Minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting of the
Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai’i
Date: November 3, 2010, 6:00 PM
Location: Democratic Party Headquarters, Ward Warehouse, Honolulu, Hawai’i
Attendees: 15
15 participants in Honolulu: Gary Hooser, Lynn Sager (Vice-Chair), Tony Austin (Treasurer), Mike DeWeert (Secretary), Mary Guinger (At-large), Bill Sager, Jom Shon, Shannon Wood, Marjorie Ziegler, Fred Cash, Kioni Dudley, Lisa Rey, Juanita Kawamoto, Jeanne Vana, Pamela Boyar, K.C. Conners, Monique Vanderstroom
0 participants via teleconference
Steering committee members absent and excused: Lance Holter, Chris Adams
Democratic Party HQ was closed, Venue moved to Abercrombie for Governor HQ.
Gary Hooser Called meeting to order at 6:10 PM
1. Agenda accepted.
2. Around room brief introductions and statements of interest in caucus.
3. Minutes of 6/21 meeting were accepted with minor changes. Minutes to be sent to Lynn Sager for posting on Environmental caucus website.
HYPERLINK “http://www.environmentalcaucusofthedemocraticpartyofhawaii.wordpress.org” t “_blank” http://www.environmentalcaucusofthedemocraticpartyofhawaii.wordpress.org
4. Treasurer’s report by Tony Austin:
a) paid $78.5 for charter-meeting room rental.
b) needs to buy receipt book – approved by steering committee.
c) Suggested having a calabash at general meeting in order to raise funds. Discussion ensued about other fundraising ideas (mistletoe sale, etc.).
d) Fundraising committee suggested – Tony Austin volunteered to chair.
5. Web Site report by Lynn Sager.
a) URL is
HYPERLINK “http://www.environmentalcaucusofthedemocraticpartyofhawaii.wordpress.org” t “_blank” http://www.environmentalcaucusofthedemocraticpartyofhawaii.wordpress.org
b) Steering committee approved sending this to the general membership
c) suggested trade-marking website name – just put “TM” behind name (or logo)
d) Subcommittee chairs should use website as educational tool, include links in subcommittee pages, as well as including advocacy recommendations
e) discussion included switching to MailChimp instead of g-mail for communications (not resolved)
6. Advocacy discussions
a) Gary Hooser suggested having a place on website for public to make comments
b) Shannon Wood suggested linking to national groups with climate-change information – intended to educate public on the reality of global climate change
c) Gary & Lynn: Challenge is managing info – we don’t want to blog everything
d) Street lighting: energy waste & light pollution
e) Shannon Wood suggested meeting Charlene Nishihara regarding climate change – get gov. to do better than Lingle admin.
f) ultimate goal is ease and speed to do legislative action
g) Allow anyone who is a registered Democrat to join the environmental caucus
7. Logo discussion
a) suggest contest – notify general membership with general-meeting announcemrnt
b) parameters: include name of caucus and confine to just 2 colors (to keep printing cost low). Formats of submissions: ,tif, .jpg, .bmp, – not resolved
c) put voting for contest on website.
8. Subcommittee reports
– Gary Hooser: focus should shift to legislative agenda.
– (Session starts January 19, and legislation must be introduced within 10 days after start.)
8a) Food Security (chaired by Mike DeWeert) report:
– Bill Sager: Church of the crossroads is hosting a talk by Frances Moore Lappe, author of “Diet for a Small Planet” and other works.
– Bill Sager invited two key people who are involved in food security to participate in our caucus.
– Mary Guinger: Kirk Caldwell is also interested in Food Security.
Impediments to small sustainable farmers:
– rules for city open market allow import of produce from outside Hawaii, and also have tax and receipt-issuing rules. Onerous fines for violators
– GET (general excise tax): the vendor just has to report sales and pay tax on gross.
– Sales tax: the buyer pays and must be given a receipt
– Farm Bureau-sponsored markets are different – all produce must be from Hawaii
– Mike DeWeert suggested that we start looking for a new subcommittee chair, since Mikes extensive travel is an impediment
8b) Energy and Climate subcommittee (Lisa Rey chair):
– Using collaborative documents on line until web site is set up
– Solar Panel and Energy Installations: Value should be exempt from property tax assessments
– more onerous taxes for rental properties.
– Issues are both statewide and county-by-county
Gary Hooser: When possible, we should align our efforts with the Sierra Club, ELN, and other like-minded organizations. Example: PACE & tax-exempt assessment
– Look at resolutions & legislation to develop requirements
8c) Environment, species and land-use (Bill Sager chair):
– Took Abercrombies’ white paper & made notes on how each goal could be accomplished.
– Include DLNR & DOCARE
– Problem with DOCARE (Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement) is that there is no night/weekend coverage. DOCARE needs to be more professional and better trained.
– If DOCARE cant do their job, perhaps we should try to get DOT (Dept of Transportation) to help enforce
– Quarantine enforcement needs improvement!
– Bill Sager set up a Google docs site for his committee
– Bill has also made contacts on Big Island, Maui, Kauai. Needs a contact on Molokai
9. Revisited food security with guests from agriculture community, who came late and introduced themselves. Pam Boyar, Jeanne Vana, Kioni Dudley, Juanita Kawamoto, K.C. Conners, Monique Vanderstroom
9a) Concern about who the State Dept. of Ag. – getting good candidates to lead. Working with Lidy Morgan.
– Gary Hooser: Neil Abercrombie probably hasn’t started interviewing, so we have an opportunity
– Marjorie: Neil is depending on Bill Kaneko. We should get together our own short list for them to consider.
– Jeanna Vana and Mary Guinger: Discussions of taxing/not-taxing food and taxing sugary “junk food” differently
– Gary: Andrew Kanoki is also a possibility
– Gary: we should also build good relationships with house & senate committee chairs. We have a time limit & should also look to adapt solutions that have been developed elsewhere.
9b) Kioni Dudley:
a) HB 2290 – is aimed at saving farmlands
b) Companies growing GMOS are taking up much of the Ag land
c) Farmers income from GMOs > biomass > produce > grazing
Small farmers make less $ on food than on biomass, and grazing makes less $ than food for direct human consumption. Dairy is considered grazing and is uneconomical on Oahu. (Monique Vanderstroom runs last remaining dairy on Oahu – Naked Cow Dairy – has only 50 cows – economics are marginal)
d) We need better incentives for small farmers!
9c) Jaunita Kawamoto: We need an “Agricultural Design Review Board” (based on the Building/Architecture example) to address critical Ag issues. For example Koa Ridge
9d) Discussion of Laie/Kahuku development displacing agriculture for housing & commercial development.
– Carlisle’s nominee for Dept. of Planning and Permitting (David Tenoy) is problematic – appears to favor non-ag development
– Need to look for alternatives that are compatible with Ag, such as film/TV/entertainment
– State/Counties need comprehensive rural development plan
– Hau’ula – review for sustainability
Gary Hooser Adjourned formal meeting at 7:48 PM.
Discussions on Ag continued informally afterward
a) Marjorie Ziegler recommended Lea Homg – trust fro public land. ADC wants to show that there is an interest by SOME farmers in the land
b) Sierra Club is holding an advocacy workshop on Dec 4 – could help us to attend & learn 8:30—11:30 AM
c) Key individuals to involve: Jessica Wooley, Cindy Evans, Jill Tokuda, Ken Ito, Miek Gabbard, Clayton Hee, ? Kosye, + Governor’s Ag appointee, Lidy Morgan and Board of Hawaii Farmers’ Union, Mathew Loke (possible Ag dept. chair), Hector Velasqueles
d) How are we going to get lobbyists for Ag?
e) Sit down with Neil Abercrombie to discuss where Ag is going
f) Standards for GMO growers to be in Hawaii Farmers Union
g) Trademarking: Labeling of Food as “Grown in Hawaii” (and enforcing the trademark!) would help a lot!
h) Is there a business opportunity to run evening farmers markets to support local Ag?
Informal sessions ended at about 9:00.