HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0183.024 2020-2022 P/Pc,
comm.no
From: Janice Kerr
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2021 8:55 AM
To: Council Testimony
Cc: Chung, Aaron; David, Maile; Inaba, Holeka; Kanealii-Kleinfelder, Matt; Kierkiewicz, Ashley;
Kimball, Heather; Lee Loy, Sue; Villegas, Rebecca; Richards, Tim t ,
Subject: TESTIMONY RE: MAYOR'S REQUEST TO FIRE VAN PERNIS
Importance: High t --(L71
DATE: April 5, 2021
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TESTIMONY TO COUNTY COUNCIL RE: MAYOR'S REQUEST TO FIRE FR. VAN PERNIS: � +
Mr. Van Pernis is an experienced, intelligent, community-minded individual who volunteers his time and talent to guide West
Hawai'i to smarter development. He should not be fired. He absolutely should not be fired at the request of Mitch Roth.
Mr. Van Pernis stands in the way of Mitch Roth's attempts to pay back the Developers for their financial contributions to his
election. The team of Mitch and Zendo (Kern) are trying to get rid of our County Development Plan, one of West Hawaii's most
valuable community Commissioners (Van Pernis)who has provided much needed input into the Plan, and anyone else who
attempts to stop the duo from ensuring we have smart development. Their moves are transparent.
As Council Members, you should know why I am asserting this.
On Nov. 29,2020, I emailed Mayor Roth and asked him to "Please talk to us about how you plan to address infrastructure
improvements, and how they will be funded and prioritized before we study any more new developments."
To date, he has not provided one word of reply or any action regarding infrastructure.
In the same email, I also questioned the Mayor about his choice of Zendo Kern as Director of our Planning Dept., expressing
concern about his conflicts of interest due to his business of providing consulting services to numerous Hawaii Developers. The
following is Mitch Roth's reply—verbatim:
"As I see it, Mr. Kern was doing a job, much like the new Supreme Court Justice Todd Eddins who was representing
murderers, thieves and rapists. I did not fault my friend Todd Eddins for doing a job and I do not believe I should fault
Mr. Kern for a job that he did."
Mitch Roth continued (and I quote): "I believe that Mr. Kern can be fair and impartial. Also like my friend Mr. Eddins, Mr.
Kern will have to conflict himself out of any project that he previously worked on..."
Then on or about March 25, 2021 Zendo "inadvertently" approved the plat map of a Developer for whom he had worked. So
much for conflicting himself out. (Will there be any repercussions for Zendo's actions, which violate the County Charter?)
With Mitch Roth's inappropriate vitriolic rant against Mr. Van Pernis, we can clearly see Mitch Roth's interest in removing any
sensible objections to his fast-tracking the Developments that are chocking West Hawai'i. He wants to extinguish our Community
Development Plan and valuable community input so that he and Zendo can continue to pander to Developers, who enrich both
of them and cripple our community.
Mr. Van Pernis is a community representative who cares about our community and works hard to ensure smart Development.
Neither Mitch Roth nor the County pay a dime for the work Van Pernis does for our community. Please do not accept Roth's
pleas to get rid of Van Pernis.
Roth shows he does not care about West Hawai'i. Mr. Van Pernis has a track record showing he does.
Comm. NQ.,n
Thank you. Ref. To: p IP Ci
1 Ref. Dote APR - 6 2021
Sincerely,
Janice Kerr
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
2