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minutes 03-08-00Page 7 of 35
<br />JIM: Well, it’s simple. The Constitution clearly separates the restrictions of lands. No buts, no if, unless your attorney can say
<br />they’re all one.
<br />YUEN: Let me just say something a little bit more, and I don’t want to get into a lengthy kind of summary of the whole
<br />history of the counties, and why the boundaries are set forth the way they are, or the Hawaiian Home lands and how
<br />jurisdiction works on the Hawaiian Home lands, but from what you’re saying here,
<br />I think I want to emphasize one sentence in my letter, and perhaps I should have written more than one sentence on the
<br />subject in my letter. The sentence in my letter says something like how the county’s jurisdiction is exercised over different
<br />types of land within the county may differ depending on the status of the land. The way the County exercises it’s jurisdiction
<br />over the Hawaiian Home lands is different than it is over, to give an example, other state-owned property, over private
<br />property and it’s different than it is over Federal property. And I’ll return to that thought in just a second. Let me say, though,
<br />that there really is no doubt, from a legal point of view, that the County of Hawaii does encompass the whole island, and
<br />according to State law, must encompass the whole island, including the Hawaiian Homes lands. As a strictly practical matter,
<br />let me explain what the significance of that is. When somebody living on Hawaiian Homes land, in the middle of the night,
<br />hears somebody breaking into their house, and they pick up the phone and call 911, and connect to the Hawaii Police
<br />Department, the Police Department is expected, and has the duty of responding to that call, and going down there, and if they
<br />catch somebody burglarizing that house, they have the jurisdiction to make an arrest. They have that jurisdiction because the
<br />Hawaiian Homes lands are part of the County. If they were not part of the County, the Police Department does not have
<br />jurisdiction over it. To give another practical example, if we decided to exclude the Hawaiian Homes lands from the County,
<br />I do not see how people living on Hawaiian Homes lands would get to vote for County offices like the Mayor. People who
<br />live on the Island of Maui do not get to vote for our Mayor simply because they are not within the County. This is the
<br />practical significance of the Hawaiian Homes lands being within the County.
<br />Now, let me return to that thought of how the jurisdiction is exercised over different parts of land is different. How the
<br />jurisdiction of the criminal law works in Hawaiian Homes land and how the jurisdiction of the Police and the Fire
<br />Department works in Hawaiian Homes land is exactly the same as other kinds of properties in Hawaii. The crimes are the
<br />same. The police make arrests the same. The County Highway Department maintains the roads, supposed to, anyway,
<br />maintain the roads, right? No?
<br />JIM: Okay, I won’t answer that for you.
<br />YUEN: So, that when we talk about a police jurisdiction, fire jurisdiction, it really is just about the same. When we get to
<br />zoning, it’s a tough area, and I said I’m not going to give an essay on zoning for a couple of reasons. One is that it is a tough
<br />area. What is the County’s zoning authority in Hawaiian Homes land? I’m not up on this, and I don’t know what the latest
<br />Opinion is. They may have said something like, in connection with the Wal-Mart re-zoning, we don’t have any zoning
<br />authority at all over Hawaiian Homes land. I don’t know if I agree with that or not. At any rate, that’s not something that can
<br />be decided on the level of this Charter. It’s a matter of what is the State law regarding zoning, and what is the State law
<br />regarding Hawaiian Homes Commission. The Charter does properly say that the Hawaiian Homes lands are within the
<br />County, and how that plays out as far as specific questions, and the tough area of zoning is another legal question that really
<br />is outside of this particular Charter. My own view on that, by the way, if I were to say something about it, is that the County
<br />zoning cannot frustrate the purposes of the Hawaiian Homes Act. I don’t know if I would go so far as to say that the County
<br />has absolutely no zoning authority. But, that’s it in a nutshell.
<br />JIM: I’d like to reply. Can I?
<br />RAY: Sure. So, in regard to services, especially public health and safety, that’s the response I’m interested in. Are you really
<br />suggesting that the County completely divorce itself in terms of public health and safety on Hawaiian Home lands?
<br />JIM: Let me answer that, that public safety, what this gentleman just got through saying.
<br />RAY: Okay.
<br />JIM: I think you have to understand, and with respect to the attorneys, they talk a lot. Put the provisions in front of them
<br />because there’s a Constitutional provision of Hawaiian Homes. As far as the road maintaining, our position, you’re just
<br />janitors. You’re getting paid for do that, that jurisdiction. And that is on Section 2-20. Look at it. You’re janitors. That’s all
<br />you are. Now as far as the land is concerned, read Heely vs. OHA. It tells you clearly. Mr. Heely, the judge, ruled the State
<br />don’t own the land of Hawaiian Homes and 5(f) clearly tells that. The Supreme Court just rules really real good, the
<br />Cayetano, but they don’t. They’re stockholders, (Indiscernible) Read it very, very close. That’s who we are.
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