june thirtieth two thousand and sixteen and proposed capital program we've established limited telephone interactive communication that enables individuals from hama to provide testimony from our district offices individuals who wish to offer testimony from  with district office staff individuals who wish to offer testimony in the chamber you sign up at the desk located in a floor lobby just outside the chamber door when testifying please state your name and the name of any organization you represent home office please identify yourself and introduce you and there is no one here waiting to get mr chair we currently have twenty one individuals who have signed up to testify in the council chamber the first person to testify in the chamber is jock  the past you know seven years i mean d b has been continually funding both of our programs each one has been five thousand dollars each and that has saved our costs immensely from doing many many our first robotics events are five thousand dollars to build just the robot self is also another five thousand dollars and to compete in one turn it is five thousand dollars so that's a lot of money that we use and need to do what we do i am also going to going to be going off to college this year and i'll be in mechanical engineering and i believe that the robotics and the support of the media be that i have chosen this career that i want to go learned a great deal about all the different communities groups that are out there that you can enter and ship just support and even one on maui and other islands such as ene thank you very much for coming this evening mr quirke the next person to testify is raman you'll be followed by  she good evening counsel my name is raymond on your audience i am from baldwin high school and i'm speaking on behalf of i mean i have currently been in the robotics organization for four years since i was in eighth grade and i just have to say it really is a program unlike any other thing that's out there any other club organization cannot top the kind of creative thinking and involvement and teamwork that robotics does we currently participate in to competitions v all year round every year they come up with a new game and we're challenge to figure out how to get the most points or how to win the game how to get over that obstacle and it really teaches us critical thinking and building and creating with our minds  another competition we also competed is the first robotics competition that is a very expensive event it's a very large scale we usually cattle are robots on softwares used on laptops and without the support of any d b we couldn't do a lot of our travelling because here they don't have as much competitions for the f r c events and we build one hundred twenty pound robots in we have a limited time frame they give us a game we have to figure out how we're going to play it and we have to build our robot and we have to ship it off once we get to competition we're up against hundreds of other teams from all over the nation all over the world to compete for our title the robotics program really inspires young was minds through we apply all aspects of it science technology engineering and math we all put that in every single day that we come to robotics every day we have fly those four categories into making something that is amazing something that makes people say wow you know it's a real achievement and a lot of people don't realize it  and we're very fortunate offer their funding and the funding of the rest of our sponsors because without it it would be a fundraiser at their fundraiser and we'd be focused more on fundraisers than being able to actually do what we do and that is we create robots we create young minds and inspire them i am not graduating this year but i will be next year and i already have my plans to go to you each menorah for mechanical engineering if it hadn't been for the robotics program i really don't know where i would be in life i don't know where what direction i would have chose but mechanical engineering has inspired me it shows me the great things that you can do when you really put your mind to it so i really want to thank you county council for your time and attention thank you be followed by kelly pearson mali as i use the same director of operations for a long time for the past weeks i've had the opportunity to attend several budget hearings not as much as you and i didn't have to stay as late as you but i really want to thank you for giving our young members an opportunity to speak before you and express your feelings about being a part of the boys and girls clubs thank you so much for listening to our members i staff and parents and tonight it's only me so no no kids just me  at the club and she kind of talked about being a teenager in a small community hall that we're using you also that are here central club grayson who expressed oh oh he will one day be a stand up comedian and that he hina william our keystone club president told you that he aspires to be remembered for doing good in this community and we had a young lady from the hyena she represented la hina but she is actually from one ok and i didn't find out about that  till after and she talked about how the club was like her ohana and a couple weeks ago our members spoke before you tie a fifth grader explain how the club staff is like an extended family to him uncle common message as you heard was they do their homework they have fun and they depend a lot on their stuff that's just a small sample of what we do it boys and girls so tonight well we're all asking you to will be followed by joseph berger david my name is joseph and i like to ask for your support for the most automotive program throughout my four years in the industrial engineering pathway i've gained experience working on over two hundred cars  many of my friends and family rely on me to take care of their cars because of the knowledge i've gained in autos also i've been able to go to competitions and earn up to fifteen thousand dollar scholarships representing my high and this saturday four of us here will be going to the forge a competition we've been standing up for about two years about my how to shop and i would like to ask for your continued support as well i've been in the program for four years now and i would like to sorry to say that i believe that we are the best program in the state of hawaii not only just because of the skills but the things that we do people write services to people but also our instructors the time that they give the time that they spend on those things that they teach it's very already and i've also had the experience to compete in a contest and win a scholarship as well my partner and i like to say that this program has