HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0032.083 2006-2008
Re: Final Vote to Ban Supercenters on Big Island -Wed @ 1 Page 1 of 1
Murashige, Laura
From: Gillian Culff & Kiyoshi Najita [laughingwater@turquoise.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 6:37 AM
To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Re: Final Vote to Ban Supercenters on Big Island -Wed @ 12:30 PM
Dear Councilman Hoffman,
As a member of your voting district, I was disturbed to hear that you do not support the supercenter ban.
Our island is developing fast. We're expanding highways to accommodate anever-increasing number of
cars on the road, and our beautiful towns are increasingly falling prey to the national scourge of strip
malls and big box superstores. Our small town way of life is in danger, as is our island's natural beauty.
Americans are increasingly distracted by consumption of consumer goods. Here in Hawaii, the natural
beauty of our island is being replaced by one big store after another. As documented in the film
Walmart. The High Cost of Low Price, big box stores like Wal-mart are detrimental to our small town
way of life. While making it difficult to impossible for small, local businesses to compete, they siphon
money away from Hawaii County and into the coffers of mainland corporations. They fill valuable land-
- in this case, land that rightfully belongs to the Hawaiian people-- increase traffic, and feed consumer
ignorance about under what conditions products are made and where they go when we discard them.
There's no going back to the way Hawaii used to be; this much is true. And as a progressive, I don't
favor regression, just the use of common sense and foresight in the development of our island home.
Please join me in opposing supercenters on the Big Island. We need to protect our island before it
becomes just another sprawling, American suburb filled with strip malls, highways and industrial
centers.
Thank you for your time.
Gillian Culff
Waimea
~o. 32.83
Ref. To• _ s w e.:l
Ref. Date 3
10/2/2007