where they want to put the prison. ‘Cause when we have a half a million living here,
<br />we’re going to need one prison, right? So you want them in Keaau, or you want them in Kona,
<br />or where you want them, where you want them, right? And, guarantee, they would come out.
<br />We can fill the Civic, I think, with that kind of agenda. But, I guess, my concern is that this
<br />proposal, you know, it’s a regulatory proposal, right? And it’s basically coming from the top
<br />down saying this is how we want to implement it. And there are obviously, you know, concerns
<br />in the community about now if we pass it, then basically DOH, some place out in State
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