Did District 7 Candidate Manu Powers Learn Facts Before Speaking About the Keauhou Bay Court Case?
Kamehameha Schools' Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) has been accepted by Hawaiʻi County to develop Keauhou Bay into a proposed 150-unit bungalow resort. More than 7,470 signatures now oppose this development. I'm taking Kamehameha Schools to court over this — not because of what they want to build, but because our First Amended Petition alleges their FEIS is unlawful, failing to comply with the environmental-review laws meant to protect Hawaiʻi's land, cultural practices, and communities.
Manu Powers — a Kamehameha Schools tenant whose Sea Quest business operates in Keauhou Bay, and whose two children attend Kamehameha Schools — was interviewed for a June 14th Big Island Now article about this case, was interviewed without contacting me before the interview to discuss my views or the allegations in the court case.
For years, I tried reaching her to let her know that thousands of people oppose this development and to share these concerns directly because I was hoping to get her help. To my knowledge, she never reached out during the many years I tried to talk with her.
Mrs. Powers is running for Hawaiʻi County Council District 7 — the very district where Keauhou Bay, and her own Sea Quest business, is located. She commented publicly on this case in a major news interview at a time when information about the FEIS and the court case was already available to her.
In that article, she described the bungalow portion of the plan as "still very speculative," saying it's hard to form an opinion on the hotel until the cost and build-out are "better understood." But the FEIS — including the 150-bungalow plan she was asked about — was already prepared, submitted, and accepted by the county before that article was published. It's the very document our First Amended Petition alleges doesn't comply with environmental-review law.
One example: the County Department of Water Supply's own correspondence (Exhibits B-6-1 and B-6-2 in the FAP) confirms the Kamehameha Schools development was assigned 101 units of water under an executed Water Agreement, while the FEIS proposes 150 bungalow units — a discrepancy our First Amended Petition specifically alleges.
So, it's worth asking: what details were Manu Powers waiting on that weren't already in the FEIS itself, or on my site BigIslandSupport.com/SaveKBay, before she accepted an interview about this Keauhou Bay court case? Based on her comments, I came away with the impression that she may not have reviewed the FEIS or the information I had made publicly available at my site https://bigislandsupport.com/savekbay/
For years, I tried reaching her — as President of the Daughters of Hawaiʻi — to share exactly these concerns and ask for her help. To my knowledge, she never even tried to reply back to me, before or after that Big Island Now interview.
It was only after I published an open letter about this publicly on July 19 that Mrs. Powers reached out, offering to meet in person. Because of the years of being ignored, and because she made those comments without ever trying to contact me to get the facts before the interview, I only wanted an apology — which she never gave.
Years of silence, followed by contact only after I publicly wrote about her comments in that June 14th article — that's my experience with her communication as a candidate. My concern is that she is running to be a County Council member for District 7, Keauhou Bay's district.
Will she really listen to what the community has to say, especially when it comes to Kamehameha Schools, an organization her life is entwined with? In my experience of letting her know I stand with thousands who signed a petition opposing the proposed bungalow resort, and I was hoping for her help because she was the president of the Daughters of Hawai’i an organization that takes Kamehameha III’s birth place seriously, my experience, in return, was her silence.
Will she take the time to learn the details on things before interviews, or anything else, if she gets elected into office? She had all the details readily available to her before this Big Island Now article, and she could have contacted me directly. Yet her comments left me with the impression that she may not have reviewed the available materials before the interview, and I never heard from her to be able to share the facts.
Will she be able to balance the interests of the broader District 7 community with those of organizations and institutions with which she has longstanding personal or professional connections?
Mrs. Manu Powers is a tenant of Kamehameha Schools, her business operates on Kamehameha Schools property, and her children attend Kamehameha Schools. Voters may consider those publicly known relationships alongside her public statements on this issue.
Her comments in my opinion didn’t consider island resources that you can read about in this petition that has 719 signatures https://www.change.org/p/protect-hawai%CA%BBi-island-s-future-stop-unsafe-overdevelopment, This petition states, “Until Hawaiʻi Island’s infrastructure and natural resources can genuinely support additional growth, all major development must stop.”
And her comments didn’t look to acknowledge the over 7,470 signatures on the opposing this developments petition https://www.change.org/p/save-keauhou-bay-from-becoming-a-big-crowded-resort?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=92a53560-1e91-11e5-b4ef-b94e90cedbdd
Voters deserve to consider the publicly available information, including the pending Keauhou Bay court case, the FEIS, and the public statements made by candidates, before casting their votes.
Learn more about this court case at https://bigislandsupport.com/savekbay/
Did District 7 Candidate Manu Powers Learn the Facts Before Speaking About the Keauhou Bay Court Case?
