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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GREDC 2020/08/04 2018-2020 Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic Development 24th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii August 4, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic ORDER: Development was called to order at 1:01 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Karen Eoff, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Absent& Excused: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Valerie Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Kumu Nako`olani Warrington: Res. 692-20 (Comm. 1011), comment. (Representing Kupuna for Mo`opuna. Mahina Duarte: Res. 692-20 (Comm. 1011), in support. (Representing `Rina Aloha Economic Futures) Abolghassem Abraham Sadegh: Res. 692-20 (Comm. 1011), comment. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I will be closing public testimony at this time, and moving on to Order of Resolutions. Mr. Clerk. GREDC-24 August 4,2020 COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. (There were none.) ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 692-20: ADOPTS AND SUPPORTS THE `AINA ALOHA ECONOMIC FUTURES INITIATIVE FOR THE FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII Seeks to adopt this initiative as a guiding principle, and encourages widespread use of the four-step process by individuals, businesses, and organizations throughout the State. Reference: Comm. 1011 Intr. by: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz and Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 692-20. Seconded by Ms. David. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Ms. Lee Loy, did you want to go ahead and led the discussion on this one? MS. LEE LOY: Yes, thank you. I do have an amendment, and so just as a matter of procedure, Chair. Should we move in that particular amendment, or do you want to hear from Dr. Noe Noe Wong-Wilson first. And then discuss the amendment? CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, good point. Let's entertain the motions and amendments after the presentation. MS. LEE LOY: Sure. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: So that our colleagues have some contacts around today's discussion, if that's okay. Thank you. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair Kierkiewicz. It really is a pleasure to introduce Resolution 692-20. Both Council Member Kierkiewicz and I, kind of traveled in many networks and many circles. And looking at different community initiatives. And we're always looking for ways to partner with community-driven initiatives and create synergies. And help blend what government policies look like and dovetail them into community-driven initiatives to help amplify the voice of community. Page 2 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 And I was lucky enough to have heard `Rina Aloha Economics' launch back in May, with Hui `Oihana. Which is a Native Hawaiian chamber. And it was in that Zoom conference, that I recognized that this was going to become a tool that we needed to integrate into not only some of our governing ideas here, but just as an island as a whole and then as a state as a whole. And I also know Council Member Richards, was on that first call, along with our good friend Senator Dru Kanuha. And which is why it's so exciting to have you here today, Dr. Noe Noe. And during that talk story, the question was posed about people and the adaptability and preserving through the pandemic. And then more conversation around, you know, how do we sustain ourselves as we come out of this pandemic? And some of the guiding principles that are in this `Rina Aloha initiative, really begin to ground us with some pillars, and driving forces on how we can reimagine economics after the pandemic. So really today, three short months later we have Dr. Noe Noe Wong-Wilson here to present and share this initiative. So with that it's my pleasure to introduce Dr. Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, an educator, cultural practitioner, native rights activist, and community organizer. Hailing from Kaiwiki, is that correct Doctor? A graduate of Kamehameha School for girls, I won't say the year. She has a Bachelor's in Arts with honors in anthropology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo; a Masters of Arts in Pacific Island Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa; A Doctor of Philosophy, School of Maori and Pacific Development; University of Waikato Aotearoa, with the title thesis "Native Hawaiian Well-Being at Community Colleges; An Initiative for Academic Success." Thank you so much for being here today. Please share with us this phenomenal guiding principles that you have for us. (Note: At this time, Dr. Noe Noe Wong-Wilson came forward to address the members of the Committee ) DR. WONG-WILSON: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Thank you, Chair Kierkiewicz, and all of you here. And in Kona, I'm sorry my back is to the screen so I can't see everyone's face. But I just want to say aloha to all of you, and to others who might be watching this presentation today. And to the people who gave testimony today in support of this resolution. I am one of the 14 co-authors along with Mahina Paishon-Duarte who you heard from a little earlier. We are a group of people, we just happened to be all Hawaiian. I'm not sure that was the intent, when I was called. But just barely a hundred days ago we were called together on a Zoom call, to talk about what we were going to do about the pandemic and so the 14 of us come from across the islands. There are four of us from this island so besides Mahina and myself, Doctor Kamana Beamer and Lanakila Manguil are the other two representatives from the island. And we began talking about what we could contribute to our community to be forward facing, and to look at economic recovery, to look at what our community was Page 3 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 going to look like when this pandemic ended. And mind you, a hundred days ago we weren't sure if at this point we were still going to be in a pandemic, you know, none of us had a crystal ball. We really didn't understand what we were looking at because this is the first time, of course, in all of our lives