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MR. McGILVRAY: I want to welcome the Commissioners here to Kea` au for this meeting. I <br />know it was just pointed out that this is your second meeting today, and you were down in Puna <br />on Tuesday, and we thank you very much for coming to visit us. My concern here is to try and <br />keep the subdivisions together. I live in Hawaiian Paradise Park. The original Plan _40 that is on <br />the board now splits Hawaiian Paradise Park down the middle, down Paradise Drive. This is <br />inappropriate. Another plan up on the board splits Hawaiian Paradise Park on Highway 130. A <br />lot of people don't realize that we do have some of our subdivision that is up on Pohaku Circle. <br />We are trying to keep it all together. It was pointed out that there are three major towns in the <br />Puna district. That would be Volcano, Pahoa and Kea` au. So, that is very simple to split into two <br />representative districts in the Puna area, and that is what I would urge you to do. I am here to <br />support the revised Plan _40 that actually does that and keeps these three towns in the same area. <br />So please consider the revised Plan_40. Thank you. <br />CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you, Ken; and now Jerry Carr, representing himself and also Hawaiian <br />Paradise Park Neighborhood Watch. <br />JERRY CARR <br />(At this time Jerry Carr came forward to address members of the Commission.) <br />MR. CARR: Hello, I'm Jerry Carr and I am the Chairman of the Hawaiian Paradise Park <br />Neighborhood Watch. I want to add my own voice to the thanks. I think we are blessed to have <br />two opportunities. I wasn't able to make the first meeting; I am here today and thank you so <br />much for that. One of the main reasons I am here is because as the Chairman of the Hawaiian <br />Paradise Park Neighborhood watch, we have struggles with crime. For years, burglary and theft, <br />and all kinds of things have been out of control at one point. We have, by cooperating, building <br />neighborhood watch and cooperating with the police, we have brought burglary down. We were <br />averaging 36 per month at one point two years ago, for the last six months we have averaged <br />between three and four. We have done this by pressing the police department for more effective <br />law enforcement and they have responded in a positive way. We have also done that by lobbying <br />our council person. I am here to ask you to please not split our community. We need access to a <br />central political avenue that we can approach our issues on, get things done, go to one person and <br />say we have a problem, can you help us with it. It makes it much harder to do our job as a basic <br />grassroots community organization if we have to go in two different directions to do that. <br />I would also point out, and I'm going on a more personal level; this is not related to <br />Neighborhood Watch. There are three towns. This has been mentioned twice before. There are <br />three towns in the Puna district. They are significant, they are historical locations. I have very <br />valuable connections and relationships with people in all three of those places. I would just like <br />to point out to you that HPP's current population of 11,400, as per the census, is probably more <br />than those three towns combined. You wouldn't dream of splitting Kea` au, you wouldn't dream <br />of splitting Pahoa; at least I hope you wouldn't, or Volcano. But it has been proposed to do that <br />with Hawaiian Paradise Park. Please don't do it. We are a community. We are working <br />together; we are beginning to see some progress and cohesion. We need to maintain that progress <br />and move forward. I thank you very much for your consideration. <br />5 <br />