provided me with the direction in the  robert pollock you'll be followed by autumn  we're very grateful for the support of the county of the arts in general i'm quite aware of how much commitment is made we are applauding the very exciting vision of making now we one hundred  sustainable and renewable energy it's a most exciting goal for all of us we believe that concomitantly the arts can serve to renu and stimulate our imagination simultaneously something that's necessary and we feel that the arts in general and i'm not advocating for funding for eben florence of m and simply being an advocate for the arts in general the arts stimulate creativity in a way that no other human activity does its creativity for its own sake and creativity is the healthiest human process so we need to further encourage the arts on maui with more county support i'm talking about for example filling a void that has developed that the  mexico festival in the program is a letter from the mayor greeting the people of mexico what a wonderful gesture we can make to the rest of the world through our act we are producing  representing wonderful performers from all over the country to do our modern music and in addition i have a letter here from the third grade teacher chair of elementary school indicating that mass corps went up twenty percent with students who had taken our scaling holly akhil a course for reading and writing and mused so on all fronts we urge the council  first i'd like to just say that i really appreciate that there is a conversation about having a study at all because really that's what the people of maui want i have some concerns about this particular study that i want to share with you first on the third page this is peter adler's profile he has a ph d in social science he's not a scientist his profile describes him as a mediator a resolver of conflict a chord the company that's going to be doing this very clearly states that there will be no collection of any new data but they will use existing data and research to deliberate and interpret facts around this topic this is problematic for a few reasons i'm sure you all are familiar the reason we want to study at all about what's happening in hawaii by this chemical because what's going on here is very different than regular g m o farming on the mainland they're testing things in amounts in companies that aren't used anywhere else there is anywhere else so the data about how that affects the neighboring community also doesn't exist that's why we need a real science based data collecting environmental impact study done here not mediation the other reason the study is proposed as problematic is become pinney's are well known and documented time and again for falsifying data and pressuring organizations to publish findings in their favor there are hundreds of examples but most recently as we speak a few weeks ago the world health organization published findings after an extending extensive study that the main ingredient life of satan monsanto's roundup likely causes cancer in typical monsanto style the fifty thousand dollar line item for minutes not participate in the study and find a way to do and yes in the near future or you amend that line item and call it an independent environmental impact study and maybe ask monsanto endowed to match  data in studies i really think it's almost dangerous to put study at all because without the present without any new data being collected these guys have a lot of pressure and they pressure organizations they're pressuring the double the world health really carefully protect the integrity of the data that's coming through from the very beginning is dangerous because if they come back finding group is pressured by these two comes to come up with finding that there is no harm being done then that c rates and or assessment policies are both unfair and unsustainable taxation model as you know from my many testimonies i'm always willing to pay my share of taxes and i'm not here to complain in any way visitor industry as i told you last year in the ten years that i owned my vacation rental condo i paid thirty five thousand dollars in property tax my neighbor next door to me with this condo with the same assessed value paid five thousand six hundred dollars during that thirty five thousand five thousand and six my neighbor next door was here every day of the year and was using the roads and using the parts and so forth my guess where they're about sixty percent of the time so i ask you whether that's fail fair there was an excellent report that you got from the real property tax department on monday and it made the point that the largest tax base of maui is not  residence its not its hotels its not its commercial business and it's not its agricultural properties the primary funding source for maui county are the ten thousand six hundred ninety seven condominium unit owners who use their properties in short term rental and the two thousand four hundred eighty five time share units that are out there between the two of these classes that makes up ninety two million dollars of our property tax base by comparison the hotels the real hotels alone the condos that are in the same class pay approximately eighteen million dollars the agricultural properties and that's the largest land area on maui pay about one thousand million dollars the homeowners which is the largest number of parcels and the highest value of any class pay about twenty five million dollars commercial and industrial properties together pay about thirty one million dollars and apartments and condominiums apartments and residential pay seventy million this report also made an excellent analysis about the subsidies provided by maui county to various tax payers totaling ninety million dollars twenty million of that may went to the agricultural groups and fifty five million went to homeowners it's a policy decision for you guys to decide whether those subsidies are well placed and i expect you to do that sometime outside of budget but i made the assessment that our taxes are are not sustainable and i quickly want to make that maui's population and our residents are going to grow by twenty five percent over the next twenty years in order to sustain the current model that we have the taxation from those condo units is going to have to increase by fifty percent so the time for the excessively low homeowner tax rates really has to end and you need to move this trend in another direction right now homeowners are paying twenty five percent less tax than they paid fifteen years ago on a inflation adjusted twenty five percent less where all the other classes are paying two or three times more we're just on the wrong being within a starbucks program for about