HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMM. 30.1 Friends of Puna's Future - Testimony On Various Plans 8-11-2011 Rev 2My name is Richard Bidleman. I am submitting testimony today on behalf of Friends of Puna's Future,
based on the response to the plans prepared and made available to the public by the Elections Board
prior to this meeting. We have reviewed all nine of the publicly available plans, and as residents of the
district of Puna and members of the public, we offer the following comments:
Puna is and has been for many years a very distinct community, bound by many common needs and
objectives, both political and cultural. Many residents of Puna are bound together by a
similar agricultural /rural way of life- -our residents either live in one of the many agriculturally zoned
subdivisions created prior to statehood, or in small villages like Pahoa, Kea'au and Volcano. Our needs
and concerns differ greatly from those residents who live in the city of Hilo. Likewise, our needs and
concerns differ greatly from those residents who live south of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, in Ka'u,
where geography and climate are so drastically different from our own, creating a very different way of
life.
For these reasons, in our opinion, the various communities of Puna deserve to be represented as a
single entity. This committee has already suggested that the notion of splitting communities between
districts runs counter to their mandate, and they have expressed a willingness to reject any plan that
does so. Indeed, much of the public dismay in Puna that resulted from the 2000 redistricting effort arose
due to the inclusion of a part of upper Puna in the South Hilo District 3, and much of the Highway 11
corridor in the Ka'u District 6. Many residents in those communities felt that their voices were not
heard and their concerns deemed secondary. We in Puna would like to avoid such an outcome this
time around, especially given the vast influx of new residents to Puna which has created a deviation in
the current District 5 that is well above 20 %. Puna is coming into its own and we wish to be represented
fairly.
As stated earlier, we have reviewed all of the publicly available plans. We are strenuously opposed to
all plans that try to create a district extending from South Hilo into upper Puna. Likewise, we object
to Plan 8, as it creates a gerrymandered District 5 that runs counter to the stated guidelines and goals of
this committee. We would like to endorse Plan 9 as being the kind of redistricting scheme the people of
Puna deserve. Plan 9 creates a District 5 that runs from Hawaiian Paradise Park down Highway 130 to
the ocean, including all points east. Also, a District 4 that includes the towns of Kea'au, Pahoa and
Volcano, along with Kurtistown and Mountain View on the south side of Highway 11. These are all
communities with similar needs and similar lifestyles. We are all a single community, the community of
Puna.
Therefore, on behalf of all of the members of "Friend's of Puna's Future," we would urge you
to consider and adopt Plan 9 or any plan similar to it, or base your final decision upon the broad strokes
outlined by Plan 9, with regard to Puna.
Mahalo,
Friends of Puna's Future
COMM. 32