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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0690.008 2004-2006 CARLSMITH BALL LLP A LIMITED LIABILITY LAW PARTNERSHIP ` ' i 121 WAIANUENUE AVENUE P.O. Box 666 Hlto, HAWAII 96721-0686 7~LEPHONE 606.935.6644 FAX 808.935.7975 W W W.CARLSMTCH.COM SLIM©CARLSMTTH.COM OUR REFERENCE NO.: 058939-t May 1, 2006 Hawaii County Council County of Hawaii 75 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Re: Bill Nos 226 and 227 Lava Kuakini, LLC Change of Zone Dear Chairperson Higa and Council Members: Attached is Barry Crivello's statement on behalf of Lava Kuakini, LLC's change of zone request in Bill No. 227. Mr. Crivello is unable to personally present his statement as he is in Oregon taking Gaze of his daughter who is ill. Mr. Crivello requests that his statement be read at your next meeting. Very truly yours, CARLSMITH BALL LLP Steven S. m SSL/lny Enclosure cc: Lava Kuakini, LLC 4850-0709-6576.1 Q Correru? No. ~ ~ Ref. TaC~ Ref. Date HONOLULU ~ KAPOLEI ~ HILO ~ KONA ~ MAUI ~ GUAM ~ SAIPAN ~ LOS ANGELES 4 + Honorable Chairperson and Members of the Hawaii County Council, My name is Barry Crivello and I live at 73-4341 Papaana Place in Kailua-Kona. I am a MBA and a CPA with a practice in downtown Kona. I have come before today to ask for your support for our project to bring "affordable worker housing" to Kona. I have a great business and a wonderful life, but I would not be successful without the great effort and loyalty of my employees. Every day they come to work and do a tremendous job of taking Gaze of our firm's clients. They aze professional and courteous and I am truly humbled and blessed to know such honorable people. But they, like so many other people, who aze living, working and raising families in Kona have not benefiting from the recent boom in the real estate market. Quite the contrary! The workers of Kona who are the backbone of our economy have been priced out of the mazket and now have no hope of sharing in the American dream of owning their own homes. They have watched as luxury development afrer luxury development have brought wealthy people from all over the planet to Kona, while they are forced to live with family members or in employer provided housing. The message has been clear and they understand it well. We want you to work in Kona but we don't want you to live here. Although their families have lived in Kona for generations they need to make way for the new arrivals. Where is the justice in this? They have hopes and dreams like the rest of us. Although they may be angry, they come to work every day and show respect to their employers, customers and fellow workers. They are what make our Hawaiian culture the best in the world. They are my heroes! We have all been taught to give something back, but what have done for the most deserving of our citizens? The sad truth is that we have taken them for granted. We have displaced them for their communities. We have ignored their desired and needs. And yet we expect them to be good, compliant citizens and be grateful that they live Hawaii. We build luxurious communities for the rich and famous but make excuses for why we cannot take care of our own people. We argue that although our workers already live and work in Kona, it will create additional traffic by having them walk or drive the short distance to town. With all of our wealth and power we are losing our identity. We are losing our sense of community and we will eventually lose our souls. We aze becoming a fractures society and the gap between the haves and have pots is growing. The consequences will be grave indeed. But it is not too late. We can start now to bring balance back to our community. As past president of the Friends of the Children's Advocacy Center I found out first hand what can be done when Government and Business leaders come together to form a Public-Private Paztnership to address the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. Together we can solve the problems that face our community. When I was asked to help with the formation of the Charter Schools in Kona I did. When asked to teach Taxation at UH Hilo because the course had not been taught there for five yeazs, even though it is a prerequisite for becoming a CPA, I commuted from Kona to Hilo for 17 weeks. Now I have been asked to help solve the worker housing crisis in Kona by building "Affordable Worker Housing". But we cannot do it without your support. We aze local businessmen, not luxury developers. Every month we incur more fees and costs. With building and labor costs sky-rocketing and interest rates moving up, each day we are delayed hurts our chances of success. The location of the property is ideal. With the planned Alii Pazkway running alongside the project, the home owners will be able to walk down to town and catch a shuttle if they need to. Kona was once a village and it can be again. The administration supports this project. The planning commission supports this project. Now the burden is on you. If you reject, delay or hinder this project, I will still have my business. I will still have home and I will still have a good life and so will you. But what message will we be sending to the workers of Kona? I respectfully request that you stand with us, the administration, the planning commission and the workers to put "affordable worker housing" on the ground as soon as possible. Thank you.