• Ohana Kauai • Presidential race • Kudos for Curtis • The Tax Lady • County government • Affordable housing Ohana Kauai With one exception, all of the issues raised by the Ohana Kauai charter amendment are issues already facing
• Ohana Kauai
• Presidential race
• Kudos for Curtis
• The Tax Lady
• County government
• Affordable housing
Ohana Kauai
With one exception, all of the issues raised by the Ohana Kauai charter amendment are issues already facing the government and the people. They are perennial issues because they are part of the budget process.
Every year the county council must decide how much money the government will spend, how to allocate the money, and how the money will be raised. It must also monitor the spending of money by the administration.
Property taxes of all kinds are a critical element in the budget process. What is unique about property taxes is that they provide, by far, the greatest flexibility to the council on the money-raising side of the budget.
The Ohana Kauai proposal adds only one element to this general picture. It asks the voters to decide whether or not they want to set a specific limit on the council’s power to determine the property taxes of resident homeowners.
The proposed charter amendment does not create any of the related issues now being discussed in public. How unions, bond rating, real estate stakeholders, or county services will be affected if the amendment passes are ongoing issues in the budget process. The council will have to make decisions about these issues whether the voters approve or disapprove the charter amendment.
So the question the voters will answer on November 2 is this: Do you trust the county council enough to continue giving them total freedom and power to determine the property taxes of resident homeowners, or do you want to limit their power in this one area?
That’s the question to take with you into the voting booth.
Horace Stoessel
Kapa‘a
Presidential race
The current posturing by the “Bush League” as to the patriotic leadership need and the security necessity to engage in pre-emptive strikes produces a sardonic smile.
Some may recall the time when a united America recoiled in anger at an earlier pre-emptive strike assailed by all as dastardly, cowardly and barbaric, a “Day of Infamy.”
The date, for those who may have forgotten, December 7, 1941.
Robert Nareau
Mesa, Arizona
Kudos for Curtis
Orchids to Paul C. Curtis for the fine article in the Garden Island of Wednesday, September 29 telling the special ties between Minnesota, Kaua‘i, and the MIS Language School.
One clarification is needed. Fort Snelling was not “abandoned [and] in a state of despair.” Instead, the Minnesota Historical Society and others persuaded the Army to transfer ownership so that a museum could be built, the original stone fortress of the 1800’s reconstructed, and the “modern” buildings of the 1900’s removed.
The fully-equipped visitors center and the reconstructed stone fort provide an experience comparable to visiting the Arizona Memorial on O‘ahu. It’s truly “food for thought” when considering the so called Russian Fort on Kaua‘i.
Richard W. Collar
Kapa‘a
The Tax Lady
Gloria McElgunn Duarte was tragically killed in an automobile accident Sept. 24. The popular “Tax Lady” was brilliant, kind, and a “no nonsense” type of gal with a great sense of humor.
Several years ago she moved her “Tax Lady” office from Kapa‘a to Waimea where she helped many, may people with their taxes. She was really “akamai” when helping others with filling out their tax forms.
As a Westside resident she pitched in to help community organizations, including the Kaua‘i Food Bank and she was on the board of the Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital.
She loved German Shepherds. Gloria Duarte will be missed.
Valerie Hepa
Kapa‘a
County government
The County ‘powers that be’ are pulling out all the stops to defeat the Ohana Kauai tax referendum. Yesterday it was threatening the police with job loss and/or pay cuts. Today it is warning the public that council proposals will be shelved. I wonder what scare story will be next. No doubt we can expect ever more dire headlines over the next 25 days.
I wonder why they are so adamantly against the referendum. These are the people who have managed to spend every last penny of the tax windfall that accompanied the drastic increase in property values. Aside from voting themselves and their patronage appointees large salary increases, what have they done with that money? The road outside my house remains full of potholes. The Hanalei transfer station is often inoperable. I have received no new or improved services.
My guess is that these people are as addicted to these escalating tax revenues as others are addicted to ice. They may promise reforms n just as ice users promise to quit n but can we really expect them to follow through? The only way is through a public referendum that cannot be changed or ignored by the current or future councils. Just as we try to cut off the supply of ice to curb the drug problem, we must cut off the supply of money to tackle this one.
The only valid objection to the referendum that I have heard is that our children will be paying higher taxes when they buy homes in the future. That may be true, but at least they will have the certainty that if they can afford the house and taxes when they buy it, they will not be taxed off the property in the future. Let us make the future secure for every owner n no matter who manages to get elected in the future.
I urge everyone to vote for the referendum. And at the same time, vote AIB (anybody but incumbents) n against those who have brought us to this mess.
Stan Godes
Hanalei
Affordable housing
How ironic to read on the front page of the October 7 issue of The Garden Island the attempt to make affordable housing a reality, when the article directly above reports materials theft at local job sites. They shoot looters don’t they?
R.L. Bentley
Lihu‘e
