• Communication • South Shore project Communication Fast and open communication is the hallmark of the information age. If you are operating in the public arena you must be ready and able to respond to questions quickly with correct and
• Communication
• South Shore project
Communication
Fast and open communication is the hallmark of the information age. If you are operating in the public arena you must be ready and able to respond to questions quickly with correct and thorough answers.
With the advent of the Internet, fax machines and telephone answering systems all the technology is there and can be bought at low prices that most people can afford.
The Garden Island and other news organizations operating on Kaua‘i have run into stalled communication lines from some state and county government offices, and from some non-profit organizations. Not all lines of communication, but enough to have become a problem.
Sometimes the problem is acquiring the news we feel the public wants, not what someone on the focus of a report decides they want to put out. Other times it’s being told someone is out for the day – or week – and no one else is able to field our call, because they are the only one who is allowed to speak to the press.
What is unusual is that the news in some cases flowed much easier when the telephone or face-to-face reporting was the only options we had in acquiring information. So while the world is now one of rapid fire information, we are facing delays that even reporters covering the Civil War didn’t face.
The solution to this problem is placing more confidence in more people, and training people to be able to respond to the press.
South Shore project
Residents of Kaua‘i, especially those who live on the South Shore, need to pay attention this week to a hearing on Kukuiula Development Co. (Hawai‘i) LLC’s proposal for zoning changes that would lead to development of a resort/residential area at Kukuiula that would have a maximum of 1,500 units, including a 64-room hotel, and an 18-hole golf course.
The crux of the issue is a request to expand a “visitor designation area” that needs to be issued by the County of Kaua‘i for 1,002 acres, up from 160 acres, to allow for the development of vacation rentals and time share units.
That’s a significant change. The development is a long-term project of Alexander & Baldwin and an Arizona developer. Both companies have fine reputations and will do a good job on the development.
An additional 60 affordable housing units also will be built by Po‘ipu Road as part of the project.
Whether local residents want to open up over 800 more acres to tourism development is the big question.
