2000-03-08 Charter Commission Minutes

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minutes 03-08-00Page 6 of 35 Hawaiian Constitution against the provision of Hawaiian Home lands - as simple as that. It says, one sentence, in other words, from Article 1 up to 11 and from 12 up, you have no standings over those. You made a promise. You made a compact. You don’t have no standings, but you come and enforce, take taxes, take money, divert the money, divert the water, use our water. Come over there and suppress us in our water. You’re the body here. You are the body that’s going to make this County to understand that you are restricted to go on Hawaiian Home lands. You are the bodies. Nobody else. HIGASHI: Mr. Jim, I respect both of you, and your writing, and I know you did a lot of appeals in other cases. Maybe you can just draft some language for us so that we can understand it more clearly, and a final paragraph, or whatever, is going to be presented. JIM: If this body requests our assistance, we are here to work with the people. We are not here to condemn them. We will sue them, if we have to do that, and which we are. I am filing a case right now dealing with (indiscernible). And I’ll tell you the truth, unless what this body can help, that County Council shouldn’t be paying for policemans that punish and cheat and violate. You shouldn’t. You’re taxpayers all shouldn’t be paying it. I have coming up this filing. They pay the Police Department millions of dollars. This body stops all that. Right in this room, stop all that. Stops all that taxpayers money paying for nothing. Right in this body. HIGASHI: So if you will, if you can, between both of you, send something to us? JIM: If the Chairman suggests that, we’ll be glad to put in a draft. HIGASHI: At least we can look at it. Reduce to writing something, kind of compact, that expresses all your feelings. Maybe it can be presented to people. At least we can look at it and either vote aye or nay or whatever. JIM: We can, but like I said, we have to address the body. You have an attorney here. We just can’t - HIGASHI: Mr. Jim, he’ll advise us when we ask him for advice. MARTIN: Point of clarification, if I may, Mr. Chair. The attorney works for us. We don’t work for him. JIM: I know that but he has to know that. He wrote to us, okay? MARTIN: He knows that, and up to this point, he’s done a fantastic job working for us. HIGASHI: Based on a request by the Chairman, he wrote to you. JIM: Yes. HIGASHI: So, if you can submit something to us, we can look at it, Pat. I think that’s the best way. We’re going on and on and maybe over our heads, but I think if it is reduced to writing, what we can put in the Charter for people’s consideration. JIM: What do you request? You want body of laws? HERKES: One sentence. JIM: One sentence? HIGASHI: No, no, no. HERKES: Maybe two. HIGASHI: Let me finish. Something concise. If it is going to be put for an Amendment, what is it going to be? I mean, If you make it too long people are not going to understand. HERKES: We’re not going to put it in. file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 03-08-00.html7/1/2011