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

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Hawai`i County Charter Commission -7 January 25, 2019 CHR. ADAMS: Thank you. At this point, I note that we still have eight statements left. I would just like to get a sense of the Commission. Would you like to take a 10 minute recess, or would you like to plow through? Okay, if there is a need for someone to leave the dais, I understand that right? And I would hope that the public would as well. Okay, if I could ask Mr. Weatherford please to come up and then, please ma'am. WENDY SCOTT-VANCE: Proposal No. CA -7 and CA -13 in opposition and Proposal No. CA -9 in support. MS. SCOTT-VANCE: Hello County Charter Commissioners. My name is Wendy Scott -Vance. I am a resident of these islands. CHR. ADAMS: I believe you have to speak... MS. SCOTT-VANCE: You can't hear me? How about now? Okay. I am a resident of these islands for 43 years and I am the President of Ho`omalu Ka`u a 501 (c)(3) organization in Ka`u dedicated to the perpetuation, protection, and conservation of the land, culture, knowledge, and history of Ka`i and its people. We are committed to protecting the archaeological, cultural, and historical treasures of the Ka`u district as well as the pristine, undeveloped environmental ecosystems in Ka`u's 922 square miles. PONC's mandate totally aligns with our mission. Full disclosure, Ho`omalu Ka`u has applied for and been granted stewardship of a recent PONC purchase. The Kahua Ola Hou, the ancient Makahiki grounds in Na`alehu. I worked with Debbie Hecht in 2006 as the Ka`u coordinator for the two percent fund. We were tasked with collecting twice as many signatures as we actually needed to get the initiative on the ballot because half the signatures were going to be thrown out. They were not going to be in exact match and that was required for the initiative to be put on the ballot. My favorite example of the exact match was Councilman Pete Hoffinan who signed our petition as Pete Hoffman, when his voter registration said Peter Hoffman and he was not counted as a legitimate signer of the petition. Long story short, it was put on the ballot, it was passed not once, but three times with 63 percent of the vote. I don't need to reiterate everything everybody has said about C9, C7, and C13. I agree with all of those things. What I would like to say is that I am not sure why the Mayor feels that it is okay to pillage funds from this electoral mandate from the people. As Senator Ruderman said, our franchise is the most important thing we have and it has been tested let us say, in these past several years. That this has passed, been taken to the people and passed three times, 1 do not understand how that can just be abrogated by a single person, even if you include the County Council, I do not understand how that work can just be put aside and all those people's wishes can just be totally ignored. My understanding of the way democracy works in the Country, in the State, in the County, is that it is for the people, by the people, and of the people and 1 don't see how this applies at all. I am not a conspiracy theorist, however, I really question why these funds Page 29