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December 10, 2017, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Carroll talks about a symposium, Public Participation in a Polarized Era, he recently attended at the University of Hawaii. The discussion, aimed at developers, was about ways to control public input and their participation in the development process. One of the speakers was Amy Hennessey, spokesperson
for Ulupono and the proposed dairy farm on Kauai. Ulupono, one of the sponsors of the seminar, is a private equity company providing funds for local companies. Both Ulupono and Hawaii Dairy Farms are projects developed by eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar. Everyone on the panel were either regulators or developers having problems with public input. The audience included government employees.
Ulupono, the Hawaii Dairy Farms, and others on the panel were particularly concerned with the standard process of allowing the public to submit comments and participate in public meetings. During the seminar Hennessey said the dairy is doing everything right (even though they do not have the proper permits) and the community was
wrong to so actively protest the project. Carroll plays audio of Hennessey's presentation. Basically, Hennessey and Hawaii Dairy Farms were concerned about how to get around the public participation that impacted their project.
Carroll also plays a recprding of Ray Soon's comments as he served as a panalist. Soon, a former City Manager, clearly discusses the need to have private meetings, behind closed doors, where developers and regulators can have a "safe zone" to talk without public scrutiny. He also says the public needs to trust the government.
As you know from our past shows, Friends of Maha'ulepu and others on Kauai are actively protesting the dairy, and recently won a settlement from a lawsuit they filed against the dairy. In the end, the dairy had to agree to stop a a long list of prohibited activities. Bridget Hammerquist, President
of Friends of Maha'ulepu calls in to talk about the dairy, the public's concerns, the symposium, and the issue of "trust". Eileen Ketchlorian also calls in to give an overview of the symposium and the goal of influencing legislation to help developers. Bridget concluded it appears the purpose of the symposium was how to control the public.
Check out www.friendsofmahaulepu.org for more information about the dairy, the lawsuit and the results.
Link here to the flyer about the UH symposium.
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Ray Soon
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Amy Hennessey
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