HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMM. 35.5 from Margaret WilleMARGARET WILLE
Attorney at Law
65 -1316 Lihipali Road
Kamuela, Hawaii 96743
Tel: 808 - 854 -6931
margaretwiIle@mac.com
August 24, 2011
TESTIMONY TO REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE
A. RECOMMENDED CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING PROPOSED DISTRICTS:
Descending Order of Priorities for District boundaries: (using District 9 as example)
1. Respect identity of "village centers ": Don't split community centers -(e.g. don't
use Mamalahoa Highway as dividing line in Waimea, don't cut waikoloa in half, and
don't split North Kohala); [District 9 village centers are: waikoloa, Kawaihae, Puako,
Waimea, Hawi, Kapaau]. If must split a community base the split on urban - rural
divisions, e.g. East side rural Waimea split from Waimea center - but do this just to
extent absolutely necessary to keep the District legal.
2. Contiguity of access roads: Don't make voters drive through another voting
district to vote (e.g. Don't put Hawi- Kapaau in Hamakua District)
3. Respect CDP ohanas: Keep existing Community Development Plan greater
communities together if at all possible within legal percentage deviations [In other
words, keep SKCDP unit together: waikoloa, Waimea, Kawaihae and Puako , and
keep NKCDP community together] If must divide a CDP community:: break" urban"
versus "rural" - so if Waimea must be split - move Eastern most portion of Waimea
into District 1 as currently is the case before considering splitting waikoloa off to
North Kona District 8, and before considering using Mamalahoa Highway or
Kawaihae Road as division lines)
4. Respect Ahupua'a /watershed Divisions (e.g. keep Waimea - center in same
district as Pelekane Bay)
S. Minimize percentages of variations: (criteria of lowest importance)
B. ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT PLANS:
(According to Above Criteria for "District 9 ")
1. Current Plans that More or Less meet all of the above Criteria 1 through 4:
Plans # 2 and #7 -best (with extraction #7 would need to be reduced by moving
about 200 on southerly boundary into District 8)
Plans #3 and #6 meet all of the above criteria except cuts off eastern rural portion of
Waimea all the way to Kamamalu Street (with extraction: both of these would need
to be reduced on south or southeasterly boundary by about 200 persons]
2. Plans that at least meet criteria 1 and 2: #11) #14) #i5) #16) #17
(Plan #17 cuts Waimea to Hamakua; Plans # 11, #14, #16 cut Puako to North
Kona; Plan #1S cuts Waikoloa to North Kona)
3. Plans that don't even meet criteria 1 and 2: Therefore completely
UNACCEPTABLE:
- -Plan S and 12 split up North Kohala:
Plan S: cuts -Hawi and Kapaau to Hamakua
Plan 12 cuts North Kohala to Hamakua
[with extraction numbers both plans are over permitted deviation by about 300)
- -Plans 1, 4, 8, 9, 10 all split Waimea -town in half (e.g. along Mamalahoa Highway so
that KTA in one District and Foodland in another)
- -Plan 13 - Splits Waikoloa: (south and west of Puu Nui Street in North Kona
District)
NOTE: At the last Commission meeting, a Hilo -side commissioner suggested it is
okay to divide up Waimea into different districts because its students are bused to
other districts to attend school. As a Waimea resident, I disagree with that
statement.
C. EXTRACTION OR NO EXTRACTION:
1. Has the Redistricting Committee made motion to pay for extraction of the
military and student numbers? (In other words has there been a committee motion
and vote to approve payment for extraction in an amount under then amount that
would trigger procurement process)? Has the Committee given these figures to esri
(whoever doing extraction) or gotten State to give esri these extractions figures?
THE POINT IS: No vote, no pay, no do, and in other words that means the
committee's agenda is to say they will extract these numbers, but then say no time
to do, so must leave them in (i.e. speak well intentioned and act otherwise)
D. HILO AGENDA TO UNDERMINE PUNA'S RIGHT TO TWO SEATS:
1. All of the proposed plans giving Hilo three districts are unacceptable: There needs
to be a Puna East District and a Puna West District (All Hilo proposals to cut off a
portion of Puna to create a de facto third Hilo District should be discarded)
2. Downtown Hilo with airport and university should be one District and - rural
mauka Hilo should be its second district.