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<br />J. Floyd <br /> spoke about the adopted Puna Community Development Plan that was <br />adopted by the Council back in 2008. It had to do with a Mass Transit Master plan like <br />Hannah mentioned. There are timelines for certain things and a lot of things were not <br />accomplished. He thought the park and ride lots in Puna weren’t implemented but Alisa <br />said they do exist - one in Keaau at the Makuu Farmer’s Market and one in HPP. <br /> <br />H. Hedrick <br /> stated that another issue that Mayor Kenoi admitted to in meetings was the <br />reason that there is no public transportation to the airport is because of the taxi drivers <br />who control public transportation to the airport. They didn’t want the Hele-On bus going <br />to the airport and picking up their potential passengers. She commented that Bill <br />Brilhante, at one of the meetings, made some statements that were anti-ADA and <br />anti-people with disability. His comment was something along the line of, well, unless <br />it’s in County Code, we don’t have to do it. <br /> <br />S. Nagasawa <br /> stated that when she asked Mr. Brilhante if it was allowable that taxi <br />drivers would charge $1 a grocery bag for each person that takes the cab, he replied <br />that yes it was legal for the taxi drivers to do that. And when I asked him why that’s <br />allowed and why there are so much issues with the cabs, he said, well, what we can do <br />is, do away with it and then there is nothing. Is that what you guys want? I felt that was <br />really not an appropriate response. I just wanted to back up Hannah. When I go to <br />Honolulu, they take my suitcases, they put it in the trunk, they take it out. Nobody <br />charges me. Why should they charge somebody for a grocery bag? Lynise stated that <br />she was never charged per bag for groceries. <br /> <br />K. Haumea <br /> stated that when there is a ship in Hilo port, the taxi service becomes <br />non-existent for the Hilo community. <br /> <br />C. Cholas <br /> felt that because of the amount of concerns, the amount of people that are <br />affected by transportation issues, that the best thing that this committee can do is plead <br />with the Mayor to call a meeting with Mass Transit and make it a public forum so that all <br />the things we’re hearing now can go to where something can happen. Because all <br />we’re going to be doing is channeling it to the Mayor. <br /> <br />(Janice Mancini arrived at 10:50.) <br /> <br />It was decided that Pauline would draft the letter to the Mayor on behalf of the <br />Committee strongly encouraging him to create a forum that would include Mass Transit <br />Agency, Mayor’s Office and the public, to express their concerns about transportation <br />needs. Committee members would provide input and Laura would finalize it. <br />J Yoshimoto stated that the committee would have to be in agreement with the content <br />and have one more meeting to approve the letter. He wouldn’t recommend going back <br />and forth with e-mails because that might be a Sunshine issue. <br /> <br />R. Schoen <br />After inquiry from Sam, stated that yes, the forum would have to be <br />advertised because the members of this committee would be attending. It would be like <br />an official business for which you have to provide a notice of public meeting. She <br />suggested that it could be at a regularly scheduled Committee on People with <br />Disabilities meeting and then it would have to be agendized. <br /> <br /> <br />-4- <br /> <br />