HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0666.026 2006-2008 Hawaii County Clerk
counciltestimony a co.hawaii.hi.us
To: Hawaii County Council
The Honorable Pete Hoffmann, Chair
The Honorable Dominic Yagong, Vice-Chair
From: Marie Dolores (Dolly) Strazar
Date: Wednesday, 7 November 2007
1:45 PM
Hilo Council Chamber
Subject: Support of Council Bitl 176 Draft 2
Establishing a Hawai i County
Cultural Resources Commission
I am writing as a resident of Hawaii County, as a member of an informal taskforce group
on historic preservation and as a representative of an informal Hawai' i Island
organization, the Hawai' i Island Alliance of Historical and Cultural Organizations, in
support of Council Bill 176, Draft 2, establishing a Hawai' i County Cultural Resources
Commission.
I am a professional historian and archivist by trade and have been involved with
preservation in Hawaii since 1975. I served as a member of the State Historic Places
Review Board for 8 years in the 1980s and 1990s and in state government as the head of
the statewide history and humanities program.
In all of these capacities I have come to appreciate the wealth of historical and cultural
resources that we have on the Island of Hawaii and, in the years that I have lived in
Hawaii, have also seen the tremendous loss of such resources on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and
Lanai. From several points of view, cultural, educational and economic, it has become
critical to place cultural and historic preservation in the limelight in the County of
Hawai'i...not only by means of the nice words we say about it, but also with a structure in
our local government that puts emphasis on the importance of the unique treasures and
communities that we still have on this island. Studies show that by 2015 only 43% of the
residents of Hawai' i will be local born. One part of that fact means that there will be that
many fewer individuals who get the story of our place passed down to them through their
families and social networks. It is, therefore, important to at least have reminders of that
past, that made Hawai' i what it is today, still in our presence, our present, and part of our
future. It is also important to be able to keep Hawaii unique for ourselves as well as for
our future visitors. Many of them come today because we are unique and it would be
nice to have them keep coming, indeed even helping us to preserve what is unique about
us and our land. ~ ~
Comnp Roy
Ref. Ta !rase unoi 1
j(~f. Date NOV 7 2007
Establishing a County Cultural Resowces Commission, such as those already established
on Maui and Kauai, would help make the importance of these resources more visible to
the general public through its capacity to educate and provide accurate information on
these resources and their preservation(especially through inventories and accurate
listings). It would also help guide public policy by coordinating inventories and
information about these resources so that information is available earlier about given
sites.
I would like to stress the importance of maintaining the inclusion of inventory
responsibilities as set forth in the original drafts of this bill. That will allow Hawaii
County's Commission to apply for Certified Local Government (CLG)status. Both Maui
and Kauai's similar commissions have that status and, as a result, they can access federal
funding given to the State of Hawaii for the work of a CLG. Further, having some sort
of inventory will eventually facilitate the work of both this commission and of the
Planning Department. The pace, amount and kind of inventorying can be determined in
the administrative rules that would be put in place subsequent to the passage of this
ordinance. As a note, the absence of inventory data during the years when I served on the
State's Historic Places Review Board in the 1980s and 1990s made our decision-making
very difficult because, in many cases, we were unable to establish the importance of a
given site because we could not tell how many of that kind of site were or were not still
in existence.
The ordinance as proposed includes the stipulation that the commission be made up of
professionals from several relevant disciplines and be reflective of the geography of this
island. It also is similar to the ordinances that established such commissions on Maui and
Kauai and would, therefore, also allow our county to apply for CLG status necessary to
access federal funds that could support some of the inventorying and other work
necessary to assist preservation of cultural resources on this island. Experience on Maui
and Kauai indicates that it is important to attach adequate funding to this process so that a
full-time cultural resource professional and at least apart-time clerical position can do the
substantive work that this commission would entail within county government.
Mahalo to all of you for making this effort to bring attention to the unique culiwal and
historical resources of Hawai' i County and the necessity for government and the
community to be partners in preserving them.
Sincerely,
M~trazar