• Starwood reinvesting in Kaua‘i • Keep up the good work • Police should prioritize crimes pursued Starwood reinvesting in Kaua‘i Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawai‘i has always taken great pride in its strong ties to the community on Kaua‘i.
• Starwood reinvesting in Kaua‘i • Keep up the good work •
Police should prioritize crimes pursued
Starwood reinvesting in Kaua‘i
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawai‘i has always taken great pride in its strong ties to the community on Kaua‘i. With over 1,000 rooms across our three Kaua‘i properties, the St. Regis Princeville Resort, Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas, and Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort, we employ over 850 local residents.
As Kaua‘i’s largest single private employer, we play a substantial role in this island’s economy, and we are aware of the expectations and responsibilities that accompany this status. Over the many years that we have been a part of this community, we have always striven to keep the interests of the people of Kaua‘i at heart. Our local employees embody the aloha spirit that makes our guests feel so welcome on Kaua‘i, and we do our best to reciprocate the aloha of our ‘ohana and our neighbors.
Our ties to this community run deep. Over the years, we’ve contributed millions to local charities. Our staff and managers volunteer countless hours to important local causes and community organizations. When hurricanes Iwa and Iniki struck Kaua‘i, we provided shelter not only for hundreds of stranded visitors, but also for hundreds of local residents whose homes had been destroyed or made uninhabitable.
With our tradition of supporting the Kaua‘i community and hiring locally, it was disappointing to hear concerns raised regarding the renovations at the Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort in Po‘ipu (“‘Shame on you,’” The Garden Island, April 16).
To set the record straight, Case & Associates General Contractors was awarded the contract for the current phase of the Sheraton Kaua‘i Master Plan renovations because of its vast experience in hotel renovations and because it was the lowest of three bidders on the project. We followed our customary practice in the bid review with Starwood’s finance department spearheading the process to assess contractors’ competency and pricing.
Ultimately, Starwood is a publicly traded company answerable to our shareholders. Cost and quality are equally important to keep Sheraton Kaua‘i competitive with other resorts around the world. And that is critically important to the jobs of our hotel associates.
It is also important to note that Case & Associates is not new either to our state or to this island. Specializing in hotel construction and renovation, Case has worked on multiple projects throughout Hawai‘i over the years including renovations at the St. Regis Princeville. Most importantly, Case has a local supervisor overseeing the Sheraton project and no less than 70 percent of the workers are from Hawai‘i.
In addition, we are committed to doing even more for Kaua‘i workers. Mayor Carvalho and his administration have asked us to increase our already substantial support for Kaua‘i’s construction industry. In response to the mayor’s request, we have added four more projects to our master plan that we will bid exclusively with Kaua‘i contractors. Over the next 12 to 24 months, as we continue with the additional phases of our master plan, Starwood Hawai‘i will invest an additional $7 to $10 million in Sheraton Kaua‘i, creating more job opportunities to further help the island’s construction industry and its economy.
Reinvesting in Kaua‘i is part of our ongoing commitment to this community and support for the island where we live, work and play — and which we love.
Keith Vieira, Senior vice president and director of operations,
Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hawai‘i and French Polynesia
Keep up the good work
I can’t believe that some of you out there are saying that our patrol officers are not doing their job.
They are out there when you’re sleeping, putting their lives on the line. They’re out there 24/7 looking for drug users, alcohol abusers and street people who are causing havoc to the people and community that we live in. They’re out there during rain storms, floods, tsunamis and hurricanes.
Who do you think you’re calling when you dial 911 because your neighbor is out of control and you’re scared for your life? Whose life is out there trying to protect yours? When was the last time you went to a domestic situation trying to straighten it out and people are calling you names and spitting in your face? How many times you were at the scene of an accident and had to pull someone out or go into a house where the person has died several days ago to do a report?
You should be out there thanking each and every one of our officers for watching your back each and every day with their lives. Yes, you might have gotten a ticket or two at some time but that is also what we pay our officers for.
I thank and support Mr. Perry and his entire force for what they have done for the island. To every officer: Keep up the good work!
Ryan Orsatelli, ‘Ele‘ele
Police should prioritize crimes pursued
“Community responds to rash of burglaries” read the headline Wednesday. I read this article regarding crime around our island, much of it occurring during the day, according to one source quoted, while I watched five of our police officers spend part of their day in an exercise that appeared to be designed primarily to cite motorists for seat belt law violations.
It has to cause one to wonder if the administration ultimately responsible for the allocation of our law enforcement officers actually has the best interest of the population in mind and are committed to reducing crime here, or if perhaps they serve some other bureaucratic/political agenda.
I doubt that this is the sort of duty our dedicated police officers envisioned when they took the oath. I suspect most of our officers would prefer to be patrolling neighborhoods and maybe “staking out” areas known to foster illegal activity.
In my opinion, burglaries, assault, thefts, etc should take a much higher priority than seat belt violations.
Ellis Brooks, Koloa
