HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0401.016 2008-2010
TESTIMONY BEFORE THE HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL ON
JUNE 16, 2009 ON RESOLUTION 200, 201, AND 202
Good morning and thank you Mr. Chairman and Council members
for your efforts to serve Hawaii County. I speak today in
opposition to Resolutions 200, 201, and 202. I speak against all
three because all three reflect the failure of this Council to serve its
basic function as a legislative body for all of Hawaii County. I am
not prepared to accept the idea that this Council is incapable of
doing its job.
Many people have expressed frustration at the Hawaii County
government's seeming inability to govern effectively over the past
few years. During that time several people have suggested that the
only solution is to split the County. I have personally resisted that
conclusion, and this is the first time that I have even uttered those
words in a public venue. I happen to believe that the only real
solution to Big Island governance requires one county with several
locally governed municipalities. That is for a later time.
These three resolutions are all about the inability of members of
this Council to provide public leadership and governance
throughout the Big Island. Now frankly, I am not surprised.
Perhaps this Island is far too large, too complex and too diverse to
be effectively governed by a single political jurisdiction.
May I say it again? Perhaps this Island is far too large, too complex
and too diverse to be effectively governed by a single political
jurisdiction.
That certainly seems to be the conclusion reached by the Council
members and citizens who support these three resolutions. The
County Council, a legislative body which supposedly should come
together to craft public policy that will be fair to the entire county,
has instead proposed resolutions that will officially divide the
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Ref. Date JUN 16I'll,
council and split the County. Rather than coming together to
demonstrate that a single government in Hawaii County is a
workable model, Council members supporting these resolutions are
dividing the County. Rather than using the Council as a place to
come together to work out differences, these Council members
seek to separate and ostracize those other Council members with
whom they cannot easily find common ground.
So let it be noted that the first official resolutions seeking to split
Hawaii County have been introduced and supported -not by
Council members from West Hawaii but by East Hawaii Council
members.
While I do not necessarily disagree with your conclusion that you
are unable to govern such a complex and diverse Island, I find your
solution of disenfranchising West Hawaii voters to be
reprehensible. When you find democracy to be too difficult or too
inconvenient, you just decide to disenfranchise those parts of the
County with which you disagree. Sounds like Iran. Shame.
Many of us - citizens of Hawaii Island - believe that the best cure
for a democracy that isn't working well is to have more
democracy. I urge you to vote against all three resolutions. Let's
expand our democracy, not destroy it.
John Buckstead
77-6356 Halawai Place
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
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