• Residents must rally to change government • Sunbathing in nude not OK at public beach Residents must rally to change government Excellent rebuttal letter “Process and purpose” in response to Parachini’s letter targeting the Article 33 Charter Amendment and its authors.
• Residents must rally to change government • Sunbathing in nude not OK at public beach
Residents must rally to change government
Excellent rebuttal letter “Process and purpose” in response to Parachini’s letter targeting the Article 33 Charter Amendment and its authors.
This is the most timely, well-written and thorough guest commentary that I’ve read in TGI in some time. Sorry Walter, but you’re still second, third, fourth and fifth. After defending their process and motivation they thoroughly rebut the content of the offending letter and then they introduce themselves not as shady, behind-the-scene opportunists, but as longtime citizens of Kauai who reside from Princeville to Waimea. Which is a heck of a lot better geographic representation than we have on the County Council.
This letter and the issues it addresses is another example of the problems and issues that continually plague our county government. Walter Lewis, in a number of letters, has discussed the root problems and the reasons that we haven’t been able to correct them. Because of the way our county’s government is structured and operates, there is no motivation to change or fix things. As an example, when a county committee member’s opening statement in a meeting is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and the purpose of the meeting was to solicit public input on proposed changes to the County Council representation (by district or a combination of at-large and by district) it just illustrates the built-in bias to resist change.
I’ve experienced the effectiveness of local governments for a number of counties and cities similar in size and geography to Kauai. They all have some inherent strengths and weaknesses. The one that in my experiences has worked the best in representing the interest of the people and managing the government function is the county council/county manager (or city commission/city manager) with council (commission) and elected by district.
Why did this work better?
In my opinion, with a county manager hired by and reporting to the council, the focus is on managing the various departments of the county and not on ceremonial functions, political infighting and getting re-elected.
Unfortunately, unless we the people band together and force positive changes, nothing will happen and the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality will continue.
Michael Ritz
Princeville
Sunbathing in nude not OK at public beach
Yesterday, Sunday, June 15, for Father’s Day, some friends, my husband and I decided to go to Poipu Beach, after lunch, for an afternoon of fun and relaxation. Because we had such beautiful weather, a lot of local families with small children, as well as tourist families with small children, had the same idea.
As we looked at the water, in the horizon, we realized that there were a couple of young ladies sunbathing with only their bikini bottoms. We actually saw them taking off their bikini tops and just laying in the sand.
I walked over to the lifeguard station and mentioned it to one of them. I was very disappointed to hear from the older lifeguard, which I did not get his name, who said very nonchalantly that “there was nothing they could do” or “could not reinforce it.” This was about 3 p.m.
We enjoyed the ocean water for a while, when we got back to our spot in the grass, I noticed that the two young ladies were still sunbathing with no tops. I approached them and very politely asked them where they were from and they said from Spain. I said, “Well, I’m sure you’re enjoying your day and are used to sunbathing with no clothes, but this is a family beach and would appreciate it if they would put their tops back on.” The young ladies then asked, “Do you want us to put our tops back on?” I said I would appreciated it very much and so would everybody else. And they did! We left the beach soon after.
I’m concerned what will happened in the future if we don’t reinforce the issue of sunbathing in the nude at Poipu Beach, right away. This is a place where families meet and enjoy a time of fun and relaxation. Sunbathing in the nude should not be allowed, period.
Berna McRoberts
Koloa
