• Mayor needs to be more responsive • ‘Voting guide’ was difficult to follow • Don’t forget about the homeless through these hurricanes Mayor needs to be more responsive During the mayoral debate it was reported that Mr. Barca asked Mayor Carvalho, “Did
• Mayor needs to be more responsive • ‘Voting guide’ was difficult to follow • Don’t forget about the homeless through these hurricanes
Mayor needs to be more responsive
During the mayoral debate it was reported that Mr. Barca asked Mayor Carvalho, “Did you respect every kind of person’s input or just the 30-year friends you have from being in politics?” about Ordinance 960 GMO issues.
Mayor Carvalho responded that he is a leader who looks “for solutions … results … at every single issue that comes before me and I try my very best to look at all the different facts that are before me.” This is hard for this author to believe. Having hand-delivered a 109-page investigative narrative to our mayor, prior to a May 20, 2010, meeting, along with a verbal briefing for one hour, my efforts were for naught.
My purpose requesting a meeting was to garner official and authoritative support from the Mayor’s Office “concerning the absence of enforcement of environmental violations affecting the Island of Kauai and the State Department of Health’s refusal to enforce environmental regulations.”
The mayor’s response to my request was … not to look for solutions, results … every single issue … nor best look at all the different facts before him. I was told to call the ombudsman in Honolulu. The environmental violations? Illegal dumping sites, questions of recycling and most threatening: possible illegal removal, handling, packaging, hauling and disposal of 36,558 square feet of contaminated hazardous asbestos waste materials; a potential of 700 to 2,700 tons of asbestos waste capable of turning into “asbestos dust” for Kauai residents, visitors, our children to inhale. Where did it go, mayor?
Mr. Barca, you are correct: “Is a job worth a life?” Is a bigger profit worth exposing the public to asbestos dust: to a cancerous threat such as Mesotheleoma? Kauai, all of Hawaii, needs change; trust and accountability.
Vote Duke Aiona and Barca.
John Hoff
Lawai
‘Voting guide’ was difficult to follow
I was initially pleased to see a voting guide in the newspaper recently, since I’m new to Hawaii and need to get all the candidates clear in my mind. (Citizen Stewardship Election Guide, paid for by the Kauai Island Ministries.) However, as I read the information provided about each candidate, I was frankly horrified to see the vague, generalized statements being made. Most categories referred to are understandable political issues, but “Educational Choice” and “Religious Conscience Protection” are not explained. I suppose “Supports Educational Choice” means “favors using public money to fund private preschools,” since that’s a current amendment being proposed, but the label simply doesn’t say that. Does “Opposes Religious Conscience Protection” mean “opposes giving individual employers authority to block the birth control provided by their employees’s health insurance”?
That political stance certainly isn’t the same as saying that the candidate opposes religious conscience protection. Instead, the statement basically says the candidate opposes the freedom of religion clause in the 1st Amendment, which is an unconscionable charge to make! It seems to me that the candidates labeled as opposing “Religious Conscience Protection” would be justified in suing the guide’s sponsors for libel, since I’m sure they each believe in our right to worship as we choose and to live out our faith as our conscience dictates. I’m sure the small print on the back of the guide is accurate, but who is going to look up each reference?
In my opinion, the ‘voting guide’ is a misleading advertisement.
Gail M. Christensen
Hanapepe
Don’t forget about the homeless through these hurricanes
I write this letter in great hopes that someone, particularly Mayor Bernard Carvalho, hears my pleas to assist the houseless people of Kauai County that are out in Mother Nature’s elements! Speaking from very recent experience, and remembering the last two hurricanes that skirted the Hawaiian Islands (Iselle and Julio), I fear for those of my fellow houseless friends that I left behind on Oct. 14 of this year! Fear, I am saying! Do you hear me now that I’ve had to move from my beautiful island of Kauai?
There are so many intricate and problematic situations on this issue and this is what worries me most for the hundreds of houseless friends I’ve left behind. There’s nothing worse than being forgotten by an entire community and especially by those chosen to serve the people of Kauai!
Forgotten, I say, and blatantly, too! These people, human beings, are out there! They’re houseless, not aliens. Time and time again they’re looked down upon by almost the entire community! No shelters or transportation when you live on the coast with hurricanes on their way was one of the most frightening events I’ve ever endured in my life! They’re wet, hungry, afraid and alone! Many are elderly, handicapped and have young children! I beg you, Mayor Carvalho, to assist these individuals that are human residents and are not going to be simply blown away. Please address this issue and aid these people, please! The problem isn’t going to simply go away!
Theresa Iida-Merseberg
Cairo, Nebraska
