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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PCHSW 2024/09/04 (2022-2024)Policy Committee on Health, Safety, and Well-being 1511 Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii September 4, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Policy Committee on Health, Safety, and ORDER: Well-being was called to order at 9:00 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Chair Mr. Matt Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent & Excused STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: BILLS FOR ORDINANCES Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. (There were none.) CHR. KAGIWADA: Mr. Clerk, we have one item on the agenda. Will you please read in the item. The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business Bills for Ordinances. Bill 195: AMENDS THE PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITY SCHEDULE, CHAPTER 15, ARTICLE 8, SECTION 15 -68. 1, OF THE HAWAPI COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY NAMING THE BASEBALL FIELDS AT WILLIAM "BILLY" KENOI DISTRICT PARK THE "HOWARD SANORIA BASEBALL FIELDS" IN HONOR OF HOWARD FERNANDO SANORIA Reference: Comm. 991 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz PCHSW- 15 September 4, 2024 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 195 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KAGIWADA: Council Member Kierkiewicz, it's your floor. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I just want to take a moment to acknowledge Brandon Bartolome, and feel free to come forward if you would like. He reached out to me when we were going through the process or renaming Pdhoa District Park to honor our late great Mayor, William "Billy" Kenoi. And his ohana shared with me a really beautiful story about Howard Fernando Sanoria, your grandfather, who had such an impact on the youth of Pdhoa because of his investment in coaching kids T-ball, girls' softball, you know; little league teams, baseball. Former Council Chair Woman Helene Hale coined him "Mr. Baseball," because again, of his significant contributions. And in digging into a little bit about Mr. Sanoria, I really appreciated he was such an advocate for Title IX, really encouraging girls to play sports. So, wanted to provide you an opportunity, Brandon, on behalf of your ohana, to just speak to what we are doing today, which is honoring your grandfather by naming the ballfield at the Billy Kenoi District Park in honor of your grandfather. CHR.KAGIWADA: Thanks for joining us. (Note: At this time, Brandon Bartolome came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. BARTOLOME: First of all, thanks you guys for having me here and having the opportunity to, you know, share a short story of my grandfather. You know, he'd been a big pioneer of youth athletics for many years from the time I was born. And you know, before my auntie was actually born, my auntie Marlene which is his youngest daughter; and his oldest son is Fred Sanoria right there behind us. But I'm just thankful and grateful that he made a big impact in my life. I like the Lakers; I like the Braves because he liked the Braves. You know, he instilled in me on how to be a team -player, and he got me introduced to T-ball and baseball. And not only did he used to coach, he used to actually create the uniforms for the schools and the little league teams, because back then everything was expensive. You know, families couldn't afford a lot of the equipment. So, he was the one that basically created everything that they needed to participate in. Even from picking up the kids and bringing them home, you know, after practice. Page 2 PCHSW-15 September 4, 2024 So, I remember we used to go riding in the boat, we called it. It was a big, long Plymouth Station Wagon. And he would pack at least 15-16 kids in that car. I mean, nowadays you cannot do that, right? So, I just remember them, you know, I was like the bat boy at the time. But you know, I just bring fond memories of him. Because he passed away in 1996, 1 think. So, I'm just grateful and thankful for the opportunity to even have this opportunity to speak in front of you guys, because I didn't know this is what you had to do to name the baseball fields until my auntie mentioned to me, you know, with Council Woman Helene Hale. So, we're here, and thank you. And you know, I have one thing to recommend, I think it's important to before you do name any other fields or facility, I think it's really important to go into the community and see and talk to the people that was from the district. Because I think that is important because there would be a lot of , what is that we can say, not upset people, but I think it's important to go into the community and ask before naming, I think you know. But thank you for all you guys do. Appreciate it. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Do you want to take a moment to just introduce the ohana that are here today? MR. BARTOLOME: So, I have my Uncle "Lento" Sanoria; and my Auntie Marlene, my Auntie Sandy, and Eddie Yokoyama. But Eddie Yokoyama was one of the P&R (Parks and Recreation) directors at the Community Center. George Yoshida was his boss. Then we have Fred Sanoria in the back. He's the oldest son. