Ka`u News Briefs September 13, 2011

New county fire chief Darren Rosario aims to upgrade old fire trucks.  Photo by Julia Neal

LEI KIHOI IS NATIVE HAWAIIAN ROLL CALL representative for Hawai`i County. The commission was established in July when Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed Act 195 into law. The legislation was supported by Sen. Gil Kahele during the 2011 state Legislature. Kahele, a Native Hawaiian himself, testified before the Senate, saying, “This bill is a long time coming… It was discussed by kupuna who are no longer here today…. The Hawaiian people are the host people, and we have greeted all the people who have come here with aloha.”
     Act 195 starts the process that will eventually lead to federal recognition of Native Hawaiians. In addition to Kihoi, the commission is comprised of the at-large member, former Governor John Waihe`e; Mahealani Perez-Wendt, of Maui County; Na`alehu Anthony, representing O`ahu; and Robin Puanani Danner, of Kaua`i.

Lei Kihoi  Photo from
PBS Hawai`i

     Kihoi has served the Native Hawaiian community for more than 25 years. As a former staff attorney for Judge Walter Heen, she wrote and promoted legislation regarding Hawaiian matters. Kihoi, 66, is a trained counselor in ho`oponopono, mediation and facilitation. She served on a number of boards and organizations, including Hui Hanai for the Queen Lili`uokalani Trust, Polynesian Voyaging Society, and the Native Hawaiian Bar Association. Kihoi earned her BS in Education from UH-Manoa, a master's degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and her law degree from the UH-Richardson School of Law. A beneficiary of the Queen Lili`uokalani Trust, Kihoi now lives in Kona.
     Said Abercrombie, “These individuals represent various sectors of the Hawaiian community. Each brings experience, talent, knowledge, and skills that collectively create a broad-based team. This team will put together the roll of qualified and interested Native Hawaiians who want to help determine the course of Hawai`i’s indigenous people.” Once its work is completed, the governor will dissolve the Commission. The roll is to be used as the basis for participation in the organization of a Native Hawaiian governing entity. 

Former Gov. John Waihe`e. Photo from OHA

     Former Gov. Waihe`e said, “Now is the time to unify as a people. The belief in our nation-building process is being realized. It has been a long time coming, but today we have a renewed sense of confidence for our people and our future.” 

UPGRADING THE ISLAND’S fleet of fire trucks, some of them decades old, is one of the priorities of Hawai`i County’s new fire chief, Darren Rosario. Rosario took the oath and became the Big Island's 21st fire chief on Monday during a morning ceremony on the balcony of the Hawai`i County Building in Hilo.
     The 44-year-old career firefighter takes over from Darryl Oliveira, who retired Aug. 1 but volunteered until the swearing-in ceremony. 

MORE FLIGHTS BETWEEN JAPAN AND HAWAI`I were announced today by Hawaiian Airlines, beginning in April 2012, pending Japan government approval. If approved, Hawaiian will add daily nonstop flights between Honolulu and Fukuoka, its third destination in Japan. Fukuoka will be the fourth destination in Asia that Hawaiian has introduced recently to its route network, following the launches of service to Tokyo in Nov. 2010, Seoul in Jan. 2011, and Osaka in July 2011.
     Hawaiian's new Fukuoka flights will add approximately 100,000 new air seats annually to Hawai`i from Japan, the state's second largest market for visitors. In addition, Fukuoka Airport's proximity to Korea, China and other Asian countries will enhance Hawaiian's ability to attract customers from other regions of the Asian continent, as well as other cities in southern Japan via high-speed rail transportation. 

THE KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN Steering Committee meets this evening at 5:30 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. This is the first meeting in many months, and the public is invited to meet the new consultants who will help the county and the community to complete the plan. 

     Hawai`i Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development has been a sub-consultant for the CDP since 2009 and will continue its work on the economic development and capacity building elements of the CDP. HACBED is a statewide nonprofit that provides community planning, capacity building, and asset building services.

