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MR. KAHAWAI OLA `A : The reaction was almost the same, with different people
<br />making - -- Especially the part of Kea` au. Because prior to that, I think, they were working
<br />on the previous ten years of people being represented by a Hilo district. At that particular
<br />point in time, and I can't speak for the people that were in District 3; so ten years prior,
<br />this has been 20 years at least, that District 3 always included parts of what is now Puna;
<br />Kurtistown, Mountain View, those places. This time around, the people in Puna wanted to
<br />include Kurtistown, Mountain View, as being part of Puna. So, with the bodies that they
<br />had, that were there, they could have. As I said, as we went around the island, again, I
<br />need to make sure everybody understands the reason that it happened, I was adamant
<br />about staying on the Puna border, because of those historical things you were talking
<br />about. That has nothing to do with the judicial districts; it has to do with an island district.
<br />As a Hawaiian, the islands were split that way. There is a Puna district and there is a Hilo
<br />district. So, that is why I was adamant to stay there. But, after we went to see how it
<br />would be to move the coastline, and I was able to say okay, we'll move the coastline
<br />because of the relationship of the whole coastline with the culture, we were of that culture,
<br />in Keaukaha.
<br />For the record, maybe I should change the, get all of you to understand. Keaukaha, all of
<br />my life, has been spelled wrong, wrong. If you go look in the Library of Congress, when
<br />Kuhio created the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, Keaukaha is called Kea` aukaha.
<br />Kea` aukaha; and I can bring you the Federal record. The point I am trying to make there
<br />is with that research under my belt, is one of the reasons I went as far as I wanted to with
<br />Kea` au. Not only because the landowner, and people in Kea` au called and said, "We have
<br />always been part of, yeah, we are Puna, but we have always been part of the legislative
<br />districts of Hilo." That is because they were the same plantation people that when the
<br />plantation closed, their kids moved to Waiakea Houselots, Waikea Homesteads, because
<br />of no work now in Ola` a. They moved to those places in Hilo, but had continuity back to
<br />Kea` au. So, that's why, when the Kea` au people kept saying - -the older people in Kea` au,
<br />which is the town on either side of the Volcano Highway, back there, those plantation
<br />homes -- expressed they would like to continue to be part of Hilo. That is why I was
<br />adamant that we encompass Kea` au into Hilo; not to take away the identity, because they
<br />are always going to be Ola` a; they are always going to be the same place, except
<br />legislatively. That's the way they want it to be. That's the way they felt comfortable;
<br />having it all these years.
<br />But, to answer your question, Mike, ten years ago, it was that. It has always been part.
<br />There was no vocal talk about I want to be part of Puna, where all the people that came
<br />out to speak from Fern Forest, Zendo, for coming out and saying, I was born in Fern
<br />Forest, I want to be here, that's part of Puna. So the numbers showed that he was
<br />probably right. The growth was there, they should be into Puna. So, I again, only say,
<br />Kea` au is where it is at, why I wanted it to be there, is for that reason. People expressed it,
<br />just like how Waikoloa came out to express; that, and the landowners, so I am saying there
<br />was no body, I will give this to everybody else, with the exception of Hilo. Hilo, we had
<br />three people show up; and three people said don't split us, and we didn't. Maybe the rest
<br />of Hilo has apathy set in. Maybe they just thought well, it's going to be there. But that is
<br />not what this thing was about. It was about here's some numbers, we got to put into nine
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