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use of that planner's toolbox, and be clear about what you're trying to do, what barriers you have
<br />in your way, what tools are best suited to overcome those barriers and get to that goal. Right?
<br />And, so, to balance all those three, and to be always mindful of the diversity in community, you
<br />really need to stay anchored in a fundamentally open planning process. And, what that means, it
<br />means many things, but a few key things here are: You need to remember that not everybody is
<br />going to be able to come to meetings. We like to think that the planning goes on at meetings like
<br />this, but it really can't be limited to that. They are obviously critical, but they can't be limited to
<br />that. People, particularly in places like Ka`u, are working multiple jobs, have long commutes,
<br />have other things going on in their lives. Not everybody has the time, and I would even say the
<br />privilege, of being able to come out and participate actively in a process like that. And, so you
<br />have to figure out ways along the, in the planning process, to make sure you're engaging people
<br />who otherwise are never going to come to you. You gotta go to them, right?
<br />The second thing is there's always, there's oft—there's common shared goals, but often diversity
<br />and preferences over, over how to achieve those goals. And, part of it is understanding the
<br />complexity some times and the challenges you have to overcome to achieve them. And, so,
<br />another key element of community planning and an open community planning process is to keep
<br />it objective and based in clear analysis. And, that's one thing we've done very extensively with
<br />the Ka`u CDP to, to actually quite to a fatiguing level. We were so meticulous about some of
<br />these things, but the advantage of it is it's all transparent. It's all open. People can see the
<br />reasoning, challenge it, question assumptions so that we're all on the same page, considering the
<br />same facts, seeing how we're arriving at the same conclusions, right?
<br />And, then amongst all that, it's always important to recognize that there's an element of truth in
<br />every perspective. I was taught that long ago, and I found it to be one of the critical things to
<br />remember in life. As you may, someone may be yelling at you and you may disagree
<br />vehemently with what they're saying, but they, they believe what they believe for a reason
<br />because there's an element of truth in what they see. And, the job of a planning committee and
<br />of planners is to hear that truth and to make sure it's understood and consider when choosing
<br />strategies and making decisions.
<br />And, so everybody involved in a community planning process—community members, Steering
<br />Committee members, planners, commissioners—need to come to this with a learner's hat. With
<br />an open mind. With an effort to hear and understand where people are coming from and, and the
<br />willingness to accommodate and understand it and try to find common ground.
<br />And, so, having done all that with Ka`u, we're really here tonight to celebrate. The last meeting
<br />of the Steering Committee, when they made their final recommendations, was a celebration of
<br />years of hard work of an excellent job of them listening to, hearing, and acting on what they
<br />heard from the community. In a similar way, this is another step. This is another reason to
<br />celebrate. We're now at the, one of the, nearing the end of adoption. We have another
<br />opportunity to hear from folks who see issues coming in kinda cold with a clear perspective used
<br />to, used to considering other types of land use applications. So, it comes with a very useful,
<br />critical perspective to help us further strengthen the plan, if appropriate, right?
<br />EXHIBIT A
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