Chris Hart was planning director of
Maui County. Photo from
Small Town Maui Radio

    PBR Hawai`i & Associates was also a project sub-consultant and prepared the Ka`u Community Profile for the CDP. PBR will focus on strategies to develop and preserve Ka`u’s “green infrastructure” and to repair its “nonconforming” subdivisions. PBR Hawai`i has been a full-service planning firm in Hawai`i for 40 years and has an office in Hilo. 

     Chris Hart & Partners is tasked with using community values, vision, and objectives to develop the CDP analysis, policies, and actions related to existing and proposed resort nodes in Ka`u. Chris Hart & Partners is based on Maui and has extensive experience with both private and rural community planning, including both the Lana`i and Moloka`i community plans.

Ka`u News Briefs Sept. 12, 2011

A tradition of ranching is one of the lifestyles and economic engines considered in the Ka`u plan. Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN'S first Steering Committee meeting since Dec. 14, 2010 will be held tomorrow night, Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Pahala Community Center from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. A new consulting firm, hired to help complete the plan, will be introduced to the steering committee and the public. Here are the names of the steering committee members who are helping to guide the plan for the future of Ka`u:
     Donna-Marie Ambrose has lived in Ka`u for three decades and resides in Greensands subdivision. She has served as President of Greensands Community Park and Garden, as director of Ka`u Rural Health Community Association, and Secretary of Na`alehu Main Street. She has a bachelor’s degree in geography from University of Hawai`i at Hilo and has been a substitute teacher for the Department of Education since 1994. Ambrose can be reached at (808) 640-2754 or dambrose@hawaiiantel.net. 

Honu`apo celebration for preserved land.
Photo by Julia Neal

     Patti Barry grew up in Hawai`i, has lived in Ka`u for two decades, and resides in Hawaiian Ranchos subdivision. She has served as president of Ocean View Community Development Corp. and as a director of Ka`u Chamber of Commerce and Ocean View Community Association. She is a Punahou graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning and Development from University of Washington. She has been in the real estate business for nearly four decades years and is currently Principal Broker and part owner of The Land Office, LLC in Na`alehu. She can be reached at 937-3124 or pbarry@alohabroadband.com.
     Bob DaMate grew up in Hawai`i, has lived in Ka`u for over 24 years, and resides in Kona Gardens subdivision. He is past President of Ho`opuloa Hawaiian Civic Club and a member of `Aha Moku Kahuku. He is retired from a career with County of Hawai‘i and Department of Hawaiian Homelands. He can be reached at (808) 497-0384.
     Ron Ebert has lived in Ka`u for over 13 years and currently in Punalu‘u. He is Company Officer of Pahala Volunteer Fire Department and is a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Ka`u Hospital Charitable Foundation, `O Ka`u Kakou and Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u. He is retired from a career as an electrical engineer with the State of Colorado and serves as minister of Ocean View Church of Christ. He can be reached at 928-0027 or ebertr001@hawaii.rr.com.

     Leina`ala Enos (Chair) grew up in Hawai`i and has lived in Ka`u for over 40 years. She resides in Wai`ohinu, where she manages a small macadamia nut farm. She has served as President of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u and is Council Chair of Na`alehu United Methodist Church, and is a member of Ka`u Community Partnership and a local hula halau. A Kamehameha Schools graduate, she worked 12 years for C. Brewer and Co. and has worked for the Queen Lili`uokalani Children’s Center as a Community Building Facilitator since 1994. She can be reached at 929-9022, 929-8641, or lenos@qlcc.org. 

Michelle Galimba represents ranching on the Steering Committee.
Photo by Julia Neal

     Michelle Galimba was born and raised in Ka`u, has lived in Ka`u over 22 years, and resides in the Hilea ahupua`a. She is President of the Hawai`i Cattlemen’s Association and Secretary of the Ka`u Farm Bureau. She serves as a director of the Hawai`i Board of Agriculture and the Big Island Resource Conservation and Development Council. She has a doctoral degree in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley and works at Kuahiwi Ranch. She can be reached at 430-4927 or mgalimba@kuahiwiranch.com. 

