HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0494.019 2008-2010
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PICOUNaL
Murashige, Laura 4ci 4. 14 From: Beth Sanders [sanders@hawaii.edu] Q~j 2~ P S~
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 12:00 PM~
To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us Gtl ='++i~;~
Subject: Bills 136 and 137, Testimony for October 21, 2007 Council Meeting rouNTI
Mr. Chairman and Members of the County Council, County of Hawaii
On Wednesday, October 21, 2009 I will be meeting in Honolulu with representatives from the State
Department of Transportation. Our discussion will focus on the need to recruit and train a
workforce to replace a significant number of Hawaii transportation workers reaching retirement
age. If I were not at this meeting I would be before you on Wednesday testifying in support of Bill
137 which ironically involves construction of a road. According to my understanding of the DOT's
study, in the not so distant future, building of roads may be delayed not because of a developer's
request, rather because there is an insufficient trained workforce.
Over the last few months you have been subjected to repeated testimony that if Bills 136 and 137
are not passed, there is high likelihood that the building of a college campus in West Hawaii will be
delayed, that construction may be stymied for another 5-10 years, that over $2 million in monies
released by Governor Lingle for planning and design of a West Hawaii campus will have been
squandered, that fund raising momentum will be lost, that your West Hawaii constituent will need
to leave the community or be relegated to a parking lot campus when they seek higher education
or lifelong learning opportunities.
As I have listened to your debates over Bills 136 and 137, I have learned that you want what is
best for your constituents. I have learned that history has taught you to be wary of developers and
politics has taught you that when you give up something, you need to get something in return.
By approving Bills 136 and 137, you will be doing what is best for your constituents: you will be
providing them with a desirable educational environment, one that improves learning rather than
detracts from it. You will be holding Palamanui to the "educational" conditions of their agreement.
Palamanui LLC will be obligated to put in the infrastructure needed for a campus; they will be
compelled to build the first University building or contribute $5 million toward its construction or
their development will be blocked. For what you gave up by approving Bills 136 and 137, you will
be getting education; you will get a college campus.
I urge you to choose education, to approve Bills 136 and 137; by so doing you will be holding
Palamanui accountable for the conditions of the contract that will construct a college in West
Hawaii.
If they build it, "it" will come. The roads will come, the park will come, the students will come and
the residential units will come. Education will teach the community how to build the best roads,
sustainable parks, and earn a living wage. Education can raise economic conditions, reduce crime,
and improve the overall climate of the community. If we build a West Hawaii college campus, a
better educated constituency will create the community no amount of amendments can force
Palamanui, or any developer, to conform to.
Thank you for your consideration of my testimony and your service to our island and state. -'A' ohe
lokomaika' ii nele i ke p3na' i.
geti~ sawders
Comm, too. q{jq
Ref. To: RCAAftcil
Ref. Data 2009
10/20/2009
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Interim Director
University of Hawaii Center, West Hawaii
81-964 Halekii Street
Kealakekua, HI 96750
Kona: (808) 322-4850
Cell: (808) 936-3037
sanders@hawaii.edu
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10/20/2009