HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunication No. 2020-2- James Sogi TestimonyComm. No. 2020-02 James Sogi Testimony
James Soni Public Testimony for the All Action Committee CDP Meeting 12.16.2020
Please present my testimony for the Dec 16 KONA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION
COMMITTEE meeting.
My name is James Sogi and have lived in Holualoa Hawaii for 40 years. I was born on the Big Island. My
family has been in Hawaii for 5 generations for 115 years.
Tourism should not be made the top priority for economic development.
Tourism is destructive to the land, to the culture and to the people. Manyjobs go to mainlanders who
come here, not locals. We have to bring in workers to build hotels.
The land development destroys access to beaches and resources like at Mauna Kea Beach hotel allowing
only 10 local cars to park. The end result of tourism as a priority is Waikiki, which is bad.
The Polynesian Cultural Center type of entertainment is disrespectful of our local Hawaiian culture.
Tourism is not reliable as we find now, during the Iran crisis, during 9/11, during an airline strike, during
economic downturns on the mainland. We cannot rely on tourism.
We should promote local business as we did for a hundred years before tourism came to the Big Island.
Promote agriculture. Promote Hi tech, Promote local services, Promote remote working, promote small
scale culturally sensitive tourism by local people.
Please do not put tourism as the top priority. There will be some tourism, but it should not be our main
economic engine.
James Sogi
Please send me info for greater zoom access to the meeting. Thank you.