THANKS TO YOUR SUPPORT AND TESTIMONY
WE WON
EQUAL NUMBER OF MEETINGS IN WEST HAWAI'I.
Starting January 1, 2007, equal number of Council and Committee meetings will be held in West Hawaii.
* To ensure all citizens equitable access to government by democracy
* Allow fair opportunity for public input, participation, debate and
resolution
* Draft 1 introduced by Pilago
* Draft 2 introduced by Hoffmann assures videoconferencing will be
available for all Council locations
* Need to watch Higa's amendment that makes meetings subject to staff
and equipment availability
Ayes: Pilago, Hoffmann, Jacobson, Safarik, Isbell, Higa, Holschuh
Noes: Arakaki, Ikeda
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COUNCIL VOTED UNANIMOUSLY
TO "FILE" RESO. THAT WOULD HAVE
CHANGED GENERAL PLAN AT HONOKOHAU HARBOR TO INCLUDE RESORT DESIGNATION Reso. would have paved the way for Jacoby Project to build 3 hotels and 700 timeshare units. It is now "filed" which means it is technically "dead".
* If not "filed", Hoffmann was going to ask for a public hearing and
Pilago would request it be held in Kona.
* Planning Department did not support the change
* Premature - as no EIS has been prepared
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MAHALO TO THE STUDENTS
AND WEST HAWAII FISHERIES YOUTH COUNCIL
SMOKING BAN AT KAHALU'U BEACH PARK ADOPTED
* Requested by the West Hawai'i Youth Fishery Council that an
ordinance be prepared prohibiting smoking at Kahalu'u Beach Park and a fine of $100 be imposed.
* The youth were moved to support this after picking up over 3,000
cigarette butts in 1/2 hour at the beach
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WE LOST
THE ORDINANCE TO INITIATE A CHARTER AMENDMENT TO SPLIT THE PLANNING COMMISSION
* The intent of Bill 308 was to ease the Planning Commission calendar
and allow commissioners, representative of East Hawai'i and commissioners representative of West Hawai'i to address matters specific to their districts.
Ayes: Pilago, Hoffmann, Isbell
Noes: Higa, Holschuh, Ikeda, Jacobson, Safarik, Arakaki
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GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENTS
MOVE ON TO COUNCIL
Thanks go out to Councilman Pete Hoffmann for helping Chair the extremely long Planning Committee meeting (1-9:00 pm on Monday and continuing on Tuesday from 1:30-5:30 pm) to address the Planning Director initiated amendments to the General Plan.
* Kona will be getting many new connector roads and road improvements
* Lands at Kohanaiki and Kaloko will be changed to Low Density and
Conservation to protect cultural and natural resources.
General Plan Amendments will be discussed further at next Council meeting on August 23rd.
We'll send further information next week.
Angel, Maile, Karen
Councilman K. Angel Pilago
District 8, North Kona
327-3642
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Creditability? Accountability? Let's See
TO:Hawaii County Council
Chairman Stacy Higa
Virginia Isbell
James Arikaki
Pete Hoffman
Fred Holschuh
Angel Pilago
Donald Ikeda
Bob Jacobson
Gary Safarik
July 23, 2006
IS ANYBODY GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?
“Regarding Bill 268 introduced by Councilman Pilago, it seems there was a creditability problem in regards to the 17 people who wrote testimony in opposition to having more meetings in Kona.From the WHT article:"However, responses from those whose names appear on letters opposed to the measure weren't so definite. Of the eight people who could be contacted, some refused to speak about the issue, one hung up after being told the reason for the phone call, two people didn't recall signing such a letter and one said he actually supports council members meeting as often in Kona as in Hilo." Even though the people for more meetings in Kona beat the people against 56-17, it is unsettling that some, if not all, the testimony against might've been contrived.”
After reading the WHT article and the above excertped from the West Hawaii blog I contacted my councilmen and asked:
“Will there be any official follow-up regarding the article in the West Hawaii Today which reported that some of the letters submitted to the County Council opposing equal council meetings in Kona might have been contrived by Council Chair Stacy Higa or one of his aides? If the allegation were proved to be true Mr. Higa should be removed from office.”
His answer was: Tiffany Edwards was investigating. We don't know what she discovered. I asked again: Is that the investigation that the public deserves in this instance? If the allegation is true then Mr. Higa has committed a major ethics breach. Is it to be left up to WHT to find out the particulars or is there some mechanism at the county government level that should be involved?
