HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm No 0029.20 - Testimony - CA-13 - Use of Special Funds in Times of Declared EmergencyFrom: Diga Kern <23.diga@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2019 10:47 AM
To: Charter Commission
Subject: No on CA -13
Aloha,
This message is to urge the council AGAINST the passage of CA -13 which would make the Open Spaces fund available to
the Mayor's discretion.
The will of the people on this matter has been repeatedly strong (65%), and this is because the people understand that
preservation of our wild lands and precious scenic parcels is IMMEDIATELY in the best interest of Hawaii for the LONG
TERM.
My friend comes from Rhodes, Greece, which also relies on the visitor industry. Because of the lack of such local
controls as a 2% land fund, all of the beautiful parts of the coastline and the island have been laid bare to tourism
development, and ugly, at that. Rhodes is no longer a choice destination, because of its natural beauty having been
gutted.
Eventually, the visitor industry will fade due to prohibitive costs of travel. Do we want to be left with an island with its
glorious natural resources preserved? These resources are unquantifiable, and it is our job to bequeath them to the
keiki. We don't want our land fund raided and then paid back into, despite the recent disaster -related expenses. Please
put your best resourcefulness towards finding another way to meet these expenses, and focus on setting aside more
money for disasters in the future. Please, don't take away from our 2% fund!
Sincerely,
Geoffrey Kern
1 Comm. No. 29.20