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Wonderful. Thank you so much for being here for this occasion. This particular bill is going to be a ceremonial bill. Mo (Maurice) Messina, Director of Parks and Recreation caught a slight oversight here in naming the fields, baseball fields. He wanted to make sure that we were inclusive of all different sorts of ball activities that could happen in that area. So, with your blessings Chair, will like to waive that to Council to keep this bill on track, and it will come forward as the Howard Sanoria Ball Fields bill, if that's okay with you and the family. MR. BARTOLOME: Yes, thank you. And my wife, Pomai, you guys all know her. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: We all know and love Pomai. Thank you for joining us. And I wanted to say thank you to your grandfather, not here with us today, but certainly looking down, and I think appreciating the recognition that he is getting. A humble individual that really went the extra mile to make sure kids were Page 3 PCHSW-15 September 4, 2024 coached so that they could be successful on and off the fields, and there's so many wonderful values of sportsmanship. You know, collaboration, resilience that you get by playing sports. And I know that that was something that he saw to be incredibly valuable that we instill in our youngsters. So, just thank you. So glad that your grandfather was able to share his gifts with the community. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Council Member. We're going to open it up for comments. So, I just wanted to mention that Council. Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder has joined us. Anybody want to chime in? Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you and thank you to the ohana that's here today. You know, this is kind of a promise that was long and coming. For many years, Pahoa didn't have recreational facilities, and it wasn't until our beloved Mayor, Billy Kenoi really pushed to have facilities in Puna. I say this was a long promise and coming, because Helene Hale, I actually used to work with her. But it was also at a time where former Council Member Al Smith, the Puna Representative, was pushing very hard for funding, understanding that pillars of the community, like Mr. Sanoria would become a fixture in that community to remind community that, you know, we build on those foundations. And so, it really is a nice homecoming for the family and a great honor for me personally to acknowledge that this is a promise being fulfilled. So thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz, and to the family. Congratulations, I'll be in full support. yield. CHR. KAGIWADA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Just want to say, mahalo to the family and then to the late Mr. Sanoria. I played baseball when I was younger. It's one of those kind of keystones in life as far as stepping up in learning a sport and being part of a team. And there's a great value to that. So, him passing that on to the community; passing it on to the kids in the community to build adults who take care of the community later in life is just a beautiful thing. So, to able to support this today, and mahalo to Ms. Kierkiewicz for bringing this forward and to put the name to the field and keep that as a legacy for the family, is incredibly important. So, mahalo for being here today in his honor, and happy to be a part of this. Thank you to the Parks and Recreation Department for making this happen as well. I yield. CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Council Member. Anybody else? Anybody over in Kona? Council Member Evans? Page 4 PCHSW-15 September 4, 2024 MS. EVANS: No, thank you, Chair. CHR. KAGIWADA: Okay, I'll just wrap up by saying, I'm also very happy to support this naming of the ballfields, and I did really like what I heard Council Member Kierkiewicz say about supporting girls in sports. It wasn't always the case that that was done to the extent that it sounds like Coach Sanoria did. So, really appreciate that. I didn't play softball as a child, but I did play other sports, and it was really an important part of my upbringing. So, really appreciate that and will be happy to support. So, great to see you all. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair. CHR. KAGIWADA: Oh yes, go ahead. M.S. KIERKIEWICZ: Again, I'm going to reintroduce a cleaned -up version of this bill at Council. So, a new bill will come forward because the title of this bill would be incorrect. I need to make sure that everything is in order, and I've been instructed by the Clerk that it's best to withdraw today and we'll waive to Council the new bill. Withdraw Bill 195: Ms. Kierkiewicz announced the withdrawal of Bill 195. CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you. So, the bill is withdrawn, and we'll be looking at the clean bill up in Council, so we don't have to have a delay. So, thank you all. I guess we don't need to take a vote, although you heard, I think, that there is a lot of support here for this. ADJOURN- Seeing no further business, Chair Kagiwada adjourned the meeting at 9:1.2 a.m. MFNT- Approved: Ms. JerVKagi/adatthair Policy Committee on Health, Safety, and Well-being "Cp SEP 1 6 202 (Date) Page 5