• It’s important to vote in KIUC election • A plea to the KIUC Board of Directors • Multi-use path a win-win for everyone It’s important to vote in KIUC election Members of our Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative will have
• It’s important to vote in KIUC election •
A plea to the KIUC Board of Directors •
Multi-use path a win-win for everyone
It’s important to vote in KIUC election
Members of our Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative will have the opportunity in March to elect three new Board directors. Why is electing the best candidates so critical at this time? And who are the most-qualified candidates?
This is an exciting yet challenging new era for electric energy generation on our planet and, specifically, on Kaua‘i. It can be looked at as a burden or approached as an opportunity to contribute to the overall health of humans, as well as to that of our natural environment. In weaning ourselves from the negative effects of burning oil, individuals are being asked to modify energy usage and to employ energy conservation at home. But that’s not all.
We Kauaians have a special situation. KIUC belongs to us. Do you know that it’s the KIUC Board of Directors who make the final decisions regarding new sources of sustainable energy generation — be it hydro, solar, wind, biomass or ocean waves — that we will end up paying for over future decades? These are big decisions that require not only board members who have a good business sense and an understanding that clear communication and dialogue with members is essential, but they also need to have schooled themselves in the new world of sustainable energy generation. It is for those all these reasons that I am voting for the following highly qualified candidates:
Pat Gegen: Pat regularly attends KIUC board meetings, teaches Kalaheo fifth graders how to monitor their home energy use and lives a green lifestyle.
Joel Guy: A respected community leader on Kaua‘i, Joel worked under Mina Morita’s direction at the state Capitol shaping key energy legislation.
Ken Stokes: Currently working with Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s administration on reducing the county’s carbon footprint, Ken’s Kauaian Institute just received a “green” category award from “For Kaua‘i” magazine.
Meet the candidates at your neighborhood forum. Please go and learn more about the KIUC candidates for the Board of Directors before you vote.
Hanalei: At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Hanalei School cafeteria. Hosted by the Hanalei to Haena Community Association.
Westside: At 6 p.m. on Feb. 22 the Kekaha School cafeteria. Hosted by E Ola Mauna Leo O Kekaha.
Kaua‘i Community College: At 6 p.m. on Feb. 23 at the Student Center. Hosted by the Student Association (ASUH-KCC).
Eastside: At 2 p.m. on Feb. 25 at Kapa‘a Library. Hosted by Wailua-Kapa‘a Neighborhood Association.
Lihu‘e: At 7:30 a.m. on March 1 at Kaua‘i Community College, OCET Room 106. Hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and Lihu‘e Business Association.
Gabriela Taylor, Kapa‘a
A plea to the KIUC
Board of Directors
Dear Board members: First, I would like to remind you that Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative is supposed to be a cooperative; hence, the smart meter controversy should be put to a vote.
My family is extremely sensitive to electromagnetic waves. One of the reasons I purchased my particular home is that all of the wiring on my street is buried underground.
I had my house rewired so that all the juice moving through electrical outlets in my bedroom can be turned off at night. Before I had that done, I got migraine headaches from sleeping with my head too close to electrical wiring in the walls.
Can you please not put any smart meters on my house or on my street? I will have to sell my house and move, if you do. And to be quite honest, most of my friends feel the same way. And who will buy a house with a smart meter on it?
Have you read the studies? There are huge lawsuits going on in California right now in areas were they have installed smart meters. They are extremely bad for your health. They can permanently change the DNA structure of an infant from eight feet away.
Please keep these monsters off of our beautiful benign island. Let Kaua‘i be natural, with its own beautiful vibe, without imposing an unnatural electrical grid just so your guys don’t have to get out of their trucks to read the meters. And won’t that be eliminating some jobs?
I realize you have already purchased the meters. Please heed my advice and send them back to the manufacturer and get a refund. Use the money for something good, like solar generators, wind turbines or another alternative to using petroleum-based fuels.
Abigail Jones, Kapa‘a
Multi-use path a win-win for everyone
The multi-use trail has been a blessing for many businesses. One in particular is Coconut Coasters, a successful family run bicycle rental business across the street from Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center. Visitors love their aloha spirit. They answer questions about the island while acting as ambassadors of aloha and stressing proper and safe trail etiquette. For the locals, they repair flat tires at reasonable rates and will fill your bicycle tires with air for free. The beauty of the multi-use trail is it has a trickle-down effect from exercise to new business. It’s a win-win situation.
Everyday, I see an array of people on the multi-use trail, from mothers strolling with baby carriages to roller skaters, skateboarders, joggers, marathon runners, slow walkers, power walkers, mountain bikes, road bikes, comfort bikes, cruiser bikes and just the casual stroller. On top of everything else, the trail has become one of the must-do things for many visitors to our cosmic hamlet of an island.
With obesity running rabid and people needing an excuse to stretch their legs, the muti-use trail is the best political move ever made on Kaua‘i. I do not often compliment anything political, but I must give mahalo to the late mayor Bryan Baptiste for his insight into this trail system and to current mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. for following through on a well-conceived project.
The icing on the cake is the vast majority of the funding was federal grant money.
James “Kimo” Rosen, Kapa‘a
