A hired gun is a hired gun

In the old days the powers that be on this here island created rules and

regulations and plans expeditiously, because the ordinary folks didn’t know or

care much about the “processes.”

In keeping with our island’s

emergence from the Third World into the First the PTB (powers that be) are

smart enough now to “solicit” input from the “Community”,

and drag out the “process” long enough to make the Community think

its voice has been heard.

This dragging out of the process of course is

not without financial cost, even not counting the cost of thousands of

man-hours put in by the pleased Community.

In the end, however, one must

ask the question “What is all this leading to?”

In the case of

the Lihue Airport Expansion Project the so-called “Dispute

Resolution” sessions, facilitated by experts at dispute resolution, will

lead to nothing that can be called a “Resolution” for the simple

reason that the County Council, which is sponsoring these DR sessions, has no

power to intercede in the established processes leading from the desire of the

Aviation Division of the Department of Transportation to follow its instinct,

which is to build airports (much like the way the Army Corps of Engineers used

to build dams, instinctively), to the decision to proceed.

The money is

there (all revenues generated at the Honolulu Airport, a real money-maker, can

by federal law only be used for aviation purposes), the instinct is there, the

planners and consultants are there to extoll the virtues of an expanded airport

(be it Lihue International or lowly Burns Field), the consultants hired by the

DOT are wending their standard paths through the Environmental Process, ready,

at the appropriate moment, to issue a FONSI (Finding Of No Significant Impact,

the inevitable end-point of all known environmental impact statements done by

consultants). And Voila! Bring out the bulldozers!

The Resolution that

will presumably be passed by the County Council, either supporting or not

supporting the Lihue Airport Expansion, after these expertly facilitated DR

sessions, will have no more impact than a Resolution extolling the virtues of

“Be Kind to Animals Week”.

The updating of the General Plan of

our county is following the same pattern, only on a more elaborate scale and at

much greater expense.

What was originally budgeted six or seven years ago

at $75,000 is costing the taxpayer more than a quarter million by now; and

that’s because of all these “feel-good” community input sessions all

over the island and the many, many meetings of the Citizens Advisory Committee,

meetings at which the Advisors (who are unpaid volunteers) listen to the

Consultant and watch his fancy multi-colored charts (all at great expense to

the taxpayers).

Now, after two years of this feeling-good business, the

PTB has decided that enough is enough; the Process must be

“fast-tracked,” in the words of the upfront Leader of the PTB, while

the Leader is junketing to the Fashion Capital of the World.

In other

words, “Get on with our (the PTB’s) Plan!” The Advisors are not

pleased.

The CAC meeting Nov. 23 ended in shambles, with the Advisors,

most of whom have been trying to feel good, though down deep they suspected

they were probably being had, advising the Consultant of the by-now-clear

recognition that there are two Plans: The Community’s Plan and the Consultant’s

Plan.

Harsh words were leveled at the Consultant, which, when you think

about it, is really not quite fair. After all, Consultants work for the PTB’s

who pay them handsomely with money extracted from the Community.

Hey, a

Hired Gun is a hired gun.

What to do??!! I would offer this modest plan:

The hundreds of citizens who attend hundreds of meetings on this island on

various public issues should set up a piggy bank, into which each deposits five

or ten dollars each time she/he attends a meeting.

Before very long there

will be an ample legal fund which can be used to get things done against the

will of the PTB.

The lamentations of some members of the County Council

notwithstanding, please recall that the two notable public issues of recent

years (Hanalei boating and Kealia development) were both effectively resolved

through legal actions – at no cost to the taxpayers.

Raymond L.

Chuan

Hanalei

Are we on the same page?

To the Forum:

The

recent article in The Garden Island , about Kaua’i Power Partners’ intention to

help in the beautification projects of Hanama’ulu prompts this letter.

I

would like to clarify that the Hanama’ulu Neighborhood Group Beautification

Project, which my husband and I started as a grassroots entity in our

community, has not entered into any relationship with Kaua’i Power Partners for

the beautification of Hanama’ulu.

Our Neighborhood Group began a couple of

years ago, working with Mr. Bryan Baptiste when he was providing leadership for

the County of Kaua’i Ho’olokahi Program.

Mr. Baptiste provided our group

with paint and we provided the labor to paint the restrooms and bus shelter at

Peter Reyno Park and clean around the bleachers.

We have done rubbish pick

up on Hanama’ulu streets, grass maintenance of roads within our immediate

neighborhoods, clean-up of Hanama’ulu Beach Park, all without much publicity.

We sent flyers to our neighborhoods to encourage beautification of

personal property. We have helped neighbors, including King Kaumuali’i School

with landscaping projects.

We have frequently filled dirt in holes along

Hanama’ulu Road, especially between Lawehana and Amo Streets. The County Road

Construction and Maintenance Division have been frequently called regarding the

road’s poor condition.

The run-off after heavy rains has caused large

holes on the sides of that road. We have also attended meetings concerning

watershed issues with hopes that a Hanama’ulu Watershed Board can be

activated.

Several months ago, there was an article in The Garden Island

about the Ho’olokahi Program, that Mr. Eddie Sarita was managing it, and that

funds were available to help communities with beautification projects.

Our

group approached Mr. Sarita to help us with a beautification project. We wanted

to beautify the comer property on Hanama’ulu Road and Kuhio Hwy. and put up a

WELCOME TO HANAMA’ULU sign on that comer.

Mr. Sarita instructed us to do

our homework and recruit volunteers to do the project. Throughout the summer

months, a college student worked hard to talk to the businesses and people in

Hanama’ulu to help with the project.

My husband got commitment from people

who could do the mason work, He also got commitment for major donations like

rocks and even a one-ton gear to be used in the beautification project.

We

took pictures of the area and submitted conceptual drawings to Mr. Sarita. In

August, Mr. Sarita promised to make necessary modifications and then submit our

project concept for funding from the Ho’olokahi Project.

To date we have

not heard about the funding.

Our group would welcome help from The Kaua’i

Power Partners if they have the same mission as we do: To assure that clean

air, clean water, clean environment is maintained in our neighborhood.

Dely

Pascual Sasaki

Hanama’ulu