Organized by the office of Representative Greggor Ilagan, Puna Community Cleanup is an event to keep our environment clean and our community healthy. Rep. Ilagan strongly believes that it is important to bring community members together to make Puna litter-free and looking its best for today and future generations. Take part in a volunteer opportunity to promote civic responsibility, Puna community pride, and meeting others with similar environmental values as you.

Dates for the Puna Community Cleanups are scheduled in advance. You are encouraged to contact Rep Ilagan’s office at (808) 586-6530 or fill out our form to join in on any of the events listed below:

• May 27, 2023
• July 22, 2023
• September 9, 2023
• November 11, 2023

Extend your support by generously sponsoring our volunteer lunches throughout this season. Contact us to learn more.

Litter can lead to soil, water, and air pollution. We can do our part to keep our community clean and free of litter. Here are some tips you may already know, but they are good reminders to think about and to share with your family and friends.

1. Make sure garbage you are disposing are secured or tied down in your property, so they are not easily picked up by the wind.
2. Keep litter bags and bins tied securely to prevent any trash light enough to fall out or blown away.
3. Do not throw any trash out of a vehicle.
4. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle will help lower the amount of litter you throw away.
5. Educate others about the importance of disposing of trash properly.

It is illegal to dump rubbish in our community. Please report an illegal dumping by calling the Police Department at 808-935-3311 or call the State of Hawaii Department of Health at 808-974-400 ext. 64226.

Illegal dumping of solid waste are subject to fines from $10,000 to $25,000 per occurrence and could lead to felony prosecution in accordance with Chapter 342H, HRS.

My office will host 12 days of town halls throughout Puna. It is a perfect opportunity to share the topics that are important to you and to discuss the upcoming legislative session. Town halls will start at 5:30 pm, unless otherwise mentioned.

As many of you may know, there has been much discussion about how your Homeowners Association is overseen, how its leadership is fairly elected, and how accessible is the association’s financial statements. While we fully acknowledge the need for transparency and proper management of the association, we should make it known that finding resolutions within the legislative framework is proving to be more difficult than anticipated.

Chapter 421J, Hawai’i Revised Statutes (HRS), establishes statutory requirements applicable to homeowner associations and planned community associations. Even within the framework of Chapter 421J, this doesn’t specifically assign responsibility for overseeing associations to any executive branch department, which provides a framework of self-governance among homeowner associations. Despite our best efforts thus far, the balance between government encroachment and freely governing private associations is the tight rope I am finding hard to balance.

Homeowners associations are sometimes organized as a Hawaii nonprofit corporation under the Hawaii Nonprofit Corporation Act (Chapter 414D, HRS). Accordingly, certain judicial relief may be available under Chapter 414D. For example, under section 414D-103, provides for the imposition of a court-ordered annual or regular meeting of a corporation’s members in certain circumstances.

When it comes to resolving disputes among homeowners with their association, we note that the Real Estate Commission similarly suggests that individuals contact the Hawaii State Bar Association to be referred to a legal expert. In addition to hiring an attorney, there is always the option of mediation, which is even laid out in Chapter 421J, HRS.

Please understand we’ve been intently listening to you and that these are issues that we’ve labored over for quite some time.

If you are interested in participating in this issue, please contact Senator Joy San Buenaventura’s office at (808) 586-6890. In 2022, she received funding to start a working group.