2017-04-17 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case

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is at its peak. Even in so-called non-peak times the park and parking are overcrowded due to visitors and surf schools. And, as Mr. Freitas mentioned, a sewer breach is bad portents of things to come. As far as traffic, no matter how many roads are built, they are filled before connectors are built. Crawling is the norm in both directions at most times of the day from Lako to Kam III. A recent challenge to residents in the area like me is having to wait at the light and a line of cars coming up Kam III Road when I’ve just gone shopping to KTA Keauhou, normally a five-minute drive, but now it’s 20 sometimes. With the new bypass it’s only gotten worse. It will continue to do so without the Ali‘i Parkway, which was the main artery proposed to alleviate traffic to and from the area. And even that roadway will create traffic knots down the line at Kuakini and other jammed roads. Most important, with subdivisions like this one approved and started in advance of the roads design, the road is guaranteed to be hit immediately with heavy traffic. We feel strongly that this development is untimely. We appreciate that there are some protections for cultural sites, but it’s apparently not enough. As a person who has been directly involved in the creation and ongoing work of the Kona Community Development Plan, I question whether this plan sets the parameters. Somewhat uncharacteristically representatives of this development proposal have not presented it, to the best of my knowledge, for comment at the Action Committee level or members of the community, and that group in particular can address concerns regarding its adherence to the Smart Growth standards within the Kona Community Development Plan. We ask that officials understand the negatives of this subdivision proposal, which will saddle residents with another boondoggle, which only those who live here will have to live with, and that’s not to mention the cultural sensitivities. Rat – I’m summarizing – rats – it’s my final sentence – rats in a cage comes to mind. And everyone knows that the more rats there are in a finite space, the less friendly, healthy and happy they are and the more problems between and around them arise. Mahalo for this opportunity to speak. I really appreciate that you made extra time for the public. JOSEPH KASSOL: My name is Dr. Joe Kassol. Thank you for this opportunity. I’d like to state upfront that I feel that the culturally relevant testimony that’s already been given is the most important testimony that you may hear at all. And unfortunately, within the alien bureaucratic paradigm infrastructure that we have here, I am very concerned that it is not given the weight that it should. And so I hope that you can transcend this western bureaucratic paradigm and reach the proper conclusion, which respects the host culture here. Without that, all is lost. That being said, I’m going to talk about things that I feel are rather small in comparison. But within this bureaucratic structure we have people who are expert who make their living at dancing around the proper hoops and the maze to affect their economic objectives. And I believe there is an inherent conflict of interest; for example, in your archaeological surveys, which are superficial site surveys of the surface that have identified 58 sites, when we hear from people who know the area, that there are 800. So I want to know if the ark archaeologists who carried out the survey can guarantee that they have identified every burial site in that site, and that they can guarantee that they’ve identified every culturally relevant – because I know how their dance works; if you are a good archaeologist and you do identify all those sites, no one is going to hire you again. Because 5 2017-04-17 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case