MIN CHARTER 2019-01-25 (2018-2020)

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Hawai`i County Charter Commission -7 January 25, 2019 were this thousands of people on this tiny specks of land thriving, healthy, beautiful, why? Because of their identity to that land. It was indeed their inspiration. It was indeed their very livelihood and the harder they worked to take care of that land, the better the land took care of them. And that is why I speak as a kama`aina. Kama is the Hawaiian word for "to nurture, to develop, to support." `Aina is the land. So when we speak of a Kama `Rina it is a person that that land adopted. It is a person that that land nurtured and made who he is or who he was. You are part of that land. You do not see that land as a commodity to be sold. You do not see that `aina as a place for profit. You indeed have a very special relationship to these places. And it has been my privilege growing up in Kohala as a Hawaiian. My father is Filipino, Chinese, I love Chinese. I love Filipino culture, but this is Hawaii. We must keep it that way and I do believe Debbie and others who introduced this wonderful amendments to protect some of these places and our now introducing amendments to make that protection even better, was marvelous. 1 am going to give you an example. Conservation land Kawaihae to Mahukona, all conservation land. Seven years ago a millionaire from South Africa got 13 acres. He spent over half a million dollars, he came to one more meeting with the Land Use Commission to get his permit to build a mansion that he dreamed of when he was a little boy growing up in South Africa. We begged him to not do that. We begged him to move his land. Go mauka, why take Pao`o? This beautiful coastal land that Kohala has used for generations and make it private? Make your own road, develop your own sewer system and keep it all yours and prevent anyone else from being there. Why go into this site where there's six graves, why go into this site where there is a walled enclosure of a Konohiki who is buried there? This millionaire and the half a million dollars he used for specialists or archaeologists, planners, called that gravesite a fishing shrine. You know what that felt to me? And the Kauai family whose Kupuna was buried there with the name (inaudible) sacred site. And along comes the millionaire from South Africa and calls it a fishing shrine and "I am going to put it right next to my waterfall." Whew, he was that close to that permit. One meeting and we filed a contested case. We held a hearing in Kohala. The Kohala people came out strong. We tried to get him to exchange lands. Tried everything for him not... he was determined to take that special place and make it his and it was zoned conservation. But he had the money and the determination to do that and he almost did. We testified long and hard. We raised money to bring our specialist from Honolulu. Our own pockets were drained just bringing in our experts because he had his all paid, and we stopped it. He decided he would not use that sacred site, that burial ground, he would not take that wahi pana and make it his own personal paradise. That is what this is all about. And I do hope you keep that Hawaiian perspective in mind. I do hope you can feel, believe, and behave as kama`ainas. Mahalo. CHR. ADAMS: Thank you. If I could ask Ms. Fijima to please come up. Sir. Uh, Ms. Withington. Page 19