Kamehameha Schools' Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) has been accepted by Hawaiʻi County to develop Keauhou Bay into a proposed 150-unit bungalow resort. More than 7,470 signatures now oppose this development. I'm taking Kamehameha Schools to court over this — not because of what they want to build, but because our First Amended Petition alleges their FEIS is unlawful, failing to comply with the environmental-review laws meant to protect Hawaiʻi's land, cultural practices, and communities.
Manu Powers — a Kamehameha Schools tenant whose Sea Quest business operates in Keauhou Bay, and whose two children attend Kamehameha Schools — was interviewed for a June 14th Big Island Now article about this case, she was interviewed without contacting me before the interview to discuss my views or the allegations in the court case.
For years, I tried reaching her to let her know that thousands of people oppose this development and to share these concerns directly because I was hoping to get her help. To my knowledge, she never reached out during the many years I tried to talk with her.
Mrs. Powers is running for Hawaiʻi County Council District 7 — the very district where Keauhou Bay, and her own Sea Quest business, is located. She commented publicly on this case in a major news interview at a time when information about the FEIS and the court case was already available to her.
In that article, she described the bungalow portion of the plan as "still very speculative," saying it's hard to form an opinion on the hotel until the cost and build-out are "better understood." But the FEIS — including the 150-bungalow plan she was asked about — was already prepared, submitted, and accepted by the county before that article was published. It's the very document our First Amended Petition alleges doesn't comply with environmental-review law.
One example: the County Department of Water Supply's own correspondence (Exhibits B-6-1 and B-6-2 in the FAP) confirms the Kamehameha Schools development was assigned 101 units of water under an executed Water Agreement, while the FEIS proposes 150 bungalow units — a discrepancy our First Amended Petition specifically alleges.
So, it's worth asking: what details were Manu Powers waiting on that weren't already in the FEIS itself, or on my site BigIslandSupport.com/SaveKBay, before she accepted an interview about this Keauhou Bay court case? Based on her comments, I came away with the impression that she may not have reviewed the FEIS or the information I had made publicly available at my site https://bigislandsupport.com/savekbay/
For years, I tried reaching her — as President of the Daughters of Hawaiʻi — to share exactly these concerns and ask for her help. To my knowledge, she never even tried to reply back to me, before or after that Big Island Now interview.
It was only after I published an open letter about this publicly on July 19 that Mrs. Powers reached out, offering to meet in person. Because of the years of being ignored, and because she made those comments without ever trying to contact me to get the facts before the interview, I only wanted an apology — which she never gave.
Years of silence, followed by contact only after I publicly wrote about her comments in that June 14th article — that's my experience with her communication as a candidate. My concern is that she is running to be a County Council member for District 7, Keauhou Bay's district.
Will she really listen to what the community has to say, especially when it comes to Kamehameha Schools, an organization her life is entwined with? In my experience of letting her know I stand with thousands who signed a petition opposing the proposed bungalow resort, and I was hoping for her help because she was the president of the Daughters of Hawai’i an organization that takes Kamehameha III’s birth place seriously, my experience, in return, was her silence.
Will she take the time to learn the details on things before interviews, or anything else, if she gets elected into office? She had all the details readily available to her before this Big Island Now article, and she could have contacted me directly. Yet her comments left me with the impression that she may not have reviewed the available materials before the interview, and I never heard from her to be able to share the facts.
Will she be able to balance the interests of the broader District 7 community with those of organizations and institutions with which she has longstanding personal or professional connections?
Mrs. Manu Powers is a tenant of Kamehameha Schools, her business operates on Kamehameha Schools property, and her children attend Kamehameha Schools. Voters may consider those publicly known relationships alongside her public statements on this issue Keauhou Bay court case in Big Island Now.
Her comments in my opinion didn’t consider island resources that you can read about in this petition that has 719 signatures https://www.change.org/p/protect-hawai%CA%BBi-island-s-future-stop-unsafe-overdevelopment This petition states, “Until Hawaiʻi Island’s infrastructure and natural resources can genuinely support additional growth, all major development must stop.”
And her comments didn’t look to acknowledge the over 7,470 signatures that is in this court case https://www.change.org/p/save-keauhou-bay-from-becoming-a-big-crowded-resort?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=92a53560-1e91-11e5-b4ef-b94e90cedbdd
Voters deserve to consider the publicly available information, including the pending Keauhou Bay court case, the FEIS, and the public statements made by candidates, before casting their votes.
Learn more about this court case at https://bigislandsupport.com/savekbay/
https://www.change.org/p/protect-hawai%CA%BBi-island-s-future-stop-unsafe-overdevelopment