For the majority of citizens of Hawaii County malama aina is not just an empty slogan, but a high ideal and a way of life. We have voted with both our ballots and our pocketbooks to protect in perpetuity the most beautiful and sacred lands of Hawaii nei.
We have chosen by an overwhelming majority twice to spend 2 percent of our property taxes to purchase scenic and historic lands to maintain as open space and protect them from development, and a third time to dedicate a maintenance fund for these properties. To date, citizens of Hawaii County have nominated at least 180 properties for purchase and 14 properties, in Kohala, Kona, Hamakua, Puna, and Ka’u, have been purchased and protected, with a 15th acquisition underway. At present there are 10 properties on the priority acquisition list, and there is $16 million in the fund to purchase these. Members of the Public Access, Open Space, Natural Resources Preservation committee (PONC) have been able to obtain federal and state matching funds to cover more than a quarter of purchase costs to date, so we are getting extra bang for our bucks.
The 2 percent fund has been one of the great success stories of Hawaii County. However, there is now a dark cloud hanging over this lovely landscape. Any pot of money is certain to attract the attention of greedy politicians regardless of what laws dedicated the funds for a particular purpose.
Both mayors Harry Kim and Billy Kenoi made it their first priority upon election to raid the fund and divert it to the general fund for use primarily for county employee payrolls. Kenoi actually stopped deposits into the fund for two years.
Kim failed in his 2009 attempt to gut the land fund, but like a recurring bad dream, Kim is now back and relentlessly pursuing his goal of blocking the citizens from using our money to purchase and protect our most cherished natural areas. Instead he wants to turn those properties over to developers while stealing the funds to prop up his disastrously mismanaged government apparatus.
If successful, instead of protecting our favorite areas for the enjoyment of our children and grandchildren, he can use the money to pay public transit workers to not repair the buses and pay water department officials to not keep the wells operating. He can pay 30 percent raises to administrators whose salaries are set by a commission chaired by someone who owns a consulting business that is frequently hired by those administrators.
Open space can be purchased at a fixed price, and we can enjoy it forever, but incompetent government is a bottomless pit that can swallow up any amount of funds and never be satisfied. If Kim can’t keep the buses running on time with 98 percent of our taxes, it is unlikely he’ll be able to do it with another 1.25 percent, even after the whole island has been paved over. Let’s not forget that the property tax was already raised a few years ago, that tax collections have additionally gone way up due to rapid increases in property valuations, and that the county will also be receiving the new excise tax surcharge. And still he needs to snatch our legacy for future generations?
Kim’s latest tactic is to enlist the County Charter commission do his dirty work of thwarting the will of the people. The Charter Commission consists of members appointed by the mayor, so it is effectively an arm of the mayor’s office. However, it is still obligated to keep public records, so an overwhelming show of opposition to the mayor’s scheme may dissuade it from completing the putsch of the voter initiative.
At its Dec. 14 meeting, the commission will discuss a proposed charter amendment to reduce the 2 percent land fund to 0.75 percent and delete the maintenance fund from the charter where it will be at the whim of the council. The next step may be to attempt to change the dedications so that properties already purchased can be sold to developers. If you wish for future generations to be able to see some portion of the beauty that we enjoy as residents of Hawaii County, please come testify at the meeting, at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the West Hawaii Civic Center, or at the County Building in Hilo. Please, also (or if you are unable to attend the meeting) send your testimony to Charter.commission@hawaiicounty.gov.
A wise kupuna once said, “He ali`i ka aina, ha kauwa ke kanaka. (The land is a chief, man is its servant.)”
Doug Perrine is a resident of Kailua-Kona