Legislators Set Town Hall Talks For August 13

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Education, the economy and the expansion of Hawaiian Memorial Park are among the expected topics for the Aug. 13 Windward Legislators Town Hall Meeting.

The meeting will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Hale Akoakoa 105 at Windward Community College hosted by state Sens. Jill Tokuda (District 24, Kaneohe, Kailua and Enchanted Lake) and Clayton Hee (District 23, Kaneohe-Kailua), along with Reps. Pono Chong (Maunawili, Olomana, Enchanted Lake and Kaneohe), Ken Ito (Heeia, Haiku Valley, Kapunahala and Kaneohe), Chris Lee (Lanikai and Waimanalo) and Jessica Wooley (Laie to Kaneohe). The meeting is held annually for residents to share thoughts and concerns about community issues, outcomes of the current legislative session and to offer ideas for the next session.

“I hope that we can really have good discussion about how we’re going to support our schools and community college - not just for kids, but for the community as a whole. A number of us have been working closely with schools, working hard to get funding for various funding needs they have,” said Tokuda, who expects a larger and more varied crowd than usual to attend the forum, which has an informal, talk-story for-mat.

“We’ve had every topic under the sun brought up,” she added. “For anyone who has a concern or a good idea, we welcome them to attend. Typically at our town halls, constituents have questions about issues like the whole budget situation, potential layoffs, furloughs for state workers. The schools are concerned about cutbacks to funding, (and others) about developments such as the expansion of Hawaiian Memorial Park and BayView Golf Course.

“It really ranges, depending on the crowd that we get here. It’s an opportunity for Windward residents to come and listen and share.

“I really enjoy these town halls,” Tokuda said.

For more information, call Kamakana Kaimuloa at 587-7215.