Aloha kakou!
The big day is upon us! Tomorrow is the first day of the contested case hearing on the construction permit for the Thirty-Meter Telescope, the new 18-story, 5-acre telescope proposed for the conservation district of Mauna Kea. The Mauna Kea hui -- an informal group of concerned community members -- is making the case for why the TMT cannot be legally granted this construction permit. (View our opening brief here) If you support protecting Mauna Kea from industrialization, then the hui could use your support. (View a quick fact sheet on the impacts of the proposed TMT)
Please send the hui members positive vibes today and throughout the week. And if can, try stop by -- for any length of time. The hearing will be held from 9 am to 4 pm, August 15-18th -- additional hearing dates may be announced. The hearing will be held at conference rooms A and B at the Hilo State Building (75 Aupuni St.) everyday except on Tuesday, August 16th, when it will be at Hilo Community College (1175 Manono St), Building 388, Rm. 101. Invite others to come, shirts and signs are great--if you know how to livetweet or facebook from the hearing room, please do so!
If you cannot come to the hearing, then please keep the hui in your thoughts as they proceed through this difficult process. Although this is the second contested case hearing that this hui has had to engage in (they won the last one in 2007 when the 6 Keck Telescopes were proposed for Mauna Kea), we still appreciate the moral support of those who would like to see the mountain protected from industrialization.
To learn more about the hearing and some of the petitioners that make up the Mauna Kea hui, click here. If you scroll to the bottom of the blog, there are links to meet other hui members.
It has been a long journey to this point. Mahalo pumehana to all who have come along on this path, to fight for what is pono, what is sacred, and what is true -- a future where this and other wahi pana are respected and protected into perpetuity.
Eo Mauna Kea!
WSCP arrives at the City Council THIS week!
Aloha `ohana,
Sorry for the delay in these notes. This will mostly be a reiteration of the last email I sent out, with a few updates.
Firstly, I received the agenda for the August 17th City Council Meeting (this Wednesday). The WSCP is indeed on the agenda for 10am! The bill is just being introduced and will likely be accepted, but we still wanna show up and voice some opposition to help set tone for the coming months. So if you're in the area, come on down! We want the council members to know how contentious this plan has been. The meeting will be on the 3rd floor of Honolulu Hale. We can expect the usual pro-industrial park folks to be there, as well as Tropic Land reps. This is a good mtg to talk about how the process was unfair, we can talk about how neither the community nor the Planning Commission could come to consensus on the plan. You can also talk about specific concerns within the plan (Purple Spot, Pohakea, community growth boundary, etc.) It wouldn't hurt to also submit a written comment. Click here to see protocol for submitting oral and written testimony.
We discussed a next date for the bus tour, but unfortunately after talking it over with our staff, I don't think August 27th is a realistic timeline for us. So, back to the drawing board for the next bus tour date. Our plan was to first invite Anderson (the new Zoning and Planning committee chair) and Kobayashi (who has lots of sway and also heads the finance committee, powerful seat). We still want to do this as soon as we can, but Aug. 27th was just too soon.
In my last email I talked about the need to work more closely with Tom Berg. We decided at the meeting that instead of inviting him on a bus tour, that we do a personal tour with him. It will
be an opportunity for a one-on-one with him to voice our concerns with the WSCP, but I'm hoping will help him see how much you folks have done in this community. Aunty Pat volunteered to call his office (768-5001) to set it up, please e-mail me if you'd like to come help show him around, this will likely be on a weekday.
On the topic of fundraising. Mahalo nui loa to the Concerned Elders who did some phonebanking for us last month! I think the grand total raised was $620! Aunty Lucy said they're planning to do another one, email me if you're willing to help with this. Aunty Bea asked if we have something where you can automatically donate each month--and we do! Check it out by clicking here! Even small monthly gifts make a big difference to us! Also, our tech guru set up a web store for us too, so you can support by buying t-shirts online, just go to shop.kahea.org Mahalo nui to you guys for all your help.
Okay, couple other things. The dust study: the Dept of Health is 'asking residents to submit info on any source of dust seen on the coast and to document it with photos if possible'. The study focuses between Hakimo and Lualualei Naval Rd. They're having a community meeting on the study on Aug. 29th (Mon.) at Ka Waihona School Cafeteria from 6-8pm. If you're able to attend, we'd love to hear about it!
Finally, Obama came out with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Environmental Justice--which is great because now a bunch of federal agencies must incorporate EJ language into their charters. Miwa wrote a blog on it recently that will link you to the actual MOU.
Okay, hope to see some folks on Wednesday!
Aloha,
Shelley + us guys at KAHEA
Replies
Cognizant of mountain tops in Hawaii, in otherwords, if one goes to any mountain top one will see evidence of Kilo battles. One can also research text for evidence too. It just takes a little bit of effort to join hands in prayer to understand how to pa'a for our ancestral lands.
I have played kilo games on mountain tops since I was a kid--and I continued this games or confrontations with fishermen on the tops of Kahana Valley over native fishing rights. If one research the videos one can hear this very argument still continuing with Wm Aila. Its interesting.