Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the eighth session of the Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs. My name is Jen Kaguata and I'll be chairing today's meeting. We are here in the West Hawaii Civic Center. Today is April 15th, 2025, and the time is 9.01. We're gonna go ahead and get started, but right now we have here in the West Hawaii Civic Center with me, Council Members Kimble, Villegas, Inaba, and Houston, and over. Do we have anybody over? Nope. Okay. That's all we have for right now. Oh, and we have Council Member Onishi here as well. The members will, other members will be joining us shortly and we can go ahead and get started. Mr. Clerk. Thank you, Chair Coggy-Watta. There are no testifiers here in the Colnott Chamber. Mr. Hercell, do we have testimony elsewhere? Thank you so much, Mr. Clerk. Noting that you do not have any testifiers at any of your remote sites or here in Hilo, We do have one individual in Zoom that we do not recognize. Calling out to Gail Byron Bayber. If you'd like to provide testimony at this time. Yeah, Aloha. Thank you. Just testifying in favor of Maya Gidoni, who's being appointed to the. Sorry, Gil, if you could just... If you could just reintroduce yourself, I apologize. If you could just reintroduce yourself, you'll have three minutes once you begin, okay? Yeah, thank you. Good morning, everyone. My name's Galburn Faber, Paul Halla. And I'm just here to say a few good words on Faber of Maya Gondoni being appointed to the Pomp Commission. She's an excellent choice for a number of reasons. I've known Maya since she was in middle school. She's probably a resume there. She's got an excellent technical background. And more than that, she has a profound understanding for the people in the places of Koala. She grew up with incredible parents. Her mom is a wonderful scientist. And her dad was one of my heroes. And he worked for decades for the open space along the North Goa Hall of Coast. She knows our area well. So just an excellent choice for the Pomp Commission. Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony and that with that chair. Those are all the testifiers you have for your meeting Just for the record council member Kanye Lee Kleinfeld or his joined us Mr. Clerk came please read in the first title Communication 226 on a nation of Alexandria Lexi airs do the Leeward Planning Commission for mayor Seakey more aleda. They have March 27, 2025 requesting the council's review and confirmation. Motion to close file on communication. 2-2-6 and forward the nomination of Alexandria Alexi Airs to council with a favorable recommendation. We have a motion by Council Member Yinaba and a second by Council Member Houston to forward communication to do six to full council with the federal recommendation. All right, Mr. Alameda would you please introduce the mayor's nominee? I'm not so much. Good morning Council Members. Vice Chair Kahneli Iqainfelder, Chair Kagiwata. I'm like a Alameda executive assistant to the mayor. It is our honor to present communication 226, nominating Alexandria Lexi Ayers to the Leeward Planning Commission, representing the judicial district of South Kona. If confirmed, Ms. Ayers will replace Ms. Barbara DeFranco and serve returned to expire on December 31, 2021. Ms. Ayers comes to us with 31 years of residency. She was born and raised right here in Kona. She's a proud graduate of Kona, Wana High School. And she also attended the West Hawaii Flagship, Paul Ammanui. From a young age, Ms. Ares learned about giving back and service through the Hawaii Police Activity League more properly known as Hype Health. It was through that as an athlete and then giving back as a coach, as a ref, often opening up facilities, you know, parks. She tried her best to provide opportunities that was available and that helped raise who she is today. I'll conclude with the fact that she is a proud mother of two. She plans to live here in Kona for the rest of her life and raise her children. And for that, we're so proud to nominate myseas to the Leeward Planning Commission and we are hopeful for a positive recommendation. Back to you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much, Mr. Alameda. Miss Sejers, would you like to say a few words to introduce yourself, anything further? Sure, good morning council members. First, I wanna thank you for having me here today. The reason that I am applying for this seat is because I understand the responsibility that the plans that we put forward today may not affect us right now, but it is going to affect my children, your children, our grandchildren, and so if I can help put a positive plan in motion so that our children can not only live your butt thrive and continue our way of life on the big island. Thank you very much. Council members, any questions or comments from the sayers? Council member Inaba. Sure, I'll start off, thank you you, Chair. Good morning, Ms. Ayers. Thank you for being here today. And we did have the opportunity to meet to discuss some of your interests in this specific commission. I want to thank the Mayor's Office for bringing someone like you before us. At least on the west side we haven't had a candidate like you be nominated to the Leeward Planning Commission before you know, corners of small place and circles are connected here and to be raising a we're actually around the same age. But South Kona for her and North Kona for me, but our communities are definitely connected and I'm confident based on our discussion and even based on your current career and the experiences and knowledge that that has provided you, I feel, appeared with the support of the planning department and other commissioners as well. We're going to be rounding out a really, really solid planning commission. Once you folks are confirmed, so I'm really excited to support you and ask for my colleagues' support in confirming this airs as well. Thank you, Council Member Inaba. Any other Council Member's? Council Member Yfiga, yes. Hello, Miss Airs. Thank you for being here today. Thank you, Micah, for another wonderful presentation and description of the role and history you've played already in our community. And it's as Council member Inaba, Chair Inaba has mentioned, we're excited for new faces, new representation of younger generation that are solidly and firmly connected to this place and understand the intricacies involved in participating in this role. It is probably one of, in my opinion, the most powerful commission we have and the decisions that are made there have direct impact, as you said, on the future of our community. You know, something I would just years past, my mentors on the council had communicated to me that something was vetted by the planning department and then vetted by the Leeward Planning Commission. Then by the time it came to us, it should be, you know, kind of ready to go. Unfortunately, what we're seeing is, and what I'm hearing is sometimes planning says, oh, Leeward Planning Commission will catch it. And then Leeward Planning Commission says, oh, the council will catch it. And so we kind of end up in this handoff past the buck thing, which at a time when due process is already so fragile. And the repercussions so dire, I just would put that little thought in your mind that the power and influence and of the decisions being made within the Leeward Planning Commission old great consequence, great consequence. So thank you for your willingness to step up and step in and participate. I'm sure it will be a steep learning curve as there always are. My only other advice is I believe you work in the real estate field is there will be challenges with balancing the will of people in certain industries versus the overall good of our community. So I am trusting that you will have the courage and determination and tenacity to stand strong, speak up, lean in, and as a fellow wild cat, I trust you with that opportunity, that responsibility, and that it's actually quite a burden, but thank you for being willing to pick it up and carry it for our community. Thank you, Councilmember Biggestmember Vegas. Councilmember Kimball. Yeah. Good morning, and thank you both for being here. And just to say, I appreciate you reaching out in advance of the meeting, but I generally make it a practice not to talk to our nominees outside of the public forum. So I really only have three questions, and I ask these, my connoes of all, a planning commission, commission applicants, which is what is your position with respect to the role of the CDPs and the community development plans with respect to the planning process? What are your thoughts on maintaining public access for the community through various planning actions and then finally your position on the role of short-term vacation rentals in our county. So for the first question, I'm sorry. Could you repeat the, oh, yeah, sorry. For terms of community development plans, I feel very strongly growing up in South Kona, we really only have two parks, scream more park, Kona scenic. And so that played a huge role in my upbringing, and I know a lot of my friends and my family. And I think in order for us to continue the way of life that we have with our youth, especially I'm sure we can agree that kids that are bored do get into bad things and so if we can keep the youth busy we can have a flourishing community. So I feel pretty strongly about giving support to whatever we can do to help our community in that way. So next up is public access. What are your thoughts on public access? Please return a mic. Sorry, so next up is your thoughts on public access. Public access with regards to, are you talking about beach access or specifically? Actually not exclusively to beach access, but just generally to spaces that have historically been available for community members, whether it be the shoreline or hunting areas, Malka, or things like that. When you are deliberating planning actions within the Planning Commission, what would consideration will you be? What sorts of things will you be thinking about with respect to maintaining public access? Like councilmember Bill Ages said, I understand the responsibility that this seat holds and I do not feel I have a problem saying no to plans that would hurt the