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CLARKSON: return to your seats. Will Steve Hirakami, Anthony Bartholomew, and Keanu
<br />Marumoto please come forward? Please raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm to tell
<br />the truth on this matter now before the Planning Commission?
<br />HIRAKAMI/BARTHOLOMEW: I do.
<br />MARUMOTO: Yes.
<br />CLARKSON: Okay, would you please state your name and area
<br />HIRAKAML —Good morning. My name is Steve Hirakami. I'm a resident of Kalapana. I am
<br />also the founding director and principal of Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science. The chairman
<br />kind of perforates [sic] what I was going to start out with so I don't have to go into the natural
<br />disasters that kind of affected this timing of the permit. But, I can speak more to the unnatural
<br />disaster of how charter schools have been treated by the State.
<br />We've, over 17 years, we've received this much for facility support. [Secretary's Note: Mr.
<br />Hirakami made a "zero " gesture.] So, it prompted us to find alternatives to building big
<br />buildings and big institutions and finding these little mom and pop places that kids feel
<br />comfortable coming to. If you think of it, institutionalized building creates institutionalized
<br />thinking. And, so, for these young children, coming to a little neighborhood place that they feel
<br />like they're going to aunty's house or if you think way back to the one -room school room, this is
<br />real comfortable for a young child for the first introduction to schooling so, I think that this is a
<br />different model.
<br />Now, the thing of State funding with no facilities, that's only the rent part. That only covers the
<br />rent. We're a lessee of the property. But, you know, the State has the engineers, the planners,
<br />the people that draw up concept designs for new schools. They have the architects. They have
<br />the engineers. They have the people that are project administrators that actually build schools.
<br />Now, I tell you, I, I am personally on our sixth certificate of occupancy. I've gotten five, so I
<br />know the process. It's very laborious to go through this project without any administrative
<br />support from the State of Hawaii. To do it on our own is a pretty enormous task in addition to
<br />running the school and teaching school, so I know first-hand what a, what a pain it is to go
<br />through the planning process, the building process, and getting the certificate of occupancy, and I
<br />got five under my belt. So, I know the process. It takes a long time, and I think that, you know,
<br />I disagree with, you know, the HPPOA, the Paradise Park—what have they done to the roads?
<br />You know, they're gonna assess us $3 a student per month to use the roads, and the roads are in
<br />bad shape. It's still red cinder. So, what have they done? So, I wouldn't go by their
<br />recommendations.
<br />I think that I agree with the Planning Director on granting the extension, but I think it should be
<br />for full four years. I don't think we have to come back. Things go a little slowly. I want to say,
<br />in Puna, we're, we are at a great disadvantage of roads, transportation, support services, and
<br />potable water, and all the things that go with a real school. So, I think that it's really beyond this
<br />kind of difficulties that people like these have come forth in the community and without
<br />EXHIBIT A
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