bigislandchronicle.com
Guest Column — Hundreds Turn Out For NELHA Gate Closure Meeting22 Aug 2009 / Guest Columns, commentary, environment, news, surf
Photo by Shannon Rudolph By Shannon RudolphA polite but agitated crowd, an estimated 500 to 600 people, filled the Kealakehe High School Cafeteria Friday night and spoke unanimously; open the gate at Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) to O’oma / Kohanaiki — now. Many members of the Kohanaiki ‘Ohana community public access group and other residents gave testimony to open the gate immediately, including former council member Angel Pilago, along with representatives of the Kapena, Ka’aaina, and Freitas families. Kaimanu Freitas told the audience he had the original deed to the NELHA property proving his family ownership.The community talk story sponsored by Sen. Josh Green and Rep. Denny Coffman included representatives from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). (Click here and here to see previous references to the community meeting.)Many testifying called for NELHA chief executive officer (CEO) Ron Baird to be fired immediately, not only for locking the shoreline gate, but also for putting the community in danger with the unfinished and unacceptable access further south on the highway. Rep. Coffman and the DOT representative also called the secondary highway access unsafe.Hawaii County Councilman Kelly Greenwell told the crowd that he held the “key” to to the NELHA gate and that community members held that key also — namely, civil disobedience — and invited everyone to come down on Saturday morning to help remove the gate.Puna’s Kale Gumapac and other community activists from around the island also attended and spoke of the need to stand up and protect public access in all areas of the island for future generations.Sen. Green urged the audience to call NELHA’s CEO Ron Baird at (808) 329-7341, along with his boss, Ted Liu, director of DBEDT
Toll Free-947-4000 ext. 52423to open the gate. Ron Baird was invited, but did not attend the meeting or send a NELHA representative.(Shannon Rudolph is a Kona resident concerned about shoreline access amongst other community issues.)Posted by Tiffany Edwards Hunt @ 7:40 am
Tags: Angel Pilago, Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism, Department of Transportation, Freitas, Hawaii County Council, Ka'aaina, Kaimanu Freitas, Kale Gumapac, Kapena, Kealakehe High School, Kelly Greenwell, Kohanaiki, Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, Rep. Denny Coffman, Ron Baird, Sen. Josh Green, Shannon Rudolph, Ted Liu
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