2012-11-09 Windward Transcript Connections

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RECESSED – The Chair called a short recess at 10:47 a.m. RECONVENED – The Chair reconvened the meeting at 11:03 a.m. KERN: We’ll reconvene at this time. So couple of things, public testimony is limited to three minutes. If there’s anybody here signed up to testify for either geothermal issues, that’s probably not going to happen for at least a few hours. We have six -, it might not even happen today. We do have about 65 people signed up to testify so that’s over three hours of testimony. We would encourage that if you are just going to read your letter that you just, you know, summarize it, let us know that you’ve submitted it, support or opposition. But it is your choice to use the three minutes, how you’d like to -. And with that, we will get started. I will be calling up four people at a time. I’ll swear all four in, and then we’ll begin in the order in which they’re called. So I’ll call up Donald Ikeda, Ming Peng, Robert Wyman and Dr. Henry Lee Loy. Yes, Madam Director? LEITHEAD TODD: While you have the right to read aloud your written testimony, if you have submitted written testimony, in the interest of trying to get through all the people who have signed up who have perhaps not submitted written, if you’ve submitted written testimony, perhaps you could reference it and try to shorten it rather than taking the whole three minutes. Because as I calculate this, if everybody goes three minutes, then we’re at 3 ¼ hours; and if there’s time in between moving people in and out, then you’re pushing to four or five. Thank you. KERN: Thank you, Madam Director. Okay, can I get all of you to raise your right hands. Do you all swear to tell the truth today before the Windward Planning Commission? TESTIFIERS: Yes. KERN: Very good. And so what you’ll have is, give me your name, area in which you live, and then your three minutes will begin. So we’ll start with Donald Ikeda. IKEDA: My name is Donald Ikeda. I live at 966 Kaūmana Drive, about maybe 1/3 mile from the development. Okay, thank you, Commissioners, for allowing me to give a few comments. You know, I'm not against education. And I don't, I'm not against the non-traditional and the special students, special needs students. But I believe that any entity that's going into a community should make an honest effort to be a good neighbor. You know, when you are the new guy coming into a community, like Connections School, they should get together with the neighborhood; and I think Connections Charter School has failed to do this. I would like to ask the Commissioners to listen closely to all the concerns that the community members want to tell you. And there's a lot of misrepresentations and unfriendly acts by the school and its officials and its representatives. 18 EXHIBIT A