four years now and i can tell you that what's great about being in the service program is that the events memories skills and opportunity it's offered are basically and that an unforgettable i first started taking part in this amazing program in the seven great wall that my i know i've been to many events hosted by me the b such as the system conference their students are able to expand their knowledge on technologies and new ways of learning that's used in the big world  at stem you're capable of talking to people from big industries get knowledge from teachers and mentors from different islands and also from the i'm so thankful for these opportunities both minor and major because without it i wouldn't have been able to expand my leadership and communication skills this helps my future because i plan to go to university after graduating and majoring in film upon pursuing my future career i use this knowledge and experience that's been provided i want to leave an impact within the world the way the stomach's program has left an impact on me this kind of be possible with not only the help from this program from my teachers and  coach first of all i want to thank the county for their support of a media because it's a very important program for us and it's not just for the students interested in stem i think it helps all students and at molly high school and even those who are somehow related to our program whether it's through my courses or through our media programming graphics or i think it supports all students at all levels  in the timeshare industry on maui i very much appreciated mr crowley's statistics in prior years we submitted testimony written and otherwise with a lot of the numbers basically i first want to say we're grateful that the mayor's proposed budget doesn't increase the tax rates but due to the increased assessments actual amounts of taxes  people are going to have to pay go up and there is still an enormous disparity between the tax rate of political two timeshares and all other classes mr crowley's testimony made that very clear so we do ask you know we know money is tight and there's a lot of programs that need to be paid for a need for money but we do ask that the council look at trying to reduce the disparity between the tax on a second topic and more as an individual i would request that the effort to allow privatization of some of the parks in the county be looked at again i know vice chair guzman had been working on that i'm not quite sure where it's at now but you know that is a way to have the park users actually take a sense of pride and ownership in some of the parks to help  maintain them in decision better than they are now at reduced or no cost at all county so i would ask that that be looked into and then finally just as as a member of the community and  individual and somebody involved with now in memorial medical center foundation i asked for all your support contacting the governor asking him to support house bill to seventy five would help allow a public private partnership for the medical center if you know there's a lot of people that think it's a bluff or scare tactics about the hospital reducing  counsel chair council members i like to think i'm testifying on behalf of imedi b i'm a board member but i'm a new board member just came on the board this year but i'm very familiar with the m e d b programs  my children have been involved in programs in my want to intermediate school as well as pull my k elementary school and also through my work it takes me around the county to different islands and i talk to my peers on the islands about their programs on so m e b is doing terrific work in our community when my children first thought about getting into different programs i didn't know what robotics or math was you know in terms of competitions but i attended those competitions and i saw how the group some of the children that i should shouldn't see children some of the students who testified earlier  mentors to my children as they were going to school and i've seen how much they've grown and when i talk to their parents who are some of them are my coworkers or they don't some of them have not had a college education and here their children are looking to go to college attend engineering classes come back and help in the community and i see how much m e b is contributing towards the path of future employment and development of our community here when we talk about how the money is spent in terms of you know five thousand dollars for expenses that's nothing compared to what the children and the families look to raise whenever they compete for these events and when they compete they're competing against the best in the world we have some of the best students not only in the speed of hawaii but some of the best students in the world i can tell you that probably the greatest thing that in my son's life was when he was in the sixth grade and he was participating in robotics and they went and participated in a term called bought ball and this is where everything is a level playing field every all the schools get the same parts and it's all down to execution and programming and they came within one one hundredth of a point of defeating the private school called one the three time defending world champion unfortunately my went to couldn't participate in the world championships that year but on a lot he went on to win the world championships in oklahoma city so we travel agent by doing research important for not only us but also for the future over a county and our state is not an ordinary business class it branches out too many pathways in opportunities in the business because of living in hawaii is important important to also branch our culture and i believe it is important for travel professionals to know the host culture and impart this knowledge to our visitors as they come here not only for our beaches but because of our local people and our culture it was to is important to us the newer generation because the hospitality and tourism industry is the main base over economy it is important to perceive that without it we would have a weak and  unstable because yesterday i had the privilege of career shadowing at the wyly america resort resort and spa i was placed in two of the many major departments first i was placed in the call in their e department we met up with the head chef of food and beverage then introduced my experience with them was great they were very encouraging and patient i was taught many different ways and techniques to cook and professionally create  present ability after calling mary i was really relocated to the cells and events department i met the cells and events manager rhodes erico she jotted down what her job was