that something like this has come into not just our community but the world. And so, we saw the initial reaction from State Government and the creation of Alan Oshima's Strategic Recovery Plan, and the Senate and the House had created committees. We were alarmed by a couple things. One is, and maybe alarmed is a little strong word, but we noted certainly that there weren't Hawaiians on any of the panels and so we wondered whether there was going to be any infusion of our `ike kupuna or our consideration of our cultural perspective when it came to this. Secondly, I think as and it's not necessarily a criticism because I think no one really knew what to expect, but State Government was consumed and I think they're still consumed with how to take care of the basic immediate needs of our citizens. So, we felt that it was purposeful for us to start talking about what the future was going to look like, and to offer something that we could contribute. And so we did. And the first thing we did was come up with our basic principles, our principles of operation. And as you stated, I'm going to try and do two things, yeah; work this computer and talk at the same time. (Note: At this time, Dr. Wong-Wilson directed the committee to a website being displayed on screen. The website is located online at www.alohaainafutures.com. To view the presentation, please see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office.) So, we came up with our first declaration, which, and I think this is an important point, that the declaration included our core values. And the core values begin with `Rina Aloha, and `Rina Aloha, of course, is the principle that just simply means that we love our land and the land feeds us. You know, the land loves us, and we recognize that. Secondly, the issue ofI was trying to read your resolution to find—oh here, `Opu Alii was a statement about our leadership. And that in all of the cases in our history we see stories, and we hear stories about what good leadership looks like. And it's really caring for the people, and where the people have a voice in their own government, their own destiny, and we felt that was an important statement to make. That whoever is taking the reins has to understand that culture perspective of leadership, and how important it is for us as a guiding principle. The third is the `Imi `Oi Kelakela principle which is simply that we cannot just depend on the same thing, we have to be creative and innovative as we look forward into our new future, and we cannot depend on just the same ways. I think Page 4 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 people saw immediately, in the first 30 days, we saw the effect of not having tourists, you know, so many tourists. Thirty-five thousand people in our land on any given day, and the effect of nature reclaiming itself, of the beaches getting clean, the wildlife returning to places where they haven't been, for a long time. And so Ho`okipa, is the fourth principle that we choose. Ho`okipa is as we're quite familiar with Ho`okipa, meaning being gracious hosts. But there is the other side of Ho`okipa, and we know that. Because when we go to someone's house, we make sure we take very much care in how we act in other people's houses. Like not wearing your dirty shoes inside the house, taking your slippers off, always taking a gift or something to share with us. So, Ho`okipa's not a one way, it's not a one-way relationship, which perhaps tourism has become. It's a two- way relationship, and it requires kuleana on behalf of the person being hosted to return to the host. And so we felt that was an important statement to make. So, just those four simple statements began. We set that as our foundation, and then we put that out there. We just sort of let people see where we were, and then we decided we would move into the next step. So, oops sorry, can you help me get this back on? Yeah, so the next step I'll keep talking yes, sorry, I hit the wrong button. Okay, so what we decided once we put out we created the website, and once we put out the foundational principles we started into our step two. Step two, which we decided was one of four steps that we were going to engage in—okay, thank you—was the action agenda. So we first started by creating a very simple action agenda, a skeletal that we fourteen came up with. And we put it out there in front of the community, and asked them to fill it in. You know, to provide their input; to the larger community in Hawaii, to provide your input into what the action agenda should look like. And we had over 200 people who actually participated in that phase of it, and we were pleasantly surprised to see so many people participate in this action agenda. But what we were able to do, was to create a set of statements just based on the input from these 200-plus people. And I'm showing you our website, so you can see the Huliau action agenda just as an example. Here what they did was they took each of our goal statements, and really fleshed it out. Put a lot more detail in that statement, so that we could all understand what it means when we say `Rina Aloha. What it means when we say `Imi `Oi Kelakela and just create these statements that are much more expressive of those areas. The last thing we did in step two, was we took all of those statements and we created a rubrik or a scorecard. And I think at the time we did this, again, we did it collaboratively and it's just amazing how quickly we were able to come up with this process with fourteen of us using Zoom as our communication tool. But you can see on our website, we actually came up with ten statements that cover, again, the four areas that we are talking about in our goals and we created these conditions. So what might be, I'll just use number one as an example, The Page 5 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 Assessment Dimension. It supports the vibrancy and integrity of Hawai`i's environment, which is land, water, ocean, sky, native flora and fauna. And then a negative impact could be that a project, or a proposal produces some sort of environmental damage. And then you would click on that box, and this is a view only so I can't actually click on it. But that would be a negative impact, a condition that is net-neutral. So it may be a project that really doesn't have any impact on that