HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0758.002 2004-2006
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HAWAII DIVISION: 100 Went Lonikoula Street, Hilo, Hawaii 96740 • OAHU DIVISION: 451 At inson Drirve, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
MAUI COUNTY DIVISION: 896 Lower Mein Street, Wailuku, Hawaii 96793 • KAUAI DIVISION: 4154 Hardy Street, Lihue, Hawaii 96766
LOCAL 142 April 18, 2006
Councilperson Virginia Isbell, Chair
Councilperson Gary Safarik, Vice Chair
Committee of Finance
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Statement of ILWU Local 142 on Resolution 290-06
My name is Richard Baker, Jr. and I am the Hawaii Division Director of the ILWU Local
142.
The ILWU strongly supports this resolution as a workable plan to save approximately
275 homes in Naalehu and Pahala.
The E.P.A.'s ban on gang cesspools put the residents in these communities in danger of
losing their homes. The E.P.A. gave these residents only two choices: connect to a sewer
system or build an individual septic system.
There is no existing sewer system in Ka`u. Most of the affected lots are too small to put
in a septic system - even if residents could afford the cost. The choices offered by the
E.P.A. will not work. These residents would have been forced to move out of their
homes.
The ILWU began working with the County, C. Brewer, and retired Department of Health
official Dennis Tulang to find a way to save these homes. The resolution you are
considering today is the result of months of hard work. It offers a solution that benefits
both the residents and the County: the residents get to stay in their homes and the County
saves 275 units of much-needed affordable housing while preserving Na`alehu Park.
There is no precedent for this resolution. But if 275 families are in danger of losing their
homes and the community is in danger of losing Na`alehu Park, we need to think "out of
the box" and take action.
The ILWU strongly supports this resolution and we thank the Council for considering our
opinions. Q
Com-n. No. 79.1
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''AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL''