• Integrity getting harder to come by these days • Defending Hawaii at home • Signs hurting beauty of Kauai Integrity getting harder to come by these days I have worked in education for over 20 years in Oregon. I have been very fortunate
• Integrity getting harder to come by these days • Defending Hawaii at home • Signs hurting beauty of Kauai
Integrity getting harder to come by these days
I have worked in education for over 20 years in Oregon. I have been very fortunate to mentor and teach elementary students. It is the most impressionable period in their young lives to instill integrity, honesty and the accepted values of society.
Our family has been visiting the island for many years and we love the people and the beauty of the island. The aloha spirit is unsurpassed. We have spent most of our time on the south side of the island, mainly in the Poipu Beach area. We have been fortunate to have befriended many of the lifeguards that work this station. Their friendship is truly a blessing and a gift.
We are very saddened and upset to hear of Myles Emura’s current and ongoing situation regarding his lawsuit and termination from the County of Kauai. Myles was a true ambassador for Kauai and his absence is a great loss to the public and visitors.
My experience has taught me we learn from our mistakes and it is crucial that we not repeat them. This is the same for telling lies to disguise these mistakes. It only makes matters worse. This is what I teach the children I come into contact with. Lies never die and they contaminate the souls of those who nurture them. It is only until the truth is spoken that lies will cease to exist.
It is my understanding from reading your paper that lawsuits have been filed naming Fire Chief Robert Westerman, Water Safety Supervisors Kalani Vierra, Gerald Hurd and Norman Hunter as the defendants. These lawsuits were filed due to acts of retaliation on fine public servants. Whistleblowers do not deserve this treatment. I don’t believe the lifeguards who reported the violations conducted by these supervisors would fabricate these reports. What would they have gained by testifying in such a manner, and why would several of them have identical reports about aforementioned violations? These water safety supervisors can remove the burden from the County of Kauai, the taxpayers and save embarrassment for the mayor of Kauai, the county attorney and also the Kauai fire chief by being accountable for their actions and having the integrity to speak the truth.
Mary Miner
Astoria, Oregon
Defending Hawaii at home
In the July 23 issue of TGI, a letter writer suggested to people driving their vehicles with decals “Defend Hawaii” to join the military if they truly want to defend Hawaii. We know many of these people who display the “Defend Hawaii” signs, and we can assure you that most of them already have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. This is where they realized that they were deceived, because instead of defending their beloved Hawaii they were taken to the Middle East to invade other countries and kill people there.
Luckily, nobody is threatening Hawaii, because Hawaii is not a threat to other nations, but if there were any threats against it, these young people and others, who call Hawaii their homeland, would be ready to defend it. Any threat that might be perceived today is in the imagination of those who are still occupying the Hawaiian Islands illegally for more than 100 years.
János Keoni Samu
Kalaheo
Signs hurting beauty of Kauai
I’m really happy that the main vote is almost in — so now most of those really ugly campaign signs can come down. We had to get rid of plastic bags on Kauai — but I guess thousands of political signs are OK! They are, for the most part, illegal on public roads. That six feet in front of your house is considered public property — if you went and “got a sign” — it should be displayed in your own yard.
They have gone absolutely crazy this time around, putting up signs six months before the election and still three months till the other election. People, that is nine months of the year for a office of two years! Is it really that important? We only have about a 30 percent amount of active voters on this island. Why can about 20 people thrash this beauty? I’m not voting for anyone who made my neighborhood, my island paradise, look like garbage flew off a truck. Do I really need to see 100 signs for the same person on just a short drive to Lihue? They are the people we are electing who are illegally posting these signs. There are laws for these signs that are not being monitored or enforced!
We have an anti-billboard law that is not being enforced. Stacking four or more four-by-six banners looks like a billboard to me! Who is in charge of this? Let’s stop with all the signs and banners.
Eric Gregory
Koloa
