• More reasons for county manager system • Locals paying too much for interisland flights More reasons for county manager system A big mahalo to The Garden Island paper for taking the latest poll about a county manager style of government. A
• More reasons for county manager system • Locals paying too much for interisland flights
More reasons for county manager system
A big mahalo to The Garden Island paper for taking the latest poll about a county manager style of government.
A group of us have been working for over 10 years trying to get this issue on the ballot for an up or down vote. Thus, it was extremely interesting to see the results of this poll — 563 people voted.
Three hundred and thirty-seven, or 60 percent, said yes; 146, or 26 percent, said no; and 80, or 14 percent, were undecided. Thus a strong 34 percent more of those polled wanted a manager over those who did not, which indicates their dissatisfaction with our current form of government.
Yes, this poll may only be a small percentage of the 30,000 registered voters on Kauai, but as in polls elsewhere the results are generally indicative of the electorate’s wishes.
A very vivid example of why we need a manager came up at a recent council meeting. The administration (the mayor) was asking the council to approve $7.15 million in General Obligation Bonds, (which you and I pay for) for five of “their” pet projects on Kauai, ignoring projects that would benefit the majority, such as traffic and road repair. But this communication was sent to the state Legislature without consulting with the council (or the public before sending it to the Legislature).
This action brought animosity from the council which it certainly should have and shows the lack of efficiency, accountability, transparency and continuity.
Had there been a manager type government in place this problem would never have happened since the mayor would be sitting as a member of the council and there would always be communication before action is taken.
Again, no system is perfect, but the manager style of government has a proven track record within the U.S. of being the best of any used.
Ken Taylor, Kapaa
Locals paying too much for interisland flights
On Oct. 10, I sent an email letter to Sens. Hirono and Schatz, Rep. Gabbard and Gov. Ige asking them to investigate Hawaiian Airlines’ status as a monopoly and their price gouging of local residents. I still have not received a reply from any of the four politicians.
Three months ago, I needed to fly to Oahu for a major surgery that could not be done on Kauai. I was lucky in the fact that it was not an emergency and I had ample time to plan. I booked the flights six weeks in advance and had to pay $278 for my ticket and another $233 for my wife, $511 for two of us. A few years ago we could fly for $35 each way.
I asked Hawaiian Airlines for some sort of reduced rate due to the required surgery and was told that it could not be done. I knew that coming home I would be in a lot of pain and would have a hard time walking very far so I requested a seat near the front of the coach section for the return trip. Their response was, “Sorry, those seats are for premier or platinum members only.”
Thank you, County Council, for your resolution to help control these costs. We need our public servants to help us out; unfortunately, some don’t seem to care. Please contact your lawmakers about us being at the mercy of a transportation monopoly that has no aloha. (Because Aloha went out of business.)
Terry Proctor, Lawai