area. And then something that is incrementally improving, and we thought okay, we'll give a little bit of points, two points, to something that's just incremental, it's just a small amount of improvement. But that's really not our goal. Our goal is some larger improvement, more than incremental. So, the next is something that's significantly improves a condition, like focuses on improving the fertility or integrity of the environment as a core activity of that program or that proposal. And then finally something that creates real positive systems change, because that's what we're eventually trying to get to. We need to have systemic change, in the way we do business, in the way we govern, in the way we manage, in the way we treat our `aina in this particular case. So all you would do is click on which one of those statements best fits whatever you're taking a look at, and then this is a very cool program that will actually give you a raw score. There is a multiplier affect so you can choose which of these ten statements are the most important ones that you would want to give more emphasis to, and it gives you a weighted score. We created it in way that any group that uses this can change that weight; can increase it, decrease it, change which statements are the most important for your particular purpose, and use it that way. And our intention is that people who are proposing projects could use this rubrik to lay against their project and assess themselves first before they put it out there, and see which of these ten statements maybe they don't score as well in, and maybe consider do they want to make an adjustment or not or explain why they don't have an effect in that particular area. And the same rubrik can also be used by funders, by people who are making decisions and giving out funding to see whether projects they're looking at meets the kind of assessments, or meets the kinds of goals that they're interested in. So we thought, here's something to put out there for the general public to use, it could be, again, community groups, businesses, anyone. So that was a key part of part two of what we are doing, is that we had community input and it was the only organization that we saw at the time that was reaching out to the community this way. And then we're into step three, and that's where we are now. Step three is where we have created an opportunity for people to—we created fourteen buckets. So fourteen topic areas that again, came from those statements that were made in step two of what we were doing. And we offered for the community to participate by actually submitting sketches, what we call sketches, because we didn't want people to invest so much time, like creating a grant like a Page 6 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 huge proposal. But provide us with a sketch that would allow others to take a look and weigh in on the validity, on whether or not they like that sketch. So community submitted the nearly 200 proposals, and then over 600 people actually participated so far in going on to this considerate program, which is right here. And the Consider It program, which is really simple to use and you can just click onto our website. And it will allow you to look. So I'm going to go right to one that I wanted to highlight, and that was tourism. And so you can go here for example, to—I'll just use this as an example. "Should we support a proposal to build a series of world-class user-funded trails traversing Hawai`i Island with huts available for overnight thru-hiking?" That's a proposal that someone in our community proposed. And to the right of that you can see all the different individuals who came on here, and created some comment about that. So when you go in to Consider It, you're going to identify yourself, or if you really don't want to you can use a code name. But your name will come up and we can take a look at this, and others can look at. And they can see just by looking that 26 people commented on that one proposal. And you can see visually that the majority of them kind of agree, but there's couple over here that didn't agree. And you can go into this by clicking on, and you can put in your own comments. It's a way for community to feedback. The Consider It program was something that was brought to us by one of our 14 who had seen it being used. And I tell you it was really a game changer, I think. In allowing especially at this time when, you know, community can't gather. We can't have our cafeteria meetings, or our school meetings to participate in a very safe way from home. Although you do need a computer, in order to participate in it. But it was used this particular program was used by the City of Seattle we understand to gain community input into one of their major initiatives that they use. So it's really an awesome opportunity for all of us to make comment. So this comment period, so look at this when there's so many, 64 people involved in this one about an `Rina Aloha scorecard. But their comment period is still open. That's the phase we're in right now. It' will be open until this coming Sunday evening, so we urge everybody to go on to `AinaAlohaFutures.com, to our website, and to lend your support to this process by looking at these proposals and having your opinions known. The other thing is that if you are with an organization that is looking at funding,please take a look at the scorecard and see how it might work for you. And we're always open to suggestions, if people feel that, you know, there's other things that can be added or something doesn't work. So we are working with some other businesses in Honolulu and elsewhere, asking them for feedback to use it for their projects. I think if we as a county applied these to some of the projects that are being proposed throughout our county, it might give us a little different dimension a little different look. And it might give Page 7 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 the people who are proposing those projects a little bit understanding about where they might pay attention. So I think it's really something worth looking at. Finally, when this ends on Sunday we will move into step four, which is a reporting. And so our group intends to take all of this information, put it into a report form that we can provide to decision makers like