The Department hereby publicly discloses that Zendo Kern, an employee of the County of Hawai’i, applied for assistance under the Voluntary Housing Buyout Program funded by the CDBG-DR grant. As an employee of the County of Hawai’i Mr. Kern serves as the Planning Director.

Said applicant has been determined to be eligible for disaster assistance under the Voluntary Housing Buyout Program due to the impacts to real property owned by Mr. Kern from the 2018 Kilauea volcanic eruption. Mr. Kern is not and shall not be involved in the handling of the application for disaster assistance; nor shall any person under Mr. Kern’s supervision or oversight.

The Department discloses this possible conflict for a covered person pursuant to
24 CFR 570.611 in order to allow any interested persons to comment before the application is considered for an exception under the applicable conflict regulations.

Any comments should be submitted to the Department in writing on or before Monday, February 27, 2023, by email to kilauearecovery@hawaiicounty.gov or by mail to Disaster Recovery Division, 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1002, Hilo, HI 96720 ATTN: Douglas Nam Le.