• More answers needed • A manager to administer • Respect self-expression More answers needed Mr. Walter Lewis’ column (“Silence not always golden,” Forum, Nov. 8) invites response to many statements he makes but being confined by The Garden Island
• More answers needed
• A manager to administer
• Respect self-expression
More answers needed
Mr. Walter Lewis’ column (“Silence not always golden,” Forum, Nov. 8) invites response to many statements he makes but being confined by The Garden Island policy to keep letters short, I will comment, in this letter, only to his views on the subject of the council-manager system which he and Mr. Glenn Mickens ardently support.
I must confess that I, for one, do not regularly read his column. However, I became interested in reading it because of a controversy surrounding the Charter Review Commission which caused a member to resign in frustration.
I wrote a letter expressing my views on the general subject of the role of a member in a group decision-making body, but I chickened out and never sent that letter to TGI for publication. I’m sorry I didn’t, but I have recently begun sending in letters for publication on the subject of the council -manager system, asking for specific answers as to what the proponents see is wrong with our mayor-council system and how the council-manager system would correct those deficiencies.
Mr. Lewis’ column makes mention of improving “various functions of our county government.” This sounds very good. What I am trying to fathom from generalizations like this is, specifically, what are the functions in the system that need improvement? Do you have suggestions for improvements? Does the county-manager system have answers?
The column makes reference also to “Our county desperately needs an effective channel for interchange of views between our citizens and our mayor and council on local issues. The existing system does not provide it.” How does a county manager system provide for effective interchange as you describe it? Is this spelled out in the documents creating the system?
Mr. Lewis has identified at least two generalized problems he claims exist in our system which presumably can be corrected by a county-manager system. Are there other problems and, hopefully, suggestions for cure, contained in the “pages of problems” referred to by Mr. Mickens in his statement to the press?
I am left with two last questions:
Could not all these “problems” and suggestions for change be achieved by suggested amendments to our County Charter instead of resorting to a wholesale change to a new county-manager system because it is different, because it exists in at least 100 communities in 45 states, and because the manager is chosen for his education and experience by an elected council to whom he is responsible?
And isn’t it the primary purpose of the Charter Review Commission to review the Charter and make suggestions as to how the Charter can be improved to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness in the governance of the County of Kaua‘i?
Alfred Laureta, Lihu‘e
A manager to administer
In your letter, Judge Laureta, you seem to be deciding a case other than the one before you (“County dictator,” Letters, Nov. 29). My letter to which you refer suggests that the Charter Review Commission should put the county manager measure on the ballot for the people’s vote.
Your honor, you seem to get all tangled up raising presidential elections (which by the way are determined by electoral college vote) but ignoring that local elections are determined by popular vote.
You say that most voters consider the candidate’s “education” and “experience.” I doubt it. I would expect few voters are aware of the educational background of our council and mayor, although more may have some awareness of their experience. However, a county manager would be chosen by the council primarily based on his or her education and experience.
Certainly I would agree with you, judge, that Kaua‘i is a great place to live, but it is not rated among the best governed. Yes, it is understood that the mayor-council system we have exists in all states, but that only underscores the high ratings enjoyed by the less common council-manager system.
Your characterization of the manager system as a non-elective one with a “dictator” does not recognize that the elected council appoints and, if necessary, removes the manager. The function of the manager is simply to administer our governmental functions more efficiently. Under the manager system the mayor could even be one of the council members.
Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a
Respect self-expression
Graffiti walls for our youth to express themselves on is a lesson in respect — respecting the needs of everyone in our community, not just if you play organized sports.
We need to respect our youths’ need for self expression. I agree graffiti in the wrong place is disrespectful, but if we do not give these artists a place to do their art then we are not addressing the needs of everyone in our community.
Let’s teach the youth to respect and to include everyone in their community even if they cannot see the value in others activities.
Todd Anderson, Lihu’e
