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1 <br /> MR. YAMASHIRO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members <br /> of the commission. Before I make my presentation, I would <br /> like to state that this is on my own behalf. we have circulated <br /> it but it is not the decision of the majority of the council. <br /> The action of the Charter Commission in proposing that <br /> the Hawaii County Council be made up of 9 members elected out <br /> of single member districts for 2-year terms is a disaster to <br /> orderly local government. In one fell swoop the commission has <br /> destroyed the good work it has done in creating an adequate <br /> system of checks and balances within our county government. As <br /> proposed , 9 single member districts can only result in a <br /> provincial body concerned with representative districts first <br /> and the whole county secondarily. <br /> Because of the very size and diverse nature of our <br /> island, the separation of individual districts will only further <br /> stress the differences between East and West, the populated vs <br /> unpopulated, rural vs urban , developed vs developing areas of <br /> our county. A councilman from the developed Hilo areas may not <br /> be as sympathetic to fire protection in Pahoa or Ka'u. His <br /> interest may lean towards park or recreational facilities or <br /> road maintenance. CIP moneys will no longer be apportioned on <br /> what is in the best interest of the county, but making sure <br /> the members of the council have projects in their district which <br /> they can point to. A return to the pork barrel cannot be in the <br /> best interest of this county. <br /> Under the present system, or with one ,caLiing for anumber <br /> of at-large candidates, those who are responsible to all the <br /> voters on the island will think in an islandwide perspective. As <br /> an example, if we were solely responsible to the Hilo area, this <br /> just passed budget would not reflect 30 new police positions for <br /> Kona, new fire positions for Pahoa or North Hilo. It is only <br /> because the council is accountable to all the people of this <br /> county that the islandwide needs prevail over provincial district <br /> demands. We must never forget that elected officials are <br /> accountable to the electorate. The broader this body is, the <br /> broader must be the thinking of the person in office. <br /> The question of representation will always persist. <br /> Even within the Kona district, there is no unity of thought <br /> between mauka and makai. The real test of a voter' s input into <br /> a representative government is how many people he has the <br /> opportunity to vote for within the decision making body. It is <br /> only the people you have an opportunity of voting for that you <br /> can hold accountable for actions at the next election. <br /> Under the present system, all members of the county <br /> council are elected by all the voters of this county and as <br /> such they are accountable for their actions to all voters. The <br /> action of the council in responding to the needs of the county <br /> speak louder than any words. There has been no pork barreling <br /> of projects into separate representative districts because the <br /> whole county is one district. All the projects are in the <br /> district which votes for all the councilmen . One of the biggest <br /> concerns has been responsibility and accountability to the <br /> electorate. We feel the greater the electorate, the greater <br /> -4- <br />