community and limit that access. My family personally we come from hunters and we love to be in the mountain and we understand that is a privilege granted to us But it is part of growing up here and being a part of the community I definitely do not want to limit the public access whatever plan that comes through My plan moving forward is to make sure that it is for the greatest public use Then short-term vacationterm vacation rentals. For example, Airbnb's VRBO, what are your thoughts on short-term vacation rentals? Great question. Obviously, I work with short-term vacation rentals. I would say weekly with my career. My thoughts on it are that I can see the positives for the community for smaller things, but in a greater use plan, like I said, if there is plans to change the ruling or anything like that, I'm sure we will see that in the Planning Commission, but it has to be for the greatest public use. It cannot be only helpful to one party and hurt the other people. It has to be for the community as a whole. So pro short term vacation rentals responsibly is what is what I gathered. Thank you. Did he summarize you correctly? Yes. Say that, say that some more. Formization is accurate. That you're. I would. I would. I see, yeah, in a responsible manner. And there are, and it is few, but I do have local clients that have short-term vacation rentals. Of course, there's not many, but I think as long as it's done responsibly, and it doesn't hurt the overall community. Thank you. It is definitely a nuanced position and I don't expect for against the answer because it's a complex issue. Just want to briefly circle back to the response with respect to community development plans. Just to really get a sense of the community development plans go through or formulated through a process where there are multiple efforts to do outreach to the community and formulate that community development plan. It is one of the things in addition to the general plan and the state land use that, you know, you would be looking at with respect to various actions on the planning commission and then so as far as a response I'm kind of looking for a little bit more about how you would weigh the contents of the community development plan in your decision making. Just to summarize the question was how I would weigh my decision making in generalization of community development plans, correct? Correct. Okay. It would be my overall consensus. Again, I can't really speak to the nuances and the details of those rulings, but it has to be for the best general use. I understand that with community development plans, we look at the area and what the job of that plan is to service what it's going to do. And obviously it has to be servicing the whole community and what I guess I kind of summarized that earlier. Just the best use of that community. Yeah, can I help? Yeah. So she has the general plan here. We've through this process. We've been talking about it. I do believe she, you know, generally she understands that there's a plan within the plan. There are these CDPs, right? So yeah, I just want to say I do. I's putting all the pieces together, chapter 16, right? I flooded her respectfully. So she is putting the pieces together. So I just want to give her that grace, columning. Sorry. I'm just interested. And the reason I ask this is, I think one of the important things being on either the Planning Commission is understanding that there are documents that have been developed through robust processes interviewing community members. And what I want to see in a planning commissioner is somebody that is going to look at the general plan, look at the state land use, look at the community development plans and realize that that provides a lot of direction about what should happen in the space. Rather than perhaps listening to just somebody that's got a beef with the current owner, you know, it's important to weigh those documents as having been vetted and created through a process rather than just reacting perhaps to angry testifier in the room. Do you understand what I'm trying to explain? Oh, yes, yes. I understand, I'm sorry, I apologize. I understand the question now further. I'm not trying to come in and re-invent the wheel or do anything outside of the box per se. I do understand that this plan and your expertise is years experience. Then I'm young and new to this 31 years old. But I am going to rely on also your guidance. And are these what this person, this plan is putting forward? Does this follow the rules and regulations? Is this something that is going to benefit the community? And yeah, my plan is when something comes forward to my desk to do as much research as I can, digging, looking at the rules. And that was one of the, before I decided to go for the seat, I talked with my family because I would need their help to, in order to really do this job to its full fruition. Thank you for your responses. I just want to say, I think it's exciting to have a younger individual that is kind of the community that we're, a lot of times we're talking about, we to disturb you know yet the young families that are born and raised here and so I think you will provide an important viewpoint to the commission. Thank you Chair. Thank you Council Member Kimball for the record Council Members, Glimba and Kirkowitz have joined us. Council member, Connelly, Kleinfelder, and Florida. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you for being here this morning. I heard something earlier that was interesting. So my family hunts, and that's a privilege. It's not a privilege, it's your right. Have you been reversed at all in Native Hawaiian law training? Sorry, can you repeat that last part the question? Native Hawaiian law training. I don't believe so. Okay, I hear that answer a lot. even from our sitting staff. Is it hard to hear me? It is, yeah, because the echo. It always is in this room. Ha ha ha. Native Hawaiian law training is provided by Kauhuli Ow. Each year, probably two times a year, and provide a beautiful background for the law sets that guide our state and our law here for our citizens. It's extremely helpful for anyone in a appointed position, even a directorship or a mayor, anybody, can take this law training and it teaches you the complexity and the unique laws that guide us here in Hawaii County and in the state of Hawaii on how our rights have been protected, specifically native Hawaiian rights, so that you can have public access. So you have access to hunting grounds, so you have access to gathering rights, all protected water rights. These are incredibly important concepts that I think you would be good for you to be cognizant of if you plan to choose delivered planning commission. So please look into that as you go forward. look into that as you go forward. Is it? April 22nd is the next round of training. It's free. You don't have to pay for it. You sign up. It's a Zoom meeting. I think it's two days. I have learned an amazing amount of information from the amazing people who put that on. I thank you for that. I have a general sense of what Native Hawaiian rights are, but I definitely would benefit from learning much more in detail and how the protected rights also. It's amazing. So please do. So it's not a privilege. It's a right. It's a right. That was my fault. No, no. I was just saying. We'd call it a privilege just because we teach our kids, you know, we come up here, we respect the land, we respect our, you know, safety stuff like that. So we say that that was my fault. No, not a fault. It's more, it's just a changing of the awarding. Same thing I do for my kids. It's not, you don't have to ask permission in some senses, you have a rate and that's protected by law. In the same sense, on a legal planning commission, your duty is to our citizens, is to uphold the laws that we have in place, to make sure that in 50 years, what we have done in our lifetimes makes our cake use life better. In that sense, what do you see for this side of the island in 50 years? If things keep going the way that they're going or in a positive or just in general. General? Good question. Just in general. Okay, right now things are going to keep going. If you step into the lieber planning commission, your voice will change the direction of planning decisions that are made on this side. Our voices have changed things over the last X amount of years. So we are the change. So what do you see in 50 years? In 50 years, what I hope to see is people, local families, especially not just surviving, not just living on the big island, but really thriving. I mean, we've all seen it. Friends family moved to the mainland. And not just for financial reasons, but a lot of, just because I can speak to being in the sports community, a lot of families have moved away for better opportunities for their children to get some reach to get seen, but for scholarships for those types of opportunities, and for schooling, academic for STEM things. So in 50 years, I hope that, I don't know, my grandchildren, will have a lot of the same opportunities that the kids on the mainland have and that people are not just like I said surviving, they're really thriving on the big island, but we still keep, as we know, especially in South Conor that small community where we take care of each other and I really feel that that's made by the people and if more and more local families move away will lose that you know small town take care of each other mentality so that's what I hope to see in 50 years. Okay how do you see yourself on the Leeward Planning Commission guiding that? I think I can only speak to my direct experience and my direct experience is pretty limited, but it starts with the youth. We grew up in the dare programs, HypeHal and one of the main things that were kind of taught to us that we saw is kids who are busy or kids who are productive kids. You know, keep keep them in, you sports, keep them in, after school activities, give them opportunities to do things, and you will see children really thrive. So I hope to, if someone has different ideas, plans that are going to keep kids busy and offer more free after school activities for the kids, that's where my start would be just because I can really speak to that. I'm sure after a couple of years, I'll learn more things and be able to speak more on things that I can contribute personally. Okay. I think the most important part, and what you just said is and then blending it on how I feel is incorporating the community in their decision making. And not making that decision in a void of, well there's nine of us or seven of us, we're gonna talk about it, we're gonna figure it out, we'll make a decision. It's always based on who comes in this door and who talks to us and how they feel and how it affects them. And that is one of the more important things that I think it's good for us all to remember in government in whatever form we choose to take on. Okay, thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your answers. Thank you for being here and being presentable. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your answers. Thank you for being here being presentable. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you councilmember Connie at Lee Klein-Pilder. Anybody else? Councilmember Gullimba Thank you for being here and being willing to step up to this very important commission. So a lot of work involved with it. And I came in a little late, so I missed your presentation. But I gather you're in real estate and generally working here in Kona. Where do you live in Kona? In Kallikekoa. Okay. I was just wondering if when the last time you had been down to drifted the very southern end of South Kona basically when was the last time you've been in Osha view I Was in ranchals. I believe the ending of February Yeah Thanks. Yeah, I just you know a lot of people don't make it down there So in some sense, you're being in real estate and being all over is a good thing. I guess I wanted to maybe follow up a little bit more on the question that Councilmember on the E climb filter asked. There's a lot of need for affordable housing and on the side of the island. And a lot of that need is being addressed by folks living really far out in an ocean of you and round chose. So, and there's been, there is a need closer. So I wanted to ask you about where you envision some of the need for affordable housing being met not down there because it's not a great place to fill that need. It's what's happening, but the lack of water, et cetera, it's just not good place for that, for families really, no schools. Yeah. Yeah, so in your vision of this side of the island, where do you think would be the, where's your vision of how to address that need for affordable housing? My vision for affordable housing, probably are you talking about specifically a place in South Kona? Well, in this entire leeward side, and still like a visioning or concept of where do you think that particular need for the community would be best addressed? I know that there's the newest affordable housing I believe on Hina Lani Street.? So which is, it's not technically far for South Kona residents, but it kind of is. It's there's traffic and it's a major difference in that kind of lifestyle towards Kaelike Kua, South Kona, Captain Cook. From my vision, if I might wish come true or like that, it would probably be somewhere in Captain Cook, maybe in the towards like Monagos. I'm not sure there's any land ordinance there for that, but simply because it is a hub for South Cona people. And in my field and my area of expertise, I really do service and focus on local first-time home buyers and unfortunately ocean view ranchos Millie that is one of the last affordable places to purchase a home and These families are commuting every day and their kids go to school at Konoina. So if we could Have some kind of affordable or workforce housing in those areas closer towards the hub, choice mark, it's hard where those areas, that would be great. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much. I yield. Thank you, Councilmember Galimba. Anybody else? All right. Thank you so much for being here and putting your name forward. I think I'm just going to follow up a little bit on what council member Glenvova saying, which is and to provide you with little context last week. had all 23 departments and offices in the county come before us. And in looking at all the places that the different departments have vacancies, we heard time after time after time that the hardest vacancies to fill are over here on the leeward side of the island and I think all of us having been here for a while now understand and you being from real estate understand it's one of the biggest reasons is because there's lack of affordable housing for workers over here. So kind of following on what Council member Glimbo was saying, if for instance we know that the county cannot hire people on this side of the island because they do not have a Ford. I was saying, if, for instance, we know that the county cannot hire people on this side of the island because they do not have affordable housing, is there anything else you can think of? And understanding that, yes, we have limited resources, right? We have limited land, we have limited water, we have limited infrastructure. So if a development comes forward, I guess it's like, what are we think, what are your thoughts on what makes this something, what are some of the things that might make this something we do want to support? And what, yeah, I'll just leave it at that. Are there anything you're looking for as far as what would make a development on this side of the island, something that you think would make it rise to perhaps something that we should be supporting? I think the probably the main thing like you said would be it's proximity to work. I know families that live in ocean view and ranchals and they work at four seasons because that you know it's one of the careers you can or job to can actually have a career but in terms of housing there's nothing within that area. So I think if a plan came or you're saying like if a plan came forward, it would be the proximity. I mean, as long as it was sustainable and it's the county approved or you guys approved, right? I'm going to rely on a lot of your expertise in this and talking with community members, friends and family, and getting kind of their opinion on that. If it's got to to be location I would say for me something that affordable housing that's close to work. Okay thank you so much and just in thinking about this and going forward maybe think about usually what will be happening is the leeward planning council you're gonna actually be seeing these things before it comes to us so. So you won't be relying on us, we're relying on you. Okay, so yeah, that's yeah, I could read first. So yeah, mostly then I'm relying on the community. Okay, and hopefully those important documents and other resources you'll have at your fingertips as well. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you being here. Love the fact that, you know, as several people mentioned, you are the demographic that we are often talking about and concerned about, you know, you're part of that demographic when we're thinking about development and if things should be supported or they're not right for our community, so appreciate you stepping up to be a part of this. All right, with that, we have a motion on the floor, on the floor here to close file and communication 226 and send the favorable nomination of Alexandria Ares for the Leeward Planning Commission to the Council with a favorable recommendation. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Let's see who's, we've got, okay, still here. We've got everybody. Yes, okay. We have nine in favor. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Thank you, Miss Ayers. Appreciate you being here. Thank you. Is there any testimony for communication 227? Very non-communication 227 nomination of David F. Bruno to the Board of Ethics from Maris C. Kimo-Alameda dated March 27, 2025, requesting the council's review on confirmation. Motion, please. Chair, motion to close file on communication 227 for the nomination of David F. Bruno to Council with a favorable recommendation. We have a motion by Council Member Inaba and a second by Council Member Houston to close file on communication 227 and send the favorable nomination of David Bruno up to the board of ethics to the Council with a favorable recommendation. All right, Mr. Alameda please introduce the mayor's nominee. Mahalo Madam Chair on behalf of Mayor Alameda we're honored to present communication 227 nominating David F. Bruno of Council District 9 to the Board of Ethics. If confirmed, Mr. Bruno will replace Ms. Denise Nakanishi and serve a term to expire on December 31, 2029. Mr. Bruno was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Warren, Vermont. He is extremely akamai. Yeah, I mean, he has a BS from Cornell. He has a juris doctor from Seattle University School of Law. Getting to know him over this process has been an extreme pleasure. Despite living in Hawaii for less than two years, Mr. Bruno has always connected profoundly with Hawaii Island. His mother, Alan Oto, was born in Hilo in the early 1930s. She went on to be a school teacher at Wildcat Intermediate. His papa, Theodore Tadashi Oto, was a physician in East Hawaii in the early 1900s. He even built a Japanese hospital. And I recently learned just how critical these hospitals were. When you talk about access to healthcare for our Japanese ohanas, there was none back then. They had to take care of themselves, truthfully. And to learn that he comes from a lineage of service from the early 1900s, although like I said, just living in Hawaii for nearly two years, his connection is as strong as most. Professionally, he is an attorney. He's been in corporate law, particularly with hotels for the last two decades. We're so fortunate that he's bringing forward his E.K. his experience to the Board of Ethics. You're rarely going to see nominees coming from us to the Board of Ethics because it's such a tough job. Hard to find people that says, I want to serve on the Board of Ethics. I'd love to look through hundreds of pages of documents, opinions, but that's where he wants to serve and that's where he feels he can do best and it's our honor, Madam Chair, to nominate David Bruno to the board of ethics. Back to you. Thank you, Mr. Allen. Mr. Bruno, would you like to say a few things? Go