• In praise of Ken D’Attilio • Saddened by the recent fires • Hanalei Bay tours legal? Not so In praise of Ken D’Attilio Last evening we were paddling some Kaiola canoes in Nawiliwili Harbor, when we saw flames coming
• In praise of Ken D’Attilio
• Saddened by the recent fires
• Hanalei Bay tours legal? Not so
In praise of Ken D’Attilio
Last evening we were paddling some Kaiola canoes in Nawiliwili Harbor, when we saw flames coming up behind the cruise ship. Flying through the thick smoke were two helicopters with water buckets suspended from them. You knew immediately that the pilots must be Ken D’Attilio and one of his surviving sons. We marveled at his skill in descending within a few feet above the bay to fill the buckets, drop them on the fire, circle back again and again to fill them.
I thought of all the times over the last 20 years that I’d seen Ken’s black helicopter circle into Kalalau or some other inaccessible location to airlift to safety someone who’d broken a leg, had a heart attack, was drowning, or simply carrying the trash out of Kalalau. The well-known quote of George Bernard Shaw comes to mind when I think of Ken and his service to our island.
“This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can.”
Ken seems to live by this.
We Kauaians owe Ken our heartfelt gratitude because of his courage, compassion, willingness to drop everything to help another human being and our island. He’s given one son to the ‘aina and he regularly risks his life for others. Ken, you make Kaua‘i a better place to live. From my heart, thank you. I’ve got a feeling I speak for a lot of us.
Deborah Duda
Kalaheo
Saddened by the recent fires
Today as I was at my dad’s house in Niumalu, I was saddened to see yet another fire. This time it was so much closer to homes and livestock. I saw families gathering around their homes just waiting. It also looks as if it could’ve threatened a place of business. Unbelievable!
I hope that the person or persons responsible will be caught soon. Thank goodness it did begin to rain this evening. Oh, and one more thing: a big mahalo to our Kauai Fire Department and all other emergency agencies who responded.
Darrielle J.K Mizutani
Lihu‘e
Hanalei Bay tours legal? Not so
I agree with Leina‘ala Pavao’s statement (Letters, July 27) that “when people publish misrepresented statements, it is called defamation.” For that reason alone, I must reply to the misrepresentations and insinuations in her letter.
First: Ms. Pavao refers to the permits that Mr. Sheehan was granted in 1987. Those permits approved a boat storage and maintenance facility, a parking lot and related uses; they do not allow commercial boat tours to operate from the facility.
Planning Director Dee Crowell wrote to Mr. Sheehan’s representative in 1998: “You are correct in your understanding that commercial tour boat launching and retrieving at the facility is not permitted without an SMA permit, and issuance of individual commercial boating permits to commercial tour boat companies by the State [DOBOR]. In addition, be advised that commercial tour boat launching and retrieving includes the launching and retrieving of empty boats, with subsequent passenger loading and unloading at another location.”
Planning Director Ian Costa wrote to Mr. Sheehan in 2006: “no launching and retrieving of commercial tour boats has been authorized from your facility.” Further, “no SMA permits are currently valid for launching and retrieving of commercial tour boats from your facility in Hanalei.”
Mayor Baptiste also wrote in 2006: “We do not believe that Lady Ann Cruises or Michael Sheehan is authorized to run their proposed boating operations out of the Hanalei River Boatyard…”
It seems to me that the permits granted in 1987 do not allow commercial boat tours out of Hanalei any more than my driver’s license allows me to pilot an airplane.
Second: as to the claim that “Mr. Sheehan’s permits indicate that the Planning Department has no authority to order him to “cease and desist”: clearly the County has the authority to enforce compliance with County-issued permits. In that regard, as the first step in such a process, the Violation Notice issued by the County last week speaks for itself.
Third: Ms. Pavao states that Lady Ann Cruises does not need any additional permits to operate out of Hanalei. The state Attorney General wrote in 1989: “tour boat operators must obtain an SMA Use permit before DOT can issue operators a commercial permit.” The Deputy County Attorney wrote later that year: “Please note that with the expiration/revocation of all DOT permits on or about Sept. 30, 1988, there are no operators with the proper permits to use the [Sheehan] facility.” And Planning Director Costa wrote to Mr. Sheehan last September: “no SMA permits are currently valid for launching and retrieving of commercial tour boats authorizing any individual tour boat companies for such activity from your facility in Hanalei.”
Fourth: as to the use of the word “illegal”: just as driving with an expired driver’s license is “illegal,” operating commercial boat tours without the necessary permits is “illegal.”
Fifth: the claim that new commercial boat tours are “alleviating crowding and strain on public resources” is implausible. The new tours are in fact creating such impacts by bringing more boat tour customers to the area.
Sixth: as to the commercialization of Hanalei: if one were to accept the contention that Lady Ann Cruises can legally operate out of Hanalei with long-expired permits, then so can the other 40+ permit holders who had permits back in 1987. If one can operate, all can operate. Hanalei is indeed threatened by the actions that began almost three weeks ago.
Lastly: I have never yelled profanities at tourists or anyone else. Community members have been protesting legally and under the watchful eyes of the KPD.
This letter will probably generate another round of misrepresentations and distortions, and I will not burden the readers of this column with replies to them. But all of the documents cited are public, and I am readily available to speak with anyone who is interested in the facts.
Carl Imparato
Hanalei
