1999-08-25 Charter Commission Minutes (2)

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minutes 8-25-99Page 19 of 60 the state at the time, was very poorly attended and I was quite sorry to hear that, and I can understand your reluctance to spend additional dollars to go to a place where people might not come out but perhaps, if there’s a coordinated effort between the printed media, the television and the internet, this may increase the involvement. I happen to believe, and I think many of you know this and you heard me say this, that the Charter Review Commission’s work and the work being conducted by the Planning Department, in conjunction with the Council and other departments, regarding the ten year General Plan Review are probably the most important work that we, as citizens of Hawaii Island, have before us. And I think both of these projects have the potential, individually and collectively, to further empower, as Commission Member Santangelo said, the public to get involved in what is a once in ten year opportunity. So if I can be helpful in any way with regard to this, because I’m a strong proponent of it, I’ll be more than happy to do so and I thank you very much. I’ll be happy to answer any questions. Thank you Mr. Ray. RAY: Thanks. Any questions? TYLER: Thank you, sir. RAY: Thank you. Okay, any other statements from the public? Al, could you introduce yourself? KONISHI: I’m Al Konishi. I’m the County Clerk. Myself and my staff are here to answer questions that you have. I did want to make a statement as a private citizen later though, and I was wondering if I could hold off till after 4:30 because if not, I’m going to sign out on vacation time and make a statement because I really want to avoid any confusion that my statement is strictly my own views, so after our presentation if I could give my statement then, I would appreciate it. RAY: Sure. Any other statements from the public? Introduce yourself, please. VICENTE: My name is Dwight Vicente. I’m a natural person. I’m not an incorporation. The issue that Fred Rice is raising about the elections ought to be coming up as a question because apparently there’s two publics in Hawaii and the U.S. Constitution there’s supposed to only be one. So after reading Public Law 103-150, I don’t consider myself a U.S. citizen but I’m still registered to vote. I made Al aware of that. He said that’s all right, you still can vote. So I choose to cast a blank ballot because I view the County and State of Hawaii as being illegal entities of the United States Congress. So I think the election issue ought to be raised. It’s like putting the cart in front of the horse because when Fred Rice go up there, I think it’s gonna switch around where people think it’s the Hawaiians are leeching off the general public. It’s the other way around and that’s how I look at it. The lands still belong to Hawaiians and they’re the indigenous people. And the people who call themselves U.S. citizens are actually foreigners here and that’s the proper perspective to view it at this point in time. So I think they should look into the elections first before even thinking about it. RAY: Okay, thank you, Dwight. Any other statements from the public? If not, we’ll proceed to - QUEROBIN: I wanted to speak on the Fire Commission. RAY: Sure, go ahead. QUEROBIN: I’ve submitted a written testimony. You should have copies of it. This is file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 8-25-99.html7/1/2011