HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0044.033 2020-2022 From: Wayne Hemby
Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2021 8:01 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Planning Committee meeting - Comm.44
Honorable Council Members,
Please accept this email as my testimony against the confirmation of Zendo Kern as Planning Director.
Zendo Kern should not be confirmed. He does not meet the requirements for the position under Section 6.7.2 of the Hawaii
County Charter. His application should never have made the final cut of vetted applicants. This alone should prevent a single
vote being cast for confirmation.
In addition as indicated by numerous articles and letters to the editor of West Hawaii Today, and Hawaii Tribune Herold,there
is a lot of opposition on grounds of conflict of interest as a result of his business association with developers, and donations
which constitute optics of"pay for play" or"quid pro quo".
While he may be skilled in a narrow band of knowledge regarding how to steamroll a project past regulations (his web site
quotes "'..., i get this done .a a s0ori as vara can."),there are many instances of specific documented behavior that illustrate
he does not have the management skills or judgement required for the Planning Director position. It is clear he will blindly
advocate for any development regardless of lacking infrastructure to support it or the devastation and decline of quality of life
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resulting from it. For your convenience I will list a few of these instances where Zendo Kern has been involved with
questionable judgements or activities:
Aug 2012 questions about campaign contribution from Pacific Resource Partnership
Sept 2012 failure to recuse and subsequent council vote resulting in an ethics complaint
March 2013 filing of improper paperwork required for Kona fundraising event
June 2 2013 Mistake in voting on property tax bill during council session
July 17 2013 opt-out of furlough required of county workers to balance budget
Sept 2020 advocate for clients misuse of agriculture land for wedding business
Sept 2020 Misuse of Ag land and rentals not approved or permitted
Sept 2020 involvement in Waikoloa Mauka LLC project which is under FBI investigation
2020 Shut down his web site in advance of nomination. Archives are available(click to see)
Thank you for your consideration and for your time in evaluating my testimony. I hope that I have clearly outlined why you
should vote against the confirmation of Zendo Kern for Planning Director
Respectfully,
Wayne Hemby—Resident of Kailua Kona Comm. N®, IV
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