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Yes, Jerry, Pahoa Village is split. The dividing line is Pahoa Village Rd. The reasons for this:
(1) Road connectivity: Without the division the way we did it, some of the communities would not be able to access other parts of their district. One of the requirements is that communities should have access via roads internal to the district.
(2) It was felt that BOTH district 4 and 5 needed access to Pahoa Village.
(3) Without the split, communities on the west side of Hwy 130 (Kalapana, Black Sands, 'Ala'ili, Ka'ohe Homesteads) would have to go all the way to Ainaloa Longhouse to vote; there being no facility large enough to be a polling place closer in.
This means, of course, that the 2 Puna councilpersons elected in the next election would have to work together on Pahoa's needs. If we are all careful to vote for candidates with the right attitude, that can be a benefit. They will both, after all, be Puna reps.
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Rene,
Well it does feel weird to have Pahoa split, but your reasons sound valid. For me, I would not view having to drive to Ainaloa to vote that difficult, but there are those for whom it would be a hardship. I have to say I feel more connected with Pahoa than with Kea'au. The point about internal road connectivity is what I don't get -- guess I haven't been tracking this well enough. Can you give a little more information about that?
Jane
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It seems strange that 5, which if I'm not mistaken has had some of the strongest growth in the past 10 years, is one of the most underrepresented areas on this map, and will likely be most out of whack by 2020. Some of those areas around Mt View, Hawaiian Acres, etc. grew 50-100% from 2000-2010. 4 is also that way, being +.79, and 5 being 4.27. If they are both going to be in the wrong direction, at least they could be balanced by Puna Makai of 130 from Pahoa to Kalapana going into 4. Kalapana/Kehena certainly have more in common with Nanawale and Leilani than they do with Glenwood and Mt. View.
Something on the site said areas with the most growth should be the most negative. Is there really any reason to think 5 is going to grow more slowly than district 2 and about the same as district 3? That makes no sense. Hilo experienced almost no growth in the biggest boom in years. Looks like they got things right on the Kona side where those growing districts 6,7, 8 are in the negative like they should be. Kinda feels like Puna is getting screwed again. Although I guess that would mean putting more of Puna into a Hilo district which isn't so good either.
Overall though it's great that Hilo will be down to 2 reps and Puna is getting 2, plus part of another.
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I think this is about as good a plan as can be hoped for, given the complexities of Island geography and the pretty strict parameters given the Commission. I respect and admire the work done on this and the process that allowed me and others to participate. My comment about Pahoa was not meant to be negative. I was truly just curious, and if the Pahoa folks are OK with it, it's fine with me too.
Assuming that this plan or something very similar is enacted, HPP will comprise over half the population of the new District 4. Although it has some shortcomings, HPP will likely remain a high growth area and continue to play a dominant role in the district for the foreseeable future. Fred Blas, if he is seeking re-election, would do well to educate himself on HPP's concerns and make some adjustments. He is not as widely seen as a shining star in HPP as he is in Hawaiian Beaches and Pahoa, and half of Pahoa is likely leaving his district. Of course none of this will matter if HPP follows its usual pattern of Byzantine internal bickering and fails to get behind a cohesive candidate/platform.
In any case, it promises to be interesting.
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Pahoa is not a population center. Where is that commission meeting on 11/30?
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Final draft county district map that will be voted on November 30, 2011
Watch the video:
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2011/1...trict-map/
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Robguz -
New District 5 is NOT under-represented. It it within the allowed deviations and very close to the Dist. 4 population. There are many criteria that the commission had to look at, but except for keeping within the numerical population deviations, we had some latitude when deciding how to handle situations when criteria clashed with each other. The commission felt that allowance for future growth was not as important as keeping communities together - and this was borne out by the preponderance of community testimony.
There was also a very strong anti-Hilo feeling both in Puna and Hamakua - neither district wanting to be 'diluted' by a Hilo population. We tried to honor that.
Although we tried very hard to create a Puna mauka/makai orientation on the map - even during the 11/10 meeting - the numbers would just not allow it. The sticking point was HPP with its huge population. If we moved it from district 4 to 5, district 4 would have too few and district 5 too many residents. And moving it to district 3 was not acceptable (see above). So we had to go with the east/west orientation. this led to road connectivity issues, which could only be resolved by allowing both Puna districts access to Hwy 130 and Pahoa.
Pls understand that there were a lot of things over which we had no control: federal guidelines re redistricting, US Census figures and the configuration of census blocs (which we were required to use), the software purchased by the State, and the directives of the County Charter and Ordinances. It was a tough balancing act. Any problems will only be for ten years, until the next census. We hope that our final report will highlight the problems and suggest fixes so that the same problems will not resurface.
We will incorporate comments made during our next two hearings at our Nov. 30th meeting, which will determine the Final Final Plan. I don't expect there to be any major changes. We did the best we could and listened to the wishes of the entire Big Island population. We knew at the outset that not everyone would be 100% happy with the result, but we tried to get the most important district wishes enshrined in the plan. For me and for Puna that meant two whole Puna districts, and we achieved that.
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Thanks Rene, I do understand there really was a lot to balance and it's not possible to make everyone happy. I agree there are lots of positive changes with this proposed redistricting. My point about 5 was that even though it is in the allowed deviations, it's in the + and growing districts should be in the -. There's almost a 5% deviation between 4 and 5, and some of that difference, maybe all of it would be offset by putting Kalapana and all the red road into 4. But you'd then have the problem where 4 and 5 are + deviations, when they should probably be the most - of any districts, but I understand the only way to make them - would be to put parts of Puna into Hilo districts. Just an idea.
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So assuming that the final draft (or something close to it) gets adopted, that puts Fred Blas and James Weatherford in the same district 4 (assuming both will run again next time...). Since I'm still a relative newcomer, would anyone like to weigh in on who possible candidates for the new District 5 might be? I'm almost afraid to ask, but what side of the street does Aunty live on?
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Aloha Rich,
Thanks for the note about the District with me and Fred in it; assuming Fred is going to run again 
In District 5, Zendo Kern, of Hawaiian Acres, has indicated he is going to be a candidate. See this here...
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2011/1...istrict-5/
btw: Emily lives in Makuu Homesteads on the makai side -- District 4.
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