HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0136.003 2024-2026CCHR. IX
60EAC' 24
From: janice glennie
Sent: Thursday, March 6, 2025 10:06 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: LPC nominee should be nixed-GOAEC-24 comm 136
GOAEC-24 Communication 136
Aloha council members,
I applaud any member of the public who volunteers to take part in our democracy, but, at the same time,
not all shoes fit all people, and I have several serious concerns about Mr Toafili's nomination to the
critical position of Leeward Planning commissioner.
1) Most important is that the nominee apparently has political aspirations, yet disturbingly has left
numerous campaign finance violations ignored from when he ran for county council. A commissioner
must be a person who respects and follows the law. Otherwise, he will be rightfully disrespected and not
trusted by the public they're meant to represent.
Second and also critical, the nominee has no land use experience that I can ascertain, yet the job he'd be
doing requires deep knowledge of land use issues and laws. Every person who lives on or visits this
island is affected by the decisions these commissioners take, yet the public has no inkling what the
nominee's views are on land use or what his goals and visions might be.
3) The LPC needs balance and diversity —qualities it's had an overall lack of for decades. It's incumbent
upon the mayor and council to help create that balance. Without clear land use experience with a
background with the UPW, how do we know, for instance, that he won't add to the already extremely
development -friendly commission majority — a majority that's consistently and recently ignored the will
of the public including passing, among other debacles, the development of a 100-room hotel and more
condos where downtown Kailua-kona and Ali'i drive are already being choked to death by lack of
planning and chronically deficient and dangerous infrastructure?
4) There's at least one highly qualified, experienced applicant for this position who has a record of being
a listener and a land use advocate with balanced views on development. In fact, her application is a gift to
our county that shouldn't't be passed by. Among other positive actions related to local land use issues,
she's also stood up in support of the tenets of the Kona Community Development Plan and its
implementation — something that's near and dear to me and many other of this region's stakeholders.
Can we say that about Mr Toafili?
5) The nominee's wife is in the mayor's employ. This feels a little too "in the fold" especially when he may
still like to run for county office.
In closing, it seems that, in the end, there's no reason this nomination be approved other than the
nominee's willingness, which is admirable, but not enough. The Leeward Planning Commission is a very
powerful entity. It makes decisions that affect the lives of every person who lives on or visits our island.
It's clear that the nominee has neither the experience nor background that would give the public a sense
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that he'll listen to diverse views and act on that information rather than continue the sitting majority's
adherence to doing the will of development interests. We just don't know.
Mahalo for hearing my thoughts and remembering that your decision today amounts to providing — or
not — the guardrails our democracy depends upon to function in the public's name and best interest.
Best regards,
Janice Palma-glennie