yourselves, Legislators, organizations. I know for example, Hawaiian Civic Clubs, their Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs is looking to see what comes out of this that might be turned into resolutions and considered at their November convention. We're going to have virtual convention. So if there's items that come out of here that are related to your particular interest, then you know, you can already see what kind of support you're getting from the broad community. And whether or not that should be pushed even further. So that's where we're planning on going with this. And we have options beyond even step four and moving into advocacy. but we'll see if we get to step five. Because as Mahina said, you know, we're a group of volunteers, and we do this on our own. Because we love our land, we love our place, we love our home. And we do what we do to contribute positively to where we're going on all of this. I will just say a couple more things. I did read, you know, in your resolution, I was very pleased to see how well our initiative aligns with the preamble of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii as well as the County Charter. I know for example that Hawaii Tourism Authority was one of the early groups that endorsed this, because it lines up with their Charter, as well as it does with Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and many other organizations. So I really appreciate that, and we all appreciate that you're willing to take a look at this. And see how it can be used to support the good work of our county, and our people here on the Hawaii Island. So Mahalo. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Dr. Noe Noe. And I know Mahina is in our Kona Council Chambers, and I wanted to give her some time also to really share and maybe even expand on that Consider It input as a way of data collection, and kind of that compendium of stakeholder comments. I know personally I am incredibly excited about the scorecard, and how we can use it as a tool to start driving some systems changes. But I'm hoping that Mahina is now available. There she is. Aloha, go ahead Mahina. I know you've been intimately from the very beginning involved in a lot of this, so I do want to give you some time to share your thoughts in this particular initiative. (Note: At this time, Mahina Paishon-Duarte from `Rina Aloha Economic Futures came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 8 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 MS. DUARTE: Thank you very much. Yes, thank you, I wanted to just expand on what Dr. Wilson shared. So the 14 topic areas, buckets that she described, I'm just going to read them off to you very quickly. Creative and Performing Arts; Regenerative Tourism; Small Business, Environmental Resilience; Restoration and Management; Affordable and Sustainable Housing; Meeting Immediate Basic Needs; Community and Participatory Based Governance; Rethinking Education; Creating Circular Economies; Tech Industry and Infrastructure; Economic Development; Health and Wellness; Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems; Climate Resilience and Energy. And so I just wanted to provide just an additional kind of guidance, in terms of how to navigate these tools and platforms. Again,just under 200 community generated proposals have been submitted under these 14 topic areas. Want to encourage all the Council Members and our government leaders and staff members, too. If this is an area that you were charged with, for example, Affordable and Sustainable Housing. To please do take a look at the Consider It tools, take a look at the community generated proposals. And if at any time you want to find out more about those proposals, and perhaps you'd like to contact the proposer, myself and Aunty Noe Noe, Dr. Wong-Wilson would be happy to help create that connection for you. We just see this as an opportunity to really aid you folks as government leadership, to aid you folks in empowering and supporting our residents, our taxpayers, and leveraging county dollars and other dollars. And that's just the only other comment that I'd like to offer up is, I think we would appreciate being—if you folks could also connect us to any of the nonprofits, coalitions and agencies that might be working very diligently on some of these areas that I just described. Particularly, you know, we know that CARES money is going to be disseminate and distributed. We want to add to the effort, we want to help to amplify their effort. And we need to work collaboratively, and we just want to ensure that we're not duplicative. But we're strategic in our efforts that we care for our financial resources in a really responsible manner, and that we're synergizing across relationships; public,private, and government. Thank you. DR. WONG-WILSON: Can I just add one more small thing? And I'm showing as an example, the Affordable and Sustainable Housing. So this is all on the website. That week of the 14'h of July, we had evening Zoom meetings and it was open to the public. We have for the most part captured the video, the two-hour video. So it's available here. People can go and watch it and listen to the discussion. We reached out across our communities to people that we felt had expertise in these areas. So it was beyond the 14 of us. We who wanted to make sure we invited a whole `nother set of people to come in and to facilitate. And also, I included on here is the slide deck or the little PowerPoint we used, as well as the session notes and the chats. So we captured everything that we could in an Page 9 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 attempt to just be as open as possible, and to capture all this information and make sure that we could share it. So yeah, there's so much information on here. MS. LEE LOY: Yes, and thank you, Dr. Noe Noe. And Mahina, thank you for capturing the video. Because when you look at a particular question, you can understand the impetus. And then all the great minds that contributed to the conversation, which then led to people's choices and placing the value in that particular question. It really is a phenomenal tool. Noe Noe and Mahina, if you wouldn't mind, I know just a few evenings ago we had an opportunity to sit down with Governor Ige to another Zoom conference. And just some of chit one sharing `Rina Aloha Economics, and how we are actually kind of standing up our State economics while they're kind of cross-walking `Rina Aloha Economics into this larger State plan. If you guys wouldn't mind expanding on this. Because this is real time information, things are actually really moving in a way where we need to start engaging. And I just want to impress upon our community, that we have a number of great minds working all the time in different networks. And we're just trying to dovetail nicely. And like Mahina said, amplify our funding and not duplicate and end up losing momentum. If you don't mind. DR. WONG-WILSON: Sure. So Hui `Oihana, the Hawaii Island Native Hawaiian Chamber, had another session. The second time that they invited us to come and present, and Governor was there. So I was very happy to hear his comment that he knew about this. Sometimes you wonder, you know, if the news gets all the way to the top. But he was very familiar with our principles, and the work that we have been doing and I think it intrigues him. He wanted to hear more, and particularly was interested in what we were going to come out by the way of reporting. I know that his organization, Alan Oshima's group, has included some of our members and their team as well in their subcommittees. And also I know the house committee on Economic Recovery has also invited some of our 14 members to participate with them, so were quite happy about that. And I'm really hopeful that this is picking up speed, like I know that Mahina and I were approached by some of our esteemed businesspeople from Bishop Street. And so they're very aware of what we're doing, and I think very intrigued by what we're doing. And so there are bridges that are being created into communities like that, you know, that are taking a look at new ways, and different ways to approach our economy and to approach our future. And it doesn't all have to come from the university, or all doesn't have to come from Bishop Street. That we have some real vital ideas in the community. And I think the fact that we are so community driven, that has always been a major impetus for us and also inclusive. Page 10 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 So you know, I didn't mention but our second statement besides our four principles, was our statement on inclusivity. And so that was a little bridge we had to cross over early on to really explain to people particularly who were not born and raised here that it was never our intent that this is a Hawaiians only initiative, it's an initiative that has grounding in our Hawaiian frame of reference. In our `ike kupuna, in the ways that we acknowledge the wisdom of our ancestors, who lived in these lands for thousands of years in a very sustainable way. So why not depend on their understanding of the environment, to address the needs for us today. And I think the fact that we lose track of some of those most important principles about the fact that we're an island nation. That we have to depend on ourselves really, to be in a place where we can take of our islands and our people for a long time and not get to the point where maybe we were heading, you know, of degrading our own environment, so that who knows what we're going to be leaving for our grandchildren, right. We all kind of understood that, and this is the chance for us. So COVID is you know, you never waste a good crisis, right. There's always lessons to be learned, and this is the lesson. It forced us to stay home, and be more reflective on those things that are most important to us. And we do that, all of us, you know, every day individually. And now we have an opportunity to join together because of this awesome technology, that you know, some of us are better at others, and some of us are learning. But it is the way for now if not the way of the future, at least for the immediate future. And we can keep moving forward, and we still have the strength of holding hands. And our community driving the bus, and that's really where we want to be, right. So mahalo, for all of this. Thank you. MS. DUARTE: Can I just add,just one little thing? When I saw your folk's resolution, I was so encouraged and emboldened by your folk's courageous leadership. I believe like one small step, taking the aspirational and somewhat philosophical to something more concrete and operational. I think it would be very courageous of the county to maybe take the rubric and apply it into one of the departments. Whether it be Parks and Recreation, or Planning or Office of Housing. And how might the rubric help to inform and help you folks have a more robust conversations that will maybe lead us to a different outcome from what we are currently projecting for. So just wanted to mahalo you folks, County Council. For your vote, and courageous leadership. For taking a step forward. And it would be so awesome if our county was one of the first to demonstrate for others in the state how county can work in partnership with community and help to operationalize some of these ideals, and values that have always sustained us since we have been here in Hawaii. Mahalo. Thank you so much, for the opportunity to share. Page 11 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Dr. Noe Noe. And thank you, Mahina. A good friend of ours Alapaki said, you know, Hawaii Island actually has a chance to make a change. City and County of Honolulu, they're just a little further down the road. And so there is just less to be undone here in Hawaii County. So as Mahina said, to demonstrate some of these rubrics and drive it into our policy making we actually do have a chance, and we have a better chance than some place like City and County of Honolulu. With that Chair, I will yield. I really encourage all of my other colleagues to please, we have some talented great minds sitting in front of us right now. And please take an opportunity to ask the questions, so that we can have some real positive shifts in policy making. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Checking in with my colleagues on the west side, any questions or comments. MS. EOFF: We have some, I guess, comments. