HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0597.011 2008-2010
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Murashige, Laura CL,- ~A P~ 5 cy -7 Plcoumm
From: HedrickHNECA@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 10:47 AM 2009 NOU 17 Rn 11 34
To: dikeda@co.hawaii.hi.us; donishi@co.hawaii.hi.us; enaeole@co.hawaii.hi.us;
cohmayor@co.hawaii.hi.us; counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us; dyagong@co.hawaii.hi.LS-C;Ljl, (-i
genriques@co.hawaii.hi.us; bford@co.hawaii.hi.us; kgreenwell@co.hawaii.hi.us;~~ €'::1(j
jyoshimoto@co.hawaii.hi.us; phoffmann@co.hawaii.hi.us
Cc: hecht.deb@gmail.com; MARINACLIFTON@aol.com; npacgoodlife@gmail. com;
aronowitz@gmail.com
Subject: Please retain Council meetings in Kona; oppose Res 267-09
Aloha, County Council Members,
Please do not discriminate against West Hawaii residents and Council representatives by reducing the Kona
Council meetings to three times a year. I would greatly resent it if the Council attempted to reduce the Hilo
meetings to once every 4 months.
How can the Kona meetings be so much more expensive than the Hilo meetings? I assume that travel and
lodging would be similar for meetings on both sides, so I assume the expense is due to renting meeting
space. Remember the West Hawaii Civic Center should be completed at the end of 2010, so we will have a
place for council meetings, which will reduce the expense of the room rental.
I attend several Council meetings a year, and it would be a great expense and inconvenience for me to travel to
the other side of the island. Video conferencing testimony and participation is not as effective as face to face
experiences. Please don't isolate our fellow citizens in West Hawaii!
Mahalo for all you do to make our island a better place to live.
Aloha, Hannah Hedrick
Fern Forest (upper Puna)
If you want to testify in person, the Council meeting is in Hilo still at the Ben Franklin Building or you can testify
at the Kona council office and the Waimea office at 9:00 am.
What's really at issue here?
1- If you believe that our elected officials represent us- THE PEOPLE, (and that's how I see the job of a council
member), how can Hilo side council members really understand west side problems if they don't come over
here?
2- Are we really talking about money? Council meetings are in Kona 12 times per year and Hilo 12 times per
year. If each Kona meeting costs $7,165. per meeting, this means the cost to be fairly represented on both
sides of the island is a whopping $85,980.00 per year?
Is this what equal representation costs? Q
Comrm- No. J - l • 1
Ref. Toe
V 18 nn-
Ref. Date
11/17/2009
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Now we have a price tag on the VALUE of equal representation. Mahalo Mr. Ikeda!!
3- in the county's estimated budget for 2009-2010 the revenues are estimated to be $317,474,000.00 for this
year. A mere $85,908.00 is .00027% of the budget revenues. The estimated revenues for next year (2010 to
2100) are estimated to be $328,440,000.00 that is .00026% of the budget
11/17/2009