Larry O'Brien responds to the Meeting

Aloha Susan,

Mahalo for the meeting last night. I think it was a great effort and showed that there is a very serious group of people willing to address the problems facing our county. I took a few notes and noted some themes that I thought I’d share.

It was universally agreed that the ways things are the government of the county of Hawaii is dysfunctional. I noted that while the group was naturally concerned with West side issues and a feeling that these are acute problems, several speakers spoke to the idea of uniting the county’s voters against a government that is not serving anyone’s needs.

Time is both our ally and our enemy. There was some talk that by 2010, the West side will gain so much population that county representation will shift from the current Hilo-centered power bloc. (I wonder if this is a foregone conclusion, given the growth in Puna.) However, Pete Hoffman, the only government representative at the meeting, told us that in the coming months alone, the council will be reviewing 5,500 additional housing units in the Waimea / Waikoloa area without a single new meter of roadway proposed. It seems that if we wait for demographics to change, the lack of infrastructure will move from great annoyance to an insurmountable problem. (I should point out that Hoffman said that if Angel Pilago were not sick in bed, he would have attended.)

There seem to be 3 prongs of attack for the general goal of making the county government more responsive to the needs of West Hawaii:
· Visibility immediately,
· Elections soon, and
· The creation of a new entity, either an incorporated city or splitting the county (a long-term process)

Visibility can be achieved by:
· Media coverage
· Advertising
· Shoe-leather
· Attendance at council and committee meetings
· Video testimony at the same
· Civil disobedience or guerilla theater

Elections can be influenced by:
· An endorsement by the group
· A slate
· Fund-raising and direct support of candidates, in any district, who are committed to effective county government
· Advertising

Creation of a new entity was a little harder to understand in terms of concrete goals, but certainly:
· A petition of sentiment could be gathered

I suggest that these 3 prongs (Visibility, Elections, Legislation) be presented to the mailing list or as an early item on the agenda of the next meeting with the goal of creating working groups to concentrate in each of the areas.

Coming out of the meeting I was convinced that there are enough people who are passionate enough to organize into an effective group. Given my biases, I was particularly struck by the speaker who said “We can fix this in ten years with the creation of a new county, or we can fix it in ten months by the election of a new county government.”

Political organization is an achievable task. Mailers, phone banks, outreach, etc. These are less glamorous than battling for a change in the state legislature but are, at least in the short term, our most effective tools.

A final point that was touched upon but not given fair attention is cost. You’ve borne the cost of raising this issue from your own pocket and that must end. I would suggest that forming an appropriate entity to receive contributions should be high on the agenda of both the group (and yourself)!

Mahalo again and I hope to continue to work with you to achieve a better Hawaii County,
Larry O’Brien

(Incidentally, I was the fellow in the blue t-shirt who spoke a couple of times.)