What happened today with FTR

From: Friends of Puna’s Future
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 7:20 PM
Subject: What happened today with FTR

Aloha FoPF Members!

Todays effort by Dominic Yagong to move our Fuel Tax Revenue proposal was an uphill effort. We all owe Dominic a vote of thanks for his work. And hes not done yet. We had a good slate of verbal testimony in the Hilo Chambers today. Thank you to all those who took the time to appear in person and/or send in written testimony. We will need to do this again – and more than once.

I have never thought this effort would be a slam dunk or walk in the park. In today’s Finance Committee Resolution 321-10 was about to lose on a 5-4 vote when Dominic tabled the motion for a two week delay. The council members we expected to be generally opposed to any progressive proposals did not disappoint. Ikeda and Onishi, with extremely weak logic, can be depended to defend the inequities in CoH finance.

The council members whose districts are most directly affected – Yoshimoto, Enrigues and Naeole-Beason are the ones who gave us some hope. Of these three Emily Naeole-Beason expressed support for the Reso even though FoPF, a group she is not fond of, is involved.

Yoshimoto did his normal say as little as possible. I believe he sees the legal logic of the FTR proposal and knows we

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