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MR. VARADY: I am. CHR. SIRACUSA : Just clarifying. MR. VARADY: I am. I would like to see my district stay as it is. I would like to see agriculture stay agriculture; I would like to see urban--if you can call Phoa urban--then I would like to see Phoa stay pretty much as it is. I have got a lot of ideas, and IÓm running out of time at this particular meeting, but I just donÓt want to see the people of this island keep getting screwed. That is it. CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you, and your time is up. Our next speaker is Richard Bidleman, speaking on behalf of Friends of PunaÓs future. The subject matter is agenda item, Communication 30. RICHARD BIDLEMAN (At this time Richard Bidleman came forward to address members of the Commission.) RICHARD BIDLEMAN : I think Karen gave you copies of the testimony that I am about to make today, but I want to read it publically, and I also want to make a correction. I sent it in to Karen, but then realized that Kurtistown is misspelled in the document, and I corrected that. My name is Richard Bidleman. I am submitting testimony today on behalf of Friends of PunaÓs Future, based on the response to the plans prepared and made available to the public by the Elections Board prior to this meeting. We have reviewed all nine the publicly available plans, and as residents of the district of Puna and members of the public, we offer the following comments: Puna is and has been for many years a very distinct community, bound by many common needs and objectives, both political and cultural. Many residents of Puna are bound together by a similar agricultural/rural way of life. Our residents either live in one of the many agriculturally zoned subdivisions created prior to statehood, or in small villages like Pahoa, Kea'au and Volcano. Our needs and concerns differ greatly from those residents who live in the city of Hilo. Likewise, our needs and concerns differ greatly from those residents who live south of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, in Ka'u, where geography and climate are so drastically different from our own, creating a very different way of life. For these reasons, in our opinion, the various communities of Puna deserve to be represented as a single entity. This committee has already suggested that the notion of splitting communities between districts runs counter to their mandate, and they have expressed a willingness to reject any plan that does so. Indeed, much of the public dismay in Puna that resulted from the 2000 redistricting effort arose due to the inclusion of a part of upper Puna in the South Hilo District 3, and much of the Highway 11 corridor in the Ka'u District 6. Many residents in those communities felt that their voices were not heard and their conc Puna would like to avoid such an outcome this time around, especially given the vast influx of new residents to Puna which has created a deviation in the current District 5 that is well above 20%. Puna is coming into its own and we wish to be represented f 4