• Dogs as quality-of-life issue • Use of discretion in enforcing laws • Thee noise causes pain • Kaua‘i doing well Dogs as quality-of-life issue In a Friday letter to the editor (“Shaylene not a ‘pet prosecutor,’” Letters, May 16)
• Dogs as quality-of-life issue
• Use of discretion in enforcing laws
• Thee noise causes pain
• Kaua‘i doing well
Dogs as quality-of-life issue
In a Friday letter to the editor (“Shaylene not a ‘pet prosecutor,’” Letters, May 16) resident Glenn Mickens argues that it’s simply a vocal minority who believe that responsible dog walking should be allowed on the new Lihu‘e-to-Anahola coastal path.
His opinion fails to consider that in fact, his viewpoint is the minority.
A recent public opinion poll conducted by a reputable and independent market research firm (Ward Research) found that the majority of Kaua‘i residents support path use by dog walkers.
There are several more facts to consider. Nearly 50 percent of Kaua‘i residents have a dog. And Kauai County is protected from liability as state law limits liability to the dog owner for their pet’s behavior. It is also a fact that in 2007, there were only two reported dog-bite cases on Kaua‘i that occurred on a beach or in a park.
Pure and simple, there is no proof that responsible dog walking should be prohibited in our communities. And laws that ignore the facts, the desires of the majority and cater to an unfounded, fearful minority prevent us from being a progressive society.
Sound state and county policy that affects dogs in public places should recognize these truths. It should recognize that the majority of pet owners are responsible, and that pet owners represent the majority of the population.
I agree with Mickens that we have quality-of-life issues on Kaua‘i needing to be addressed by our elected officials and for many of us, this is one of them.
Becky Rhoades, director Kauai Humane Society
Lihu‘e
Use of discretion in enforcing laws
In the letter “‘Pet prosecutor’ sounds off,” Letters, May 17, Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho writes “I’m sure the rest of the community would take offense if I decided to unilaterally pick and choose which laws I wanted to enforce or not.”
She is right — we do take offense even when the action is not unilateral but done in concert with other council members as was done at the June 15, 2006, session of the Kauai County Council.
At that meeting Shaylene supported an investigation into what she described “as a conspiracy against the public being informed of the truth …”
Shaylene said, “Having practiced criminal law almost solely for 15 years both as a public defender as well as a prosecutor, it is very disturbing because there are the kinds of cases that I exactly reviewed and took apart and to have this kind of misinformation published it’s just horrific.”
Shaylene and her co-conspirators then proceeded to take a sheet-feed error and spin a conspiracy out of whole cloth claiming someone intended to alter a government document for purposes of deception. They called for an investigation and got one.
A former police chief and candidate for the Kauai County Council’s house was raided by the state Attorney General.
Computers and electronics were seized as evidence.
An e-mail threat was sent from a county official to a citizen for expressing the opinion it was a sheet-feed error.
After a six month investigation the state Attorney General returned the seized equipment, and dropped all charges.
After an enormous waste of time, taxpayer money, an e-mail threat from a county official and the tarnishing of a county council candidate’s reputation (just before the election) it turns out the altered document was the result of a sheet-feed error which was obvious to the non-conspiracy minded all along
With limited resources the county prosecutor must exercise discretion in picking and choosing which laws to enforce. Hopefully this discretion will be based upon the seriousness of the offense committed and not upon politically motivated half-baked conspiracy theory.
Ed Coll
Puhi
Thee noise causes pain
The Golden Rule essentially states the same thing in most religions of the world be it Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Bahai, Confucianism, Taoism, Jainism and many other religions are all based on: “Do not do to others that of which if done to thee, would cause thee pain.”
There is a tree trimmer and landscaper who comes into our neighborhood — when they’re not making noise with their high-power chainsaw, weed blowers and oversized sit down mowers — with a need to blast their music. These people come into our neighborhood and play their music at levels that can be heard three houses away. When asking them politely to please turn it down, they get offended. I have even offered to buy Walkmans for these people. These people seem to have a lack of common courtesy. They come into a quiet neighborhood and cannot handle the silence of nature, they blast their music, have oversized power tools and a total lack of respect and common courtesy.
I personally believe there should be a ban on power tools in residential neighborhoods, however I realize this is not possible for people making a living at landscaping, building and tree trimming.
I ask of all those noise-making professionals out there when visiting a strange neighborhood on your next job to remember the Golden Rule.
How would you like me weed blowing in your face at 4 a.m.?
Kimo Rosen
Kapa‘a
Kaua‘i doing well
While the rest of the country is struggling with declining tax revenues from property taxes, Kaua‘i is doing well.
Hopefully the county will save some for a rainy-day fund when/if revenues decline.
I guess we should thank all the part-time condo owners who pay property taxes also.
Richard Blohm
Waipouli
