• Organized burglars have an advantage • Following ag land vacation rental law • Dogs, dogs, dogs • Cell phone users make unsafe drivers Organized burglars have an advantage We were recently burglarized for the sixth time in 17 years.
• Organized burglars have an advantage
• Following ag land vacation rental law
• Dogs, dogs, dogs
• Cell phone users make unsafe drivers
Organized burglars have an advantage
We were recently burglarized for the sixth time in 17 years. It’s almost as regular as taxes.
No, this is not regarding the KCC safe theft last week that netted $10,000. This is just your average $3,000 heist from a mom-and-pop business on the North Shore.
They entered at night during a thunderstorm. This last burglary involved the use of power tools to cut the joists and flooring right out of the building we rent so the thieves could lift our securely fastened safe and walk away with it.
Police and friends question the level of our security. It’s all speculation and loss after the fact. Obviously our infrared alarms, locks and video surveillance system were not enough.
The people of Kaua‘i need to know how bad it is. Burglars have an advantage in that the only source for burglary information and statistics is by rumor. How can we protect ourselves if we don’t know how bad the threat is?
With just rumor to go by I suspect these criminals are like cockroaches, if you see one it means there are a hundred you don’t see. Burglars and thieves are more organized and more numerous than you think.
• Tom and Katie Pickett, Kilauea
Following ag land vacation rental law
My wife and I live in Anahola where we have a home that is suited for a vacation rental. Both of us are nearing retirement and we had planned on turning part of our home into a vacation rental to help us get by.
Everyone around us has been doing this. We could have started nearly 10 years ago, however, we are law-abiding citizens and were aware that our home was on agricultural land and therefore illegal.
When the bill was in process, I wrote to the County Council and received a reply from (then-)council member Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho acknowledging my adherence to the law and stating frankly the ag land vacation rentals were illegal and anyone who is doing it is breaking the law.
I followed the bill as it worked its way and was aware the bill would require those who were in the designated resort areas to apply for a permit by a certain date and prove they were in business and paying the hotel and general excise taxes for a determined amount of time.
I was concerned that the bill might allow ag land to be included but because I have been law abiding, I would not have met the requirements stated in the bill. We could have made our selves eligible by breaking the law.
The bill was passed and it stipulated that no permits would be issued to any one who was on ag land. I believed it was a fair bill. But now, according to Councilman Furfaro, he unwittingly will reward those who disregarded the law and punish those who abided.
Yes, these are hard economic times and yes, many people would be relieved of quite a bit of the burden if they were allowed to rent their homes. But it is bad government to change the rules like this without fairness.
I don’t know what my rights are as a tax-paying citizen, but I know what is right and wrong. It’s wrong to allow people who have been operating on ag land a permit without opening up the opportunity for people like myself to also legally apply.
Most of the houses on ag land have continued to operate with no threat of enforcement. The vast majority are not mom-and-pop like ourselves, most of the houses are purely a business as the owners don’t even live in Hawai‘i.
Please advise me of any remedy regarding such a change? Would I or should I bring some sort of suit under a fairness clause?
• Tom McCall, Anahola
Dogs, dogs, dogs
I share your feelings, Dr. Rush. (“Horrors of Hanalei Bay,” Letters, Jan. 19)
The dog situation on Kaua‘i is totally “out of control.” There are dogs in stores, restaurants, barking at us from cars and trucks in parking lots. Our neighborhood is riddled with dogs that bark incessantly 24/7.
There are people walking dogs that allow them to mess in our yards and streets without any thought of cleaning up after them. We have had some wonderful loving dogs over the years, just as yours. They enriched our lives.
The difference is they were trained and not allowed to blatantly annoy neighbors and rob them of needed peace and quiet. There are no bad dogs, but many inconsiderate, disrespectful owners.
Where is their so-called “aloha” for one another? We need to enforce what few laws we have, and desperately need a “nuisance law” in place on Kaua‘i as it is on all other islands.
Dogs in pens, frustrated, barking and never exercised is not a sign of love, it is treating them simply as a possession because they can get away with it.
Most states regard that as animal abuse. We also witness the same type of behavior you describe on many beaches daily.
• Liz Stevens, Kalaheo
Cell phone users make unsafe drivers
It’s too bad that cell phones don’t have a shocking device like some joke toys you see in magazines. Only on a cell phone, the shocking device would sense when a motorist is about to operate a vehicle and the cell phone would let out a shock to prevent the phone from being used by the driver.
Maybe the cell phone companies and the auto companies should get together along with our United States lawmakers to invent and install a sensor device in the car and cell phone.
Too many times I’ve witnessed cell phone users while driving. They were on the cell phone and not paying any attention to their driving.
They either speed or slow traffic. Most would not use the proper signals while making turns. Some motorists, with a cell phone glued to their ear, would just roll through stop signs in front of an oncoming car. Most would cross the center lanes and drive towards oncoming vehicles then swerve back into their lane of travel.
Another suggestion is to place signs along the highway, like the no littering signs, only these signs would read, “No cell phones used while driving or be fined $1,000.”
We already have a “click it or ticket” law enforced to save lives. Why not a no cell phone while driving law? It might save a life, too.
• Howard Tolbe, ‘Ele‘ele
