• Help Habitat build homes • The Palin phenomenon • Fix the roads • Back to the beginning • Stay strong, Lingle Help Habitat build homes Sen. Gary Hooser and Jonah-Kuhio Ka‘auwai agree in their assessments that government has a
• Help Habitat build homes
• The Palin phenomenon
• Fix the roads
• Back to the beginning
• Stay strong, Lingle
Help Habitat build homes
Sen. Gary Hooser and Jonah-Kuhio Ka‘auwai agree in their assessments that government has a role in affordable housing on Kaua‘i.
Both correctly point out that infrastructure (i.e. the roads, sewer and water lines, and other land improvements) is a formidable barrier and that government and the private sector can make important contributions.
Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity knows how to leverage donations and volunteer labor into new homes that hard-working Kaua‘i families can afford — we’ve built 100 of them across the island.
We enjoy dedicated support for what we do from island residents, visitors, churches, businesses and the over 1,300 potential Habitat homeowners who want to work with us.
The only thing standing between us and another 107 affordable homes in our ‘Ele‘ele subdivision is the infrastructure we must put in place before we can build another house there. With a price tag of almost $4 million, we seek large-scale partnerships that will help with infrastructure and speed us on to 107 more affordable homes.
Kaua‘i County recently awarded us a CDBG grant to put in a sewer line. This puts us one step closer to completing our infrastructure, but there is much more to do.
We’ll continue to reach out to the public and private sectors to help us in our work. We vow to accelerate our pace of building so we can put more families into homes sooner.
We hope government and business will also look at the ways they can help us and the other affordable housing builders on Kaua‘i.
Anne Dimock, Hanapepe
The Palin phenomenon
I have listened to ex-Gov. Palin and a huge question mark is the result.
How stupid is the news media to still talk about her as a viable Republican hopeful?
Everything out of her mouth is incoherent. She quit in the middle of her term. She’s inexperienced. From what I can see, all she is, is pretty.
Donna Alalem, Kapa‘a
Fix the roads
I would like to know why in late May they started to repair the road 200 yards into the entry of Princeville and the equipment is still sitting there almost two full months later?
They’ve made a nice bumpy mess for us to drive through but no work has been done weeks on end. Who pays for the equipment to sit and do nothing?
Our neighbor was in California where they in the five days he was there did a whole 10-mile section of road start to finish. Why do we have such poor workers who charge more than anyone to do this and then don’t do it? No wonder the county is in such dire straights.
Let’s get these roads fixed and not have this money wasted all the time Kaua‘i.
Christina Bartlett, Princeville
Back to the beginning
Regarding “the old boys network” mentioned again in the July 23 edition of The Garden Island, apparently County Council members Chang and Furfaro are suggesting an outside committee of their hand-picked friends come up with recommendations on how the council will conduct its business in the future.
With no disrespect to their selected individuals inferred or implied, why should the public, already suspicious of an apparent coup of certain council members, feel all warm and fuzzy about their hand-picked committee members?
If these guys are to make recommendations only, then who’s going to consider them for approval? We’re right back where we started from.
If someone else is supposed to figure it all out for them, then at least solicit nominations from all council members. By providing your own list, you appear to be keeping “the old boys” spirit alive and well.
After all these years, isn’t this stuff written down somewhere?
Vince Cosner, Lihu‘e
Stay strong, Lingle
It’s a sad day for Hawai‘i when our senior Sen. Dan Inouye involves himself in the affairs of the state during negotiations with public worker unions.
His blatant favoritism for the unions clouds the good sense that he once had.
He has forgotten that he represents all citizens of this state and has chosen to publicly cast his lot with the very unions that control most politicians here in Hawai‘i.
Gov. Linda Lingle is not one of those politicians. She is standing up against the “good old boys” because she knows that it is essential to all that we get control over this looming budget crisis.
The Democrats and unions would love to break her, as they have broken others in the past. I support Lingle and give her credit for doing what we all know is necessary.
Keith Smith, Koloa
