• Lihu‘e Post Office parking mess • Bright lights, dark roads • Are you kidding me? • Co-op or dictatorship • Accommodations bill bad for Hawai‘i economy • Accommodations bill bad for Hawai‘i economy • Grove Farm project creates double standard
• Lihu‘e Post Office parking mess • Bright lights, dark roads • Are you kidding me? • Co-op or dictatorship • Accommodations bill bad for Hawai‘i economy • Accommodations bill bad for Hawai‘i economy • Grove Farm project creates double standard
Lihu‘e Post Office
parking mess
My gripe is the Lihu‘e Post Office parking. There are two left turns, one going in to the Post Office off of Rice Street and the other going left out of the Post Office is a mess.
And another thing is people parking within 30 feet of the stop sign. Why don’t they paint the curb bright red, because people park about one to two feet from the stop sign and it makes it hard to even go right.
Daniel Renaud, Kapa‘a
Bright lights, dark roads
Maybe if our highways were lighted up these vehicles with blinding lights in bright blue, pink or white would not be necessary on the vehicles. It’s especially blinding on high trucks, because the light is the same level with the driver’s eyes in an oncoming vehicle from opposite direction.
Are these special lights for race cars? Shouldn’t people who have them on their vehicles show proof of modification or require a sticker since the vehicle did not come with those lights?
Light up the highways and outlaw illegal lights on vehicles and pickup trucks.
Howard Tolbe, ‘Ele‘ele
Are you kidding me?
Well, after reading The Garden Island’s question and answer piece for those running for the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative Board of Directors, I found one candidate that won’t get my vote.
Mr. Burley, did you really answer “nothing” when asked what should KIUC do to improve services?! Are you kidding me? And then you actually ask TGI to be more positive toward KIUC. Give me a break. I’m sure they’d be more positive if KIUC gave them something — anything — to be positive about.
KIUC has managed to break or ignore most, if not all, the rules for a co-op, and they continue to ignore the people they represent and serve.
Amen to Kimo Rosen’s rule: “Vote out the incumbents.”
Mr. Burley: Good luck.
Dennis Fowler, Princeville
Co-op or dictatorship
Regarding John Humphrey’s Feb. 19 comments on Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s governance, asking if it’s a co-op or a dictatorship: I vote for dictatorship based its violation of one of the seven principles of cooperatives, namely democratic member control. It mandates that the board of directors does not represent members in making decisions, such as installing smart meters, but rather each member, as in the New England town meetings, has a vote for making all decisions. The board of directors bows to any decision made by its members and then supports that decision.
For further information, check the Internet for co-ops, Wikipedia and the International Cooperative Alliance, which sets the standard for co-ops nationally and internationally.
Hannah Brandeis, Kilauea
Accommodations bill bad for Hawai‘i economy
Proposed Bill 1707 “requires any nonresident owner who operates a transient accommodation located in the nonresident owner’s private residence, including an apartment, unit or townhouse, to employ a property manager approved by the Real Estate Commission.”
We purchased a small condo in Kihei almost two years ago — a lifelong dream of ours. We love our family time on Maui and when we’re not using it, we rent it out. We employ a management company to handle any emergency situations, but we look after everything else ourselves. Because we do most of the work ourselves, we’re able to keep our rental rates low, which in turn allows many people who would otherwise not be able to afford a trip to Hawai‘i to come here and contribute to the economy. We put our blood sweat and tears into renovating a derelict unit into a beautiful vacation home for all to enjoy. We pay our taxes in full and on time.
If this bill is passed, we will be forced to sell our dream and take our tax dollars elsewhere. Many new buyers considering a second home or income property will not purchase one since they will not be permitted to self-manage. They will invest in other markets. Increased fees will cause us to have to raise our rental rates and will have a negative impact on tourism and an adverse effect on owners, resulting in more properties on the market, driving down real estate prices even further.
The existing tax laws need to be enforced. This bill unfairly targets law-abiding, tax-paying owners and discourages investment in the Hawaiian economy.
I love Maui and hope we can stay.
Karen Raymond
Calgary, Canada
Grove Farm project creates double standard
Grove Farm claims that property rights allow them to evict their senior and elderly tenants from Koloa Camp but, at the same time, they are ignoring the property rights of the 25 home owners who live on Wailani Road, the street that would be engorged with traffic from their proposed Waihohonu project on the Koloa Camp site.
Wailani Road is an older subdivision with an 18-foot pavement and 6-foot setback. It has heavy flooding and poor line-of-sight issues. Children ride bikes in the street and elderly walk to church.
Grove Farm’s project would require either that the right of way be expanded to 44 feet, taking 7 feet of property from every home owner on Wailani, or subject the residents to a tripling of the traffic on a narrow, unsafe and substandard roadway. It also threatens to deprive the multi-generational families of badly needed roadside parking.
Grove Farm is not asking for property rights, they are asking for a double standard.
John Patt, Koloa