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Who would like to go first? I hear Ms. Eoff. MS. EOFF: Okay, alright. Well I guess, I would just like to say mahalo. And congratulate the authors of this initiative. And it's so timely and so appreciated, that you took actually these solid steps to put together an interactive website, a place where we can simulate and then retrieve information and ideas and comments on proposals. It's really innovative, I guess would be the word. And I think it will be an awesome tool in order to really do what everybody is saying with words but actually to have some kind of a solid foundation to gather the information that's so needed and relevant to make sure that we as an island go forward with more connection to our Pacific Islander relatives and less time to mimic the mainland style which is not too sustainable. And so I just want to say, thank you. And thank you for the resolution for our county to participate. And thank you for the suggestion to start with one department, and see how it can work here. So mahalo. That was my comment. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. Anyone else? MS. DAVID: Hi, Chair. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, Ms. David, go ahead. MS. DAVID: Thank you very much. And thank you Dr. Wong-Wilson. That was such a beautiful summary. I think remember reading this when it first came out, and I didn't go into it in depth. But what you explained actually make so much sense. Because in our efforts in the past, over the past 30 years. I think Council Member Eoff and I in our community activism, basically believe firmly Page 12 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 in what you presenting today. And to me, we are in Hawaii, and in order to survive we need to do what our ancestors did. Because they had so much less, and they did so much more with what they had. And it all, you know, came from this place. So fast forward we are in a different time right now, but I believe that as decision makers if we can incorporate what you are basically talking about and what we do and what we make decisions on. I think in the long run, and I hope I'll be around to see it, it would definitely help our island and its people survive, and actually recover from whatever disasters that might be forthcoming. And we hope too many. But you know, I think you were right that with this pandemic it forced us, because we had to stay at home, and it forced us to really get back to thinking what's really important. And I think the land and the ways of the old are, what is for me, the valuable thing that will help us survive from here forward. But in the current situation, we as decision makers can make that, implement that in what we do to help move that along. So I really appreciate everything that you've done not only in this, but in your lifetime for the people of this island. And I totally support this resolution, and mahalo to Council Members Lee Loy and Kierkiewicz, for making this part of a procedures and process. I think it's a great start. So mahalo nui. And I yield. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. David. Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yes, please. Thank you. Aloha Aunty Noe Noe and Mahina. Thank you so much for being here today. We're sharing of this wisdom, these insights. I forget how it exactly it came in front of me, but it was sustenance to the soul. Reading the words, the concepts, the terminology outlined here, and the values and the principles, it jumped my heart, and my soul, and my spirit with hope. In fact I printed them out, and I carry them with me just about everywhere. And I like to refer to them often, in this incredibly challenging time. This initiative has provided the parameters for hope, and courage for myself and I know for a lot of others. Also I really feel like the diversity of signatures, and those that are signing on and getting involved in this,people that may not otherwise have found themselves as drawn to a value system like this. I think it's an incredible reflection of your inclusive and gracious, your humble and determined, your collaborative creation and presentation of this initiative. It's made it approachable. There all different kinds of people, and all different kinds of life. And you know, something somebody said to me last year, it mentioned the term, you know,people talk about environmental activism. But this kind of was new to me at the time, but cultural activism. And I see this, and it resonates so strongly with me, and I'm so grateful for this acknowledgement of the need to return to the wisdom of our host Page 13 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 culture. To provide the guiding principles for all decision making and resource management. You know, I recognize, and I love seeing it written here that as elected officials, and chosen leaders, it's our responsibility to embrace that as a duty and recognize our accountability. We have the privilege of being in these positions and are therefore responsible and dependent on those that we serve. More so really excited about the opportunity to utilize, what is listed in the back here, your Checklist Guide for Decision Makers (Res. 692-20, page 29). And as I have had the opportunity during this campaign season, to do a lot of personal reflection and personal inventory about, you know, what we've worked on, on the Council for the last two years. And I think of issues like the mauna and the support of our people, the kia`i; and Bill 101 the herbicide legislation; and most recently a resolution concerning the 5G technologies; and Hu Honua, of which I've had some personal experience with them last week; and the science behind biomass energy, and it does not indicate that it is very kind to our `aina. And even climate change litigation. And I'm so grateful that you, you know, I'm grateful to the women who have brought this to the Council today. And for the opportunity for it to be incorporated as the guiding principles, that require that we are accountable as elected officials to make decisions based on these principles and the parameters that have been unfortunately, tragically for years a lot of these parameters and priorities have been ignored for profit private margins and short term gain have been valued over the long-term resilience and sustainability, not only of the people, but of this place. And I have such an appreciation also for the consideration and incorporation of malihini, and the connection and the inclusivity. And