networking but other corporations and building relations in order to bring business to r p she broke down my interests and personality traits to help me find the jobs that would best suit me in this industry she also gave me suggestions of classes i may want to take you see hospitality is key to the success of this in we want to make our ters feel welcome so that they return i was able to not only learn this important she is a great program to prepare us for a future is whether we decide to go direct the work first or go to college the hospitality and tourism are the biggest and growing fast says girl fastest growing a career in hospitality and tourism as it was voted number one island in the u s and second in the world and that has it has one number one in the road by the now has for several this program twenty odd years ago the cuz i wanted to provide my student my students opportunities that i felt i did not have when i was in high school as well as the university level all my major is business administration i have a minor in japanese when i came out was my four year degree i turned around and thought to myself what am i going to do as a result i went back to finish my teaching degree and when i went to my high school i was given the chapel class to teach i researched and i found academy of tourism thank you mike white for your vision for starting it my uncle bruno are your she was a principal and being my uncle he encouraged me to research it so i went to training in chicago and i was so thrilled and i guess passionate about starting an elite in mali high school as well i wanted to provide my students opportunity opportunities such as real life hands on experiences i wanted them to be able to career shadow in the hotels or other aspects i wanted them to find jobs paying jobs on jobs i wanted them to be able to network with business partners i wanted them to have on island experiences off island experiences and as a result i felt they're benefiting because i didn't have these experiences and from being in in this program for twenty years knol i can see the fruits of my labor because i am seeing my former graduates as managers in hotels and a for example i took my students to last week actually so a state it's called a state career technical education performance based assessment on a  and i was mandated to attend the teacher workshop one of the presenters there not the presenter but the assistant was my former student and it's a three zero to see my students being chairman council members i'm janet supporter representing myself and other low income or fixed income homeowners particularly condo owners ins first of all i would like to congratulate chairman m white position as council chair you have earned and deserve this position and i am very happy that we have such a qualified person chairing the council i want to thank you and the other council members for working so hard last year to trim down expenditures so as not to increase our real property taxes you have done a great service by listening to the needs of our community so as not to increase our tax burden this year the mayor has again proposed an increase in the county budget to the tune of sixteen percent to do this he wants to increase our water fees sewage fees trash collection fees fuel taxes and vehicle weight tax many of us are struggling to pay our bills and any increase in our fees is that additional hardship for us condo owners increased water fees sewage fees and trash collection fees will all mean increased condo fees and already i have an eighteen percent increase in my property assessment for next year which means which means i will have to pay higher property taxes the increase in the fuel tax that affects all of us and it's not justifiable in my opinion since we already have the highest gas prices in the country the increase in the vehicle weight tax i can't imagine who would think about doing that since we are already struggling to pay the current one i have a friend bonnie who just paid four hundred dollars to register s u v she needs the  four grandchildren around so that her daughter can hold a job she's struggling she doesn't know how she's going to pay her medical insurance since her husband doesn't have a full time job so i would like to commend you also for holding the line against the mayor's insistence on increasing the expenses for the department of environment until management solid waste division we do not need to pay for the department mismanagement so thank you for holding the line they are so finally i just one tooth thank you for your hard work in holding our expenses down so that you can balance the budget the next person to testify is reader ryan mr ryan is the last individual who signed up to testify in the council to hi thank you council chair white and council members and council staff for hearing tonight i am here is a private citizen and i live up in moscow while i'm a mother of two daughters in college and a semi retired internet technologist who has returned to school to study sustainability science here at the college many of you may or may not be aware we have a four year program there last year i went to the energy conference at the mac because i'm very there i met some of the members from the economic development board the jumpstart maui project at the time i was driving an old gas guzzlers since then today i'm driving a nissan leaf i've got p v panels on my roof i'm happily providing energy back to the grid so i'm no longer just a consumer but i'm a prosumer actually providing energy into the grid and with the next phase of the jump smart my we project my car will not only be my transportation vehicle but it will also be grid battery backup for the grid and also home battery backup for my home if the lights go out and will be be a be able to power in my home for a while now as a technologist and as a student of sustainability science i'm really interested in economic development  boards commitment to growing economically these kinds of programs in the kind of opportunities that come with it there are many students in the program or first time students i'm a second time student but they are looking for opportunities in sustainability science here on maui i'm interested in bringing my children back to maui after college and to give them the kinds of economic opportunities they would have on the mainland so we don't want to ever become the land that time forgot we want to stay current and in the future a leader in renewable energy and with molly program has allowed me as a common citizen to participate very actively in renewable energy on maui and has given me and other people like me the opportunity to do that so  thank you milica you office are there any additional testif