MIN CHARTER 2018-12-14 (2018-2020)

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Hawai`i County Charter Commission -6 December 14, 2018 With respect to recommendation five, it is basically an amendment that seems to provide the explicit language to implement these changes. Na Mamo O Kawa believes it is not appropriate for the commission to unilaterally circumvent the residents of Hawai`i County who had ample opportunity to review the language they approved during the election and this raises constitutional concerns under the Federal and State Constitutions with respect to the doctrine of separation of powers. Some of you may have already made up your minds on this but I would like to point out that even if the PONC fund is lowered to half percent, there will be a voter backlash. Even if the fund receives this increase for a year or two, the next initiative might be three percent or five percent and given the sentiment of Hawaii County residents and the high premium that we place on preservation, open space, natural resources, and conservation, that ballot measure would likely pass. So whatever interests are supporting these changes, they might be shooting themselves in the foot in the long run and I just wanted to point that out. Thank you. CHR. ADAMS: Thank you for your testimony. If I could ask Mr. Replogle to come to the table. Ms. Keeney. PHAETHON Proposal No. CA -7 in opposition and Proposal No. CA -9 in support. KEENEY: MS. KEENEY: Mahalo Commission members for reviewing this very important matter. I apologize in advance, I am not so good at public speaking, but I am here showing up for the land cause this particular issue is very important to me. I am very inspired by the fact that there is a two percent fund in the first place. That makes me so much more hopeful for where things are going and I am not one of the many great people in this room or people today in Kona as well who helped form and guide this fund into creation, but I am just one of the public who voted for it multiple times and I want to express that this is the sort of legislation that gives us hope and engages the future of Hawai`i. It allows us to put our hands on as community members, on to the land that we as a community can steward and when I work with people at Pohaha 1 Ka Lani the Kauaakea parcel above Waipi`o. I am so inspired to see what the community has done there. 1 am so inspired by what I see at Kaiholena and much of the Kohala coastline. There is nothing like the you know, the sight of open space and the untouched beauty of Hawai`i and I appreciate Mayor Kim's statements on Kohanaiki. It is a beautiful place and they have done a good job there but it is nothing like the Kohala coastline where we have no development in certain areas and I can only hope that we have more of that preserved along our coasts and also up Mauka as well. I loved Margaret Wille's statements about community gardens and better public access trails. I think that we would see huge economic benefit if we went in that direction. I have been to many other places around the world that do have better trail systems and have you know islands, the canary islands in Spain, they have a similar ecosystem as us, similar size, mountain observatories, very many similarities and the one main difference when I go there is I see the public access Page 31