• On KPD’s selective traffic enforcement • Please fix mess at Morgan’s Ponds • Jobs, jobs, jobs • What’s so bad about Walmart? • For Esther Kia’Aina Change in online commenting policy Starting July 1, The Garden Island has changed
• On KPD’s selective traffic enforcement • Please fix mess at Morgan’s Ponds • Jobs, jobs, jobs • What’s so bad about Walmart? • For Esther Kia’Aina
Change in online commenting policy
Starting July 1, The Garden Island has changed how it monitors the online commenting portion of thegardenisland.com. All comments will go through an approval process. Not all comments will be approved. Priority will be given to those that are topical, remain within our comment policies and contain the author’s full name and hometown.
We encourage continued use of our online comment feature as well as the Letters to the Editor in our print edition. The Garden Island values reader input and encourages thoughtful debate.
On KPD’s selective traffic enforcement
Thank you, John Clayton, for your honest description of KPD’s slanted traffic enforcement policies. It’s nice to know that I am not the only one to have observed this bias in favor of commercial vehicles.
Like the time I crossed the Wailua bridge, right past a traffic officer targeting speeders, who watched as an 18-wheel dump truck barreled right past us … nothing!
One would think that a vehicle weighing 20 tons would pose a much greater threat to safety than a passenger vehicle, no?
I live in a school zone, and see firsthand, every day, the blatant disregard by commercial (and private) vehicles, for the safety of residents and students. Yet one rarely, if ever, sees these vehicles being ticketed or stopped.
KPD, if you really care about traffic safety, ditch the “click-it-or-ticket” campaign, and target the real threats to traffic safety, like equal enforcement of traffic violations among commercial rigs, bumper-height violations (decapitation hazard), ridiculously loud car stereos (emergency responders, etc).
Tom Strom
Kapa‘a
Please fix mess at Morgan’s Ponds
Our family first visited your beautiful island in 1971 and have made annual trips since the ’80s.
We specifically enjoy Lydgate Park and Morgan’s Ponds. Snorkeling in the pond with all the wonderful coral fish was something we all looked forward to from year to year.
Last year we were terribly disappointed when we found the water in the pond was filled with silt due to the reconstruction of the lava wall.
While we couldn’t snorkel last year, surely (we told ourselves) the pond would be back to normal this summer.
So, imagine our shock to learn that the pond was now contaminated with decaying vegetation due to the spring flood, and it seemed that no one knows how to fix the problem which, we learned, was that the lava wall was now too high and too compact to allow a natural flow of water in and out with the tides.
Yet, we understand that those in charge of Lydgate do not have a plan for fixing this problem.
We love Kaua‘i but cannot plan another vacation in the Kapa‘a area until Lydgate is back to normal.
What seems obvious to us is that, at a minimum, there need to be some channels opened up somewhere in the wall for water to flow through the ponds and remove the accumulated debris.
We urge you to fix this problem so that we can return to Kaua‘i.
Marjorie DeFries
Boulder, Colo.
Jobs, jobs, jobs
According to Democrat operatives in the “Big O” administration, 4 million jobs were created in the private sector since we were blessed by the clean and articulate one (so defined by Joe Biden).
Debbie Wasserman Shultz parrots this mantra so repeatedly it sounds like a stuck record.
This would give one the impression that progress is being made in job creation by this crew.
However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not exactly a tea party outfit, paints a different picture.
Ending in 2008, there were 145,362,000 jobs in the non-institutional employment sector. Ending in 2011 there were 139,869,000 employed, a net loss of 5,493,000.
Only in Obamaville and Alice in Wonderland can this 5,493,000 fewer jobs be redefined to a 4 million job gain. $4.8 trillion more debt and 5.5 million jobs lost. What a fantastic record!
Let’s calculate. We only went further into debt by $873,000 for each job we lost! Wow, what an amazing deal!
Can you only imagine what this jolly bunch can do with another four years?
Russell Boyer
Hanalei
What’s so bad about Walmart?
To all the letter writers and bloggers who belittle Walmart: Why do 100 million Americans shop there every week?
Is one-third of the population so ignorant to realize Walmart is the devil incarnate as so many seem to indicate?
How is Walmart different from any company’s desire to make a profit, or from an athlete’s desire to compete?
When Walmart opens shop in many parts of the country, the first people offered jobs are the ones that may be affected.
For example, the ma and pa hardware store that has struggled for years and barely makes ends meet may be offered the job as manager of the hardware section, most likely making a better living than they ever did struggling with their small business.
Walmart has the best return policies, 90 days no questions asked. Most stores, if you’re lucky, give you 30 days.
Walmart on Kaua‘i is a meeting place for many to talk story at the McDonald’s located within.
One can actually buy local vegetable starts manufactured by a local Kaua’i nursery cheaper at Walmart than you can at the actual nursery.
Next to the federal government, the largest employer in America is Walmart. Walmart is the largest employer in Mexico and much of Latin America, as well.
Walmart is Kaua‘i’s fifth-largest employer; without Walmart many more would be unemployed.
Why are so many down on Walmart but not down on other corporations such as Safeway, Foodland, Times, Kmart, Long Drugs, Burger King, Starbucks, Panda Express? The list is endless.
It’s your right to boycott Walmart, but it’s also Walmart’s right to strive for perfection in a competitive marketplace.
The stores I boycott are the stores and restaurants overcharging with rude clerks, and on Kaua‘i that is pretty easy to find.
I say a big mahalo nui to Walmart worldwide for providing us with one-stop shopping featuring aloha and great savings.
Hallelujah and praise Walmart!
James “Kimo” Rosen
Kapa‘a
For Esther Kia’Aina
As a Kamehameha Schools alum, I am happy to see fellow alum Esther Kia‘Aina seeks to serve in Congress as the representative of the 2nd Congressional District. She is outstanding.
Esther is one of the best qualified candidates I have ever met.
She has the best background for serving in Congress because she knows how to write laws, how to pass them and how to oppose others.
A track record of serving in staff positions for the Hawai‘i delegation with its issues of the Jones Act, invasive species like the brown tree snake from Guam, GMO concerns, transportation, environment, Native Hawaiians, military and education require the ability to research and understand a broad range of issues quickly and well.
Passing or opposing bills requires knowing fellow representatives and how to work with them to avoid gridlock.
Esther has proven she has these skills because she served in staff positions for 20 years.
Esther’s passion for doing the right thing, for respecting all people, cultures and religions is the embodiment of the Hawaiian way of doing things. She will not ignore our issues.
Esther’s family experience in running a small business and the problems of veterans facing medical issues for years as her father did makes her ideal to be a congresswoman, as she understands the problems.
Hawai‘i needs this outstanding person in Congress who will work to solve the economic and social issues we face.
Please vote for Esther Kia‘aina Aug. 11.
Aloha nui loa,
William J. Fernandez
Judge, retired
Kapa‘a
