|
this State. Can you imagine what many of those people feel, especially, if you are of Hawaiian
<br />blood and this was your home? Complete feeling of loss of hope, I guess, of what’s going to be
<br />happening here. Is it tied in to what I’m going to talk, what I’m talking about? Absolutely. Is
<br />this tied in to Mauna Kea? I told the Governor and others: It’s not about the scope, it’s not even
<br />about Mauna Kea, the symbolic of the anger that is out there.
<br />
<br />For those of you who have taken part in and shared this beautiful place called Kohanaiki Park,
<br />Beach – if you have time and if you have not been down there, go down there. And there is a
<br />sign at the entrance at Kohanaiki and it says this park is a result of a true partnership between
<br />community and developer. Why do I know this sign? I wrote it. Because they asked me to
<br />write something of what it was. For those of you who have been here a while, you know that is a
<br />controversy of development for over 14 years, including Supreme Court, that the locals said you
<br />cannot build a hotel here, we will not let you. And for 14 years the battle went on. When I
<br />became mayor, the owner, Bill McMorrow, the president, CEO, of Kennedy Wilson, made an
<br />appointment to talk about that property, said he has two choices, sell it like the other eight before
<br />him, as soon as they found out community opposition and what they were in for, or try to
<br />develop something that is acceptable. And I told him the only way you are going to find out
<br />what’s acceptable is to literally go before the community with a blank piece of paper and say
<br />what can we work out together. That man gave more to this community because I took him for a
<br />ride down Kawaihae Road, you are going to turn left on Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway, and I said
<br />I want you to look towards the sea until we reach Kailua, that’s approximately 30 miles, and I
<br />want you to ask yourself how many places in this 30 miles can you see a place where you feel
<br />welcome, that you can go to the ocean and just sit, swim or relax. At the end of the 30 miles –
<br />again, his name is Bill McMorrow, if you want to check it out, owner and president, CEO, of
<br />Kennedy Wilson that developed Kohanaiki and now is developing Kona Village, international
<br />investment – and he counted five because he counted the national park. The rest, big signs with
<br />the one written word that says keep out, this is not for you, this is only for the rich. Everyone
<br />that live here in the state know that was happening. And we can understand just a little bit of the
<br />frustration, if this was your home, whether it be Alaska or any place else, and see where Maui,
<br />Kaua‘i and O‘ahu says no more can you ever own a home in this place called Hawai‘i. If you
<br />don’t believe that, check it out – average price of home, 800,000 dollars. A piece of property on
<br />Maui, legal, just over 3,000 square feet for a home, boundary, border to border to give you that
<br />maximized space. All of that is me and what I think about, and the job that I asked Mike to get
<br />away from place called Seattle and come to Hawai‘i, work with me. All the people I asked for to
<br />work is to try to feel what we have here. I’m going to do every single thing I can to prevent a
<br />war in Mauna Kea that it is headed for because of what I just told you. I called the secretary
<br />general of the United Nation. He gave me the privilege of a very private lunch. I said I have a
<br />dream of making Hawai‘i with Mauna Kea the beacon of hope for the world of mankind, of
<br />relationship. Will you help me on that? And he said if it does, he will. I’m asking for your help
<br />in regards to understanding what is here. This is not just about short-term, long-term rentals or
<br />hotels or whatever. This is about the anger that’s brewing out there because what is happening to
<br />their home. Every person that works for me will tell you I ask for one thing: Fairness.
<br />
<br />And I’ll summarize what they presented. They have been working on this now for well over a
<br />year and a half or so, interrupted only by their countless hours that they had to stop some of the
<br />time because of the eruption of almost three and a half months, hurricanes in between, because
<br />20
<br />EXHIBIT B
<br />
<br />
|