Letters for June 15, 2015

Letters for June 15, 2015

Kauai needs housing development

I would like to voice my support for the planned HoKua Place in Kapaa.

As a resident of Kauai for the past 12 years I have witnessed firsthand the traffic congestion problems in Kapaa.

I support a new road so traffic can flow through HoKua Place instead of in front of the middle school that backs up clear up to the school from the traffic circle in the mornings!

As a bike rider, I love the idea of having a overpass for bikes and pedestrians to safely cross the bypass on their way to Kapaa Town.

Not to mention, the need for new housing in Kapaa. There are 86 single-family houses and 57 multi-family townhouses proposed for the HoKua Place Development, of which a percentage of will be affordable low income housing.

What a blessing it will be to have a new community pool and cultural pavilion, new bike paths and parks where our keiki can safely play. The plans include over 17 acres of parks and open spaces and another 66 acres for agricultural.

HoKua Place has a solar farm, and their own water well that will produce an excess of water that can be used throughout Kapaa.

My question is really, what is not to like about this planned community?

Regardless of how we feel, there will be growth on Kauai, let it be well-planned and thought-out like this planned development has been. Hats off to Greg Allen and company for doing it right!

Bob Cox

Kapaa

Hanalei needs police substation

The Kauai Police Department could not respond promptly to the May 30 attack at Hanalei Pier because there is no police substation or fire department in Hanalei. Before Princeville was developed Hanalei had both (and a courthouse). The police and fire department were moved to Princeville and the courthouse was boarded up and abandoned for a decade.

The center of Hanalei has since been turned into a dumping ground without any dust abatement efforts for dirt piles, construction material, abandoned Conex containers, and a parking lot for garbage and dump trucks.

I wish we could return to the way it was. While this is impossible, the county needs to balance the costs of expanding Hanalei’s Black Pot Beach Park with the community’s need for harmony.

The increase in under-age drinking and race-based violence at Black Pot has brought shame to island that no apology can remedy. Please return the police substation to Hanalei.

Craig Wisen

Hanalei

Please keep restrooms clean, stocked

On Saturday, my wife and I escorted guests from Kansas City to watch the outrigger canoe races on Hanalei Bay. Our female guest used the restroom at the pavilion only to find no toilet paper!

Later in the afternoon, a female resident of Princeville used the same restroom before joining us on the beach and yes, no toilet paper. What image/memory of Kauai are we projecting to tourist and locals when our restrooms are in such poor physical conditions and without toilet paper!

John Armour

Princeville

Happy to respond to request

Thank you, Monroe Richman, for your June 5 letter to the Forum, “Letter writer brightens my day,” for brightening my day with your support of giving voters the opportunity to vote in the 2016 election on adopting a county manager system.

In your letter, you request my reasons for favoring this choice. Space does not permit a complete enumeration but the principal advantages of the council-manager system are that the chief executive officer of the county would be one who has been educated and has had on the job training for the position, department head positions would be selected on the basis of merit instead of as political rewards, and antagonism between our legislative and our administrative officials would be largely ended.

You inquired about departments that are functioning at less than we should expect. Historic failures are troublesome and well known. Current performance is more difficult to evaluate, but our county auditor did eight outstanding audits that showed waste, irregularities and gross inefficiencies in the present system and what needs to be done to correct them. Mostly, they were ignored.

It is hoped that our citizens will become aware of the benefits of the the council-manager system and help in its adoption.

Glenn Mickens

Kapaa