I think as we sit in this time of great crisis, I thinkI love what you said, never waste a good crisis. Because it inspires reflection and personal, and a collective inventory. We have an opportunity to realign, to reconnect and to remember what a healthy circular economy can look like here in the islands. Because it has been here for thousands of years. So I encourage the authors of this piece. I'm so grateful for you and for everybody that's contributed and will continue to contribute. And I look forward to participating myself. I ask you to please hold us accountable. Hold us accountable to make sure that we make decisions authentically and honestly, based on the principles outlined in this document. So just mahalo from the depths of my heart. Thank you, you have articulated something that—its truth. It's truth, and its wisdom. And it's been articulated and put forth, in a means that's also—it's doable for lack of a better word. Like, we can do this, we can do this. So with that,just a huge mahalo from the debts of my heart. I yield. Page 14 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mahalo, Chair. I echo everything that every Council Member said. Nice to see you Noe Noe, and Mahina in Kona. I have had the pleasure of having Noe Noe as my teacher, in many different ways from when I was in school. And then even on the mauna. So mahalo for helping develop this initiative, and you've spoken to me many times. I am officially signed up, okay. And I fully support this resolution and adopting the `Rina Aloha Economic Futures initiative. In different discussions in different groups, I mean, you're touching a lot of things that are happening now. There's different groups I've been dealing with, who are trying to build community into how we rebuild the tourism industry. And in the same group you're hearing the tourism industry saying, we don't want to go back to 85 percent occupancy. From a restaurant owner standpoint, it's like having a busy Friday night that never ends. It's incredibly hard on the environment and staff, and the same if it's a restaurant and the staff. In the same aspect an island with finite resources doing that perpetually, it just wears on us, and it has. And that's just one piece of this. In light of COVID we need solutions, but solutions are based on cultural and, you know, value systems that really show who we are. And I think that's incredible that you put it together, and actually have incorporated a score card for us to use to view, you know, whether it's economic or tourism based or you know, a project that is coming forward. And I think Ms. Villegas touched on it, you know, Hu Honua. Maybe they should be put to a project like Hu Honua just for—and not so much for our understanding. Because we live here. But maybe for their understanding,when they come to propose a project or build something here. They can take a look at this, and see how they score. And understand how we feel about it, not so much how they feel about it. So thank you for putting together the initiative, and for having the initiative to get it done. And I look forward to seeing this incorporated into an aspect of our county, where this could be considered. Similar to Maui, Maui has the requirement that a roundabout be considered for an intersection in their county code. Which is interesting. It doesn't require a roundabout, but it requires a consideration of. So perhaps having this be a consideration that the `Rina Aloha Economic Futures Initiative, or the values therein, be considered for the project. And maybe a certain threshold. So this gives me great hope for our future, and I'm very excited to see the county adopt this initiative. And very happy to be, you know, part of the Council that gets to adopt it. I look forward to future possibly bills, that can incorporate this a little bit deeper and more refined into our county. And in light of some of the more controversial projects, that are looming on the horizon, I truly hope this body, future administrations and other entities can use your scorecard to fully Page 15 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 understand how they're going to fit, and how we feel. That's incredibly important and has been overlooked. This is a funny note. You know, every day I drive down Kukui Camp Road. There's a sign in someone's front yard, and it catches my eye every time because it's right by the side of the road, and it says, "People over profit." It always catches my attention, you know, it's been said different ways. But it's just a very simple sign. But I think that kind of resounds what I'm hearing today in ` `Aina Aloha Initiatives. Very excited to adopt this, and mahalo for putting it forward. And look forward to seeing how this fits in our decision making. Whether it's past issues or new issues, or challenges that are presented. But again, mahalo for being here today, even with COVID happening. And for speaking with me yesterday as well. And look forward to progress. So mahalo. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. I think that's everyone. Ms. Lee Loy, did you have anything else you wanted to add? Okay, my turn. Thank you, Dr. Noe Noe. Thank you, Mahina for this wonderful presentation. I remember coming across this via a sponsored ad on Facebook. And I was so intrigued and just ate up the whole website that night. Because I just really believed in everything that was being stated at the time. Because you're right, COVID presents that opportunity to reset, reshape, and really transform our social structures and our economy. And then a couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of having you and Mahina come before Vibrant Hawaii. Our two streams, economy and education, because both streams are talking about how we move forward in a more `aina-based way. And now we're having this discussion here at Council. And you know, I do want to point out that Council Member Lee Loy and I filed this resolution and communication with the Clerk's Office over a month ago, July 6h. And so because of eternal deadlines this was the soonest we could have it on our agenda. And I bring that up, because in that time so much has happen with your group. And in taking a look at our resolution, you know, it doesn't even reflect the fact that you've convened 14 different online breakout sessions. And