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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0212.209 1996-1998 u WU~J°~ ° ° ~ ~ ~ Preserving the P.O. Box 263, Pahoa, Hawaii 96778 good in Puna Adrian Barber President Phone & fax: (808) 965-6050 l (~~i2~tief.~ _ r'~,7'~~ Pahoa Office: (808) 965-0557 'I ~~t«rk May 7, 1997 Chairperson Arakaki, Members of the Hawaii County Council. My name is Adrian Barber. I live in Leilani. I am President of Puna Malama Pono. Speaking for myself now I say that this issue came before the Committee on Finance and that hearing was most unfortunate. It was, in my opinion, a travesty of proper proceedure. The developers, the Administration, the State and those others with vested financial interests who seemed to have prior information about registration that allowed them to speak before the people who had signed up on the day of the hearing, gave five hours of testimony, outside the three minute rule, in favor of their interest before any dissent from the public was heard. I personaly waited, after arriving half an hour early to sign up, eight and a half hours to give my three minutes of testimony. we were forced to listen to two representatives of Isomedics parade their wares, complete with slide shows, without any time restraints at all. The unctious tone of their presentation was, to me, sickening. One got the impression that they were doing us hicks a favor offering to bring their, in my view, filthy radioactive plant to contaminate our Island. The worst affront, for me, however, was to have to listen to the foulmouthed man who somehow occupies the Mayor's office. I use the term "foulmouthed" not as an epithet but as a literal description of his words to my ear. They were foul, off side, out of bounds, just plain wrong. He said my exercise of my Constitutional right of expression, of dissent; my choice not to purchase irradiated food products and my urging others not to buy irradiated food products brands me as a terrorist! Is nothing too outrageous for him? I demand he offer me an apology. If he wants to tell me, in his personal opinion as a private citizen, his views on my position, well O.K., that's his right of expression. But I will not have him throw the power of his office, an office that the majority of the voters did not vote him into incidentally, behind the proposition that my Constitutional rights are terrorism. He makes himself, in my perception, a fool and the NixonQ~`o~ time Z' t1-~! and place. ]lam ~w CND lc?P A Hawai inon-pro/if corporation certified pursuant to lRS Code § 501(cJ(3) gie{, 'j'p~ iy~',~~,,,~~~~~ Bet. llau MAY 0 7_.x1997.....,_ e e 'lUUL.t ~ ~ ~ Preserving the P.O. Box 263, Pahoa, Hawaii 96778 good in Puna Adrian Barber President Phone & fax: (808) 965-6050 Pahoa Office: (808) 965-0557 May 7, 1997 testimony page two Speaking now as President of Puna Ma la ma Pono I say that this is perhaps the most important issue we face here. Civil rights, personal freedoms, Constitutional guarantees. But this is also about money. What is this two million dollars of ours to be spent on? Surely when we appropriate money from the general fund or from a bond issue it must have a specific purpose, must it not? Not a maybe application but a specific, stated dedication. Is this not the law? Can you vote money out their with no application? I ask you and I ask the voters, is not this two million, in reality, a defacto bribe to get Isomedics to build here? Are we tax payers not being asked to foot the bill for part of Isomedics start-up costs? I say do not appropriate this money to subsidize Isomedics. Let them compete in a free marketplace like everyone else. Thank you. Adrian Barber A Hawaii non-profit corporation certified pursuant to lRS Code § 501(c)(3)