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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0109.011 2020-2022 1 t Testimony ul Kuykendall to the Government Operations, lais, and Economic Development Committee ( ) Meeting on November 17, 2021 . FS Aloha k5kou, Ruv.• My name is Paul Kuykendall. My ohana lives on lower St Pohoiki Road on our farm that was 80 percent covered by lava in August 2018. I'd like to thank the council for this opportunity to give feedback on the County's lava recovery proposals and to all the people working to help Puna Makai recover from the Lava flow. What I notice about the County recovery plan is that a very small percentage of the recovery money is proposed to be spent in Puna Makai, the area covered with lava and the purpose for the recovery funds. The buyout program is needed for our neighbors that need funds to recover homes, but it gives an incentive for people to leave the area and spend the money elsewhere. Nothing is allocated to those who want to stay in Puna Makai. Almost 90 percent of recovery funds for water systems are proposed by the county to be spent outside Puna Makai. Parks and Recreation is proposing a small fraction of the funds available to rebuild Pohoiki and has communicated no plans to replace our beloved Ahalanui Park. Comm. Ref. To: i What happened to Reimagine I nul . Someone has r imagined Ahalanui as some expensive lawn mowers for Hila Golf course n other equipment to be used elsewhere. This equipment should be paid for by tax revenues, i funds whose rp is to replace recover our local parks and ocean access. Local citizens have enthusiastically volunteered for the many committees to implement the recovery. I recommend that those committees be given the mandate to decide how recovery money should be spent. As you will hear today, local citizens are keenly aware of our losses and what is needed by the community: places to safely access the ocean, places for families to safely surf and skateboard, and places for our keikis to swim that are safe and not in the path of the boats exiting the water. Without influencing how money is spent, the committees and all the surveys are merely window dressing for decisions made by the county administrators to spend the money elsewhere. I notice there are lots of new and friendly faces at the county administering the recovery program. In the interest of full transparency, I request that all costs, including administration, for the recovery program be communicated quarterly can see that recovery is being spent wisely. Mahalo nui for all the workcounty and citizensre doing to help Puna Makai recover from the lava flow. If the committees are given real input as to how funds are spent, we can truly build Puna Makai back better. Without that real change, our course will be the current one, which can more accurately be described as Build Back Elsewhere. Mahalo nui.