• If I were elected … • We need representation • Spare me the dribble • ADU shock and awe • Clean up after yourself If I were elected … If I were elected the following would be my priorities:
• If I were elected …
• We need representation
• Spare me the dribble
• ADU shock and awe
• Clean up after yourself
If I were elected …
If I were elected the following would be my priorities:
1. Establish a principle of home-rule where only those who live in Hanalei, Koloa, Kapaa-Wailua, Lihue, etc. could decide what would be allowed in their communities, and the county would decide if the Superferry and the Kokee hotel resort would be permitted.
2. Reduce the county budget, as the means for reducing property taxes, by eliminating pet projects, consultants, social events and positions and money for tourism, which should be paid for by the tourist industries. All county workers should be evaluated by work performance reviews annually and the workforce adjusted accordingly.
3. Require that all planning documents, building permits and road and county projects be subject to a 50-year ecological projection based on the reports from NOAA, NASA and USGS as to the effects from rising sea levels, increased earthquakes and volcanoes, changing weather patterns and storms.
4. Establish a gas tax that would cover providing free bus service with an expanded system of frequent and coordinated express and local feeder lines with parking lots at all express stops in the major population areas.
While you cannot actually vote for me, you can, after the election, call, write, e-mail or speak to the elected officials about your ideas for solving our current and future problems.
Kapa‘a
We need representation
Wal-Mart probably will be able to increase their presence, the recent moratorium on big box growth was placed too late, and I think the Superferry is a done deal. What should have been done 20 years ago that would be an excellent adjustment, if done immediately, now, and in concert with big box, is place moratoriums on growth in island population, automobiles, the Superferry, as well as any future large construction project not already permitted, growth of any kind and/or development.
Then, condemn and pave the old cane field roads island-wide, including loop, powerline, Koloa tunnel, as well as all the feeder roads. There are far too many of our island’s people being systematically priced out of the own/rent option and moved into homelessness, so allotting more money, implementing, and supporting the program with appropriate manpower, using off the grid resources installed at these new individual home sites, and to see that the unaffordable population has a self-sustaining roof over their heads. Our general island community is very stressed right now, sadly I think this is only the beginning unless someone bold, brash, and aggressive remains or is placed to attempt a turn-around.
But who?
Current island politicians have done great things, but we need more, and we need it immediately if not sooner. We need open government team players to collectively grow the “big huevos” necessary to push for these moves, delivering back relatively instant results in the near future, and not just before the next election.
Kapa‘a
Spare me the dribble
I received in the mail today a campaign postcard from the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i telling me how hard ex-Republican Jimmy Tokioka (running for District 15 state representative) is going to work for the people of Hawai‘i. He will work hard to support public education, reduce illegal drug usage, protect our environment, provide for better paying jobs and affordable housing … spare me the dribble.
The Democrats have been in total control of our legislative branch since 1954 and the governor’s office since 1962 till 2002 when Linda Lingle became governor. During this period all of the things which they claim they will fix became problems. When will the Democrats be held accountable for allowing the situation to get to this point?
At the rate we are going … when hell freezes over.
Koloa
ADU shock and awe
A few months ago I attended the first Planning Commission meeting concerning the sunset of the ADU ordinance for properties not in the residential district set for the end of 2006. On the docket that same day were over 1,000 condos, condotels, and timeshares in places like Waipouli, Koloa, and Kaua‘i Lagoons. These huge projects moved forward with hardly a ripple. The hot growth issue that day, and every day since, has been the ADU issue. The County Council has just completed their public hearing on the ADU sunset issue. A new proposed ADU ordinace has been drafted by Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, undoubtedly with help from the rest of the current County Council, who seem to agree that the ADU Ordinance is the biggest growth issue that threatens Kaua‘i today.
The proposed new ADU Ordinance was supposed to be posted on www.kauai.gov/, but there were apparently technical difficulties … perhaps the county Web site choked on it. To get a copy you will need to call the County Council office at 241-6371 or e-mail cokcouncil@kauai.gov. If you do succeed in getting your hands on this incredible piece of proposed legislation please bear in mind that there are only about 500 qualified ADU properties on the island and that the rate of approval and construction of ADU units since 1989 has been about 20 to 29 per year … hardly a blip on the radar screen of growth and development on this island. And yet the County Council has coughed up a neutron bomb of an ordinance to crush the late Councilman Jimmy Tehada’s simple and reasonable Additional Dwelling Unit Ordinance, which he defended so capably in his lifetime. If Jimmy were alive today I believe that he would recommend removing the sunset provision on existing ADU parcels and banning the ADU from future subdivisions. Period.
Kilauea
Clean up after yourself
Just because you were born here or live here on Kaua‘i does not give you the right to do whatever you want. I was at Lydgate Park, at the playbridge recently, and saw a local girl take a diaper off her baby and drop it on the ground. What irritated me most about this was that there was a trash can about five steps from her.
First off it’s disgusting and second, you are teaching your children some really bad habits. If everyobody who lives here thought it was OK to throw a piece of trash out the window, could you imagine how much trash we’d have? It may be a small bag or cup, but it all adds up.
I also wonder why people who drive pick-up trucks would throw trash in the bed of their truck, when it’s just going to blow out when you drive down the road. I have seen this happen three times this week alone. I’m not saying that tourists don’t ever litter, but most of the time when I notice someone littering, it is a local, not a tourist. Sometimes I think the tourists care more about our island than some of the people who live here.
Clean up after yourselves and put trash where it belongs … in the trash can. If there isn’t one, then take the trash home with you and dispose of it there. Someone once said, “The land doesn’t belong to any of us … we are just borrowing it from our children.” Let’s not leave a dump for them.
Lihu‘e
