Hawai‘i State Association of Counties (HSAC)
Counties of Kaua‘i, Maui, Hawai‘i & City & County of Honolulu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mel Rapozo, President
Hawai‘i State Association of Counties
Council Member, Kaua‘i County Council
The Hawai‘i State Association of Counties (HSAC) receives over 800 emails in three days from citizens throughout the State seeking HSAC’s support for a repeal of Act 55.
Līhu‘e, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i – October 15, 2012 – Over eight hundred residents from around the State who are opposed to Act 55 – which created the Public Land Development Corporation (PLDC) – flooded HSAC President Mel Rapozo’s in-box with emails over a three-day period seeking HSAC’s support to repeal Act 55. Citing concerns surrounding the PLDC’s mission to create revenue from public lands and its broad authority to do so, residents who wrote to HSAC want the Association to include in its 2013 Legislative Package a repeal of Act 55. “The amount of emails received in just 72 hours was astounding,” said HSAC President Mel Rapozo. “As a result, at our monthly meeting on Friday (October 12, 2012) HSAC members voted to approve a resolution that mirrors the Kaua‘i County Council’s resolution requesting a repeal of Act 55, which had passed unanimously earlier this month, be submitted to each of Hawai‘i’s four County Councils for approval.” Approval by all four Councils will mean that HSAC will include the proposal in its 2013 Legislative Package, its own unified effort towards a repeal of Act 55.
The Kaua‘i County Council, Hawai‘i County Council, and Maui County Council are expected to approve the HSAC proposal since both the Kaua‘i County Council and Hawai‘i County Council have already unanimously passed resolutions seeking a repeal of Act 55 by the State Legislature. The Maui County Council has a similar resolution making its way through the Council’s Policy Committee, and is expected to pass as well. The Honolulu City Council has not yet placed the issue on a Council meeting agenda.
“The Councils of Kauai, Big Island, and Maui County have heard our communities’ concerns and once the Honolulu City Council has an opportunity to place it on their agenda and review it to their satisfaction, we will know if a repeal will become part of our Legislative Package for the upcoming session,” Rapozo added. The 2013 Legislative Session – a little over 12 weeks away – begins January 16, 2013. HSAC consists of representatives from each County Council.
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