• Mayor’s stance on community outreach • Confidentiality is another word for secrecy • Courtesy on the Side/Bike Paths Mayor’s stance on community outreach I want to make it perfectly clear that our administration remains very committed to community outreach.
• Mayor’s stance on community outreach
• Confidentiality is another word for secrecy
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Courtesy on the Side/Bike Paths
Mayor’s stance on community outreach
I want to make it perfectly clear that our administration remains very committed to community outreach. Ka Leo O Kaua‘i meetings will continue and move forward stronger than ever.
However, instead of it being an ancillary program, community outreach will be incorporated into each department’s core function.
Every appointed person on our cabinet will be motivated to be part of their respective community meetings. After all, we are also members of the communities we live in. We will reach out to you and listen, and together, we will make our communities stronger.
I believe that in order to provide improved services to the public, we must continue to do community outreach. Yes, it is a higher belief. Yes, it is a higher standard. Yes, it is a new way.
It’s a change from “business as usual,” whereby decisionmakers garner public input by determining the date, time and location that is convenient to them and say to the public, “Attend our public hearing; let me know what you think.”
I believe that we must take a more proactive approach and go into the community at a time that is convenient for many people, at a location where they are at ease, and say, “We’re here to listen and learn so we are able to do things better.”
It is not about saying yes to all that is asked of us. It’s about hearing firsthand what the needs of the community are and also about the community recognizing the limitations of the county. Through this process, we gain a higher level of knowledge, understanding and cooperation.
While my vision of community outreach has been met with some criticism, it’s been largely due to varied expectations. Previously, the prevailing thought was to call county government about issues and have them resolve the problems. Well, the challenges we face today are much more complex than they were before. There are many goals that county government cannot accomplish alone and can only achieve through partnership with the community and/or other levels of government.
I believe there is nothing wrong with reaching out to our community. And as long as I am the mayor, we will continue to reach out and learn from the people who we serve.
This is the essence of public service and public service is what we do.
Bryan J. Baptiste
Mayor, Kaua‘i County
Confidentiality is another word for secrecy
I filed a complaint against a Realtor with the Regulated Industries Complaint Office (RICO) in Honolulu. According to the Hawai‘i Statutes and Rules, a Realtor must not conceal from any client any pertinent facts of a purchase, and if he does, his license can be suspended or revoked.
My complaint stated that the listing agent, who had had the listing for 155 days, concealed from me eight pertinent facts of the purchase, and the purchase became so damn traumatic that I nearly pulled out.
Around July 15, 2007, I sent my complaint with two witness statements to RICO. On Feb. 21, I received a letter from RICO stating that the Realtor was innocent. I called RICO requesting the testimony of the Realtor, and on March 14, I received a letter from the RICO attorney stating that in accordance with a certain law, she could not release the testimony of the defendant because it was acquired with a promise of confidentiality.
Now, a promise of confidentiality is another word for secrecy, and if a licensee knows that his testimony will be kept secret, then why would he not be less than truthful in his response, and being less than truthful will not only set him free but in so doing, the statutes and rules of Hawai‘i will have been broken with impunity. As Henry David Thoreau said, “A bad law is no law at all.”
Furthermore, the law is absurd in that a licensee will issue his testimony as a defendant, voluntarily, in order to defend himself. He would be an absolute fool not to do so, therefore, a promise of confidentiality is hypocrisy.
A witness (defendant) has many rights, but secrecy is not one of them unless national security or bodily harm is at risk, which does not apply to my case.
This law, establishing secrecy as a principle guiding RICO’s decisions, was not “put on the books” by any consumer advocacy group. It had to be created by wealthy and powerful people, making it difficult, if not impossible, to discipline a licensee of the state of Hawai‘i. So it’s the same old story, i.e., the bully against the underdog, i.e. the public.
And finally, when RICO turned down my complaint and I contacted them, that agency that is supposed to be serving the public did not tell me that I could continue to pursue my grievance by contacting the two offices that “overlook” RICO, which I discovered only by chance: the Ombudsman Office, 274-3456, and the Office of Information Services, 586-1400.
Bruce Cunningham
Monte Rio, Calif.
Courtesy on the Side/Bike Paths
Since I can remember, and that was a long time ago, I was told “walk on the left side of the street, facing traffic, so you can see the danger.” I’m sure this meant oncoming cars and other vehicles that usually operate on the right side of the road. There were fewer sidewalks back then also.
Now that the beautiful sidewalk/bike path along the Kapa‘a coast line has been created, it is being used by hundreds of people daily. It is truly a wonderful addition to the area.
My question is which side of the sidewalk/bike path should I walk on. It seems to me that same rule should apply. Walk on the left side of the sidewalk/bike path, ride bikes on the right side of the sidewalk/bike path. This would be constant with the “old rules of the road” and would keep the walker from being startled, hit, or run over by the bicyclist from behind.
I realize that more people drive cars than they did in days of old and the tendency is to go to the right side of the road, sidewalk or sidewalk/bike path.
I am asking for advice and guidance. Should I walk on the left side or the right side of the sidewalk/bike path? Occasionally, when a biker approaches a walker from behind they will call out which side of the walker they are approaching from. It is much appreciated, but it is a very rare occasion.
Bill Maier
Kapa‘a
