HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0493.035 2000-2002
FROM :MATT FAX N0. :8083240430 Jun. 21 2002 11:11AM P1
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Testimony to County Council on June 20, 2002 'r':' ~ ;
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Subject: General Plan Revisions
1~ro~n: Matt fiinder, ICealakekua .
Aloha coucilmembers. `T`hank you for coming here tonight. My
name is Matt fiinder and i live in Kealakekua. I'm a solar en ' eer
and I'in on the board of directors of the Sierra Club on this island.
I want to say that I really appreciate all the hard work that's been
done on this revised general plan and I, and the Sierra Club,
support the changes that have been proposed. I think that we've
all come to understand that the paradigm of "development for
development's sake" is an outdated idea, if it ever was valid.
I believe we will do better with a new vision for our future, and a
few nights aggo while I was reading myfive-year-old son some old
fairy tales, I think I found the fable that fits our tune. It's the aesop
fable about the goose that laid the golden eggs.
Now the guy in the fable kills the goose because he doesn't want
to wait for the golden eggs to be laid at the goose's leisurely pace.
I-Ie wants to cut the goose open and get all the eggs at once. fiat
once he cut the goose open, he found there were no golden eggs
inside, and now the goose was dead. When I finished the story
my son said, "fiat dad!!?? That guy must be really stupid to kill
the goose, now he won't get any more golden eggs, he11ol"
set's not make the san1e mistake here.
Thirty years ago hawaiI for tourists was ail about Vl~aikiki. No one
much valued Kealakekua flay, the Place Of Refuge, or Kilauea
volcano. Now they're our most important attractions. Isn't it
amazing how tune changes things?
Now the typical tourist comes to our island for our beautiful
waters, our beautiful land, our awesome volcano, and our friendly
people. The people I know who live here love the small-town
peacefulness, the faun life, and the friendly people. Who knows
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FROM :MATT FAX N0. :8083240430 Jun. 21 2002 11:12AM P2
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what the future will ]bring, so let's not do any more irreversible
damage.
Yes, we could make a few quick bucks with some new freeways
and golf courses and high-rise hotels and we could have hyped-
up people running around talking constantly on their cell phones,
but who would want that?
A few people make a lot of money on luxury developments like
Hokulia, but the vast majority lose out: rents and home prices in
the area go up, driving away marry low and middle class families,
traffic gets worse, and you end up with a bad social dynamic with
rich people in their gated enclaves paranoid that their poorer
"neighbors" are going to rip them off. `T'his isn't my vision for the
dig Island. And the best way to prevent it is to stop the
development-mania, keep the last of our wild places wild, and just
stop trying to get the eggs out of our beautiful golden goose
before she's ready to give them. Thank you