I must disagree with Mr. Parks letter in Friday’s paper. Ms. Dixon was absolutely correct in her editorial that this co-op is going to help the people of Kaua’i with lower rates in the long run. The sale price would
I must disagree with Mr. Parks letter in Friday’s paper. Ms. Dixon was
absolutely correct in her editorial that this co-op is going to help the people
of Kaua’i with lower rates in the long run.
The sale price would be the
same if a Mainland corporation had bought HE, but it would not benefit any of
us on this island, in any way, as the profits from the Mainland company would
go back to the stockholders on the Mainland.
A group of Kaua’i citizens
decided that we were paying the highest rates for electricity in the U.S. and
they wanted to see a change from the past, to having lower rates in the future.
The list of the Board of Directors on the co-op are people from all walks of
life as well as of different nationalities.
The only information not given
out to the public was the negotiations at the start of the co-op talks with
Citizens Utilities. This is not unusual as this happens in buying out other
companies or with negotiations with federal and state governments.
The
loans that are acquired by the co-op are the lowest interest rates that any
company can get. They get these loans because all over the U.S. there are
co-ops that are owned by the community and they qualify for low interest loans,
whereas if a corporation bought HE, they would not qualify for the low interest
loans.
All this benefits the owners of the co-op, us.
No one is
forcing this project down anyone’s throat. Meetings have been scheduled all
over Kaua’i so that people will understand what the real story is and not what
Mr. Chuan or Mr. Parks claim it is.
We have the ability of free speech, and
over the years Mr. Gregg Gardiner, when he owned the Kaua’i Times, printed and
spoke about things that he felt strongly about. Yes, it was Star Wars and the
North Shore boating and believe it or not, most people on this island agree
with Mr. Gardiner on a lot of things that concern the island of Kaua’i.
Mr. Gardiner does really have the best interests of the community at heart, and
has done this community a lot of good. He does not want a pat on the back. His
main concern is to the community, which must go forward and not sit on its rear
end and do nothing but complain.
Why is it that every time something good
comes along for this community, a small number of people come out of the
woodwork like termites.
There should be a lot more gutsy people like Gregg
Gardiner on this island instead of people from the outside that moved here and
cause nothing but problems for every one that tries to start up a business, or
anything else that really would help this community.
Bill
Bertrand
Lihu’e
