$275K donated to food bank

By NANCY COOK LAUER

Stephens Media

The Hawaii County Council dug into county coffers Friday and came up with $275,000 in emergency funding for The Food Basket.

The council’s first-ever emergency appropriation, passed on an 8-0 vote, paved the way for $200,000, the largest chunk of the money, to come from the Disaster & Emergency Fund.

The other $75,000 comes from the county auditor’s office, part of the legislative branch. But the council stopped short of tapping its own clerk-council services budget for an additional $75,000 out of concerns it might need the money.

Bill 199, sponsored by Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann, declares a public health emergency as the basis for taking $200,000 out the county’s emergency fund.

Hoffmann described a Garfield cartoon where the plump feline is sitting by the fire in a warm room while a storm rages outside. Out the window, a fellow feline is shivering and plaintively asking to be let inside. Saying he must do something about that, Garfield walks to the window and pulls the shade down.

“We can’t simply pull the shade down on this type of a problem,” Hoffmann said. “I ask that we address this problem squarely.”

Hilo Councilman Donald Ikeda characterized the appropriation as a temporary solution. He said a better solution would be “victory gardens,” so people could grow their own food.

“This problem is going to continue to haunt us,” Ikeda said. “I think people would be prouder of themselves if they had an opportunity. … We need to look for other avenues to help people support themselves.”

Council Chairman Dominic Yagong said legislation is in the works to do just that, by setting aside county land for nonprofits to grow food for the nonprofit organization.

“I think people should do what they can to help themselves,” added South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford, “but there are people in this community who are not in a position to help themselves at this time, and they need a hand up, not a hand out.”

The move to take $75,000 from the legislative auditor’s budget also passed 8-0, with North Kona Councilman Angel Pilago absent. Auditor Colleen Schrandt explained the money was available because she didn’t need to use outside auditors as much as budgeted because there were fewer grant areas in need of auditing than first thought.

Both Hilo Councilman Dennis Onishi, sponsor of the resolution taking money from clerk-council services, and Hilo Councilman J Yoshimoto, urged the council to find money in its own budget in order to set a good example. Onishi pointed to a spreadsheet he’d prepared at the previous council meeting showing ample money in the budget.

“If we’re really sincere and not playing politics and really want to help The Food Bank, let’s go for it,” Onishi said.

Yoshimoto said the council should pledge something, even if it’s not the full $75,000.

“When we ask for people to help, we ask for people to help with what they can,” Yoshimoto said.

But Yagong urged the council not to be too hasty.

“It would be pretty crazy if we ended up shorthanded at the end of the budget,” Yagong said.

After assurances from The Food Basket Executive Director Nani Lee and Vice President Roland Higashi that the extra $75,000 isn’t needed at this time, the council voted to bring Onishi’s resolution back on May 15, when the council has a better handle on its budget.

The council declared the food emergency based on the fact that 20 percent of all county residents use The Food Basket on a continuous basis. The nonprofit reported a 41.6 percent increase in services accessed, from 619,344 in 2010 to 876,679 in 2011.

Nor is the emergency area-specific, the resolution states. The Annunciation Food Pantry in Waimea reported a 131 percent increase in total individuals served from 5,565 in 2008 to 12,853 in 2011. On a year-to-year basis, The Kona Meet & Eat Soup Pantry has reported a 181 percent increase in meals served from 598 in 2010 to 1,680 in 2011.

The St. Michael’s Food Pantry in Kona reported a 96 percent increase in meals served from 1,179 in 2010 to 2,309 in 2011. The Paradise Church of the Nazarene in Puna reported an 11 percent increase in meals served from 438 in 2010 to 486 in 2011. The Living Waters Food Pantry in Hilo reported a 57 percent increase in meals served from 124 in 2010 to 195 in 2011.

Lee said her tour of The Food Basket in Hilo on Friday morning showed large bins empty of food, while what remained on the shelves were primarily snack foods.

But several testifiers didn’t agree that giving money to the Food Basket is a good idea.

Jerry Warren, of Naalehu, said if there were a true emergency, everyone would be hungry, rich and poor alike, and the food would be handed out by Civil Defense.

“Please don’t undermine the administration,” Warren said. “They are trying not to raise our taxes.”

Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.