COMM. 48.88 from C.&B. Yurth re Hamakua

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November 2, 2011 Aloha Redistricting Commission, My husband and I live in Ahualoa j ust above Honokaa. We have lived here for over 36 years. We moved here to get away from the Honolulu rat race. During this time I have had the opportunity to be part of the Hamakua District Development Council, Hilo Hamakua Community Development Corporation as well as others, now working in the school system and a main participant in the Plan For The Hilo Hamakua Coast in 2000. Rural South Hilo, North Hilo and Hamakua have continued their process for the last 16 years of sustaining their own identity as the Hilo - Hamakua Coast. When our last two Plantations closed, Hamakua Sugar and Hilo Coast Processing Company, the communities strongly agreed that they shared a similarity that they felt was important to preserve. They work together through rural community based efforts to assist in creating opportunities that preserve our environment, sustain our families and improve the quality of life. These beliefs assist us to build a healthy community through economic growth and stability along the Hilo - Hamakua coast. I have heard that maybe the redistribution will provide us with two voices on the Council? wonder how this will be when Hilo's voice will most likely echo the Hilo Town people and businesses quite loudly. And on the other side separating off Honokaa will only enmesh Honokaa in Waimea, North Kohala, Puako and Kawaihae where only a few share same background or ruralness. Whose voice will speak loudest and therefore be the only heard. One example that may show clearly how simplified Hilo- Hamakua's lifestyle is to look at the major vendors who take residence along the coast and in particular Honokaa. Up until recently the town was served by two homegrown grocery stores. They catered to the community and in turn prospered through the business they receive. Now the original owners retired, the main grocery had stayed open with a new owner, still the same size and still caters to the residents of the outlaying community. We are also one of the few places to have a meat market! All the along the coast there are no box stores, no large grocery (all the businesses are mostly mom and pop; locally owned) and that's the way the community is. As we have lived here for this number of years more and more people have moved here, why do they move here away from the cities? It is the slow rural lifestyle that draws them. If the rural communities are governed by either Hilo or Waimea will Hamakua, North Hilo and Rural South Hilo then become the place where land is plentiful to build and build; what will it be subdivisions or a shopping center? When politics becomes involved it is very difficult for the quiet and "no like get involved individuals" who are the main inhabitants of the coastal communities and rich farm /ranch lands to express their opinion. Will the Hilo Councilman or Waimea Councilman talk for them, especially if they haven't heard from them? Will they take COMM. 48.88