(BIVN) – Hawaiʻi County Councilwoman and Hawaiian homesteader Sue Lee Loy had a message regarding governance during the Hawaiian Homes Commission meeting in Hilo on Monday.

“East Hawaiʻi is not being represented on this board,” Lee Loy said, in reference to the vacant commission seat, last held by Wally Ishibashi. “I think it’s very important that this community has the voice of an East Hawaiʻi commissioner, not only to engage the community on what you hear they want. Home Rule. They want to be heard. They want someone advocating for them.”

“Hawaiʻi County is going through their General Plan update right now,” testified Lee Loy, “and so a lot of these [DHHL] regional plans, a lot of the water, a lot of what’s happening over at Humuʻula, Piʻihonua, will dovetail very nicely into the general plan, which sets up the framework for land use, economic prosperity, and standing up our island as a whole.”

“We need the Hawaiian Homes community to be part of that larger plan for this entire island,” Lee Loy said. “We cannot be silent anymore.”

Ley Loy also spoke in support of DHHL issuing a license to Ke Ana Laʻahana Public Charter School in Keaukaha, a right of entry permit to Connect Point Church in Hilo, and an effort to create a community pavilion at Puhi Bay.