• He who lives in glass houses… • Reader will go online instead • KPD appreciates volunteer JPOs • Responsibility and accountability He who lives in glass houses… Is it just me? Nah, I can’t be the only one who
• He who lives in glass houses…
• Reader will go online instead
• KPD appreciates volunteer JPOs
• Responsibility and accountability
He who lives in glass houses…
Is it just me?
Nah, I can’t be the only one who is sick and tired of all the c—p (for lack of a better word) the police department is receiving.
How is it that the Chief of Police the Deputy Chief and certain members of the commission are doing such a bad job and are so unethical in their conduct that it warrents a call for resignations and fines?
You know what?
I bet the majority of the voters don’t give a rip. Seems to me that the council wants to fire or have the resignation of anyone at the mere hint of an ethics violation.
Tell you what. If they want to hold K.C. Lum, Harold Venemman, Mike Ching and Carol Furtado and whomever else they can think of to the highest standard of ethics with no flexibility, fine. But, they better make real sure that their house is in order.
I swear, Kaua‘i has the most controversial go-nowhere, stuck in the mud government I have ever seen. Yeah, I know. This letter will get nowhere and ultimately means nothing.
But I have a secret weapon … my vote.
Reader will go online instead
My paper subscription to The Garden Island is about to run out. And because of the fact that our recycling program has not been resurrected I am going to let it lapse and choose to read the newspaper online instead.
This is a hard decision since I am one of those old school people who prefer the hands on approach to reading. Hopefully “paper” businesses such as The Garden Island will help encourage our officials to fix this problem and get companies such as KCRS back out on the road. I only had the opportunity to use KCRS for a month before our recycling program folded and they offer a truly wonderful and environmentally conscious program for a nominal fee.
Seems like our recycling program should be a much simpler problem to fix compared to traffic, thoughtless development, drugs and criminals whom our current legal system seems unable to put behind bars where they belong. Ideally I’d like to see this all resolved but would settle for recycling to start with. At least it would be a baby step in the right direction.
- Petrina Satori-Britt
Princeville
KPD appreciates volunteer JPOs
The county of Kauai and the Kauai Police Department recently held its annual Junior Police Officer appreciation picnic on May 12 at Lydgate Beach Park to honor all of our volunteer junior police officers, advisors, and others who participated in various school safety programs throughout the school year to keep their school safe.
It is with great pleasure to say this year’s picnic was a great success with over 300 JPOs, advisors, and volunteers that attended this special event. Without the generous contribution and support of individuals and businesses, this picnic would not have been possible.
We would like to acknowledge the following individuals and businesses as each contribution was vital in making that day special for the JPOs: Mayor Bryan Baptiste, Mr. Daniel Hamada, DOE Superintended; KFD Chief Robert Westerman and the Kauai Fire Department; Mr. Kaleo Hookano and the Ocean Safety Bureau; Ms. Galyn Fujii, Roberts Hawaii Tourps; Mr. Charles Kawakami, Big Save, Inc.; Frito-Lay of Hawaii, Mrs. Mary Pratt, Lappert’s Ice Cream; Mr. Ralph Suniga, Meadow Gold Dairies; Ms. Soncy Tamashiro, and Ms. Debra Lacaden.
On behalf of the police officers in the Kauai Police Department, thank you for your involvement and caring in recognition of our children’s achievement in their law enforcement activity. We appreciate all of your support and generosity for this special event.
- King C. Lum
Chief of Police
Responsibility and accountability
When officials of the government — at the county and state levels — are appointed or elected they are supposed to take on responsibility and their actions are accountable to the people. This is apparently not the case in our state and our county. Here are some actual examples illustrating the irresponsibility and non-accountability of our government people:
State example:
The guard rail at the approach to the Hanalei Bridge from the Hanalei side is repaired or replaced numerous times a year because drivers have a tendency to miss the left turn onto the bridge and hit the guard rail. From October of last year to March 31, this year the guard rail was hit, damaged and eventually destroyed by a series of at least five encounters with vehicles in the middle of the night. No repair or replacement was done for five months. Some serious accident was waiting to happen; and it did that fateful Friday night, when two persons drowned when their SUV flew into the Hanalei River. The driver got out wet but alive, but the two passengers drowned. In less than 10 hours, a shiny new guard rail was installed! Nobody in the DOT was responsible and nobody was accountable. But, the taxpayers will put up the millions the state will have to pay the surviving families!
County example:
For about the past six months, residents in Hanalei who live on or near Weke Road leading to Black Pot have been appearing time after time before the County Council asking for help in curbing the night speeders who have made a race track out of the street. In response, the Council has put up excuse after excuse for not doing anything effective — such as installing multiple speed bumps to slow down the racers. Reluctantly the Council finally put in one speed bump that barely rises a few inches above the street surface, enough perhaps to slow down a speeder for about ten car lengths, leaving plenty of space to accelerate back to 50 or 60 mph before they reach Black Pot. A catastrophic accident is just waiting to happen, no different from the tragic incident at the Hanalei Bridge on the night of March 31. Lawsuits will follow; our County Council will, as usual, hire outside lawyers for hundreds of thousands of dollars; but will end up paying out millions — all with our tax money, of course.
Sure looks like this county needs a regime change, a change that will bring back responsibility and accountability, as well as better assuring the health and safety of residents and visitors, plus saving the long-suffering tax payers millions of dollars.
