HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0349.771 2006-2008 Acdal, Lorraine
From: DomincYagong[dyagong@co.hawaii.hi.usj -
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 7:55 AM
To: Acdai, Lorraine • ~ ' cr
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Cc: kdela@hawaii.edu ~ 'i`
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Subject: FW: Plantation Camp boy. ' " n
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Lorraine,
Please make sure that Mr. Kurt de la Cruz testimony is included in the public record to be distributed at the July 9,
2007 Finance Committee meeting. Please make copies for all 9 councilmembers and record it as public testimony.
Dominic
Aloha Kurt,
Mahalo for the testimony. I sincerely appreciate you sharing your feedback and opinion with the Hawaii County
Council. -
Aloha - Dom
From: Kurt de la Cruz [mailto:kdela@hawaii.edu]
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 11:31 AM
To: 'Dominc Yagong'
Subject: Plantation Camp boy.
Mahalo Dominic. Please present my testimony to the Finance Committee. Mahalo broths.
Deaz Councilman Yagong, Members of the Council, et al:
My name is Kurt de la Cruz and I am a proud Ka'u (Up Camp, Na'alehu) descendent who currently reside
in Kulani Mauka. Because I do not have a Ka'u P.O. Box, my opinion, along with many other folks living
outside of the district will not be considered in this fmal attempt to gauge "what the Ka'u folks want". As a
result, you may be dealing with a flawed sample of actual folks who care about Ka'u. I am thankful that my
concern to Dominic did not fall on deaf ears, and he did offer other mediums to submit my opinion. Still, I
believe that there are a lot of us who live outside of our beautiful home district for pure economic reasons
who will not be heazd. Sure I would love to be back home but Kulani offers a much more feasible and
economically-sustainable approach to making things work. For all it matters, I am a local boy who is visible
in the community who continually involves himself in the uplift of our community. My greatest testament is
to know that my Ka'u folks have never treated me as an "outsider." For that, I am truly humbled and
thankful.
I would like to go on the record to support RESOLUTION 169-07. I believe this is the only current option
that will truly enable Punalu'u to be left virtually in-tact and open to all of us for the rest of our lives. It
would be a jumping off point for true, clean development to take place. There's a lot of cleaning up to do,
trails to re-develop and maintain, ponds to clean out, roads to clean out, etc. In the end, it will be even more
beautiful (and prideful) than us Ka'u plantation-era folks will ever remember.
I believe that a lot of decisions have already been made in the minds and "guts" or our officials. Naturally,
core~n. No. 3 SF9.77 /
Ref. Toe•~efe~
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7/3/2007 Ref. Dote JUL ~ 9 ?ftm
that is what we elect our officials to do. Make the decisions, hard or easy. To assist you in making a
decision regarding Punalu'u I humbly ask for you to weigh the following. Almost all people who have sided
with development have done so for one reason -money. It may not be so obvious, but knowing them
further, you will find that many of them are attached to real-estate, contracting, and other ventures that
would capitalize off of the proposed development. On the other side, you find people like me who are more
focused on land, natural resources, and native people. Surely, making such hard decisions can never be as
simple as black or white. I answered questions to my own inquiries not too long ago when I asked O Ka'u
Kakou president Guy Enriques the following question:
"Bradduh Guy, can you tell me where OKK and the developers stand on the concept of malama Aina (take
caze of the land)?"
He not only did not respond, but walked away from me probably thinking that I am irrational, under
informed, or simply naive. Then again, he could have felt that some of us "local bradduhs" could see right
through the things he was saying. As you know, a lot of "locals," or "long time residents," make up the core
of OKK, giving off an air that it represents the true opinion of what all the locals or long-time residents
want. The anti-development groups are usually made up of newer Ka'u residents and Kanaka. In short, there
aze a lot of us locals and long-time residents who also side on the notion of malama aina and keeping Ka'u,
Ka'u. Yes, we would love to not have to drive so far to work, but I would much rather do so in order to
preserve than not do so and add to the wave of destruction. Council members, I am a Ka'u product just like
Guy. I am a graduate of Ka'u High School who went away for college and have been home now for 10
yeazs. Like Guy, I too care for our children, our healthcare and the future of Ka'u. In this day of rampant
development, land tax base issues, gas prices and so on, I do not believe for my simple aforementioned
question to Guy to be out of reason. Please consider the same question when making this very important
decision. Please preserve Punalu'u and all remaining tracks of land for all of us to enjoy for yeazs to come.
On a side note, have you had your cup of world-class Ka'u Coffee yet?
Sincerely yours,
Kurt de la Cruz
kurtdlcCc~vahoo.com