A month has elapsed since this incident and it would appear that there was no official follow up or at least none that has been made public. I contacted the WHT reporter yesterday and her comments were as follows: “people were mum about it.” One person within the county government did call her and commented that “you hit a home run”, meaning that her information about the contrived testimony was accurate and she further stated that one of the seventeen letters was written by Fred Holschuh’s campaign manager, no doubt concerned about Dr. Holschuh’s backside.
So now I would ask you all as a group of representatives elected to serve the entire island. Is this kind of political dirty trick to be swept under the rug? Are you all going to just turn a blind eye when the council chairman behaves this way?
A recent letter to the editor in the WHT illuminated Mr. Higa’s political fund raising activities that far outstrips what the rest of you feel is required to win reelection. The bulk of his contributions came from development and business firms. The inference is pretty clear. While I’m sure this is perfectly legal the fallout will be a continuing rift between East and West Hawaii as Kona gets more development and traffic congestion but seemingly no move by the government to tackle our infrastructure needs. Mr. Higa has voiced his concerns about the move to divide the county but by his actions invites it. Kona suffered for many years under the chairmanship of Mr. Arikaki and now he has passed his connections and contributors to his protégé. WE ARE GOING BACKWARDS PEOPLE!
Thank you for your kind attention,
Peter Hain
73-1066 Ahikawa Street
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
325-5855
cc: Mayor Kim
County Board of Ethics
Chairman Stacy Higa
Virginia Isbell
James Arikaki
Pete Hoffman
Fred Holschuh
Angel Pilago
Donald Ikeda
Bob Jacobson
Gary Safarik
July 23, 2006
IS ANYBODY GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?
“Regarding Bill 268 introduced by Councilman Pilago, it seems there was a creditability problem in regards to the 17 people who wrote testimony in opposition to having more meetings in Kona.From the WHT article:"However, responses from those whose names appear on letters opposed to the measure weren't so definite. Of the eight people who could be contacted, some refused to speak about the issue, one hung up after being told the reason for the phone call, two people didn't recall signing such a letter and one said he actually supports council members meeting as often in Kona as in Hilo." Even though the people for more meetings in Kona beat the people against 56-17, it is unsettling that some, if not all, the testimony against might've been contrived.”
After reading the WHT article and the above excertped from the West Hawaii blog I contacted my councilmen and asked:
“Will there be any official follow-up regarding the article in the West Hawaii Today which reported that some of the letters submitted to the County Council opposing equal council meetings in Kona might have been contrived by Council Chair Stacy Higa or one of his aides? If the allegation were proved to be true Mr. Higa should be removed from office.”
His answer was: Tiffany Edwards was investigating. We don't know what she discovered. I asked again: Is that the investigation that the public deserves in this instance? If the allegation is true then Mr. Higa has committed a major ethics breach. Is it to be left up to WHT to find out the particulars or is there some mechanism at the county government level that should be involved?
A month has elapsed since this incident and it would appear that there was no official follow up or at least none that has been made public. I contacted the WHT reporter yesterday and her comments were as follows: “people were mum about it.” One person within the county government did call her and commented that “you hit a home run”, meaning that her information about the contrived testimony was accurate and she further stated that one of the seventeen letters was written by Fred Holschuh’s campaign manager, no doubt concerned about Dr. Holschuh’s backside.
So now I would ask you all as a group of representatives elected to serve the entire island. Is this kind of political dirty trick to be swept under the rug? Are you all going to just turn a blind eye when the council chairman behaves this way?
A recent letter to the editor in the WHT illuminated Mr. Higa’s political fund raising activities that far outstrips what the rest of you feel is required to win reelection. The bulk of his contributions came from development and business firms. The inference is pretty clear. While I’m sure this is perfectly legal the fallout will be a continuing rift between East and West Hawaii as Kona gets more development and traffic congestion but seemingly no move by the government to tackle our infrastructure needs. Mr. Higa has voiced his concerns about the move to divide the county but by his actions invites it. Kona suffered for many years under the chairmanship of Mr. Arikaki and now he has passed his connections and contributors to his protégé. WE ARE GOING BACKWARDS PEOPLE!
Thank you for your kind attention,
Peter Hain
73-1066 Ahikawa Street
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
325-5855
cc: Mayor Kim
County Board of Ethics
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