• Ferry editorial good for lining bird cage • Is the battle worth the cost? • What about the infrastructure? Ferry editorial good for lining bird cage Generally I don’t get involved in public “political” displays and rarely do I
• Ferry editorial good for lining bird cage
• Is the battle worth the cost?
• What about the infrastructure?
Ferry editorial good for lining bird cage
Generally I don’t get involved in public “political” displays and rarely do I feel the need to answer diatribes from either side of various issues published in The Garden Island.
However your Monday editorial, “Ferry fight logic flawed,” has hit a new low. It’s curious that this particular “opinion” is apparently too controversial to be credited to any one writer so I can assume that it reflects the opinion of the entire The Garden Island staff.
With that in mind let’s look at some of the points made by our mysterious writer. The editorial starts out by using the tried-and-true method of ridicule by using the shrill voices of unconnected extremists. I grant you to call the Superferry “A whale-killing machine” is a bit over the top. However with a cruising speed over 40 knots there should be concerns. With a small amount of research you would see that whale-ferry collisions do happen and Hawaiian waters are prime wintering waters for humpback whales. I would also add that the afore-mentioned whales are part of the “business climate.”
Then there’s your misquote of Emma Lazarus, from the plaque on the statue of liberty. “Apparently pestilence, greed, drugs, the homeless, the perverted, the depraved, your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free will all be delivered via the 350-foot boat that had a public coming out yesterday at Nawiliwili Harbor.”
Yes there has been a lot of “hysteria” about the coming of the Superferry. Noted crackpots like Sen. Shan S. Tsutsui have voiced concerns about ridiculous issues like impact on outer islands, state funding for harbor upgrades ($40 million) lack of transparent business practices by Hawaii Superferry and Superferry’s negative effects on other Hawaiian businesses. Perhaps if people were truly informed and included in the process they would not get “hysterical.”
The Garden Island’s comment, “The Coast Guard announcement that armed vessels will protect a 100-foot bubble around the traveling vessel with the possibility of 10 years in jail for harassment, though, was a nice touch,” strikes me as just a bit hostile. In fact the notion that “armed vessels will protect a 100-foot bubble around the traveling vessel with the possibility of 10 years in jail for harassment” sounds like a restriction of the First Amendment and free speech, as well as a gross mis-use of the Homeland Security Act. I for one find it disturbing to hear veiled threats evoking use of force against United States citizens expressing their views. Thank god for the folk on Molokai who blocked the harbor with their boats and stood up against the cruise ships, sounds like the Coast Guard would have had them jailed or worse.
This is from The Garden Island’s Web site, www.kauaiworld.com: “The Kauai Publishing Company dates back to 1902, the year The Garden Island newspaper, Kauai’s newspaper of record, was first published. Today, Kauai Publishing continues to publish and distribute The Garden Island, now seven days a week. In addition, Kauai Publishing Company sends news of Kaua‘i across the globe on kauaiworld.com, Kauai’s best-read Web site. The visitor publications Essential Kauai is published bi-monthly by Kauai Publishing Company, along with companion Web sites. Homes is the real estate publication of Kauai Publishing and the Kauai Business Report is the company’s monthly business publication.”
Sounds like The Garden Island has a pretty significant self-interest in getting as many folks here as possible as well as ties to the local business community. I’m not saying they should divest any of this or recuse themselves from the discussion of the Superferry. Just realize this is not an “independent” newspaper.
Digest what you read in the editorial with a serious grain of salt.
Now if you will excuse me I have to paper my bird cage.
Jay Dorrance
Kapahi
Is the battle worth the cost?
I have been visiting my father in Lawrence, Kansas, a community a little larger than the county of Kaua‘i in population. Wal-Mart applied for a permit for a new super-store in Lawrence and was initially refused.
Years of litigation and hundreds of thousands of dollars later a new city comission finally capitulated and we will have a super-store after all. Now the city is so broke it can’t fix streets, keep the bus line going or much else without raising taxes greatly.
Wal-Mart has more money than the County of Kaua‘i and will probably prevail eventually. It might be reasonable to consider big box stores as eventualities, even though we hate to see local businesses fail.
Local business can survive with unique qualities that they already have. The County of Kaua’i might be better off to fight a battle that can be won than one that it is doomed to lose
Phil Harrison
Kapa‘a
What about the infrastructure?
Francine M. Grace’s letter on Aug. 19 echoes a popular and common belief on Kaua‘i. The story is usually short and simple — an excessive number of “haoles” are moving here from the Mainland and causing virtually every problem. If you honestly feel that one group of people is to blame, simply look inside the cars around you the next time you’re stuck in traffic. If you remove every tenth car, or even every fifth car, you’d still have a traffic jam.
Part of the population growth on Kaua‘i is due to natural increase, or births minus deaths. The remainder is caused by in-migration, which is partially offset by out-migration. In other words, there are people moving here, but this number is partially offset by those who move off-island. Also keep in mind that the population of the U.S. grew 213% between 1940 and 2000. During this same period, Kaua‘i’s population grew at a lesser rate of 163%. Population growth is a complex formula that cannot be attributed to a single group.
One unavoidable fact is that as a population grows, more homes are required. The county’s tax revenue continues to grow not just because there are more homes to tax, but because they continually reappraise old properties and increase the tax burden on the owners. Where does all this money go? Why does Kaua‘i still only have a single, dilapidated two-lane road going around the island? As you ponder the answer, don’t forget that Hawai‘i has the third highest overall tax burden in the U.S.
Growth is a natural part of a successful and free society. Perhaps the time and effort spent trying to reverse an inevitable trend would be better spent by taking a closer look at why our local government commits so little to improving public infrastructure after taxing us so heavily. All too often, name-calling, localism, and racism are obstructions to solving problems.
Brian Young
Lihu‘e
