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CONGRATULATIONS!
Our County Council Overrides Mayor Roth’s Veto to get corruption out of our process. All though it was amended it still ensure security and more integrity in elected officials transitioning into office!
THIS WILL BE ON THE BALLOT - VOTE TO SUPPORT THIS BILL!
COMMENTS DUE
MONDAY, APRIL 1ST, 2024
HULI PAC’s General Plan Comments
This Draft General Plan 2045 lacks legal and ethical integrity and should not see the light of day. We expect, need and demand better!
Full comments here
Review General Plan 2045 here
We have followed and participated in this process since the beginning of 2023.
Review our comprehensive comments here
Tell us what YOU think!
Aloha Hawaiʻi Island ʻOhana,
Please take a few moments to complete this short survey to help us find better leaders to endorse and support in future.
Support Bill 109
Click here to review our testimony & better understand it.
The final hearing is March 6th, 2024
Amendments: The County Council majority did not support not allowing department heads to start until confirmed by the Council. So it has been reverted back to what it currently says with slight changes it to say that Mayorʻs must submit nominations to Council within 60 days of the beginning of every Mayoral term and within 30 days of the occurrence of a vacancy. It is also clear that it allows holdovers through mayoral terms.
If approved by the Council, the proposal will proceed to the General Election ballot for public voting.
ORIGINAL: Bill 109 will undergo its third and final reading. Bill 109 focuses on amending the County Charter section related to the appointments and terms of county department heads. Noteworthy provisions include:
1.) allowing department deputies, assistants, and private secretaries to hold over until replaced by a director,
2.) requiring appointments for department heads to be submitted to the County Council for confirmation within 30 days of the start of any mayoral term and within 60 days of any vacancy and
3.) specifying that department heads can take office only after receiving Council confirmation. Your favorable testimony on this matter is encouraged.
PAST CALL TO ACTIONS
Update - Approved
Outside Council will be hired
Click here to read about it
7-2 vote
In December 2023, We Urged the Hawaiʻi County Council to amend the resolution funding the county’s legal fight against the Clean Water Act
DEADLINE
Written & Zoom testimony request:
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19th @ 12 pm
Testify & click HERE now!
STOP MAYOR ROTH FROM SPENDING OUR TAXES
TO SUE LOCAL RESIDENTS!
WE MUST PROBLEM-SOLVE INSTEAD
DO BETTER FOR ‘AINA
A MESSAGE FROM SIERRA CLUB HAWAI’I ISLAND GROUP
Kona’s reefs and communities need your help!
Earlier this month, the Hawaiʻi County Council passed a resolution authorizing up to $200,000 in taxpayer dollars to be spent by the mayor and his Corporation Council to fight Hui Mālama Honokōhau’s efforts to get the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant to comply with the Clean Water Act.
For decades, the county’s Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant has dumped 1.7 million gallons of treated sewage a day into a “natural disposal pit” and into Honokōhau Harbor, an action that Hui Mālama Honokōhau and many others see as a clear violation of the Clean Water Act (especially after the US Supreme Court’s ruling in County of Maui v. Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund ). Rather than try to comply with the law - such as by adopting water recycling and other measures that would save water and protect the nearshore ecosystem - the county is pursuing what it describes as potential “years” of litigation to defend its wastewater practices.
The county council discussion around the Hui’s complaint was grossly misinformed by the County of Hawaiʻi’s Corporation Counsel, resulting in the approval of county funding to hire a private law firm that could drag the Hui through years of court proceedings and appeals. Meanwhile, the waters and reefs of Honokōhau - and the fishers, practitioners, and businesses who rely on them - would continue to suffer needlessly.
After public pushback following the passage of the resolution, the county council has moved to reopen the discussion around Resolution 372-23. We also extend a big mahalo to councilmember Rebecca Villegas for submitting the notice of reconsideration allowing the item to be reopened.
The council will reconsider the resolution this coming Wednesday, December 20, 9am. This is our chance to advocate for amendments that will limit the scope of the hired outside counsel’s work to the initial court rulings and possible settlement, and require Corporation Counsel to return to the county council to secure additional funding if it feels the need for further litigation.
While our position remains that the county should not enter into a lengthy and costly legal battle it is all but guaranteed to lose, making amendments to the resolution will at least ensure that taxpayer-funded spending is kept to a minimum.
Please take a moment now to submit testimony urging such amendments to be made to the resolution. Below you will find meeting details and sample testimony.
Written testimony
Email to counciltestimony@hawaiicounty.gov by Tuesday, December 19, 12pm
Subject line: Testimony re: Resolution 372-23
Verbal testimony via Zoom
Email councilremotetestimony@hawaiicounty.gov or call (808)-961-8255 to complete the registration process and obtain meeting login information. Register by Tuesday, December 19, 12 pm.
