• No need to change Charter • Save the spin • Auwe pilikia • But how could it be? No need to change Charter Mr. Glenn Mickens appears to be proposing another major change to the existing state of affairs
• No need to change Charter • Save the
spin • Auwe pilikia • But how
could it be?
No need to change Charter
Mr. Glenn Mickens appears to be proposing another major change to the existing state of affairs in our county by neatly planting a seed hoping, surely, for its germination.
In his letter of Aug. 1 (“The powerful status quo”), he applauds and endorses the contributions of several named and other un-named “nitpickers” (his word) to the subject target of his letter, namely, the long-established system of decision-making by boards and commissions.
According to the “nitpickers,” commissions and boards are an “arm of the administration” who “do not want to alienate themselves from the mayor who appointed them with council approval” and who are appointed because of “who they know and not what they know.” (How better to alienate board and commission members by questioning their integrity rather than the facts of the issue before them!)
Mr. Mickens then “plants the seed” for consideration , and I quote: “to take the politics out of the equation or even the appearance of wrong decision-making wouldn’t Kaua‘i be better served by having these positions be elected?” so that a “truly representative government with an experienced manager” be realized. (The county-manager being re-incarnated?)
The “nitpickers” are unhappy with decisions made by elected officials and now it is proposing to multiply their headaches by adding at least a hundred more people for the voters to select by election instead of leaving them in appointive positions.
The status quo represents that which the people are satisfied with put into place by people whom they elected. Changing the state of affairs will require the election of people who have been sufficiently persuaded to accept the “nitpickers” point of view. There is no need to change the Charter!
Alfred Laureta, Lihu‘e
Save the spin
Amongst all the tripe to come out of Washington this weekend is the statement by Sen. John Kerry that the S&P downgrade of our country’s credit rating is the “Tea Party Downgrade.”
Lucky for you Mr. Kerry that your president keeps obsessing about corporate jet owners and not luxury yacht owners. Have you moved your yacht from Rhode Island to Massachusetts, yet? Have you paid your “fair share” of Massachusetts taxes, yet? How are those tax loopholes working for you, John?
Save the spin for the poor saps who might buy into it and spare the rest of us. This country has extremely serious debt and deficit problems to deal with. If you want to be helpful, John, just go away.
William Brown, Kapa‘a
Auwe pilikia
Reading the Honolulu Civil Beat article titled “New law jumpstarts Hawai‘i land development,” published July 26 in The Garden Island, made me sick to accept the idea the State of Hawai‘i will move to commercial Koke‘e mountain regardless the sentiment of the island residents who worked so hard and literally fought the DLNR every step of the way during the EIS deliberating process taken by the DLNR to develop Koke‘e.
This law is identified as ACT 55. Signed by the governor creating a state-controlled “Public Land Development Corporation.” Almost immediately this notice describes a range of potential projects including renovating state parks and practically whatever they feel will bring money to their coffer. What do you think?
How will Kaua‘i residents react (again) when the DLNR comes knocking informing Kaua‘i residents that, regardless your heartfelt input to mitigate Koke‘e park they (DLNR) now have full authority (regardless) to negotiate with private business and developers in the boardroom without fairness to the citizenry.
Here (again) is another example of how the “end around” works by government, politicians, and big business. I suggest we the residents “demand” a review of this law and trash it in the new garbage trucks and trash bins Kaua‘i is about to have at our front doors.
James (Jimmy) Torio, Anahola
But how could it be?
Mr. Oswald (“If memory serves me right,” Letters, Aug. 7), in an effort to debunk Ms. Lee’s (“What stuff do you need,” Letters, July 31l) report that Bush said, “If you put your mind to it, the first-time home buyer, the low-income home buyer can have just as nice a house as anybody else,” claims that Bush warned about problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2001 and 2003.
Indeed, if you Google for those warnings you can find a 2008 “report” from Brit Hume on Fox News; a 2008 Glenn Beck “expose”; and a 2009 Karl Rove Wall Street Journal op- ed piece.
Recall that Fox, Glenn Beck and the Wall Street Journal are all owned by Rupert Murdoch who is facing charges that his media empire has spied on private British and American citizens. Not exactly the most reliable of sources.
The New York Times reported in 2003 that Bush proposed a new agency to regulate Freddie and Fannie. Despite having a Republican Congress from 2003 to 2007, the Federal Housing Finance Agency was not established until July 2008 under a Democratic Congress.
In September 2008 Bush seized Fannie and Freddie even though they were not involved in the sub-prime mortgage scandal.
How is it, Mr. Oswald, that Mr. Bush could take our country into two undeclared wars, drastically reduce taxes on the very wealthy, and plunge our country into debt, but his warnings about Fannie and Freddie were ignored by a Republican Congress until it was too late?
John Zwiebel, Kalaheo
