HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0675.030 2022-2024 From: Jason de Bruyn
Sent: Sunday,January 21, 2024 3:22 PM P;
To: Council Testimony `
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Subject: Testimony AGAINST Bill 121 f .,
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Dear Council Members,, •
I am the owner/operator of a short term vacation rental in the old Kapoho area of Puna.I am 43 years old. I am a husj2sand.It' m he
father of 9 year old twins.This rental is our sole source of income.We have invested everything we have into it and what we ct'ait into-building a
second one,which is almost complete.Once that one is running,if we're even allowed to keep running at all,perhaps we can actually start
saving some money and planning a brighter future for our family.If this bill passes as is,that will be an impossibility. I'm not really sure what we
would do.
It hasn't been easy.While others lost much more,we narrowly escaped losing our property during the eruption.Like everyone else,
we did lose roads, recreational areas,schools,and many of the beautiful features that made us to decide to move here in the first place,9
years ago.Yet we pushed on.Our rental survived and vacationers still took the long way through the jungle to stay with us.This brought money
not only into'out pockets,but into the pockets of local restaurants,farmer's markets,grocery stores etc.With no hotels in Puna, it is rentals like
ours that give vacationers the opportunity to stay overnight in this area,spend their money here,and leave with recommendations to visit this
island for their friends and family back home.This bill will destroy all of that.Our business survived the eruption,and we are grateful for that.
Our business even survived the pandemic and travel bans,and we are grateful for that.We have survived inflation and 5 dollar a gallon gas
prices. How unexpected it is to now be threatened by the very people elected to represent what's best for the people of Hawaii.Our own
representative here in Puna,a person I voted for but never will again,is now coauthoring my family's financial death sentence.Shame.
AirBnB is a review based platform. If we host an unsafe,unhealthy experience,it will be reflected in the reviews and we will lose
business.If we get a one star review,AirBnB will allow one chance to improve or state our case,and if we don't improve,we would be booted
from the platform and banned from doing business with them entirely.Our incentive as small business owners is to provide a beautiful,safe,
memorable experience-if we don't,we don't survive.The challenges are hard enough,barely making enough to fight another day,the last thing
we need is a law that threatens outrageous fines and even criminal prosecution. Like any of us need another blade to our throats.Another
threat against our livelihoods.Do we really need more regulations when the complaint rate is less than 1 percent island wide?If this was a
government run program it would be declared an overwhelming success. Do we really need a blanket law on an island that celebrates diversity
from one side to the other when the vast majority of districts received ZERO complaints at all?I can't understand why the authors of this bill
represent two districts that received ZERO complaints. Have they nothing better to do?I can think of plenty.
The question that keeps going through my head is:WHAT GOOD WILL THIS BILL POSSIBLY ACCOMPLISH? It will just take money
out of communities that desperately need it. It will put families out of business.It will destroy dreams and possibly force many to move,to pack
up,to leave. It will achieve what a volcanic eruption and pandemic could not-it will destroy us.That will be the legacy of Bill 121.
We are entirely off grid.We do not have the opportunity for county water.We do not have the opportunity for country electricity.We do
not have mail delivery,phone or intemet access,nor public transport.We live on a private road that we repair ourselves,with our own money.
We have never had a complaint made against us.We have been waiting 5 years for roads that never have never reopened.We pay our taxes
and we live peacefully and we don't bother anyone. For what reason should we now be forced to reinvest money we don't have to fit new rules
that won't actually improve anything at all,nor will it open up long term housing,under the shadow of fines we can't afford or even criminal
prosecution because we're a small family that wants to rent their Ohanas to tourists?The logic is maddening.The logic is absent.
And why did Heather Kimball clearly state in her Zoom webinar that permitting had been removed from the bill, replaced by an
affidavit declaring a safe rental,but now permitting is back in the bill?Why should we ever trust in representatives that go back and forth like
that?Is that who you all are?I certainly hope not.
You want more of our money?We barely have any anyway but sure,take it. Make us pay registration fees. But don't force good
people to close up shop. Don't threaten us with fines and criminal prosecution.If it ain't broke,don't try to fix it.Well this bill won't fix anything,it
will just make more people broke.
Do not pass this bill as is.Please. Remove/reduce the fines.Remove the permitting nightmare.Remove the criminal prosecution.
Consider the people this bill will actually affect. Consider the harm it will cause across the entire island. Please act with Aloha.
Thank you for your time,
J.de Bruyn
Comm. No. "
Ref. To:
Ref. Date JAN 2 3 2024