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You know it's a huge track coming from mauka to makai and but, those families were largely <br />from the plantation here. Is that correct? <br />MR. HOKAMA: Correct. The Pi`ihonua area were formerly independent growers. <br />MR. KAHUI: Thank you. <br />CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you, Mr. Hokama. Our next testifier is Betty Jo Thompson from <br />Waianuenue. <br />MS. THOMPSON: I'm Betty Jo Hubbard Thompson and I work for the Extension Service for <br />years and I was the home service director for Hilo Electric Light when they first started their <br />Home Service Department. And, Tom and I rented and lived at about six different locations <br />before we finally bought the Crackle House on the corner of Waianuenue and Waiau and my <br />children are now over fifty and most of their life has been spent on that corner. And um, <br />Waianuenue is a terrible road to have to drive on because there's no shoulders and people run <br />off into the ditch across the street from our house quite frequently. And, having the hospital <br />below us is a plus, however, when the loonies get out of the loonie bin and come wandering up <br />Waianuenue they knock on your door or climb through your window. But we like our way of <br />life and every neighbor, everybody that lives there, knows their neighbors very well and know <br />about three blocks up and about three blocks down. Anytime there's something going on we <br />call each other and we have a community association and we spend a lot of time making sure <br />we stay safe and in line. The only thing that is really bad about it is there's no way that you <br />can widen Waianuenue. There's too many ditches and too much water along the way, so our <br />road is rather narrow. So, when people come swooshing up Waianuenue we've had a lot of <br />them run into the ditch but that's not ever gonna stop. <br />And I think probably the thing that I'd like to say more than anything else and not everybody <br />will probably agree with me, is that we know almost everybody within a mile area extremely <br />well because we have the association and we meet sometimes as much as twice a year and get <br />together and eat and have a good time and get to know the new ones in the community. So, I <br />worked in the public for many years as I said with Home Service Department, at HELCo and I <br />was an Extension Agent for over twenty -five years so, I got to know the Hamakua coast, I got <br />to know going through Volcano and out to Na`alehu and Pahala. I just think that there's new <br />building going on on Waianuenue now - -old houses being knocked down and new houses are <br />being put up - -so I think we're growing as far as the communities' concerned. I'm here because <br />I wanted to hear what everybody else had to say. And, if there was something I really didn't <br />like I'd be saying "I don't like that" okay? So that's the way I operate. Thank you. <br />CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you. The third testifier is Julie Tulang from the Pi`ihonua <br />Community. <br />MS. TULANG: Thank you for the opportunity, Commissioners, to share my thoughts and I <br />just want to build on what Conrad has already said for the Pi`ihonua community. It's kind of a <br />wonderful community in that everyone has been there for a long, long time. We lived there <br />almost twenty years and we're newcomers. So that kind of gives you an idea of how long this <br />5 <br />