Attend the meeting in-person on Wednesday, December 20, 9 am
County Council Chambers, 25 Aupuni St., Hilo (some council members may be here)
Kona Council Chambers, West Hawaiʻi Civic Center, 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Building A (councilmembers will be here)
Old Kohala Courthouse, 54-3900 Akoni Pule Highway, Kapʻau (courtesy site)
Pāhoa Council Office, 15-2879 Pāhoa Village Road (courtesy site)
THIS PASSED!!! THANK YOU!!!
Possible code to be added and amended to make this not a strong suggestion and more of a legal protocol across the board. Currently, Dr. Holeka and the Mayor’s office are reviewing to see if it aligns with State laws to do so.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH, 2023 BY 12:00 PM
(late testimonies are welcome)
Testify for a resolution for the Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee to urge the Mayor’s administration to provide virtual access for all County board and commission meetings (Resolution 287-23)
We encourage both written and oral testimonies if you are able. Please help spread the word.
For written testimony, click here
To request oral testimony, please click here or call (808) 961-8255
Mahalo for your testimony in great numbers.
This was recognized and supported!
DEADLINE August 14th, 2023
Public Hearing Notice For the Proposed Amendment and Compilation of Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 13-95, “Rules Regulating the Taking and Selling of Certain Marine Species,” to Update Rules for Manini, Kala, Uhu, and Pāpa‘i Kualoa (Kona Crab), to Establish Rules for Kole, and to Update the Chapter with Other Various Housekeeping Amendments.
Testifiers can use our auto-populated written testimony if it’s in alignment by August 14, 2023,
to: DLNR.Aquatics@hawaii.gov
SAMPLE TESTIMONY
Aloha Division of Aquatic Resources
DAR must steer our future towards a restorative and regenerative future around Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) Chapter 13-95. We live in a time when all herbivore species are in a degraded state of mass decline—a CRISIS.
We thank you for the intent of this rules package and offer the following recommendations and comments. We also thank you for your extensive effort in this rules package and for holding public hearings at each of our counties.
* This NEW land-to-sea research that was published on August 9th, 2023 is old news for our Kamaʻaina, Konohiki, Kūpuna, and it is meant to get Western scientists and responsible organizations like DAR to be on the same page.
The tipping point for a coral collapse is here. We lack a healthy ecology and symbiotic relationships; therefore, drastic measures to protect them are necessary. Uhu perform a critical function on our reefs, that we as humans can not be a substitute for. We need Uhu on our reefs in abundance for more than just food. We need them on our reef to increase reef resilience, and we must do all we can to make that happen!
We need transparency and cohesive rules that quantify the path to definitive restoration and regenerative impact, as how we interact with the ocean impacts its health and whether it can perpetuate life in perpetuity.
Therefore;
I SUPPORT the proposed non-commercial rules as they are consistent with those in place at the community level (Miloli’i CBSFA, 2022) and island-wide (Maui Rules, 2014)
I, OPPOSE the commercial rules for Uhu and Kala and recommend they be removed from commercial take.
Thank you for taking the time to address community concerns.
Aloha
[YOUR FULL NAME HERE]
[ZIP CODE]
Review HULI PAC’s testimony in full here
Read the full public hearing notice here
View the latest community scoping in Kauai here
Coral reefs benefit from reduced land–sea impacts under ocean warming here
Published August 9th, 2023
Review HULI PAC’s comments to Gov. Josh Green here
MAHALO, THIS WAS STOPPED!
Don’t sell our water!
Take action here
Ola i ka wai!
Water is life!
REJECT
Hawaiian Kingdom Brands Kanaka Beverage Plant and Café (in Hilo)
CLICK ON THE NAMES FOR AN AUTO-POPULATED TESTIMONY.
SEND AN INDIVIDUAL EMAIL TO OUR COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBERS OR SEND TO ALL 9 COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBERS HERE
CC District 1 - heather.kimball@hawaiicounty.gov
CC District 2 - jennifer.kagiwada@hawaiicounty.gov
CC District 3 - sue.leeloy@hawaiicounty.gov
CC District 4 - ashley.kierkiewicz@hawaiicounty.gov
CC District 5 - matt.kanealii-kleinfelder@hawaiicounty.gov
CC District 6 - michelle.galimba@hawaiicounty.gov
CC District 7 - rebecca.villegas@hawaiicounty.gov
CC District 8 - holeka.inaba@hawaiicounty.gov
CC District 9 - cindy.evans@hawaiicounty.gov
The yellow lines show the two watersheds from Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. This water bottling plant wants to extract water from these aquifers and sell it off-island.
MAHALO for STOPping COP CITY!
Email & CALL Gov. Josh Green
808-586-0034
Please MAHALO Gov. Josh Green
”Thank you for vetoing the budget line item for the First Responders Technology Campus and Cybersecurity Data Center, also known as Cop City Hawai’i, for $470 million dollars.”
Commentary by Russell Ruderman on Civil Beat
Nobody Wants The First Responders Park.
So Why Are We Building It?
View combined letter with more details here