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of conversations that I have had here in this room. So, your faces are all familiar to me, and I hope mine is familiar to you. But, today, I am appearing as an individual, rather than as a representative of a group. I am doing that for two reasons. One is that I haven't had the time to properly consult with my group. And the other is that I can speak more freely as an individual rather than as a representative of my group. When I left the Commission on November 22" d, and I confess that I am ignorant, more ignorant than you people here, because I didn't come on the 30th. I was having a good time over on the Kona side; and because I assumed everything was done. When I left that meeting on the 22'd I thought the job of redistricting was essentially completed. I thought that the commission had demonstrated a high level of integrity that had resulted in a reasonable draft plan. I thought that the November 30th meeting would involve the Commission making a few minor adjustments before finalizing the plan and submitting it to the Elections commission. And I truly believe that we could all trust that nothing unseemly would happen. Now, I would rather be elsewhere today. I would rather be out in the nice Hilo sunshine, walking through Liliuokalani Park; obviously, that can't happen. I am sure that you all have similar preferences, but we are here nevertheless. I have to say that one of the things that I need to express today is sadness; sadness that we have come to this juncture and this controversy here. And I don't know what to do with it. You know, I would like to dispel it. There will always be people who accuse you of doing the bidding of the powerful. Regardless of how you act, there will always be those people; and I regret that. The mass media rags, who look only for ways to sell their products, will always try to invent controversy, where none exists, to pursue their own selfish interests. The long history of corruption in politics in this county and in this state, incline people to pre judge your integrity. I regret that; I regret that the culture of violence in which we live pre- disposes people to fight rather than talk. That is just the reality, and I regret that. There is a perception in the community that something corrupt has happened here. What can easily be perceived as being beyond the eleventh hour, exactly the time when something like that would happen; and that is out there. The fact that I came in here with prepared testimony to take you folks to task, somewhat, is an illustration of the fragility of trust. And I apologize for that, and I hope that we can move forward here and dispel what has happened as a consequence of what I consider to be poor journalism. MR. KAHUL I have a question, Chair. CHR. SIRACUSA: Thank you. MR. KAHUL Mr. Chin, on the November 22'd meeting when we had approved what was the Final Draft Plan; are you still in favor of that Final Draft Plan? MR. CHIN: I am in favor of this Commission making what it considers to be proper decisions. MR. KAHUL I appreciate that, thank you. 5