Gathering Ideas

The idea-gathering phase for the development of a new plan consisted of two major activities—structured interviews and public meetings. In September 2005, the consultant team conducted a series of structured focus group interviews with a variety of stakeholder groups, including representatives from the tourism industry, businesses, development community, large and small property owners, native Hawaiians, long-term residents, and newcomers. These interviews were structured to expose perceptions, attitudes, and critical issues faced by the Kona community.

One hundred and nine individual public meetings were held throughout Kona from November 2005 through January 2006. These meetings were offered "on demand," in which trained facilitators would arrange to meet with interested parties in order to conduct meetings and gather ideas using a prescribed format. The meetings—general brainstorming as well as responses to critical questions—were scheduled throughout Kona, and were targeted to ensure balanced demographic and geographic participation of residents; over 800 residents participated.

The 3,496 ideas gathered during these meetings were entered into a database and sorted into 18 categories. The categories were used by the steering committee for the Community Development Plan to develop a set of goals based on the ideas for each category. The goals formed the basis for developing objectives and strategies—and captured a desired outcome for the future of Kona. (For a complete listing of ideas, see Appendix A: Summary of Ideas from Kona Community Development Plan: Public Involvement Summary)