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Home My WebLink AboutREP PC 106 07/06/2000 1998-2000 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PLANNING DATE: July 6, 2000 Re: C-827 PLACE: Councilroom TIME: 2:36 p.m. Chair and Members Hawaii County Council Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Your Committee on Planning, to which was referred Communication No. 827 transmitted by Mayor Stephen K. Yamashiro dated June 23, 2000, reports as follows: Communication No. 827 recommends the appointment of the following individual to the Hawaii County Planning Commission to serve a term ending December 31, 2003: Mr. Aurelio C. Mina, Jr., a Democrat, will replace Mary M. Katayama (Council District 7), whose term expired on December 31, 1998. Mr. Mina, a resident of Hawaii since 1970, has been a welder with Yamada & Sons, Inc. Pursuant to Section 5-4.3 of the Hawaii County Charter, the mayor shall appoint members of the Planning Commission to be confirmed by the Council, as prescribed in Section 13-4 of the Hawaii County Charter. Committee Member Curtis Tyler questioned the validity of the nomination because of the current imbalance of the existing Planning Commission where most of the commissioners represent East Hawaii. He also questioned why someone was not selected from West Hawaii, since Mary Katayama represented West Hawaii and there is a need for someone to fill the vacancy for Council District 8. Mr. Tyler also noted that Mr. Mina is technically not replacing Mrs. Katayama because she is from District 7 and Mr. Fujikawa replaced her; however, Rudy Legaspi stated that "we believe that's the correct replacement, that prior to 1998 you had six members selected from geographical districts and three At-Large. So you could have a combination of two members from a certain district. So technically, we are replacing Mrs. Katayama with Mr. Mina". Mr. Legaspi stated that we will not be in total compliance with the charter until the end of year 2000, when the overlapping terms expire. He also stated that they tried to "recruit a person from District 8, but that didn't pan out", so they sought someone from District 5 with the assistance of Fred Galdones, who recommended two names, and hence, the selection of Mr. Mina. PC-106 PC-106 Page 2 July 6, 2000 In response to some questions posed to him, Mr. Mina responded that he is aware of how much time is needed to devote to the Commission, and that although he is a member of the ILWU, he will vote with "what is in my heart" and not by union desires, and if anything is related to the ILWU, he will refrain from voting on the issue. He also stated that he has no problem with the Sunshine Law. He also explained that he learned of this position when he attended an ILWU meeting and members were asked if anyone was interested in applying for it, and he did because he wanted to learn more about land use and how the County handles it. Committee Member Julie Jacobson asked Mr. Mina how he felt about the development of the coastline, and he said we need to consider things such as access to the beaches and listen to the public's input. In response to a question about how things should be constructed or shouldn't be constructed, as in the case of rock walls or things that impact the beaches, he stated that anything can be built as long as it does not block the beaches which is a "community thing". In response to Ma Jacobson's question about golf courses being an appropriate use in an agriculturally zoned area, he responded "we got too many golf courses around the island". Then, she prodded him about cellular towers and he responded by saying that if it will help in emergency situations, it should be built. She then asked him "to what degree do we protect the historical sites?" He responded that it should be protected if it has historical value to the County. There was one testimony by Wallace Ishibashi, Business Agent, for the ILWU, who supported the nomination of Mr. Mina. Your Committee on Planning recommends the approval of the appointment of Mr. Aurelio C. Mina, Jr., to the Hawaii County Planning Commission. AYES NOES A & E EX LEII'HFAD-TODD X 'TYLER X Respectfully submitted. CHUNG X COMMIT'rEF.O PLANNI BLARIONOPF X IACOBSON X PISICCHIO X Y AN LEITHEAD-TODD, CHAIR SMITH X YAGONG X PC REPORT NO. 106 ARAKAKI P..O.M. X ADOP~PED:JUL 2 6 2000 Comm. No. File No. M.B. No. Date: