• Volunteers thanked for Polihale help • Vote Ben, KIUC board • Cry for Po‘ipu, too • On race rantings Volunteers thanked for Polihale help In response to the March 8 front page article in The Garden Island “DLNR reopens
• Volunteers thanked for Polihale help
• Vote Ben, KIUC board
• Cry for Po‘ipu, too
• On race rantings
Volunteers thanked for Polihale help
In response to the March 8 front page article in The Garden Island “DLNR reopens Polihale”:
On behalf of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, I would personally like to thank volunteers with Leadership Kaua‘i who have dedicated their time and energy to “Operation Polihale,” a community service partnership with the DLNR to improve Polihale State Park.
The assistance received from the volunteers who participated in various workdays is invaluable in DLNR’s ongoing commitment to improve state parks and protect and enhance the natural resources of Kaua‘i and statewide.
These energetic and committed volunteers dedicated their Saturday to rejuvenating the park grounds and facilities to make Polihale State Park a place for the community to enjoy. They helped clear roadside brush, fill potholes, paint restrooms and make other needed repairs.
DLNR is proud that this public-private partnership with Leadership Kaua‘i is helping to provide future young leaders with experience in civic responsibility, community volunteerism, teamwork and collaboration. They are shining examples for us all.
Our DLNR crew is gearing up for the next workday and we hope to continue this and other working partnerships with the community, as they are greatly appreciated.Russell Tsuji
DLNR First Deputy Director
Vote Ben, KIUC board
Since I left my position on the board of directors at Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative in March 2006, I have refrained from endorsing any candidate for that board. However, I now feel compelled to step forward and give my endorsement to a new candidate. I cannot emphasize too strongly how important it is to our future that we elect progressive candidates who believe in “open member governance” instead of “closed governance by the privileged few” as some current board members do. How can we hold our elected representatives responsible for their actions when we are not privy to their deliberations? It is easy for a particular board member to claim he/she is supportive of a particular issue when there is a gag order preventing anyone other than the chair from speaking to the public. This concept has passed its usefulness and should be done away with.
I have known Ben Sullivan for several years as the volunteer president and “driving force” behind Apollo Kaua‘i (an organization dedicated to helping Kaua‘i reduce its dependence on imported oil). He has proved to be an extremely knowledgeable, hardworking, open-minded, smart, and well-spoken advocate for energy efficiency and renewable energy. He is courageous in standing up for his beliefs and yet willing to include the ideas of others.
Ben is just the type of individual we need on the KIUC board. He will bring a fresh viewpoint, willingness to work hard to develop solutions, and an unwillingness to be stifled by old conventions. Ben is one of “us,” the members of KIUC, and believes strongly in open governance and communication. He will work to help us all stay better informed as to the goings on at KIUC. I know he will advocate strongly for more creativity in pursuing renewable energy sources. He is educated as an architect, but his passion is a more sustainable Kaua‘i. Unlike many current board members, Ben will not be satisfied to take the easy road and avoid “making waves.” The staff of KIUC, while competent and conscientious in their jobs, mostly feels as though they know best what Kaua‘i needs and do not want to take the extra risk required to take an “unconventional” idea to the PUC.
I am continually embarrassed to read of the wind farm on Maui, the biodiesel plant being built on O‘ahu, and the innovative energy conservation programs being implemented by HECO. They are the investor-owned utilities and supposedly restricted in what they can do by their stockholders. KIUC is the member-owned utility and could be a leader in providing energy and money saving alternatives to its members. I feel that one of the reasons we are behind in this area is reluctant staff and a majority of board members who are not willing to take a stand for the members’ best interests.
It is time for new fresh leadership at KIUC. Please join me in voting for Ben Sullivan to the KIUC board of directors.
Susan Stayton
Lawa‘i
Cry for Po‘ipu, too
So some dude wants to build an 8,700-square-foot home, a big ol’ barn and a caretaker’s cottage on his North Shore property (“Planners debate contested home,” A1, March 19).
A planning commissioner is quoted as saying “I just cry for Kaua‘i and I cry for us. This is going to have a tremendous effect on that area for years to come.”
A house, a barn and a cottage. Hmmm …
Say, planning commissioners, have you been to Po‘ipu lately?
Roger Olsen
Lawa‘i
On race rantings
It is outrageous and irresponsible for you to print a cartoon showing Barack Obama trying to hide from his pastor’s racist rantings when he has actually (unreported by you) condemned them and adopted national unity as his basic mission.
How can a newspaper, especially one published in a place as diverse as Hawai‘i, simply perpetuate race-war stereotypes and completely ignore his extraordinarily honest March 18 speech calling on everyone to put aside grievances and continue the quest for “a more perfect union” to solve our real problems?
In fact, you should print the entire text, which is the greatest statement on race issues that I have seen in all my 80 years.
William Clark
Lawa‘i
