Hawaii rallies against PLDC

SUBHEAD: Hawaii-wide day of action - October 8th - planned to show opposition to the state's Public Land Development Corporation.

By Felicia Alongi Cowden on 5 October 2012 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2012/10/hawaii-rallies-against-pldc.html)


Image above: detail of poster for Repeal Act 55 rally against the PLDC. Click for hi-rez full image to reproduce and distribute. From Felicia Cowden.


Please join us on Monday, October 8th and stand in unity with our brothers, sisters, aunties and uncles across the islands who rise up in opposition to this irresponsible law.
WHAT:
A demonstration against the creation and continuation of the Public Land Development Corporation.

WHEN:

Monday October 8th from 2:oopm-4:00pm

WHERE:

On the lawn in front of the Historic County Building on Rice Street, in Lihue, Kauai.

FEATURING:

Music by John Cruz and more

CONTACT:

Felicia Alongi Cowden (akamaimom@gmail.com)

Kauai will join the other Hawaiian islands on Monday, October 8th, 2-4 p.m. in a citizen protest against the Public land Development Corporation in front of the Kauai County Historic Building.


Image above: detail of poster for Repeal the PLDC promoting rally on westside of Big Island. From Shannon Rudolph.

Other locations in he state include:

Hawaii Island West -
Highway by Mormon Temple and proposed - Honokohua Harbor

Hawaii Island East
-
Hilo at DLNR Building

Hawaii Island North -
Kapa'au at 3-4:30pm - at the Sr. Centerby Kamehameha Statue

Maui -
County Building, 200 S. High Street, Wailuku

Molokai -
To be announced

Lanai -
To be announced

Oahu -
Capitol Building, Downtown Honolulu]
Citizens throughout the islands will be uniting in a day of action and solidarity to show opposition to the State of Hawaii's Public Land Development Corporation (the PLDC). The PLDC was created by the State legislature last year when Act 55 was signed into law, creating a new public-private partnership financial arm for the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), yielding control over an estimated two million acres to this five person board of business people.

A coalition of speakers will be succinctly explaining the variety of concerns as to why this is a dangerous piece of legislation for Hawaii, and how it has the potential to grow over time to reshape the face of Hawaii. Actions taken on this statewide citizen protest will allow our voices to be heard and will demonstrate to our State elected officials and to the PLDC Board of Directors that there is broad, deep, and diverse opposition to the PLDC.

The public's opposition is on so many levels including
  • the PLDC's exempting itself from regulatory, planning, preservation, civil service, and competitive bidding requirements
  • a shift in the DLNR's balance from a preservation and conservation role to one of development for money
  • the incompatibility of contemplated development with low or inverse market demand
  • the burdens this development places on local infrastructure
  • the shutting out of our local communities by holding public meetings about proposed development only on Oahu
  • excluding our City / County governments from any requirements to involve them in the evaluation, planning, and regulatory processes; and to
  • how the PLDC and its exemptions shows disregard and contempt toward our host culture (Kanaka Maoli and Kanaka Hawai'i) for the stewardship and public trust responsibility of Crown / Ceded Lands. 
We are being asked to abrogate our responsibilities to future generations of Hawaiians who must rely on us to properly steward these precious and fragile resources for them in the name of increased revenue.

Recently, public meetings were held in every county for constituent input into the draft Administrative Rules for the PLDC. Hundreds of people turned out in each location to testify and share their mana'o, the vast majority of which was in disapproval of both the rules and of PLDC as an agency. It appears that the numbers of people are being under-reported to the PLDC Board of Directors, as well as testimony content being filtered.

The creation of the PLDC, its proposed rules, and public opposition are now being given a public relations spin in the wake of this widespread disapproval. Governor Abercrombie called the public rejection of the PLDC, a “conspiratorial hysteria” (Honolulu Star Advertiser, September 13, 2012, A1), one day after that, Mililani Trask wrote that the uproar is the result of fears that are needlessly “hysterical.” (HSA, September 12, 2012).

On September 14, Senator Malama Solomon (one of the sponsors of legislation creating the PLDC) informed the public that the Governor and the PLDC would be developing a strategic plan which clarifies the mission of the PLDC (Hawaii 24/7 http://www.hawaii247.com/2012/09/14/solomon-concerns-on-pldc-must-be-addressed/ ).

The problem with all of these efforts is that public objection is primarily to the law known as Act 55 which created the PLDC. Remediation actions such as tweaking the administrative rules, creating a nice mission statement, or publishing an engaging strategic plan are seen as cosmetic bandages applied to fatally flawed legislation. These attempts at fixing what is wrong can easily be changed at any point in the future through non-legislative administrative processes, and still leave intact the underlying bad law.

To show our disapproval of Act 55 and the PLDC, events will be happening on this day throughout the islands. Communities on Maui, Hawaii and Oahu are also planning actions, and a facebook event page with a complete list of all actions and events can be found here https://www.facebook.com/events/530991313581731/. A story in Honolulu Weekly about the statewide day of action can be found here http://honoluluweekly.com/diary/2012/10/pldc-day/

We will also take this opportunity to honor the Kauai County Council for unanimously passing a resolution to repeal Act 55. Mahalo to John Cruz who will be playing our opening music at Kauai's event.

Internet resources: 

Our community petition on www.change.org to ask Governor Abercrombie and the legislature to repeal Act 55 and abolish the PLDC:http://preview.tinyurl.com/927n8vl Please sign and share with your email list.

Our public group on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AbolishPLDCinHawaii/

Some video of the public testimony about draft administrative rules here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/9hnunvw There is much more video testimony on Youtube and on public access television stations / websites around the islands

An example of why the public is so angry with Governor Abercrombie's attitude about "public", "crown" or "ceded" lands given to the PLDC. http://youtu.be/1gs-pKQHP7I
.

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Great reporting Felicia. Many thanks.

May I also add when the will of the people is given no credibility by small-minded leaders, dictatorship always ensues if ignored.

Corrupt state bosses and their corporate cronies are determined to shove PLDC down the throats of the people despite their overwhelming objections. Corporate control + government = fascism.

The line has now been crossed from a semblance of democracy to downright fascist rule without the vote of the people. Time to put our inept leadership to bed. Shame on all of you.

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