HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm No 0021.140 - Testimony - CA-7 - PONC fund and Maintenance fundVinnerie Conner
Grade 7
Volcano School of Arts & Sciences
Volcano,Hawaii 96785
February 5, 2019
Charter Commission
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Aloha Commissioners,
My name is Vinnerie Conner, My parents Diwa Conner and Daniel
Conner, I live in Volcano on Kilauea Road. I am grateful that I get to go to
Kawa two times a month because I get to learn things like how to plant
trees and learn about ancient Hawaiians that once lived there with the
sacred plants. Kawa is important to the community, myself, and the people
who go there to make it beautiful because it used to be a place where the
ancient Hawaiians used to live in. Some local Hawaiians that were born
and raised on the Big Island or live close to Kawa might have really
important memories like when they first caught a fish or their ancestors
lived there.
When we go to Kawa, we show malama aina to the land. Kawa is a
special place and we need to keep the place because it is a beautiful and
sacred place. My classmates and I try to make Kawa as beautiful as it used
to be. Before we came to Kawa, the place was terrible, there were sticks by
the sea, trees were overgrown and a lot of trash by the shore; no one has
been taking care of it. Today, thanks to Kumu James Akau, Uncle Duane,
and Clarissa Pua, Kawa has grown much better than that; it has been
taken care by a lot of people and looked like it has been taken care of.
Hopefully in the future, it will grow even more beautiful than it is now.
On the Big Island, voters want the land fund and most of them voted
three times for the land and Kawa is one of them. 4,428 acres of land
acquired with an additional 2,200 acres will be added soon in Waikapuna in
Comm. No. 21.140
Ka'u. If you compare Big Island to the rest of the islands of Hawaii like
Kauai, Maui, Oahu, and more, Big Island is very expensive but too little left.
Oahu and Kauai each earmark 0.5 percent for property acquisition, while
Maui earmarks 1 percent, according to research. Property taxes are less
and the county has less money, but the 2% of the Land fund has also so
little money. Cutting the fund to 1`)/0 could pay for an additional 30 police
officers.
Overall, I want you to keep the 2% fund because of these
reasons, Kawa is a beautiful place and we wouldn't want to lose it. We wish
that you would reconsider your decisions of changing the 2% land fund.
The hard work that we put in the place would just disappear. The 2% Land
Fund is already successful and it does not need to change. What I ask of
you is simple, to keep the land fund as it is.
Mahalo, Vinnerie