HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0819.016 2020-2022 �Cou(16
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Sybil Lopez,vice('hall
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COUNTYCLERK
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COUM OF HAWA-17
Date: June 14, 2022 lite AEVE
1 , ED 1
ale 1 :, 022
To: Honorable Maile Medeiros David and Hawaii County Council Members
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Fr: Robin Puanani Danner, Chair, Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations (SCHHA)
Sybil Lopez, Vice Chair, Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations (SCHHA)
Re: Bill No. 180 Amendment Related to the Department of Water Supply
The SCHHA is a statewide coalition of homestead associations that are defined in 43 CFR Part 47.1,
representing the interests of and provision of services to native Hawaiian citizens defined by the U.S. Congress
in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 (HHCA).
Bill No. 180 and its amendment establishes ex-officio, non-voting seat on the Board of the Department of Water
Supply for a citizen representative of a homestead association duly registered with the U.S. Department of
Interior.
As every elected official knows in taking an oath to represent the laws of our great State,the 1959 Hawaii
Admissions Act, as well as the Hawaii State Constitution, includes a compact with the federal government to
honor and administer the HHCA, as a condition of Statehood.
County governments are political subdivisions of State government, carrying out the local sovereignty and well-
being of county citizens within the tenets of the State constitution, including its native Hawaiian citizens
eligible for HHCA trust lands. Bill No. 180 is intelligent county policy, honoring a six-decades old
commitment made when Hawaii became a State making way for local government municipalities.
Bill No. 180, with its amendment empowers the Mayor to appoint along with other ex-officio seats,with
perspectives and expertise important to the Department of Water, in this case,the HHCA. This county policy
proposal is not a gesture toward its "native Hawaiian citizens", but rather to safeguard county water policy is
connected to the constitutional perspective of the HHCA,to the knowledge of trust land plans and to the
opportunities important to Hawaii Island.
Bill No. 180 is smart public policy. For every citizen of the county.
Founded in 1987 the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations(SCHHA) is the oldest and largest governing
homestead association registered with the Department of Interior, exercising sovereignty on the trust lands
established under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920. �'�•�(„
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