• Changing the county’s costume • Let’s keep the birds around • Disrespectful air tours disturb residents Changing the county’s costume I will bypass the necessity of explaining the misinterpretation by Ms. Carol Bain (“Don’t put up another public roadblock,”
• Changing the county’s costume • Let’s keep the birds around • Disrespectful air tours disturb residents
Changing the county’s costume
I will bypass the necessity of explaining the misinterpretation by Ms. Carol Bain (“Don’t put up another public roadblock,” Letters, Feb. 7) of the statement in my Feb. 3 letter which read “No poll has been taken to support her conclusion that the ‘the will of the people’ is what she says it is” to mean “Laureta is calling for conducting a poll before placing the question on the ballot.” I will let the reader decide the accuracy of her interpretation.
I agree 100 percent with Mr. Glenn Mickens, in his letter of Feb. 8, that “there is no requirement … that a voter decision must be preceded by a poll on the question.” “The will of the people” was freely used by Ms. Bain to augment her position.
When writing my letters to the editor, I find no necessity to pretend that I speak for anyone but myself and especially not on behalf of “the will of the people,” or pretend that my views have “broad citizen support” or other words of similar import. (In that respect, I am disappointed that Mr. Walter Lewis in his column (“The county’s disdain for citizens’ views,” A Better Kaua‘i, Feb. 6) found it necessary to augment his views by referring to the “manager system that has broad citizen support.” Debating whether it has “broad citizen support” or not would be immaterial and irrelevant to the main issue so, I won’t pursue it.
The Charter Review Commission, I believe, has been wrestling over the years with the major problem of (1) amending the Charter to reflect or incorporate the core demands of the county manager advocates or (2) concede to their demands for a wholesale replacement of our council-mayor system or (3) feeling no need for any change at all.
Correct me if I am wrong. As I understand it, the “core” attraction of the county manager system, lies in the proposition that a manager chosen to administer the functions of the county government has the education and experience for that position. (Mr. Mickens’ letter of Feb. 4 changes “experience” to “trained.” See my letter of Feb. 10.)
Mr. Lewis makes casual reference to the CRC possibly submitting a recommendation to change the current title of the “administrative assistant” (to the mayor) to that of “managing director” and having it filled by a qualified individual who will be accountable for the performance of that office.
The recommendation is essentially a concession to all sides of the question assuming those who prefer the status quo decide that the change to the charter may add to the efficiency and effectiveness of our government.
But, what is Mr. Lewis’ reaction to this recommendation? Therein exists the seed for compromise, yet, disappointingly, he writes: “The idea was so blatantly an appropriation of a feature of the manager system and accomplishes so little in the current system it is clearly a non-starter.”
In other words, Mr. Lewis, despite his legal background, is unwilling to objectively explore the possibility of a compromise and instead takes the hard-nosed position that the recommendation belongs to and is the exclusive right of the council-manager system and that it won’t work in any other system. His position amounts to an “all or nothing” stance — take it or leave it!
In any event, the “pages of problems” will not disappear regardless of any new costume given to the administration of our county.
Alfred Laureta, Lihu‘e
Let’s keep the birds around
Your article Monday on the death of the rare native seabirds struck a chord with us as we appreciate all of the beautiful birds on Kaua‘i and would like to see as many as possible survive in this age of extinction of different species of animals.
While we agree on principle that lights are responsible for bird deaths, your reporter overlooked one of the island’s main bird predators/killers and they are the feral cats that roam around all day and night mainly between the crucial hours of dusk and 3 to 5 a.m.
We leave in an ag district and at the last home we rented, we had at least seven feral cats and caught them several times in the act of killing cardinals and shamans/meadowlarks.
We love cats but think a good solution might be for a mobile truck to go and neuter some of these felines and/or feed them some good cat food. A national magazine did an article on the fact that millions of America’s songbirds are killed every year by outdoor cats. Pesticides are also a major killer of birds as they feed on seeds and often mistake pellets left out to kill rodents for seeds.
Kaua‘i is one of the most beautiful places in the world so let’s all do our bit to keep these beautiful birds around for many generations to come.
Cecelia and Cliff Waeschle, Kilauea
Disrespectful air tours disturb residents
In 1995 Kaua‘i residents and helicopter tour companies worked together to develop a “Fly Neighborly” program and tour flight path map that avoided most residential and sacred locations. Since then, companies have changed and many pilots have not been instructed on the plan.
The worst offenders of disrespect are now the airplane tour companies who fly regularly over homes and communities, such as Hanalei, designated by the Hawaii State DOT as “noise sensitive.”
These companies have shown no interest in community concerns and have not been willing to even discuss their disturbing commercial activities.
Have you been bothered by these planes? Register your complaint and comments at www.stopdat.org.
Makaala Kaaumoana, Kilauea
