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people that was in Hilo and Kona speaking, I changed my heart, and I did vote for the
<br />bond float. And my colleagues really wanted it, because they felt like the civics center
<br />was a big thing. The County —you know, the departments, because this thing was being
<br />worked on - -was ready to roll, but just needed the money. So I changed my whole heart,
<br />and I remember that day, when the Mayor came in to talk to us about the bond float, you
<br />know, I started to weep, hearing him talk. And God said, "Emily, bend on the other
<br />side. " And I did. So, you know —I have to put it on the table. I did. Everything you
<br />heard on there, I did say. And, you know, again I say I don't like to lie. I didn't do—I
<br />didn 't feel like I was doing anything mean. Maybe I said some words a little out of line,
<br />and you know, like my lawyer said, I was born and raised in Puna. I'm a tita, I cannot
<br />help it. Some words that I say might be a little bit not as professional as it should be,
<br />but—
<br />CHAIR: Ms. Naeole.
<br />NAEOLE: Yes.
<br />CHAIR: First I wanted —maybe I should have made it clear to everybody here, that
<br />number one, we're not judges, and we're not a jury, and this is not a court of law. This
<br />Board is made up of people in the community that have the interest of the people of our
<br />community, and so we want to do the right thing. And that being said, County officials,
<br />elected officials, and people in positions of influence and whatnot are held to a higher
<br />standard, whether we like it or not, with what we do and with what we say. It doesn't
<br />mean we're perfect, it doesn't mean we don't make mistakes, but we need to be aware of
<br />that fact and act accordingly. I have a question for Mr. Yugawa, and you can stay where
<br />you are, Mr. Yugawa, as long as everybody can hear. What prompted you filing this
<br />petition on behalf of Ms. Nahoopii?
<br />YUGAWA: Well, as Mike said, there was a hearing. Lisa Nahoopii is my employee in
<br />Kona. She lives and resides and works in Kona. And she knows the pitfalls of that —the
<br />existing offices over there. And she asked me if she could testify and I said yeah, it's fine,
<br />just don't get involved in the east -west rhetoric, and she gave me her testimony, and it
<br />looked really good. She stated the facts, that —the reasons for building the new West
<br />Hawai `i Center, the parking problem, the lack of customer service, the cramped
<br />quarters —they couldn't expand. So I told her go ahead and testify. Then she called me
<br />up and told me on Monday that she got this message. She was pretty upset about it.
<br />That's what prompted me. I did this for her, because I'm her employer. I'm her boss.
<br />CHAIR: Well, what confuses me is that she was obviously testifying as a private citizen,
<br />not as a County employee. And when it came time, she obviously felt bothered by the
<br />message that was left. You jumped right back in and on her behalf filed this petition,
<br />rather than her filing it.
<br />YUGAWA: Yes. I wanted to keep her out of this as much as possible. She works. Right
<br />now she's on jury duty. She can't come, but she had asked me to do this.
<br />CHAIR: Okay, one more other thing I want to make clear for everybody involved is that,
<br />in addition to not being attorneys or judges, we are strictly here to enforce and interpret
<br />CWI
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