• Come to ferry meeting today • Gubernatorial lecture • Mainland ferry perspective • Win-win proposal • If it offends thee … • Don’t stop now Come to ferry meeting today I strongly urge everyone, no matter where you sit
• Come to ferry meeting today
• Gubernatorial lecture
• Mainland ferry perspective
• Win-win proposal
• If it offends thee …
• Don’t stop now
Come to ferry meeting today
I strongly urge everyone, no matter where you sit on the Superferry issue, to get involved and show up on Thursday. It is so important that we all are at the governor’s meeting. Please commit some time between now and then to get people outside the normal realm to show up.
Gov. Linda Lingle will spend a lot of time explaining penalties and restrictions.
I believe this only perpetuates more “penalty” behavior.
These are important things to consider, but we all have the list of penalties and can discuss them with our families and trusted people privately. This is a non-supportive position and completely without faith. Please don’t even give that space in your heads at this meeting. This is a time to unite as the people of Kaua‘i, a time to fill our hearts with love for this amazing island that has given each and every one of us so much to be grateful for.
What motivates Lingle and other politicians is probably easy to figure out but not worth this valuable time, and hoping to sway her either way may be an unrealistic expectation. I strongly urge you all to fill your hearts and souls with love for Kaua‘i and visualize a pono outcome. Continue to be extremely grateful we live here and consider how fortunate we are to be seen and heard. As the caretakers of the ‘aina, I feel it is our responsibility to lead by example and show the world what is most important. It is that we love this island more than anything.
Joel Guy
Hanalei
Gubernatorial lecture
When Gov. Linda Lingle campaigned for her position, she pledged that she would be the “Governor for all of Hawai‘i’s people.”
But almost three years ago when the Kaua‘i County Council passed a resolution for requiring an EIS on the Superferry, she made no response. The same was true for Maui and Hawai‘i. When 6,000 signatures of Kaua‘i citizens were taken to her office, she refused to allow her secretary to receive them.
Now she is coming to Kaua‘i to lecture us on obeying the law. But she herself never required the Department of Transportation to obey the law. This raises questions about what her connection may be to the owners of the Superferry and to the Bush administration that offered the loan to build the ferry with the requirement that there be no EIS.
The governor tells us the majority of the people want the Superferry. But she has no facts to back this up. There was no vote put before the people. But the representatives of the people on the three Neighbor Islands did vote to require the EIS. This whole debacle is the governor’s undoing. It belongs dumped on her doorstep.
Frederick Wells
Kapa‘a
Mainland ferry perspective
It has been very fascinating to watch the Superferry saga unfold from the Mainland. Great arguments from both sides, but a few too many “should of, could of, would of” from both as well. What I have yet to read or hear is a truly advanced alternative solution that addresses many of the points from both sides.
Too often people will say what “shouldn’t” be done, yet won’t provide a well-thought-out potential solution.
And with all the money invested at this point, it will make a difference if one side or the other puts some of it toward a strong alternative solution.
Kelly Capps
Irvine, Calif.
Win-win proposal
The Superferry is publicizing that it will go into default on its loans if it is not allowed to operate, and thus its boats will be used elsewhere for other revenue generating ventures by its investors (private military contractors mostly).
Here’s a novel idea: What if the United States Congress passed a resolution to defer the federal loan payments on the Superferry project until the Hawai‘i Supreme Court-affirmed EA/EIS is complete? The unproven Superferry could then remain idle, without financial obligation.
Letting the Superferry operate while an EA/EIS is being done is as unethical as supporting unprotected risky sex practices while an AIDS test is underway. Kaua‘i and the other neighbors do not want Russian roulette being played with our home.
An act of Congress takes Superferry’s publicized financial worry off the table, the Neighbor Islands get their lawful EA/EIS to have honest safeguards for endangered whales, no mongoose on Kaua‘i, traffic, drugs, and cultural issues honestly and thoroughly addressed.
O‘ahu residents simply continue to travel by plane as has been done for decades, while knowing their ahonui (patience) is truly expressing aloha for all. A genuine win-win for generations to come.
John Tyler
Lihu‘e
If it offends thee …
Regarding the proposed special session (“Kaua‘i legislators oppose Superferry special session,” A1, Sept. 19), if the environmental law offends thee — pluck it out. For in the land of the blind, the one-eyed woman is king, and they won’t know what they got till it’s gone. Props to H.G. Wells and Joni Mitchell.
Ed Coll
Lihu‘e
Don’t stop now
I’m neither for or against the Hawaii Superferry. It was amazing to see all the protesters standing up for our island, defending our quality of life. People of all ages and races came together for one cause: to protect our Kaua‘i. These protesters dealt the Hawaii Superferry a major setback. I really hope that their passionate plea to save our island doesn’t stop with halting the Superferry. If these people really want to save our island then I call on them to get out of their cars and start using the bus. We all know that traffic is truly diminishing our quality of life here on Kaua‘i. So can you imagine if all the protesters and the 6,000 people who signed the anti-ferry petition started using the bus or carpooling? It would make a big dent in our traffic nightmare. And I don’t want to hear any excuses either, because I know that driving a car will always be an easier and more convenient way to get around our island. But if the protesters and other people who are against the ferry really wanted to save our island, then they would make that sacrifice. So please think about it.
J. Agor
Kekaha
