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CHR. HAITSUKA: Good afternoon, sir. <br />JOEL GIMPEL <br />(At this time Joel Gimpel came forward to address members of the Charter Commission.) <br />MR. GIMPEL: Thank you. As a retired attorney, I know the meaning of the word brief, <br />which is what I will be. I moved to Kona in May of 1996, and since I've lived here, I've <br />been quite active, as some of you know, on a number of county -wide board and commissions <br />including the first Cost of Government Commission, which I served as Chair. I was later on <br />the Board of Ethics, and now, for the last two years, I've been the Chair of the Board of <br />Appeals. I have reviewed a number of the proposed amendments, and all, I believe, clearly <br />address some valid concerns. I know that there are possible corrections to the language that <br />is incorporated to clarify some of the concerns that have been raised today, but I'm not going <br />to take the time to go through each one of them and suggest what those corrections should be. <br />Please don't construe my silence regarding any other of the suggested Charter Amendments <br />as opposition to them. <br />I believe that the amendments that I support are important because they protect natural <br />resources, they emphasize the importance of the community development plans, they are <br />needed to assure that conflicts of interest don't exist in our county government, and they <br />protect citizens from disenfranchisement by the council majority that could otherwise limit <br />committee membership; and they assure government accountability and openness, something <br />that has been of much concern lately, and all at little or no additional cost. In any event, this <br />is a democracy and you should, whether or not you agree with the concept of a specific <br />amendment, allow the people to vote; unless the amendment that has been suggested is <br />unnecessary, immoral, illegal, or unconstitutional. Absent that, please don't substitute your <br />judgment for the voters. Thank you, I'll be happy to answer any questions. <br />CHR. HAITSUKA: Thank you, Mr. Gimpel. Do we have any one else in Kona? <br />MS. KONAN: Yes, we have Debbie Hecht speaking on Communication 80, CA -15, 16, 24, <br />27 and 35. <br />DEBBIE HECHT <br />(At this time Debbie Hecht came forward to address members of the Charter Commission.) <br />MS. HECHT: Good afternoon, Commissioners. I was wondering, in past meetings we've <br />been able to talk to you as you consider each of the Charter Amendments, and I was <br />wondering if we could do that again. I have all these things I'd like to talk to you on, but I <br />was wondering if I could just wait until you started discussing them to talk about them at that <br />point. <br />CHR. HAITSUKA: I think what we are going to do today, is we are going call people up if <br />we believe their testimony will be helpful while we deliberate over the proposed <br />amendments. So, if you want to hang around after giving your testimony, if we feel that you <br />15 <br />