COMM. 35.5 from Margaret Wille - Laserfiche WebLink

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MARGARET WILLE Attorney at Law 65 -1316 Lihipali Road Kamuela, Hawaii 96743 Tel: 808 - 854 -6931 margaretwiIle@mac.com August 24, 2011 TESTIMONY TO REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE A. RECOMMENDED CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING PROPOSED DISTRICTS: Descending Order of Priorities for District boundaries: (using District 9 as example) 1. Respect identity of "village centers ": Don't split community centers -(e.g. don't use Mamalahoa Highway as dividing line in Waimea, don't cut waikoloa in half, and don't split North Kohala); [District 9 village centers are: waikoloa, Kawaihae, Puako, Waimea, Hawi, Kapaau]. If must split a community base the split on urban - rural divisions, e.g. East side rural Waimea split from Waimea center - but do this just to extent absolutely necessary to keep the District legal. 2. Contiguity of access roads: Don't make voters drive through another voting district to vote (e.g. Don't put Hawi- Kapaau in Hamakua District) 3. Respect CDP ohanas: Keep existing Community Development Plan greater communities together if at all possible within legal percentage deviations [In other words, keep SKCDP unit together: waikoloa, Waimea, Kawaihae and Puako , and keep NKCDP community together] If must divide a CDP community:: break" urban" versus "rural" - so if Waimea must be split - move Eastern most portion of Waimea into District 1 as currently is the case before considering splitting waikoloa off to North Kona District 8, and before considering using Mamalahoa Highway or Kawaihae Road as division lines) 4. Respect Ahupua'a /watershed Divisions (e.g. keep Waimea - center in same district as Pelekane Bay) S. Minimize percentages of variations: (criteria of lowest importance) B. ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT PLANS: (According to Above Criteria for "District 9 ") 1. Current Plans that More or Less meet all of the above Criteria 1 through 4: Plans # 2 and #7 -best (with extraction #7 would need to be reduced by moving about 200 on southerly boundary into District 8)