HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0662.010 2006-2008 Testimony Re: Two Planning Commissions for Hawaii County
This testimony is submitted concerning the document under consideration to establish
two Planning Commissions for Hawaii County. My views on this matter have been
shaped by my participation as the facilitator of the Kona Community Development Plan,
Working Group on Governance.
First, I want to commend Councilman Pilago for introducing legislation that delegates
responsibility and authority to local communities so that they can control the essential
features of their quality of life. Getting local government decisions and activities in the
hands of the community is critical, and this proposal is an important catalyst.
I believe it can be improved by going a step further: when a local community has
completed its Community Development Plan and secured its passage into ordinance by
the Council it should have the option of its own Planning Commission. This true
community-based Planning Commission will be responsible for overseeing the
implementation of the CDP, and should be tasked with reporting regularly to the District
on progress, Such a community based Commission would do more than consider
individual developments, but would have the capacity to engage in real planning for its
District.
Delegating responsibility and authority to local communities is awell-recognized
principle of governance. I believe that Honolulu has a system of neighborhood boards
through which local communities have opportunity to have a voice in what goes on in
their neighborhoods. In the city where I lived for more than 30 years, the City Council
created Advisory Neighborhood Commissions so that neighborhoods could make
decisions that affected their quality of life and well-being. The critical element is that
people take responsibility for themselves; no one makes decisions for another
neighborhood. With agreed-to CDPs, each District has its own roadmap. With its own
Planning Commission, it has a mechanism for overseeing its implementation.
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