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<br />KERN: You may begin. Thanks.
<br />
<br />ANDERSON: I just, thank you very much for hearing this. It’s just I think we’re in an ambiguous
<br />situation. I don’t want to be at odds with the Planning Department. And Friday night came into
<br />question as not being part of the weekend; and I went to the, you know, Merriam’s Dictionary, texted,
<br />had emails to go back and forth, and determined that Friday night was part of the weekend.
<br />
<br />Concerts versus fund-raisers is a tough one; and that’s where I'm asking for your help and clarification.
<br />Fund-raising today is a very tough process. Money is very tight. The Kumu Na Lio is a 501(C)(3). I
<br />know them well. I'm not part of the organization. My wife sits on the board. But it costs over $4000
<br />in almost a year to establish the 501(C)(3). In February they were approached, there was a country
<br />group from Texas that won nine Emmys and they wanted to play at the arena at our market. We had a
<br />steak dinner, 20 to 50 vendors, mechanical bucking machine, we had a hoe down. It's kind of a
<br />community thing. And the condition was that the producer, Lazarus (sic) I believe it was, would
<br />produce the event for Kumu Na Lio; and that created some stir. There’s a poster here and I think you
<br />see one guitar and a fiddle. Whether that’s a concert, I don’t know; and that’s what I’m here for your
<br />clarification.
<br />
<br />Let me just put something in perspective. You saw the aerial. Ms. Fredericks has called the cops on
<br />every function we've done, every birthday, every graduation party, every hoe down. And sometimes
<br />with an aerial it's hard to understand or to see the perspective. As we sit here her house is at the Civic
<br />Auditorium. So it is somewhat of a distance, little over a half a mile. On one occasion, our last hoe
<br />down, we had the Silver Spurs from Maui. And when we have a function, a market, a hoe down, if we
<br />can piggyback with a group coming to the island, that is normally what dictates it. Cause it is very
<br />expensive to bring a group over specifically for one function. So the Silver Spurs called us, and they
<br />were playing Saturday in Kohala, so they said we can do a Friday night at your place. It worked out
<br />well. The Honokaa rodeo was going on, etc. The police came, four officers from the Hamakua
<br />district, one sergeant and three officers. We escorted them down to the subject property,
<br />Ms. Frederick’s, we sat at her gate for 10 minutes, and they timed it. And in two occasions one of the
<br />officers said I think I heard a base note, and two other officers said I don't think I heard it. So, I mean,
<br />that is the volume of music we are talking being the disturbance. So I don't know what to say in that
<br />regard, cause I know she is filing letters. We have one neighbor who is a quarter of a mile away,
<br />Monty Miranda, he is a good friend. He has never had any objection to any of the uses we had. So I
<br />just want to, in passing I don't want to make light of her objections but I just want to clarify her
<br />physical distance from us. And then as you saw there are three rows of 80-foot eucalyptus trees
<br />between us as well. So we've got a pretty good sound buffer. As I say four officers and myself sat at
<br />her gate for ten minutes during the loudest concert we've had, concert, and it was negligible. One
<br />officer suggested I file a harassment. And I said, you know, two wrongs don't make a right. I hope we
<br />don't have to go that route.
<br />
<br />So what I am trying to do is clarify today fund-raiser versus concert. I don't know the answer. I
<br />suggested some language. But for a 501(C)(3), and with all due respect Mr. Chairman or Ms. Planning
<br />Director, I think more people come to listen to music than the politician most times. I have been in the
<br />political fund-raising business for 20 years with my dad and the music draws them much more than the
<br />politician. To get people out a big name, Kapena, or something really is necessary. And a 501(C)(3)
<br />in this economy is going to use big name music to bring them out.
<br />
<br />Now the steak dinner, the bucking machine, the vendors, all benefit from the crowd. To get the crowd
<br />out I believe music is a component. What the ratio of proceeds the 501(C)(3) is is your discretion, or if
<br />it is considered even possible to bring in music for a fund-raiser. I'm not sure how else to raise funds
<br />in this economy. Any questions?
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<br /> EXHIBIT A
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