     Loren Heck has lived in Ka`u for over 22 years and resides in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates. He is President of Ocean View Community Development Corp. He has served as President of HOVE Road Maintenance Corporation, Ocean View Community Association, Big Island Protea Growers Association, and Ocean View Garden Club; as Vice President Ocean View Community Development Corp.; Protea Growers Association of Hawai`i, and Ka`u Chamber of Commerce; and as Chair of the County of Hawai`i's Department of Water Supply Commission. He has a bachelor’s degrees from San Francisco State University and the Los Angeles Art Center College of Design, has worked as a professional photographer, and is currently a protea farmer. He can be reached at 939-9454 or elheckhi@gmail.com. 

     Eldridge Naboa (Vice Chair) was born and raised in Ka`u, has lived in Ka`u for over 30 years, and currently resides in Na`alehu. He has coached cross-country at Ka`u High School and has served as President of the Ka`u Rural Health Community Association and as a director of the Ka`u Federal Credit Union. He has a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and is Hawai`i Project Manager for Pono Pacific. He can be reached at 936-2189 or eldridge.naboa@gmail.com. 

John Cross (center) during construction of the new Ka`u Coffee Mill. Photo by Julia Neal

     Marino Ramones immigrated to Ka`u from the Philippines in 2004. He resides in Pahala and is a director of the Ka`u Rural Health Community Association and a volunteer chaplain at Ka`u Hospital. He is a graduate of Baptist Theological College and serves as Pastor of Pāhala Baptist Bible Mission and Na`alehu Baptist Bible Mission. He can be reached at 928-8240 or marjoramones@yahoo.com. 

     Simon Torres, Jr. was born and raised in Ka`u, has lived in Ka`u over 48 years, and resides in Pahala. He served in the Air Force and since 1991 has served full-time as a supervisor mechanic with the Hawai`i Air National Guard. An avid outdoorsman, Torres has hunted the majority of Ka`u's terrain and fished and dove the length of Ka`u's coast. He can be reached at 928-6103 or torress003@hawaii.rr.com.
     John Cross is a non-voting member of the steering committee. He owns land in Ka`u but resides in Hakalau, where he operates a small family farm. Ever since his days as a Boy Scout, he has camped, hiked, and fished all along the Ka`u coast, and during the sugarcane era and C. Brewer and Company’s liquidation, he spent much of his time in Ka`u. Cross has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from University of Hawai‘`i at Manoa, served as the Vice President of Real Estate for C. Brewer and Company, Ltd. and is land manager for the Edmund C. Olson Trust II and project manager of Ka`u Coffee Mill. He can be reached at 987-4229 or john@olsontrust.com.

September 11, 2011

Mayor Bloomberg and Sen. Inouye visited the 9/11 Memorial for which Inouye has introduced annual funding for the museum.
Photo from 9/11 Memorial

TODAY IS THE DAY TO REMEMBER the tragedy of 9/11 and the sense of unity between neighbors that followed. Here are the words read into the Congressional Record, penned by Hawai`i’s Sen. Daniel Inouye. 

     “On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people who would lose their lives in the most horrific attack on America since the bombing of Pearl Harbor began their day like it was any other. Many got dressed and headed for work. Others packed their bags and went to the airport. All would leave their loved ones that morning believing they would be home soon to continue the lives they worked so hard to create. Instead, these innocents were murdered by terrorists at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
     “This despicable act forever changed our great nation and the world. Families were shattered, a war began, and the relative peace and security we enjoyed was ripped away.”
     The senator said he recently visited Lower Manhattan. He wrote: “Although the rubble has been cleared and great structures are rising from the earth, there is a solemn air that permeates the place. Despite the bustling crews and the towering cranes stacking metal and shaping the new towers,” observed Inouye, “it is still the spot where husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers died in fiery fashion.”
      Said Inouye, “Being there reminded me of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the formative years that followed.” The senator was a boy of 17 when he heard the announcer shout over the radio that “Japanese planes were attacking Pearl Harbor. I remember running outside with my father to see the bright red suns painted on the wings of the Zeroes as they raced toward their target amid black puffs of anti-aircraft fire,” he recalled.

