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minutes 03-11-00Page 10 of 17
<br />RAY: Sue, first.
<br />IRVINE: I just want to thank Bill for coming and I’m hearing you.
<br />HIGASHI: I think the word ‘convoluted’ may be a wrong word. I think we’re still striving to make sure that the Commissions
<br />that we addressed are represented well, so the representation of making the Commission is to ensure that we still have nine
<br />members, and they come from specific districts. So in the Commissions, so that it doesn’t get confused with the 6-3, or
<br />whatever, we took special consideration to make sure that each Commission, where there is 9, can come from single member
<br />districts that are now. Many of them are not. Some are seven under the old system. Some are six historical districts and three
<br />at-large. And just let me add, the other idea that I’ve heard people from Puna say, at least they have an opportunity to vote for
<br />four Councilmen who may represent them. So, that’s another way of looking at it.
<br />GRAHAM: Yes, I understand that. We used to have the opportunity to vote for nine.
<br />HIGASHI: Right, right, right, right.
<br />MARTIN: I guess to touch upon something you said earlier about the system being broken. I don’t think we looked at it as
<br />being broken. I, myself, looked at it as being an opportunity to have change and giving the voters the opportunity, if in fact
<br />they want the change. As you’re saying, there may be a majority that doesn’t want it, and it’ll not pass, no problem. As least
<br />give them the opportunity, and as our Chair has mentioned earlier, once it does become final, it becomes a sale, right? And
<br />we have to put this out in the manner that people are willing to accept it and understand it. I think that’s going to be the key.
<br />Whether they’re for it or against it is going to be their prerogative, but a good salesman can sell ice to an Eskimo, and that’s
<br />what it comes down to.
<br />HOLSCHUH: Let me just ask a question. Fred Holschuh from Honokaa. I didn’t ask to testify but I was just curious. I
<br />understand a letter suggesting, and I’m not suggesting this is the right way to do it, but I had heard about this letter that was
<br />sent, I guess, to you and the Council about suggesting the districts be enlarged with two representatives from each district, so
<br />there’d be four districts, creating eight people, and then the Chair elected island-wide. Was that considered by the
<br />Commission, and whatever happened to that idea, and is there still a possibility to consider that?
<br />RAY: We talked about that from that standpoint, and I don’t think anybody thought that was a particularly good idea so there
<br />was no advocacy from anybody here. I mean, there are lots of scenarios. You could use the Senate Districts and go with three
<br />members from each Senate District. It’s kind of a simple way to look at it. What is being suggested now, by far, follows the
<br />more standard model throughout the country that’s employed. This is a pretty standard way of doing things, the six single
<br />member and the three at-large, and the variation on that that the one person island-wide be the Council Chair. A lot of folks
<br />go with the highest vote getter of the at-large seats as the Council Chair, or the Mayor. So, that’s a standard way, but I think
<br />that’s something we do need to point out. This is a very common way of organizing the Council districts. It’s something
<br />that’s followed in an awful lot of jurisdictions. That’s not to say it’s the best thing for here, but it’s a very widely used model
<br />vs. the thing that Keola suggested. The other one seemed even more convoluted and harder to understand, or whatever. The
<br />other thing that has appeal for this, from an efficiency standpoint, is you’d eliminate those nine districts, as far as having to
<br />deal with them in terms of elections and separate balloting, and whatever. It’d make it a lot simpler if you go with the six
<br />House Districts and then that makes the election process simpler, a little more efficient, if you look at it that way. So, you
<br />could say that’s another argument. You go with your State Districts and somehow deal with that.
<br />HOLSCHUH: Forgive me for not - maybe this is written somewhere and I just didn’t understand it. The at-large seats would
<br />be at-large island-wide, everybody votes, and they can come from anywhere, three people, but theoretically be elected from
<br />Kohala, anywhere. Actually, you just made a comment about the Senate Districts.
<br />Was there any thought to linking the at-large to the Senate Districts and what happened with that?
<br />HERKES: They voted it down.
<br />RAY: We just decided that was not the way to go. But, yes, we discussed that.
<br />IRVINE: John, the reason behind thinking that that wasn’t any big improvement is that everybody could still come from Hilo
<br />because of the nature of our -
<br />RAY: Could still come from East Hawaii.
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