• Witch hunt is right • Kudos to life savers • Debunking conspiracy thinking • Smart meters make sense Witch hunt is right An outstanding letter in the Forum section on Dec. 25 was submitted by Janos Samu, “Witch hunt
• Witch hunt is right • Kudos to life savers • Debunking conspiracy thinking • Smart meters make sense
Witch hunt is right
An outstanding letter in the Forum section on Dec. 25 was submitted by Janos Samu, “Witch hunt on Kauai.” He makes a great analogy between Mayor Carvalho, who does things to the people, as opposed to our auditor Ernie Pasion, who has consistently done things for the people.
Mr. Samu makes so many truthful statements in his letter, I hope that everyone who reads them will remember what he said come election time. Unanimously the people who have followed this disgraceful fiasco to oust Mr. Pasion from his job as our auditor have supported him. Only those whom his audits have negatively pointed the finger at, want him gone. It appears that the hierarchy that runs our government feels that its citizens are stupid and can’t see through debacles like this. How wrong they are! Our auditor has more than proven his ability to do the job he was hired to do. Now it’s up to you, the taxpayers, to change our governmental operations by making sure we have people at the top like Ernie Pasion running it: honest, qualified people who belong there and not political appointees.
Mahalo Mr. Samu for your truthful words of wisdom to make things pono.
Camellia Ditch-Crosby
Kalaheo
Kudos to life savers
After reading The Garden Island (Friday, Dec. 27), I wanted to offer recognition and thanks to the Kauai Fire Department lifeguards at Kealia Beach, who made (another) great save on Christmas Day.
Congratulations to the crew on combining training, skill and bravery to save the lives of two visitors!
And thanks to the responding firefighters and EMTs who assisted with the rescue effort and transported the visitors to the hospital for treatment.
Speaking as a former Mainland firefighter, I still marvel at how our public safety system here operates — with no possibility of getting assistance from surrounding counties or other states.
Everything — including the people and equipment — needs to be here on the island! It’s unlike any system in place on the Mainland and we should all be proud of how well it works.
We’re all fortunate to have such skilled and dedicated public employees working in our behalf.
Kurt Last
Anahola
Debunking conspiracy thinking
Sounding like the Unibomber’s anti-technology manifesto, Michelle Harvey (“Say no to smart meters” Dec. 12, TGI) calls smart meters “invaders.” She worries that KIUC having the same information they collect manually from the old meters will somehow turn them into spies and burglars.
Invoking the “right to privacy,” Michelle thinks smart meters can know when we’re asleep.
Quoting a conspiracy theory website as her source, she believes smart meters can be used to determine “when to best plan a robbery, targeted home invasion, or burglary.”
I just don’t picture KIUC adding burglary to its business plan, do you? Ironically, any burglar can walk up to the old meters and read the “private” data any time. That’s much easier than investing billions in developing an entire smart grid technology to find out when people are sleeping.
To prove negative health effects, Michelle says, “Recently, the Santa Cruz top health official officers disclosed findings that smart meters do cause health threats.” Two years ago, a Santa Cruz County administrative officer submitted a letter saying cell phones are bad so smart meters must be bad, too. There was no study, no data, no findings, just an opinion. It’s online for anyone to read and laugh at. Santa Cruz’s Gary-Hooser-like politicians don’t overrule all the real studies and the conclusion of the Environmental Defense Fund that smart meters are not only safe, their energy saving benefits are great for the environment, too.
As a KIUC customer unafraid of new things, I don’t see why I should have to pay for Michelle’s paranoia. It’s not discrimination, as Michelle calls it, to charge people who refuse a standard meter for the costs of maintaining their old meters. KIUC charges to install special equipment for customers who add solar, too, as they should.
Out of the 18 American energy co-ops that participated in this smart grid upgrade, Kauai is the only one that allows conspiracy theorists to opt out of the standard meter. That’s more than enough of a concession.
Charging all of us for their unwarranted fears would be wrong.
Chuck Lasker
Kalaheo
Smart meters make sense
The KIUC board meeting to determine what the wording will be on the January ballot was interesting. The ballot is to determine who is going to pay for the costs incurred by those 3,000 members who have refused installation of a smart meter.
Smart meters were installed to save money.
The argument that your standard meter was read for years without extra charge does not take into account this loss of savings.
Additionally, smart meters assist in preventing power outages because demand can be more closely monitored. The next time your power goes out, it may be because your neighbor refused installation of a smart meter.
The health and privacy issues (although completely without merit) are not of a concern in this election because they do not generate members.
KIUC members need to pay attention to this election. If the board action of imposing a fee for non-smart meters is not upheld, your electric bill will have to go up to cover those additional costs.
John Zwiebel
Kalaheo
