2012-12-06 Windward Transcript Connections

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AU: Thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Okay, we have Steve Hirakami. You’re already sworn yourself, you’ve already stated your name. So go ahead, three minutes. HIRAKAMI: Thank you. I’d like to just mention that I wanted to address the fact that there are a lot of students here this morning that are eager to testify. I know that our Shady Grove went first so the students didn’t have time. But, you know, this is a great educational experience for them to see government in action. You know, this is more of a global issue. You know, Connections have been involved in a lot of projects that have contributed to the community. I know for sure that they’ve received some BEWED (phonetic) grants, they’ve studied the stream, they’ve studied the ecosystem out there in Hilo Bay. They are absolutely adding to the community now. There’s never going to be a perfect location for any kind of development. As you know, geothermal is an issues. And what’s the perfect location? There is always going to be setbacks, there’s always going to be things that get in the way. But I think that you have to really weigh the benefits over the disadvantages and see if those can be mitigated through working cooperatively with each other. Not like taking a, drawing a line in the center and saying you can’t do that. Because you know what, things can be mitigated – traffic, bussing, all of those issues. But the greater issue is that is Connections School properly located now in the old store building, right in the downtown in Urban, with homeless people right here? Or will they be able to really contribute to solving problems that haven’t even been created yet about sustainability, about our food project? We’re lucky enough to be on 25 acres out in Pahoa; and we have fishponds, we have taro gardens, we have, we’re raising animals. We’ve got a macadamia nut orchard. These kinds of activities are so valuable to the life and breath of a student in our society, especially on Hawai‘i island. Come on, we depend so much oil, we depend so much on importing food. These kids are answers to some of our problems. These are the future engineers that are going to design the kind of renewable energy sources and contribute to the food industry in our sustainability of our island. These schools, we’re -. We’re not takers. Our school is all about giving. We teach our kids first to give, volunteer and to give community service. And I think that you have to weigh the benefits of creating community givers right in front of you. So on behalf of the children that were here today, I would like you to consider them, consider their voices that you haven’t heard and you probably will hear at a later meeting, you know, consider the children of Hawai‘i, of this island. Thank you. AU: Thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Okay, can Kerri Marks -? Please sit. But we’re going to hear Wayne Kanemoto first. So, Wayne, can you state your name, where you reside and your three minutes. KANEMOTO: My name is Wayne Kanemoto, and I live on Mele Manu Street. The point I haven’t heard is, and I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for this Planning Commission or not, but my biggest concern is the financial commitment the charter school has for this project. I’ve been a school principal; I’ve run Laupahoehoe School; and I’ve been an administrator at different school. And as you already know, the schools have faced tremendous pressure because of money. I taught at Laupahoehoe School. I was there when it was the, they had the Centennial Celebration. And look, it has become a charter school; and I frankly don’t think that they’ll be able to survive because of the financial condition. You have to have revenues coming in. And I haven’t seen a financial commitment base for Connections. They’re undertaking a very large project because they’re doing construction. And even the operational cost really needs to be addressed; and I don’t see that. So I 21 EXHIBIT D