ahead, you can pull that right towards you. Thank you. Aloha, good morning, Council Chair and Abba, committee chair, Kaguata, committee vice chair, Kani Lee, Kleinfelder, and council members. I'm David Bruno, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak with you and share this opening statement with you. Before I begin, I want to disclose that for those of you who may not know, and be aware my wife Kendra Bruno is holds a position of council aide to councilman James Eustace. So I'm grateful to Mayor Alameda for this nomination and to Hawaii County Board of Ethics and to Micah for his support, his encouragement and the respect that he's shown to me have gone through this process. As Mic noted, I have a strong connection to Hawaii Island. I'm proud to be a Yonsei, Japanese American, and fortunate now to be the fourth generation of my family to call Hawaii home. My grandparents were both born in Hawaii, in Pahala and Pahala. My grandfather, theodore Tadashioto, he built this, Michael said he built the 8-bed Oto Hospital on Lyme on a street in Hilo. And he operated with his my grandmother, Messiah, at his side, until 1957. And he remained in private practice until he retired in 1977. He was a remarkable man in many ways, and just to tell you a little bit, example of the tenacity during challenging times, he built an incubator for newborns that he needed for the hospital himself. Today, that piece of history is part of the collection at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. So it's that type of strength and dedication that began my family's legacy here and the family's love and loyalty to the island, which I care with me today. My mother, Ellen, was raised in Hilo. She graduated from Hilo High School, and then she returned later with my father, Leon, to care for my grandparents. About the time I started college. They continued their careers her and who I am. My mother was a special education teacher at my K and intermediate school, and my father, as Micah said, was the director of the Lime Museum. They had been throughout my upbringing together. They were committed to both the community and the people that were they lived. They never missed a step to be involved, to help, and they showed my brother, my sister, and me that doing what was right, being just, and exhibiting the true meaning of Loja, was not a right by residency, but it was a privilege to be shared. They exemplified those examples well past the retirement, and my mother who is still living lives those same standards today. I look upon this nomination as an opportunity to serve the residents of Hawaii, now that I live here, and it's a natural extension of my professional and personal experiences and the lessons that I've learned from those who came before me. Early in my career, I learned that being directly engaged with my clients required open and honest communication. They certainly did not change when I moved to the practice of law. As both a practicing attorney and now I'm consulting as a legal technologist. I must be thorough and thoughtful in my work. The work I execute for both my clients and myself. I am very analytical at my core. So the consultative nature of my job, which requires collaborating with colleagues, clients, and lawyers that I serve, comes naturally. And I feel this experience will be very helpful and useful and the important and oftentimes sensitive work that's put before the Board of Ethics. As a candidate for the Hawaii County Board of Ethics, I believe ethics represents the core principles that guide decision making. It's about making choices that are not only adhered to the law, but also uphold the values of integrity, trust, and the public good. To me ethics is a commitment to serving people with honesty, addressing conflict of interest, promoting a culture of respect, and responsibility within our community. It's about leading by example and fostering an environment where ethical conduct is not just expected, but it's celebrated. And I'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge and and we're in a sub-nuried of Hawaiian law, as the face share was mentioning, which will be helpful to me in this position by attending that upcoming Native Hawaiian law training. So with my family as clear role model since moving to Hawaii, it's been a natural path for me to seek out ways to be involved. Our community is built by the people who participate in it. I believe this, I try to emulate it. Be that in our neighborhood, our district, and most importantly, Hawaii Islands of the whole. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you very much Mr. Bruno. Council members, any questions or comments? Council member Houston. Thank you chair. Mahalo Mr. Alameda, Mr. Bruno. Thank you. I really appreciate you bringing Mr. Bruno forward as a nominee and yes I will confirm as he stated Mr. Bruno stated on the disclosure that Mr. Bruno's spouse works in the district nine office but it's become you know it's been a pleasure to work with Kendra and get to know David through this time and your, your background really speaks for itself. You're outstanding individual for our community, and I really want to recognize the commitment you have for our community. So thank you for stepping forward, Mr. Bruno. I look forward to working with you. And I think that you know, you will all hold us up to a higher standard given your background and expertise and really the core that drives you forward So thank you so much, Maulanoi Thank you councilmember Houston's anybody else questions or comments Councilmember Inaba. Thank you chair. Good morning, Mr. Bruno. Thank you again for reaching out to us I'm hoping with the experience you bring with your law background. Right now I think the Board of Ethics is a dynamic kind of well-represented group of five. And I'm hoping with the experience you bring together you folks can really hone in on accountability in our county. As public servants I think we have and county employees in general. We have a duty to serve the community and I'm hoping that you and the rest of the board members of the Board of Ethics take your Kuleana seriously, and when there are violations that are clear that you folks take a really strong stance, and punish those who do those things accordingly. So I'm hoping that with your background, you can review some other roles, and really get into the nitty gritties of it, and serve the community in that way. So thank you so much for your willingness and yes, we love Kendra, just as an addition to our legislative of Oana. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Inaba. Council Member Cadioli Kleinfield. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Your background, very interesting. Resume speaks for itself. your presentation, your family history, amazing. Just for those things alone, I'd vote for you. I have a question for you. I'm gonna put it to you a little bit. So Mr. Husemas is a personal reference of yours on your application. Your wife works in his office, correct? Okay, so in your opinion, given your law background, in your opinion, do you see a potential collective interest? So thanks for the question, and understand it completely. If, yeah, there's, you know, there is separation in my professional life as a lawyer, don't bring my work home, my finances and, you know, it's through responsible to my clients. However, that said, with the relationship with my wife and the councilman's office, if something were to come before the board of ethics that involved the councilman, that involved the office, I would probably find it very easy to recuse myself, to require myself to be recused from such a matter based on that close relationship. Okay, you know what I appreciate that as it's that's that's honest and that follows the board ethics rules and laws that I follows our own county accountability and I like that a lot. So if you're able to say that right now and given your background it was one of my concerns as it was stated when it came up and I've seen this before. So I appreciate that your answer is honest and I want to hold you to that if in the future. I mean and you tell me that you and your life don't have conversations when you come home from work because we all do. It never ends for me. But when those things do come up in front of you and you're having the discussions, you need to be able to separate yourself from board of ethics and personal life and office life of what happens here. And just to me, it's important. I completely understand. I appreciate the question and the understanding it is part of the ethos and looking at the separation and needing to be honest and forthright with the responsibilities that I would bring to the table. In that position, there's some completely separately from the things that in my personal life and having to keep those separate and where they would overlap, then I need to step out of the professional responsibility. Okay. Good luck with that. No, we're really just looking at your resume here and you speak to what you've done in your past and hear your family is I think you'll be a wealth of knowledge for the folks on the board of ethics and be a guiding light for them. I really do think that you will. So I appreciate your time today and good pick from the administration and I look forward to seeing what you do. Thank you. Appreciate comments. Thank you, Council Member Connelly, and Klein Felder. Anybody else? Questions, comments? I was seeing none. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Bruno, for stepping forward and being willing to serve. I certainly recognize much of what you said about your upbringing in a Japanese-American family as similar to my own and do appreciate you. You're continuing the family line and I'm wanting to serve the community. So thank you very much, anything you'd like to add. No, I'd appreciate the time. Thank you very much. All right. With that, we have a motion on the floor to close file on communication 227 and send the favorable nomination of David Bruno for the Board of Ethics to the full council with a payroll recommendation. All those in favor, please say aye. Any opposed? We have, we're missing someone. Okay, we have eight members in favor, and we're missing out council member, Vegas, excused. Thank you so much, appreciate it. Is there any testimony for communication 2-8? Hearing none, communication 2-8, domination of Dard-A-M Gamayo to the Hawaii County Cultural Resources Commission from Mercy, Kimo Alamita dated March 27, 2025, requesting the council's review and confirmation. Chair, motion to close file and communication, 2-2-8, and send the nomination of Dardi Gamayo to the Hawaii County Cultural Resources Commission to Council with a favorable recommendation. Second. We have a motion by Council Member Kimball and a second by Council Member Houston, to close file and communication, 2-2-8. Thank you, Mr. Alamina, please introduce the mayor's nominee. Mahalo, Madam Chair. On behalf of the mayor, we are honored to present communication 228, nominating Darty M. Gamile of Council District 1 to the Cultural Resources Commission. If confirmed, Ms. Gamile will replace Ms. Natalie Kurashima in serve a term ending on December 31, 2029. Ms. Gamile was born in Kohala and raised in Honaka. She graduated from Honaka High School in the mid 1980s. She has spent her entire adult life care-faring and farming Care-foring and farming down in Waipi Ovali with her husband, Daren Gamile. Her husband, Daren Gamile is a linear descendant of Waipi Ovali. The property that they care for is Ohana lands and they've been caring for it since the early 1990s. Some would I would say, Waipi Ovali is the most culturally significant space in the entire world. Ms. Gamile is proud of the fact that her and her husband are caretakers of their Ohana lands and it is something that they take very seriously. She has most affectionately known these days as Tidanoi on couple airwaves. That is probably where most know her, but it is through that opportunity where she shares the Hawaii that she knows and that she grew up in and the EK that was taught to her and passed down to her grandbabies like Kohani-Ani, who she often shares about on their airwaves. But Madam Chair, we're so honored to nominate Ms. Gamile. We feel that her personal connection and her life's preservation of their Ohana lands in Waipi, Ovali, make her the right fit to the current composition of the Cultural Resources Commission. And therefore, we are hopeful for a positive recommendation. Back to you. Thank you, Mr. Alameda. Mr. Gamayo, please turn on your mic. And please say a few words, introduce yourself a little further. Hello, good morning, council members. It is my privilege and opportunity to honor to sit here before you with the mayor's nomination. It kind of nervous, you think that I'd not be nervous talking to anyone. Trust me, I get nervous every time I'm in front of a microphone. even in the studio by myself on the airwaves. As Mika so graciously put, I was born in Kohala raised in Honoka with the closure of Kohala sugar. My family moved to Honoka. My dad was from Kohala. My mom was from Honoka. And I had the opportunity to be raised around my grandparents, not just on my mom's side, but also my dad's side, and also knew my great grandparents. So I was very, I didn't realize there was older that a lot of people don't get that opportunity. And the one thing that I did love and cherish the most is the opportunity I had to spend with my grandparents learning of the significant cultural and sacred sites here on our island that are known and also some that are not known. I often drive with my grandpa in the Honaka, Kukui Highly area and he would tell me, well, this cane field here used to be a plantation camp. This is a Portuguese camp. If you look, there's the oven is still there. You know, it sits in the middle of eucalyptus trees now. But, you know, he said, oh, this is, there's actually a graveyard here alongside this gold chain. I was like, what? and he goes, yeah, because you're a great, great grandpa, escaped from the Hina hospital and he ran away and didn't find him. But time they did, he was already gone. And so they buried him at the top of this coach. And I'm like, what? And so he's not the only one. So there's a lot of, I learned early on, there's a lot of sacred sites that are not known here on our island, a lot of unmarked graveyards. And fast forward to meeting my husband, who is a linear descendent of Waipio Valley. And even the Waipio was in my backyard growing up. We never spent much time down there. And it was because we didn't have Kuliana down there. Whereas my husband had Kuliana down there. And so he spent a lot of his time down in Waipio. And as a linear descendant, he has a lot of family that are buried there both in marked and unmarked graves. As we began to take care of the family property and get into doing what needs to be done to protect Waipio Valley and seen in recent years before the mayor, the previous mayor's closure of Waipio Valley. How the valley had been overrun with a lot of tourism, both local and visitors alike. I'm not going to say what trampling basically that's exactly what it is. It's going in places where they just wanted to go check it out. They just walk through not realizing what was there. We began to realize that we needed to step forward and do something to really protect our cultural and historical sites. So that's kind of been a passion that I've had. And as I got older and started to have grandchildren, I realized that it's my Juliana to pass on to my grandchildren, the knowledge that EK that my grandparents passed on to me and because if not they're not going to know and they taught me for a reason is because they wanted me to pass it on to the next generation. White people, as Michael said, is probably one of the most sacred sites here on the planet. You know, not demeaning or putting down any other locations, but the significance of Waipio in Hawaiian culture. There's a lot of historical sites down in Waipio. And right now, it is my understanding, and I'm just learning about this, is that there's one catalog number in the list of historical places that covers all of Waipio Valley but yet within Waipio itself there are a number of hails, there are a number of gravesites, there are a number of other historical places that are not documented. Granted we don't want all of the documented areas to be open but we want to be be able to identify them. And so I feel being a part of this commission will give me the opportunity to do good in helping us to identify that, to preserve it for the future generations. And working with the YPO Valley Steering Committee, that is now under Heather Kimball and started by Val Poindexter. We've talked about different ways and models that we can use to help us protect and control the number of people going in and out of Waipio Valley. And one of the things that we have talked about, and I present to you guys today is an idea of creating a Vahipana zoning, meaning it'll be a zoning that umbrellas, residential, business, whatever the zoning is, but it'll be a zoning that goes over that area. There's nothing like it in the state right now, but in a sense what it would be, it would be more of like a protocol on how to act and how to be in these sacred spaces. What we can and we cannot do what we should not do. And so that's something that you know I feel being a part of this commission will allow me to learn more and possibly have that done. Let Hawaii County be the model for Vaipana zoning. Let us be the first in the state because there's so many other cultural, significant places throughout our state that could use the protection and benefit from it as well. I look forward to learning more. I look forward to being able to do my part so that at the end of the day, you know, I know my papal always told me he says, you know, when you write your name at the bottom of the paper, when you're done, that's your name there. That means you did that. You got to make sure you pull, no, you got to make sure you're good. So I always tell my kids and my grandkids at the end of the day, when I sign my name at the bottom, I want to make sure everything is pulled up. So I thank you guys for the opportunity. I thank the mayor's office. And I look forward to getting a favorable vote and being a part of the commission. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ms. Camillo. And council member Kimball, why don't you get us started? Yeah, thank you. I don't know that I need to say much more to encourage my colleagues to support Dardy for this position. She clearly has a great professional background that matches the needs of the serving on the commission, the personal experience and connection to historical place. And I can say in the last few years as we've been working together on the YPO steering committee, she always shows up. She always participates. And so I would see her being an active member of this commission and very excited about some of the suggestions and the Vahipana overlay and the potential there. So just ask everybody's support for this wonderful nominee and thank the mayor for the nomination. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Kimball. Council Member Beegas. Yes, thank you. Aloha Dardy. Thank you for being here. Wow. Such words of wisdom with aligned and inspired value systems that rely on the wisdom of our host culture and the purpose for those teachings for health and safety, longevity and regenerative practices for all generations. I'm honored to support your nomination and yeah this concept of Vahipana as an overlay for the value systems of the Hawaiian people to become required within the constructs of colonial governance. as we navigate all these challenges, as a global society, the solutions reside in the wisdom of the people of this place. And so thank you for your vigilance and determination to perpetuate that wisdom and your kindness and generosity to share and your courage to speak up. Just a quick side note, I worked with a nonprofit organization, the Makai Nonna Foundation, for years and was years ago and I saw in West Hawaii today had a small section for a piece of property in Waipio for sale at the headwaters and the Makai Nana Foundation, which I used to sit on the board of, purchased it. I think it was like $40,000 or something really minor. But I'd love to connect with you about, and the purpose was always to reconnect it to the people of that place who's Kuleana it authentically was and is to Malama that area. I mean the headwaters are you kidding? But I'd love to connect and try and put you in touch and see if there's any way to collaborate and and sure that that is managed by the people most appropriate with the Kuleana for that space. Yeah, thank you. And the purpose was to make sure somebody else didn't bite and it didn't end up being you know commodified, commercialized or corporatized. So thank you for your work, thank you for your vision and thank you for being such a strong tutu vahide for your family. I yield. Thank you, Council Member Vegas. Council Member Houston. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Miss Mio. Really, what's thrilled to see your name come forward on this nomination. So thank you for stepping forward. I want to recognize all the work that you do for the communities of North Hawaii and I'll let you give to our community. So Mahalo Newi and I look forward to your good work on the Colter Resource Commission. So Mahalo. Thank you, Council Member Hustis. Anybody else? Council Member Ynava. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you so much for your willingness to serve. And I know I love the ideas already on some zoning stuff. And I know I love the ideas already on some zoning stuff. And I hope also as I was sitting here at some point in the last five years, I had taken some opportunity to look at the powers, duties and functions of the Cultural Resource Commission. And unfortunately, I didn't follow through on trying to really get to the end of that project, but that's something hopefully that maybe you can lead with the other commissioners to see how we can expand this goal because we don't often see a lot of things going through the cultural resource commission. But it's valuable and it's how do we rewrite some of our code to funnel things through for review by your commission. So, maybe something I circle back with now that you're on and interested in some of these code revisions. So, thank you so much. Look forward to supporting you. Thank you, Council Member Inaba, anybody else? Council Member Kirkowitz. Thank you. Thanks for being here, Ms. Gamayo. I love your suggestion of having a Vahepana overlay. And I think this idea comes at a really prime opportunity as the planning department takes a look at a comprehensive review and rewrite of chapter 25, which is our zoning code. So once you're confirmed to the commission, I definitely suggest that you get this on the agenda and have a conversation with the planning department and fellow commissioners. I will also put a bug in your ear about funding opportunities that are available to the cultural resource commission. the Planning Department. There's some state monies I think through Shifty that allow you folks to do projects. Just like Councilmember Inaba, you know this is something that I've been trying to help the commission with for a number of years. A lot of projects not enough time but you know with you being there this is again something that you can ask the planning department to take a look at so that you folks have the resources that you need to get the work done and preserve our culture resources. I think there's also opportunity to bring folks from around the island and across the state together to start talking about best practices, statewide strategies for how we can preserve our culture resources. So thank you so much for all that you do and your willingness to serve. I yield. Thank you, Councilmember Kirkwoods. Councilmember Connelly. Thank you, Chair. I think you're being here this morning for sharing your opinion. You're not all on white appeal. My only comment, I'll be supporting you today. Only comment is your in-depth knowledge on white PO. I want you to be able to think island wide. And you have touched on that with your Vahipana idea. But in understanding what will come in front of you, and I think and hoping that one day the cultural resources commission takes on more duties and really gets Deep into how we choose and allow for development or how we allow for areas to be bulldozed and clear and How we look at that as a county that your commission should you get on Becomes a very strong body in guiding decisions that protect culture. That's it. That's a simply as I see it. So look forward to seeing what you do. Thank you for everything that you presented to us. And then to your point earlier, yeah, I think speaking here is probably a lot harder than speaking on the radio. I mean I was a server for a number of years it's it's always difficult even being customer service even being here is just a whole different deal so but you need to get used to it because if you do get on the commission you have to do the same thing. Thank you very much for your time I appreciate you stepping Thank you. Yeah. Council member O'Neill, thank you. Good morning and thank you for volunteering. I will be also supporting your nomination. But just for the worker, I do listen to your show every day. And I enjoy it. So I'm hoping that's not a conflict if I support you. But thank you very much. I don't know. Hustis. Thanks, sir. I just want to chime in on one of the last comments. We had just a very brief conversation outside of Miss Gamayo about another sacred place on the island. So Pololoo Valley is a top of mind for you as well. So it's not just very specific to one area that I know is very near and dear to you, but of course you grew up in Kohala and all the love you have for Polululu. And we had just a brief conversation on about the stewardship projects that are going on there. So this is also something top of mind for you. And she does recognize all of our sacred places. So, Mahalo. Thank you, council member Hustis. All right, thank you so much from Ms. Gamayo for being Darty, my colleague Darty. I just want to thank you deeply, you and your Oana, Daren, for providing an amazing experience from me about four years ago. When you welcomed me along with Council Member Kimball down to the Valley and showed us around your farm really. It was I'm still remember it so finally so thank you so much. I'll be supporting your nomination. All right with that all those in favor of closing communication to to eight and sending a favorable recommendation for Guardaigmaio for the Cultural resources commission you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you., communication 229 nomination of Maya Keh Goudoni to the Public Access Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission from Mayor Seakeem O'Alemita dated March 27, 2025 requesting the council's review and confirmation. Thank you. Thank you, Post File, on communication, two to nine and four, the nomination of Maya Goudoni to Council with a favorable recommendation. Second. We have a motion by Council Member Inabana, second by Council Member Houston, to close file and communication, two to nine. Mr. Alameda, please introduce the Mayor's nominee. Mahalo Madam Chair. the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Commons and the House of Miss Godoni will replace Camwell a plunket and will serve a term that ends on December 31, 2025. Godoni will replace Kamuela Plunkett and will serve a term that ends on December 31, 2021-25, so the remainder of the year. Through getting to know Ms. Godoni, she was born and raised right here on Hava'i'anin in Kohala. Her mom and dad moved to Kohala in the 80s. She holds a BA in environmental studies and then MS in tropical conservation biology and environmental science with the focus on watershed management. She is fantastic. This is actually my first time seeing her physically at Haimaya, you look amazing. We've talked numerous times, but I didn't expect this. So Aloha Maha. She is committed to this work. So conservation, preservation, this is her life's work. Yesterday in the halls of the Hilo building, I bumped into Alex Kellopolo, who was with this lady named Gail. And she only had the greatest things to say about Maha. And through learned that Maya volunteers with this organization called Kohala Lihikai which is from what I learned. It's an organization of community advocates who are committed to preserving the Kohala Coast and her family has been a part of that effort. She has been a part of that effort which is is basically what Pong is, right? Except we add some teeth to the game and now we can actually buy up land and preserve it. So we're really excited for Maya to step into this role. She is 32 years old. As we saw with Lexi Ayers earlier, it is so refreshing to see younger citizens wanting to serve some Mahalo Maya and with that Madam Chair. Back to you. Thank you, Mr. Alameda. Ms. Gadoni, would you like to say a few words further to introduce yourself to the council? The committee. Aye. Aye, yes. Hello, my name is K, Mahalo, my God, for your introduction and also want to say Mahalo to Mayor Alamira for his nomination and it's an honor to meet you all virtually today. Because of my, for not being there in person, however, I'm very honored to have you as my audience today. So yeah, I love Hawaii. I love this island. You know, I've picked my career, which, I'm currently the watershed management specialist. I'm actually a contractor for the Division of Aquatic Resources. I'm contracted through Hawaii coral reef initiatives. And I do currently in doing like a lot of project management work for our wetland and the state is currently probably as you know trying to undergo more of a Mako-Tumaki initiative. And I would have to say, you know, I have a pretty well-rounded background. I have a marine background. I'm a certified USGS boat captain. I'm a certified nursing assistant of, you know, I've done graphic design, I've done all sorts of things, but I really found my passion in environmental and conservation work, especially here on Hawaii Island, because it is my home and because of my family history being involved in conservation and you know marine science my mom was a humpback or is a humpback well researcher and you know I kind of realized because I love the ocean so much you can't have you know a healthy ocean without you know a healthy, mountain, and terrestrial environment. And I was really drawn to watershed management just because you know, it's kind of like a big puzzle and I'm really drawn to systems thinking where you kind of are able to zoom out and think about the entirety of the situation, the whole picture. In watershed management, there's different environments and ecosystems, terrestrial aquatic, marine, all interconnected over various spatial and temporal scales. And to me, it's just kind of like the ultimate puzzle. And like I said, I picked this rare out of passion just because I want to make a better place for our community, our people, and for our piggy and generations to come. Yeah. And with the experience that I have, working with the working with the community and, you know, being a contractor for DARR, you know, working with the public is not new to me. However, you know, I am still learning, like Micah said, you know, I'm only 32, so there's definitely more experience to be obtained. And yeah, anyways, thank you so much for your time today. Does anyone have any questions? Thank you so much. We will see you. We'll ask all the council members here if they have comments or questions for you. So to get us started, council member Houston. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Arlemedo Alameda and Aloha of Miss Goudoni Nice meeting you virtually. We haven't had a chance to meet in person, but you come highly recommended by our co-halla residents Between our budget hearings last week and then this week just a short time to kind of connect with you But I do appreciate you stepping forward representing the communities of district nine on the punk commission. So I just had a one question and kind of just your thoughts when you're thinking about watershed management. You know, when we have projects and applications come before the commission, it's a very small piece that we preserve and set aside and we conserve and maybe I just welcome your thoughts, and maybe you can expand on this and hear your thoughts on this, but how does that play into and what external factors can impact that particular site? Because sometimes we're really thinking about that just that small little piece, whether it's an ag piece or a beach space or something of our macaque and maca lands, but sometimes we're not really considering all these external factors that could play and impact on that space. Yes, thank you for that question. Very good question. And there are so many factors involved in even just a little space, because it's just a little portion of land amongst this, you know, bigger watershed. You know, some of the factors that come to mind are land ownership, surrounding parcels and urban development, agriculture, community input, cultural importance, cultural sites, It'sy, I mean there's all sorts of things. And I think, you know, going into managing these areas really need to consider all of the aspects, you know. I think there are certain aspects that are more important to others than, you know, to some. And I think that's the great thing about getting community input and really understanding it's not just community input. Let's do environmental assessments and analyses and understand really what is at stake here and what resources do we need to protect with that particular land or parcel? Thank you very much, Sharon, your thoughts on that. And I guess the only other question I have is if you could just detail your experience with the dry land forest, like the low dry forest initiative and co-haul of watershed partnership and kind of those initial community service projects you've got involved with and your involvement with them. Yeah, absolutely. Through my career and learning, especially when I was in school, I made it a point to volunteer for the different restoration programs, such as the workload dry forest. And then when I was living in Hilo going to school I worked for the three mountain aligns which is another restoration organization and you know was I wanted to you know learn in different environments across island and you know how to restore those particular areas so you know it was important to me to volunteer for the whiteflow of dry forest because it involves you know dry native species versus three mountain alliance over in the Kelho aho poa in volcano you know it's all upland wet whatland native species. I've also volunteered a lot with the nature conservancy at Kihollo, working the local ear there. And my family has been involved with Kohala Lehi Kai for years. You know, my dad was one of the first person that kind of originated the organization and you know, and I just have kind of been involved ever since, just supporting it and trying to learn and you know, it's taken me quite a quite some time to really get involved in the way that I am now. So it's for me just to be able to have an impact and also just learn. And I try to apply those skillsets to my work and to everything that I do in watershed management and learning, you know, because it's not just Quahala, even though I am representing Quahala, you know, it's, it's a violent, the whole island is one big, you know, ecosystem. So you need to be able to understand and learn the different types of ecosystems and how they're connected. Thank you, Ms. Goudone. I appreciate your responses and your thoughts on that. I'm kind of diving a little further. And I really appreciate you stepping forward for the commission. So, Mahal Nui, thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Hustis. Council Member Beegis. Yes, I'll just make this real quick because we are moving through our nominees and almost ready for our next committee. Maya, thank you so much, listening to your resume of not only education and work experience, but volunteerism. It's evident you are highly qualified, highly capable, and humble, which I also really appreciate. Your willingness to acknowledge that you're still learning. I get most concerned when people act as if there's not more to learn, and we all know the learning process is eternal. It also sounds like you come up from a family and a legacy of people authentically entwined and rooted in community and participating for the broader greater good. I'm really excited to support your nomination and see how you so much of what humans do is parcel things off and put lines in between them and create separation. And that's not the way nature works, which is why nature has survived from millions and millions of years because it is all connected and recognizes the symbiotic relationships and the reliance and dependence keeping things connected, the wisdom there. So I'm really excited, especially after our prior nominee, with the concepts of utilizing Vahipana as an overarching prioritization and management protocol that you'll have a lot to contribute to the Open Space Land Commission when we look at properties and see that connectivity outside of just T. M. K. lines, which are not naturally occurring phenomenon all man-made. So thank you so much for your willingness and I'll be supporting you full wholeheartedly. I yield. Thank you, Councilmember B. This Councilmember Kimble. Yeah you. Yeah, thank you for stepping forward. You seem like a really great candidate. And when did you graduate from TCBES? I graduated, I believe the spring semester of 2020, right as COVID was hitting. Okay, so I graduated 2016. So we just missed each other in that program. But I think it's a really great program from this standpoint of mixing environmental science from the Western standpoint with traditional knowledge and traditional perspectives about land management. What I wanna just share with you because you're looks like you have the solid support, there are some needs within the PONC for modernization, our improvement of processes. And so I just want to put a bug in your ear about that right now. Particularly our grant making process to the stewardship organizations. I think that we're still usually behind and it's a reimbursement program rather than a grant making program. And part of that is just where there was a time period we transitioned the punk projects, the properties from parks and recommend to finance and I think there's still some room for growth there. I believe finance is going to hire another person to help support that. But just from some of the conversations I've had with other punk members, we need to look a little bit at helping those nonprofits come up with management plans and storage of plans that are achievable, that are appropriate for this site. And so I think the PUNC can be more actively involved in that. In addition, you know, looking at ways to really provide upfront support in terms of the application process and making sure that they know what they need to provide It's very clear. We've been working on a little bit with the county council's grant me a program about doing training videos and things like that So I think there's a lot of work potentially on the punk's plate that goes beyond just identifying properties and evaluating them but also So improving the process as a whole, particularly for the really important people that will ultimately... that goes beyond just identifying properties and evaluating them, but also improving the process as a whole, particularly for the really important people that will ultimately be the stores of these properties. So happy to support your nomination, but I just wanted to put a bug in your ear about that need that we have within the park. Thank you, Chair Eale. Thank you, Council Member Kimball. Anybody else? All right. Thank you so much, Ms. Goudone. I really do appreciate your stepping up. The only thing I wanted to say is that, you know, most of our current properties are properties that are shoreline or coastal lands, and I really was struck by and appreciate your statement that we cannot have healthy coastlines and oceans without really addressing the watersheds and the Malca portion of our island and so I just wanted to say that I really do appreciate that because I think that that perspective has been a little bit lacking maybe in the past or maybe just properties don't necessarily, I think, jump forth in people's minds when they aren't coastal properties. So thank you for bringing that perspective. All right, with that, all those in favor, in closing communication, 2-2-9, and forwarding the nomination of Maya Godoni to punk to the full council with a favoral recommendation, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, we