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to the island? You have a map of the island over there; I have a map of the island on my arm <br />right here. What is going to happen to the island when you guys decide to redistrict? Now, what <br />I read in the newspaper was that eight of you folks were from Oahu, one from Maui. What IÓm <br />saying to myself is, ÐWhat do eight people and one person from Maui know about what is going <br />on on the Big Island?Ñ I could be wrong; I see that you are looking at me, but I read a whole lot <br />of things and I also have just above a fifth grade education as far as computer skills. <br />CHR. SIRACUSA <br />: I can correct your mis-apprehensions very quickly. That is, that the <br />newspaper was totally wrong. They used the terms Redistricting and Reapportionment <br />interchangeably; and they are not interchangeable. The newspaper was reporting about the State <br />Reapportionment Commission. We are the County Redistricting Commission and we are all <br />residents of HawaiÒi County and each one comes from a different district on this island. <br /> <br />MR VARADY: I was just telling you what I was reading. <br />CHR. SIRACUSA <br />: I know; I tried to write a letter to them to correct it, and they havenÓt printed <br />it. Just to let you know; and I wanted everyone else to know that too, because a lot of other <br />people are confused about that and thatÓs going to make it harder for us to do our job. <br /> <br />MR VARADY <br />: If you look at my card, what you are going to see here is naturalized Hawaiian. <br />I wasnÓt born here, some of you folks were born here; I was not born here. I was born in New <br />York City. I have been in HawaiÒi for almost twenty-five years. <br />Hawaiian; a Hawaiian and an American. When I think about what the average person thinks <br />about politicians, which is not that good. ItÓs like Pavlov, the name Pavlov rings a bell. When I <br />think about what the average person thinks about politicians, IÓm wondering to myself as IÓm <br />preparing for this, what are you guys planning on doing? If you guys are planning on including <br />Puna as part of South Hilo, that affects me directly because of another issue which is not relevant <br />at this time. It might be relevant in the future and IÓm hoping <br />it is not relevant for right now. <br /> <br />As a naturalized Hawaiian a lot things go through my head. Freud said, ÐSometimes a pickle is <br />just a pickle,Ñ which it is. Not everything has an alternate meaning out in the stratosphere <br />someplace. To look at me you might think that I was some kind of old surfer with a great tan. <br />The fact of the matter is I do have a reasonably good tan; IÓm not a surfer, IÓm a paddler and I <br />like to think of myself as an educated citizen who does responsible things in the community. <br />Some of those responsible things are to help my neighbors, and to talk to my neighbors, and to <br />try to lighten things up. I just donÓt want to see the people of this County get screwed. <br /> <br />CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you; and neither do we. Let the record reflect that Commissioner <br />Patrick KahawaiolaÓa has just arrived. Welcome. <br /> <br />MS. POINDEXTER: I would just like to say one thing, and I think you are being very <br />responsible to your community because you are participating in the efforts of Redistricting. You <br />will have other opportunities to do so in continued efforts, and we appreciate hearing from you. <br />CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you. <br />3 <br /> <br />