• Campaign 2004 questions Campaign 2004 questions In organizing interviews with our county, state and federal candidates as part of our Election 2004 coverage, a remarkable piece of information was uncovered. Looking back at a computer file from The Garden
• Campaign 2004 questions
Campaign 2004 questions
In organizing interviews with our county, state and federal candidates as part of our Election 2004 coverage, a remarkable piece of information was uncovered.
Looking back at a computer file from The Garden Island’s 2002 election coverage of candidates, we found a list of “hot” issues that we asked the candidates about then.
Remarkably, just about every item on the list is still on the front burner for Kaua‘i.
The questions included: What do our public schools need? Development should be…; Where should we put the next landfill? How do we solve the Kapa‘a traffic problem? What is Kaua‘i’s most pressing crime issue? And how can we better serve visitors to Kaua‘i?
One question was answered by the voters through their approval of a ballot issue, and that was: “Would you favor raising property taxes to acquire beach lands for parks?”
Schools continue to be a big issue, with more No Child Left Behind standards coming due, while our statewide public school system continues to rank low when compared to other states.
Our development question was perhaps a bit prophetic, as real-estate prices have zoomed since 2002 and resort development plans are popping up across the island.
The landfill question is hopefully being resolved, but years down the road. For now it looks like we’re going to grow up, not out, at the landfill north of Kekaha town.
Kaua‘i’s most pressing crime issue? Ice (crystal methamphetamine) is still at the forefront, with drug-related crime becoming an event that is affecting more and more Kaua‘i residents and visitors. Federal undercover agents have helped, but talk of federal “Weed and Seed” intervention a couple years back still hasn’t become a reality on Kaua‘i.
The Kapa‘a traffic problem is still there, mostly unchanged since 2002, though plans announced last week by the state Department of Transportation may soon bring a change. Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste, working with officials from Grove Farm Co. and the state, has helped to create an emergency road mauka of Kuhio Highway, and soon Kaumuali‘i Highway, to get vehicles moving in case of major accidents on our main roads.
Helping visitors continues to be a common occurrence, with mahalo letters and stories of local people going out of their way to help visitors arriving in our mail box regularly.
Looking back on these issues, we need to look forward and see what our candidates plan to do in solving these problems over the next two years.
Will many of these same issues be on our list of questions in 2006? Most likely they will, as for some there are no quick and easy fixes, and without fixes the issues aren’t going away anytime soon. The question is how much of the problems will be chipped away at after the elections?
