• Saying it like it is • Is anyone listening? • Council should stand with the people Saying it like it is Walter Lewis in his A Better Kaua‘i column this Saturday pulls no punches and hits hard at those
• Saying it like it is • Is anyone listening? • Council should stand with the people
Saying it like it is
Walter Lewis in his A Better Kaua‘i column this Saturday pulls no punches and hits hard at those who lack the will, political or otherwise, to move this island in the direction that will benefit all of us — those who are here and those who will be here in the years to come.
His views not only represent those of us “nitpickers” but every group of people who are not being represented by the elected people we put in office.
What truer words could have been said in today’s article than, “Bill 2204 bravely sought to implement the original intent of invalidating all transient vacation rentals in the non-VDA zones. Faced with vigorous opposition from land owners and tourist organization, our jellyfish council retreated.”
Again, Walter says it like it is and though there are those who may take exception with his words, the truth is hard to deny.
Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a
Is anyone listening?
It is truly frustrating to read an article such as the GI’s Sunday “Up the ante” article. The Garden Island’s plan is as follows:
· “Consumers currently pay 6 cents per container – 5 cents for the refundable deposit and 1 cent for administrative cost.” Why not “raise the deposit to 23 cents and the container fee to 2 cents. At a quarter apiece people would think twice before pitching an empty can out the window onto the highway or simply tossing an empty bottle in the trash instead of recycling it.”
The thought of raising the price to these levels is not the answer. Consider this: with “685 million containers recycled during 2010” how about a 2 cent increase for bottle deposit and administrative cost? That would result in an 8 cent deposit with a 6 cent refund leaving 2 cents for the government, doubling revenues for the state from $6.85 million to $13.7 million and not hurting sales for small and larger businesses.
To make others less disciplined toward recycling:
· Enforce strict litter bug activities with a “heavy hammer of felony charges (being) dropped on their heads,” perhaps after two offenses.
· Engage competition between schools on weekends for students to collect plastics, all plastics 1-7, not just containers, to be recycled back into crude oil. Yes, it can, and is being done, at this very moment. Plastics collected would be purchased raising funds for school projects with the money truly going into the classroom, not the DOE’s coffers, or coffins, whichever they us to hide dollars designated for educating our kids!
· Encourage every resident to save plastics to be purchased for the same recycling processing at qualified recycling contractors, another new revenue generator for the state via licensing requirements and added taxes.
Also a new industry and jobs! Then retailers could continue using plastic bags saving them money and not experiencing losses in sales of merchandise utilizing plastic materials.
Three possible answers to an old problem. Recycling plastics 1-7 is a reality in operation right now. What is not a reality in operation right now is that our self-serving officials have no political will to correct problems.
This author knows as a result of actually presenting this new technology to our “public servants” for the past four to six years. The concept is ignored. Why? Remember this fact this coming election.
We need new, not worn and tattered, leadership… actual public servants with the political will to save our island, our Aloha State. The only vehicle for change is the ballot box. Vote ’em out! Is anyone listening?
John Hoff, Lawa‘i
Council should stand with the people
There is no need for the County Council to rush into an agreement to end affordable workforce housing at Kukui‘ula.
Years ago, A&B grew sugar on Po‘ipu lands. Sugar went downhill, so Kaua’i granted urban zoning to allow the development of 3,500 homesites. These would have been nice homes, not cheap. A double-income family headed by, for example, a firefighter and a nurse, might be able to afford one. There always is a need for reasonable “gap group” housing on Kaua’i.
As this proposed project built out, there would be an additional benefit to the community. Families would vacate their existing homes to move into the new development. In turn, their houses would become available to others. This would help to relieve the acute shortage of affordable housing on the island.
About six years ago, luxury home and resort developers from Scottsdale, Ariz., partnered with A&B to form Kukui‘ula Development. The County Council agreed to a new downzoning, and suddenly, the gap-group housing disappeared. It was to be replaced by ultra luxury housing, condos, clubhouse, golf course, and shopping village. This is being marketed, not to local residents, but to millionaires from the Mainland. (See the Kukui‘ula website, or Google DMB.)
At the time of the downzoning, Kukui‘ula made an agreement with the Council to build 75 units of “workforce housing” in three 25-unit increments. Construction is to begin in 2013. To insure that this housing would remain affordable for ninety years, Kukui‘ula agreed to a condition that would allow buy backs and resale of the units at the original, affordable price. Inflation and improvements would be taken into account.
Now, Kukui‘ula wants to renege on their agreement. They claim that, due to tough economic conditions, they are having problems financing this project. They want to let the affordability lapse, and allow the workforce housing go to the market in 25 years. The Council seems poised to grant their wish! It seems as though any balance on this issue has disappeared, and the scale has tipped way in favor of the developers.
Affordable housing will always be at a premium in Po‘ipu. The economy will eventually rebound. The Council should stand with the people of Kaua’i, and reject the proposed bill 2361 on Wednesday.
Jack Lundgren, Lihu‘e
