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about it, and testified in Waimea. Well, since then, I have held a talk story and talked to several hundred people in the Village and without exception; everybody wants Plan 40, as it is modified now. Thank came across very strongly, and we want to remain with Waimea and Kohala. I won't go into any more details, because you have heard them all. But, please consider strongly proposal, or Plan-40. Thank you very much. CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you. Now, in Hilo; Steve Offenbaker. STEVE OFFENBAKER (At this time Steve Offenbaker came forward to address members of the Commission.) MR. OFFENBAKER: Good morning Commissioners, I will try to be as brief as possible. I am here to speak against the proposals as they currently exist in Plan _A. I believe that what Plan _A does in a nutshell is sacrifices the whole of the Hamakua coast; Waik6loa, Puak6, to ensure that Hilo remains with three council seats. What brings me to that conclusion is the fact that if you look at the boundaries on Plan _A, the Hilo side of that boundary basically pushes into urban downtown Hilo across the Wailuku River. You are looking at about 6,500 people moving into Council District 1; that constitutes 34% of the district population coming from the Hilo side of the Wailuku River. That pretty much cements that District 1 will be represented by somebody from Hilo. That gives Hilo an unwarranted, unnecessary third seat. In the last 48 hours, I believe that Hamakua has begun to stand up and ask for help and ask for protection. So I talk directly now to Ms. Poindexter, our Commissioner. We are trying to give you the support, we are trying to give you the ammunition; we ask you to stand up for us now. We ask you to fight any plan, whether Plan-40 is modified or Plan _A, that splits Hamakua. I know in asking for that to happen, it kind of says to Volcano that you get to stay in Ka`u. And while someone is going to be told that, they have to do something they don't want to do. What Volcano has is an advantage over anybody else that has been proposed to move, is that moving Volcano, or in fact leaving it in Ka`u, allows it to demand attention. The size of Volcano, the number of people there, requires the representative from that Council district to pay attention. If Honoka`a goes into Waimea, nobody is going to pay attention. If Hilo moves into Council District 1, nobody is going to pay attention to Laupahoehoe, Paauilo, O`okala; nobody will listen because they don't have to as long as Hilo is happy, they are re- elected. This plan, for whatever reason, simply put, is a Hilo plan, for Hilo people. I really hope that today it is killed, and if it's not, I ask you to motion for a public hearing in Honoka`a to address the split of Hamakua; because that was never discussed at any public hearing. Thank you. CHR. SIRACUSA: We now go back to Waimea. MR. HIRT: Yes, our next testifier is Gary Cassel, here to speak in support of Plan-40. GARY CASSEL (At this time Gary Cassel came forward via videoconference from Waimea to address members of the Commission.) 20