2016-03-17 Leeward Exh C (Public Testimony on SMA 16-063)

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MCMICHAEL: Yes. BEAUDET: Thank you. If you could introduce yourself first. Speak clearly into the mike for recording purposes. MCMICHAEL: Simmy McMichael. BEAUDET: Thank you. If you wish to proceed with your testimony. MCMICHAEL: This meeting was rescheduled, and I want to contest the hearing, and when I called Planning to file, to get instructions exactly how to do it because I’ve never done it, I was told that it’s been rescheduled. I said I didn’t get a notice. He said, oh, you’ll get one soon. And I said, well, the filing fee is 100 dollars? He said no, it’s 200. I said, well, my notice says it’s 100 dollars and I just called Planning in Kealakekua and they verified it was 100. He said no, now it’s 200. So yesterday I emailed Jeff because I had problems, the file is all in Hilo, and he basically said and verified that I need to correspond in letter. I said, seriously do you mean letter like I have to mail it? Yes, so we can be clear. I don’t think that this is fair that everything is held in Hilo when the project is in Kailua-Kona and I can’t ask questions and send attachments and get a response. I mean I, I, we should be hands-on to this. This is serious for me. I am an owner there. I’m part of it. So I just think that this is not good, and I think the people need to be addressed to this. It makes it, and then this, this, I don’t understand the process, so where, people didn’t know about this hearing until I made it clear that please come and support. And so it’s all confusing because I had told them it was today, which people rescheduled work, cancelled airline flight, and a lot of people didn’t get the notice, and they are all confused. And it confused me, too, because basically I was showing up here to sample a hearing, because I talked to Elizabeth Gillis here and said, do you have any kind of meeting that I can come to so I can get heads-up on this matter? She said that it was today, that there was going to be the hearing but not for this agenda, it’s for all other things. So this is like a surprise for me that it’s on the agenda still. When I was clarified by Planning in Kona that it wasn’t on the agenda, so this is all taken me by surprise. And I don’t think it’s fair — BEAUDET: Mrs. McMichael — MCMICHAEL: Yes. BEAUDET: — we understand your concern, and at times the process of these applications can be a bit confusing. But it’s not the Commission’s place to determine if the application is going to be deferred to a future date; it’s up to the applicant. So the applicant made the request. And it’s also not a Commission matter on dealing with the process; it’s an administrative matter. So we hear your concern, and so does the administrative arm of the Planning Department, but it’s a departmental issue; it’s not a Commission issue. MCMICHAEL: Okay. BEAUDET: We just get told what’s on the agenda and we deal with that when we show up for the meeting. Yes, I wish it wasn’t deferred because we all went through the material and we took 2 EXHIBIT C