MIN CHARTER 2018-11-09 (2018-2020)

Home

Hawaii County Charter Commission -5 November 9, 2018 JOHN REPLOGLE: MR. REPLOGLE: Okay, I am sorry, what was your question? CHR. ADAMS: If you could provide your name and then identify the agenda items that you are going to speak on, and then it is three minutes per agenda item. MR. REPLOGLE: Okay, thank you. CHR. ADAMS: Thank you. MR. REPLOGLE: My name is John Replogle and I am from Ka`u. I am going to speak on the Carbon idea and the Open Space. So first I would start, I support having a Commission on carbon reduction within the County. I believe that this is a very important paramount thing that needs to be taken care of. I realize it is very divisive and people believe it or don't believe it but I think here in the State, we have seen over the last couple of years things have changed and one of the climate change things is that when rains come in, they come in and they sit and they dump huge volumes where in the past as the rain came, a lot of rain fell even created flooding but they moved. Now they come and just the way the weather patterns are, they sit and just dump like at Waiaa in Kona apparently the other night they had four inches an hour fall. That is a lot of rain. A lot of water. I think we all as citizens of the planet, have to do everything we can to help mitigate what we have done with carbon which is helping to promote this climate change situation. The one suggestion I would have for that Commission would be, I think there should be an outreach portion or obligation of that Commission to look in to how they can educate the public, our fellow citizens within the County more about climate change and things we can do to help put it off. It is almost like to do nothing is not going to help us and hopefully doing something will help us. I don't know where we are at right now but the U.N. (United Nations) report on Climate Change paints a very dark picture. I would rather do something then just let it go. Anyway, that is why I support the climate change measure. Now to the Open Space, the PONC fund, I oppose the idea of reducing those funds and I am just going to go on a little bit about it but the people of this County voted for it. We voted for it twice that I can remember. We did the petitions twice. The first time we did the petitions, the County said oh no, that was no good. You have to redo it again. We redid it and that time it came down to, we might not get it done in time to get it on the ballot, and then there was a whole thing about how to present the question to the public on the ballot so it could be easily understood. Yes, I am for the two percent, no, I am not for it. Simple, but it was an issue. Anyway, Page 2