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Hawai`i County Charter Commission -8 February 8, 2019 <br />out there but I want to Mahalo her because she took her own funds to help us with <br />some research and outreach to make sure that two percent fund made sense and if <br />there is public support behind it, and it was. Again, every step of the way it has <br />been really based on sound research and science in addition to strong public <br />support and it remains true today. I worked on a project for affordable housing <br />for farmers and faun workers about a year and a half ago with a statewide non- <br />profit and we were looking at various models nationally and as part of that <br />research, we were looking at what other states did in terns of preserving ag land, <br />housing, etc. and the states that had the most, that had some of the most solid <br />programs were those states where they had government programs. It wasn't left <br />up to non -profits or the private sector. They had strong government programs and <br />they were solidly funded, and so that's where you saw a lot of success with regard <br />to preserving ag land even in the affordable housing arena—strong government <br />involvement. <br />I want to speak just a little bit about the maintenance fund. I was involved in some <br />of the initial conversations around that as well and I am really glad that you guys <br />are working on these amendments that will help optimize the effectiveness of <br />those. Again, supporting CA -18. You know, I am from Kohala, I have a farm up <br />there and worked a long time and I know you have heard from folks from Kohala <br />already, and Kohala has a long history of taking care of stewarding land and <br />we've been successful in the last few years in securing grants to do really great <br />work especially with the kids in the high school, but I want to emphasize that <br />those were grants and they were one time shots, sometimes two. You cannot <br />steward lands long-term on grant funding. You cannot steward it long-term on <br />just volunteers. We are starting to get overwhelmed in Kohala in certain spots <br />and some of them two percent lands because of the increased visitor pressure and <br />because of roads that have been put in there, and I know that for myself that one <br />of the primary objectives behind the maintenance fund and supporting that and to <br />getting it passed was to support rural economic development and to support the <br />families and the people who know these lands, know how to steward these lands, <br />have great skills and assets to bring to the table, and we should be funding them <br />and it makes sense because we know a dollar spent with those families and in <br />these communities gets recirculated and recirculated as opposed to spent on <br />consultants from you know, out of state or other islands. <br />I also want to say that Kohala was successful finally this year in 2018, fall of 18, <br />in securing a maintenance grant. It took four years. I drafted the first one in 2014 <br />and this last one that finally got funded and you know part of that is just the issues <br />with getting programs off the ground. I get it, I used to work in government. And <br />then, there are other reasons too that the folks have spoken to, but I want to <br />emphasize that even though there are areas where people are stewarding these two <br />percent lands, we do need a maintenance fund. You cannot rely on the <br />community to do it a hundred percent volunteer and we do want that rural <br />economic development that I was just referring to. <br />Page 12 <br />