have eight ayes with councilmembernie Lee, Kleinfeld, are excused. Thank you very much. All right, on to our last nomination of the day. Is there any testimony of your communication 230? Hearing none, the communication 230, a nomination of Kim L. Lynn to the real property tax board review from Mayor Seakeem O'Alamita dated March 27, 2025 requesting the council's review and confirmation. May I have a motion please? Motion to close file on communication 230 and for the nomination of Kim L. Lynn to counsel with a favorable recommendation. Second. I have a motion by Council member Inaba and a second by Council member Gildenba to forward or to close file in commutation 230 and forward the nomination of Kim Lin to the RPT Board of Review. The full Council with a favorable recommendation. We do have Mr. Alameda here. I believe the nominee is not able to be here because of a work conflict today and will be coming to full council. So I don't know if you want to save your major introduction for the full council when she is present. Yeah. And maybe, yeah, unless you have anything else to add. I'm saving it, right? I'm gonna save the intro. I just wanted to say this is something that I'll never plan to do, right? Like I don't intend to waste any of your time. However, in this instance, I am really grateful for the required two readings that it takes to get. These nominees through. So Mahalo U-Folks and Mizlin will be here on May 7th in Healoth Colomay Thank you, Mountainshire. Okay with that we have a motion on the floor to close file on commation 230 All those in favor please say aye any opposed All right, we have everybody here nine eyes. Thank you. Thank you for your time today, Mr. Alameda. Yeah. All right, we have one remaining item on our agenda this morning, resolution one, two, one. Is there any testimony for resolution one, two, one, dash two, five? Hearing none, resolution one, two, one, dash two, five, author authorize the mayor to an agreement with the University of Hawaii Office of Research Services. Funds the amount of $25,000 from the Department of Research and Development will be used to conduct Goal Farm Hawaii, the university's comprehensive agriculture education program introduced by Councilmember Kagiwata by request. Motion to forward Resolution 121-25 to Council with a favorable recommendation. I have a motion by Council Member Inaba and a second by Council Member V.A.G. to approve resolution 121 and send with a favorable recommendation to full Council. All right. We have Deputy Director Lim here to kick us off, I believe. Please introduce yourself and share this resolution content with us. Thank you. Good morning, Council members. It's echo is bad. Yeah. Just stay back a little. Yeah. Deputy Director Dennis Lane for Research and Development. So yeah, this resolution basically is because we granted an impact grant to GoFarm, it's required that we do an intergovernmental agreement because it's county and the state government entity. The 25,000 goes towards helping with their GoFarm program, which is a program that helps train beginning farmers. People who may not have any sense of how to farm, they can go through this program and it starts them off with you know classroom style courses first for the first section then they go on to learn about hands-on technical skills being out in the acreage and learning how to farm and then the third part is to teach them how to run a small agricultural farm for profitability. We fund these type of projects because we meet people where they're at. We want to make sure that we're giving a good breath of funding to programs across the island with different varying capacities and skill sets that they can learn. We also fund smaller training programs, like whole of farms and whole of veteran services that they do a smaller backyard type of classes. But goal farm is one of those that are more of a larger scale. They take somewhere between 20 to 25 farmers per cohort per year. And it is a very competitive process. They have a waiting list. Sometimes they get over 60 applicants and you only can take 20 20 so we're happy to support their program. Thank you very much all right with that do we have any questions or statements from the Dias Council member Connie Lee Klein-Bellner thank you chair thank you for being here deputy. So this is on top of what the UHilo already does. Is it just the supplement or? So goal form is actually externally funded. So they don't get much funding for UH at all. They go out and try to fundraise their own to fund their program. So part of the 25,000 that we're providing them is to help with supplies bringing in the trainer. The trainer will stay at the farm and throughout the whole program is the one teaching them how to do it. As well as any travel that needs to be done to bring people to and from the farm. So UH H, you Hilo doesn't have its own funding. This is not you Hilo, this is a C-Tarm. That is the University of Hawaii. I'm just reading the first whereas because the Department of Research and Development wishes to enter into an agreement with the University of Hawaii Office of Research Services and then provide 25,000 thousand to the University of Hawaii to conduct GoFarm Hawaii. Yeah, so they, although it says conduct, it's to supplement. So they do, they do run the program or helping them supplement the program. Okay, they don't have enough funding to do it themselves? No. Because the first two portions are basically free to the attendees, and not until they attend the third portion, they pay $500, $700 for tuition to attend that portion. So they you have partners that come in at schools, OLA, so food basket and some other food hub, Hilo Food Hub. Sorry, I'm just a center. I get that, I get that. Sorry, I'm just stuck on the University of Hawaii C-Tar, College of Tropical Ag and Human Resources. This is their program, but we're supplementing them because they don't have enough to run their own program. That's fully operational. And they have that beautiful site. A lot of fun to have a stretch of this. I guess I'm just wondering out loud. Sure. Okay. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Councilmember Connie Lee, climate builder. I Councilmember Corkowitz. Thank you. Definitely, then. Would you happen to have any information on how many folks go through GoFarms program? Yeah. So since 2012, it has over 250 farmers. I'll go through the program. because they only limited to 20 per year and it's limited, right? So you know we'd like to see the program expand just because it does provide a course for East Hawaii specifically. Okay so max of 20 a year and then the CETAR or GOFARM kind of track what happens after individuals go through the program? They do. Yeah. Just trying to understand success rates and what kind of barriers folks that are interested in farming are facing. Yeah, so in their program they track the following. Attendance and completion tracking, knowledge and skill assessments, workforce transition monitoring, and then participation satisfaction surveys, and then through the different, they also do outreach events, so they also do outreach and engagement metrics. Then finally, as they go through the final portion of that program, they track the sales and business plan goals. So as each person is developing their small farm, how are they doing in the future after they've created it? Great. Maybe at Council, if you don't have the information now, of the 250 farmers that have gone through the program over the last decade. It would be good to know if folks are successfully operating, if they've been able to scale up, or if other factors such as the inability to secure land or equipment is too cost prohibitive or inability to find workforce, folks that may have had to close up shop, just so that as we think about really truly increasing our ability to be more food secure, that folks that are going through this program have all the tools that they need to continue to be successful. No, absolutely. And I know that a council member, O'Neill, she had also expressed his concern regarding, you know, University of Hawaii, C-TAR, and how the county's participation in that program and how can we better go through that relationship. So we'll provide that as well going forward. And in your regards to your question regarding the, you know, if they have land or not, this program actually connects farmers with land. And, you know, if it's compatible with what they want to do for their farm, so they have those resources as well. Okay, great. Thank you so much, you all chair. Thank you, Councilor Merck-Curkowitz. Councilor Ronishi. Thank Mayor Chafers. Add into that, I would like to see if you can provide the information to all of us, is that how much of the production is going into the communities. Okay, because then, I don't know what sizes are these farmers and what are they doing with their products. So if you can have that for us also. Thank you, I yield. Thank you, Council Member Uniche. Anybody else? All right, with that, I just wanna say that I'm very supportive. I've had, I've supported several of these burgeoning farmers by purchasing their boxes over the years, vegetables, and it's been a wonderful process. And I've also been invited out to tour the site. And it's a great program that really, what I love about it is people are learning to make a living off a very small piece of land to do this very intensive ag. So I think it's a great program and glad we can support. All right, with that, all those in favor on approving resolution one, two, one, and sending it to full council with a favorable recommendation. Please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, we have nine ayes, Mr. Clerk. All right, thank you so much. With that, we're at the end of our agenda. I did just want to mention, I think it was stated that our next committee and council meetings on May 6th and 7th would be in Hilo, but due to all the extra budget meetings we're doing in Hilo this month and next, we will be back here in Kona on May 6th and 7th. Thank you. but due to all the extra budget meetings we're doing in Hilo this month and next we will be back here in Kona on May 6th and 7th. Thanks so much everybody. The time is 1042 and we are adjourned.