Waterfalls pour into the sites at the World Trade Center where the towers once stood.
Photo from 9/11 Memorial

“I knew at that moment that my country and my life would never be the same. Six decades later that moment came again when I watched passenger jets crash into the side of the World Trade Center. 

 Recalled Inouye: “After Pearl Harbor I put on the uniform and went off to fight for this country as did thousands of my brave brothers from the Greatest Generation. Our nation was shocked into action by the events of Dec. 7, 1941 and a generation of Americans fought and died to shape the new world that came after the bombs fell.
     “America was awakened in similar fashion on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 and ten years later we are still fighting and dying to create a future better than the one we lost that day,” the senator wrote.
     To honor Sept. 11 victims and heroes, foot prints of the fallen towers, sit side by side. The names of the fallen are engraved in panels that form a railing around each pool.
     “It is a fitting memorial for those who died but we must honor their memory by telling their story and educating the world about what happened on Sept. 11, 2001,” wrote Inouye.
     “Yes, it was America that was attacked, but the world changed forever that day and this memorial and museum is much more than a collection of artifacts, it is a symbol of America reborn and a reminder that the world order is always changing.”
     To support this effort, Inouye has introduced a bill to allow the United States, through the Secretary of the Interior, to take ownership of the lands, the Memorial and the Museum. 

The faces of heroes and victims of the attack on the World Trade Center.
Photo from 9/11 Memorial

     The Department of the Interior will enter into a cooperative agreement with the Board of the non-profit National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, Inc., which may provide technical and financial assistance to the Memorial and Museum relating to its operations and maintenance.
     The legislation would authorize appropriations of $20 million in FY 2013, the first full fiscal year after which the Museum is scheduled to open to the public, and in subsequent years. All funds appropriated will be matched by non-federal sources like admission fees, gifts and fundraising, leaving the federal share being about 33 percent or less of the overall budget of the Memorial and Museum.
     New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo thanked Inouye for leadership in securing the future of the memorial. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, 
“The 9/11 Memorial is for our city, the nation, and the world. Sen. Inouye’s legislation is an important part of securing the legacy of 9/11.”

THE SPLITTING OF KA`U into two House Districts will be one of the issues at public hearings this week. The state Reapportionment Commission holds the first hearing on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the County Council chambers in Hilo and on Wednesday at the council chambers at West Hawai`i Civic Center in Kona, also at 5 p.m. The major issue for Ka`u is that one of the House of Representatives redistricting maps shows people living from Na`alehu through Ocean View voting with everyone in Kona, all the way up to the condominiums at Kahalu`u beach. People living in Pahala would vote with everyone living in Volcano and deep into Puna. 

Ka`u would be split in two and Herkes would no longer represent
Na`alehu to Ocean View and South Kona.

A petition is being circulated urging the commission to keep Ka`u in one district. Ocean View resident and former Ka`u Chamber of Commerce President Rel Woodward pointed to the work of Rep. Bob Herkes, who has championed the Ocean View potable water well development and the mobile health clinic. Herkes would no longer represent Ocean View, Wai`ohinu, Discovery Harbour, Green Sands, Kalae and Na`alehu under the proposed redistriciting map.      Herkes has also been a champion, along with Sen. Gil Kahele, of the South Kona Wilderness Area, which passed the legislature last session. Herkes would no longer represent this area, and the nearby beach communities, including Miloli`i. 

     Another point of contention is that the state commission, based on O`ahu, has decided to include the non-resident military population in counting the number of people to be included in each district. This skews the population heavily for O`ahu and means that the Big Island, which is the fastest growing island in the state, would most likely not receive a fourth state senator, which it would be entitled to, if those stationed in Hawai`i in the military were not counted. The 2010 census count showed that this county grew 24.5 percent in the last decade. The proposed redistricting maps can be viewed at hawaii.gov/elections/reapportionment/ and at public libraries, according to the redistricting commission.