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MR. GARCIA: I 'm telling you, not it won ' t work.
<br /> CHAIRMAN SAKATA: Are there any other questions
<br /> for Mr. Garcia? (No questions) Thank you, Mr. Garcia.
<br /> Before Mr. Fuke goes, we would like to call
<br /> on him for a few more questions.
<br /> MR. FUKE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Obviously,
<br /> I am rather concerned because it not only affects the Research
<br /> and Development Department but it also affects the Planning
<br /> Department. I thinkthe basic question we all must ask, as I
<br /> tried to point out earlier, is that, is there a need for an
<br /> agency, or a body, or whomever, whether it is a separate
<br /> department or part of the office of the mayor, or offce_of council
<br /> services, or whomever, wherein the principle responsibility would
<br /> be to actually bird dog new economic development programs and
<br /> projects for the County of Hawaii, that' s the critical question.
<br /> And if you can say, yes there is a need for such a body, such a
<br /> agency, such a department, as I indicated earlier, by putting it
<br /> in the Planning Department. . .well , people may accuse me of
<br /> becoming an empire builder, but, by putting it in the Planning
<br /> Department, I think it would be non-functional. . .because the
<br /> Planning Department ' s responsibility is to look at the environ-
<br /> mental , the economic, the social, the whole bunch of other kinds
<br /> of concerns. If we have the economic development activity in
<br /> our backpocket and when we go out into the community and we tell
<br /> them, look, this is a program that we have supported and we've
<br /> accomodated all of the economic and the social and the historic
<br /> site implications, I don ' t think we can generate credibility.
<br /> They are going to say, how can you do that. How can you say
<br /> that, when, in fact, you are the ones who developed the project,
<br /> kind of thing. What is really critical from our standpoint,
<br /> long term planning standpoint, is you have to convince the
<br /> public that you have a department that is very objective because
<br /> it takes a look and it doesn ' t go in bed, so to speak, with any
<br /> one component. . .economic development, drainage, or what have
<br /> you. This is why I think it is very important for the long term
<br /> development interests for the Big Island, we have got to have a
<br /> Planning Department that is distinct and separate from economic
<br /> development, from water development, or whatever.
<br /> MR. SCHUTTE: . . . .with regards to credibility,
<br /> everything is separate now but you still have a hard time with
<br /> the public to retain credibility so. . .
<br /> I wanted to ask you, in regards to the Board
<br /> of Appeals, could this be consolidated with the Planning
<br /> Commission. . .the powers of the Board of Appeals. . .it seems like
<br /> the Planning Commission has a certain job to do and passes the
<br /> buck over to the Board of Appeals and if you have another
<br /> appeal to the Board of Appeals and go right on down the line.
<br /> Is it impossible for the Planning Commission to assume that
<br /> the responsibilities of the Board of Appeals. . . .
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