• Christmas already? • Taking a stand • Unfair criticism • Rights to peace and quiet Christmas already? Merely 10 days after the Autumnal Equinox, the end of summer and the beginning of fall, Kaua‘i merchants unfurled their displays of Christmas.
• Christmas already?
• Taking a stand
• Unfair criticism
• Rights to peace and quiet
Christmas already?
Merely 10 days after the Autumnal Equinox, the end of summer and the beginning of fall, Kaua‘i merchants unfurled their displays of Christmas.
And today, two weeks before Halloween and a solid five weeks before Thanksgiving, KMart, Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, and the Nawiliwili Harbor mall among others are into full-fledged Christmas marketing.
Call me an old traditionalist stick-in-the-mud but my Christmas season doesn’t start until after the turkey with a full accompaniment of trimmings and dessert are fully digested.
Merchants and advertisers, I’ve heard all about the current money crisis — pushing the “shopping season” up a month does not create a healthier economy. But it does create a strange sense of marketing fever and dilution of a season of peace, celebration rooted in Christianity. Give me a break.
Rolf Bieber, Kapa‘a
Taking a stand
I remember when Bernard Carvalho announced his candidacy for mayor in a special election. One of his campaign promises and priorities was finding a landfill site to replace the old aging landfill in Kekaha.
Some past Kaua‘i mayors failed to take a stand on making a decision on a new site because of political pressure and their careers.
Years went by, spending millions of tax dollars to hire outside consultants and yet the Kekaha landfill is still there.
Mayor Carvalho, I stand behind you 100 percent. From the general public, being a politician sometimes you have to take a stand in making tough decisions.
Carvalho has been mayor for only 10 months and took a stand on his campaign promise to cite a new landfill. This takes a man with courage. In life sometimes you have to take a stand and your conscious will be your guide. It takes a man with a plan to take a stand.
Jerome “The Shadow” Freitas, Kealia
Unfair criticism
Last month, two of the three members of the governance committee of the Charter Review Commission resigned. Jonathan Chun’s resignation letter stated his concern about his status under Charter Section 20.02D. Carol Ann Davis-Briant resigned stating that the commission had systematically blocked her efforts in furtherance of a proposal for a county manager system.
Following the Sept. 28 commission meeting, Barbara Bennett, the remaining member of the governance committee, was quoted as saying, “Any comments from Carol Ann’s resignation stating that the commission blocked or created barriers — they are misconceptions by Miss Davis. We didn’t block anything. We were in a process that was derailed by her resigning. I don’t want anybody to think this isn’t going to be taken care of. Carol walked out on the plan.”
These disparaging remarks are badly off the mark. Carol Ann was and had been the sole person engaged in trying to bring about consideration of a proposal for a county manager system. But in July, committee members received a letter from the County Attorney’s Office indicating that a manager system would be in violation of Hawai‘i law. The commission refused her request to consider or make public the letter. As commissions have been advised that they must obey the county attorney’s rulings, Carol Ann doubtless believed a point of impasse had occurred and she acted properly.
After all her unfair criticism of Carol Ann, I wonder what Barbara is going to do to pursue any of our other efforts to create a county manager proposal. We will watch and see.
Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a
Rights to peace and quiet
Noisy, low-flying ultra-light aircraft disturb the peace and quiet that we love.
The peace and serenity used to be common on Kaua‘i and we took it for granted and now every Sunday morning the ultra-light noise has irritated us to the point of writing to The Garden Island. Like the helicopters of the ‘70s, the irritating noise begins slowly and gradually until once in awhile it peaks as another concerted assault on our sanity.
Peace, quiet, beauty, that is why we love Kaua‘i. Ultra-light noise from aircraft based at Salt Pond’s Burns Field fly low over beaches, homes and us, irritating our eardrums and shattering our peaceful sanity adding another nuisance to our stress load. We do not need any more noise in our lives.
Just like the helicopters and their noise, ultra-light aircraft should fly far out to sea and not fly over populated areas.
To ultra-light owners, we acknowledge your right to fly, just not over or within hearing range of our homes. Please respect our rights to peace and quiet.
Kawika Moke, Kekaha
