• Vote in KIUC election • Sad day • Kilauea traffic snarl • Kaua‘i rocks Vote in KIUC election It was with some curiosity I hopped on my bicycle Sunday evening and rolled down the hill to Small Town Coffee,
• Vote in KIUC election
• Sad day
• Kilauea traffic snarl
• Kaua‘i rocks
Vote in KIUC election
It was with some curiosity I hopped on my bicycle Sunday evening and rolled down the hill to Small Town Coffee, in Kapa‘a, to attend a forum on KIUC and our co-op’s present election. Cafe co-owner Anni Caporuscio had invited David Makana Martin and Ho‘ike TV into the cafe to film a sit-down discussion with all of the candidates for KIUC’s board of directors — part of a commitment to community building.
Unfortunately, none of the incumbents saw fit to attend, but an excellent round of thought-provoking questions and answers was had nonetheless. Two of the existing board members did attend as audience members and were on-hand to answer some questions about present board operation. Kudos to Carol Bain and Derek Kawakami.
Last year a record number of votes was cast. If you have not yet sent in your ballot to KIUC, please make a note to yourself right now to mark your ballot tonight and send it off in the mail first thing tomorrow.
Do not delay. Ballots are due before the end of next week. No matter for whom you may opt to vote, let’s show KIUC Kaua‘i really does care about our co-op. If you already have sent off your ballot, good for you. Now ask your friends and neighbors if they have too — the more, the merrier. Let’s see if Kaua‘i can do it again and set a new record. As KONG’s Ron Wiley might say, “Let’s show the world the power of community.”
Ben Sullivan and Ken Stokes for board of directors.
I have known Ben Sullivan for three years, as we are both architectural designers and from our mutual involvement in Apollo Kaua‘i. I have also had the pleasure to know Ken Stokes — Kaua‘i’s own “sustainability guru” — through the Kapa‘a Rotary and through his work on Ahupua‘a and Moku districts. I know these gentlemen are both akamai, have done their homework and are committed to long-term affordability of our electricity.
I know Ken and Ben have each thought deeply about the most affordable ways to help KIUC transition away from fossil fuels and get on the fast track to sustainability. I know they each recognize the higher risk of waiting too long when the iron is hot. When a big wave comes, you must be in the right place and you must charge hard — or you will miss out. This is the case for Kaua‘i right now. If we move swiftly and surely, we can control our own energy destiny. We are in a great place with our own wind, water and sunshine, but we can not delay — we must charge hard or Kaua‘i will miss sustainable opportunities. Both Ben and Ken know this.
What I did not know was the degree of creativity and passion they have. An energy summit on Kaua‘i where the county, the Water Department, KIUC and the entire community of stakeholders work together to come to solutions — wow, great idea, Ken. Ben’s clarity on bringing the community into the process as full partners with KIUC is not just a promise of greater openness, it’s a long-needed paradigm shift in governance for our co-op. Discount rates for power use during off-peak times? Brilliant. And it will save KIUC customers money. Way to go, Ben.
But the most exciting thing to me was at the end of the night to hear current KIUC director Derek Kawakami speak about how much he learned just from attending the discussion. Fresh ideas, invigorated involvement of the community, plus the expertise of the existing staff and directors — to me that looks like a recipe for success.
Jonathan Jay
Kapa‘a
Sad day
On Saturday, March 8, the Knudsen Trust cut down our historic monkeypods at the Koloa Post Office. This was long before they needed to be cut or moved to make way for the Foodland store which will replace our wonderful monkeypod trees. Stacey Wong was quoted in the Star Bulletin as saying only 18 trees would be cut. Some 21 have already been cut or smashed.
This was a frantic move on the part of the developer, David Nelson, trustee Stacey Wong and Earth Works in response to suits against them in federal courts which question the validity of the out-of-court settlement of a suit brought by the trust against the county of Kaua‘i. The county is ultimately to blame for not complying with the law in the time required. The developer took advantage of this and sued over a technicality.
The developer David Nelson and the Knudsen trustee Stacey Wong don’t show any respect for our community. They are without conscience or care. The Knudsen Trust may have given to our community but they have taken away far more with the massacre of Koloa’s monkeypod trees. Should Wong decide to return to Kaua‘i … it is doubtful that he would be welcomed with open arms. This is a sad day for our island.
Carol Ann Davis-Briant
Koloa
Kilauea traffic snarl
The corner of Kuhio Highway and Kolo Road has long been a dangerous intersection and now it’s just gotten worse. The free-for-all driveways that go into the Shell station and Menehune Mart do not help this situation with traffic sometimes backing up out onto the highway itself. Now with the work being done on the bridge on Kolo road, effectively sealing off Kilauea town from any other exits, the traffic and safety issues are greatly compounded. It seems to me as though it would help to designate driveways as only in or out at the corner of the Shell and Menehune Mart for starters — it would make sense to me to have the driveway farthest to the north used only to enter the gas station and the larger driveway designated so you can turn either left or right back out onto Kolo Road. Maybe there could be some external traffic directing at key points during the day such as when Kilauea School lets out. I hope this issue has already been taken under consideration, otherwise it’s going to be a very, very long year if common sense and precautions are not employed to help remedy the situation.
Petrina Satori-Britt
Princeville
Kaua‘i rocks
On behalf of Gypsy Pacific, I’d like to thank the people of Kaua‘i for once again welcoming us so warmly during our recent concert at the KCC PAC. It reminded us why Kaua‘i is always one of our favorite places to play. You guys always make it easy for us.
Marcus Johnson
Ha‘iku, Maui