now you're at this point where community all over the state, all over the world is really weighing in on community driven proposals and initiatives that they think are going to help us diversify our economy, but move forward in a way that's triple bottom-line driven, right. It's not always about how much money you're able to make. It's not just about extracting. But it's about finding that happy balance between people, profit, and planet. And I think that AAEF (Aina Aloha Economic Futures)provides us that framework, it provides us that space to like you say be inclusive and give community a seat at the table to help kind of drive some of this. Page 16 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 You know, in consultation with Ms. Lee Loy, I would like us to perhaps add a few more Be It Resolves considering how much progress has been made by the group. You know, one of the testifiers had talked about this tool being used by county departments. And now that there is an assessment tool and checklist, and things of that nature, and solid proposals to review, I do think it's worth sending this to all department heads to say, "Take a look at this." "What right now in your department are tools and evaluation sets that you have?" That you use to help guide your decision making. Is any of this included? Is this an opportunity for us to just reflect as a county, how we can kind of strengthen our systems and make them more equitable? You know, there was talk about guiding principles. Absolutely, I mean last Council meeting Council Member Poindexter and I introduced a resolution around feminist recovery and adopting that gender equity and identity lens as we proceed in dealing with the COVID crisis. And now we have this resolution before us, and it is all very intentional. It is around giving our county notice that we need to do things differently. We absolutely need to do things differently. And so we are teeing things up, hopefully in a way that would allow all of us within government, within the community to just reflect on, and make decisions a bit different, so that we can collectively prosper. Because that's what it's all about at the end of the day, is making sure that we all are living in a place where we can all thrive. So with that, Ms. Lee Loy, I think it would be great if we could entertain a couple of amendments to this resolution around, you know, the notion of this going to all of the department heads. And they are reviewing the assessment tools, and framework, and seeing how they can infuse these things and these principles into their decision making. And I would encourage all of my colleagues to go to the website and home in on some of the online sessions the topic areas that they're interested in and use the Considerate It tool. It's a lot of fun, it's a great and interesting way to engage. And I wonder if that is something even Planning Department could be using, as they move forward with updating our General Plan and our Community Development Plans. And we are also at that time to be updating our Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). And so I get really excited, because I want all this to be aligned. I think if we all have the same guiding principles as government, as community, as private sector, and we're speaking the same language, we know what we mean right? When we say we're going to be doing certain things everybody's in alignment. And when you think about how we're going to have to do our best to bounce forward, there's going to be some financial capital provided by the Federal Government. But certainly not enough, not what we need. And so as Mahina was saying, making sure that every dollar we expend is amplified and magnified across all sectors and we really get a bang for our bucks. Page 17 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 So I'm just so heartened. Thank you for putting this together, and working so quickly and diligently to serve our community. And I'm really excited about the potential for transformative change. So Ms. Lee Loy, we'll work on those amendments, and get them into the second draft at Council. But I think everybody's kind of in agreement in how we can infuse some of the additional work that's been done into this work. So that we as a county ohana are making progress on a lot of these principles. Thank you so much. We have a motion on the floor to send Resolution 692-20 to the Council with a positive recommendation. MS. LEE LOY: Chair? Just a moment, I did prepare one amendment that was actually guided by Dr. Noe Noe Wong-Wilson. And it is contained Communication 1011.1. And at your guidance Chair, shall we hold on to this or go ahead and move this one in? Because clearly there's going to be another refined amendment to this resolution, it's entirely up to you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: How's about we handle all of the updates at one time at Council. I think that be the cleanest and easiest on staff. Thank you. MS. LEE LOY: Okay, sure. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thank you. We have a motion on the floor. All those in favor,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 692-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 692-20 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, Poindexter and Richards —3. Excused: None. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Dr. Noe Noe. Thank you, Mahina. Thank you, everyone for engaging in this important conversation. DR. NOE NOE: Thank you, Chair Kierkiewicz, and the members. Mahalo. This is the first time I've been out. But it was important, so mahalo. Thank you. MS. DAVID: Mahalo. Mahalo nui. Page 18 GREDC-24 August 4,2020 CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you so much. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: We are at the end of our agenda. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 2:16 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, Poindexter and Richards— 3. Excused: None. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: The Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic Development is adjourned at 2:16 p.m. Thank you so much, and be safe. Approved: 012,1 /12.0),0 Ms. ley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair (Date) Governmental Relations and Economic Development Committee AK/rk Page 19