• Talk about working for love • Setting the record straight • Iseri-Carvalho would convict herself • Serenity now Talk about working for love I would like to thank Monty Downs and the Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association for all they do
• Talk about working for love • Setting the record straight • Iseri-Carvalho would convict herself • Serenity now
Talk about working for love
I would like to thank Monty Downs and the Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association for all they do for the lifeguards of Kaua’i.
If it wasn’t for Monty and the KLA, the lifeguards would not have most of the equipment they have now due to budget cuts. But when it’s all said and done, you can have all the brand new jet skis, four wheel ATVs and nice white towers on every beach. Without lifeguards, all this equipment is useless.
In the past four years these lifeguards have been used and abused, without any retribution. They had their pay cut four years ago, as being considered non emergency personnel.
To me they are the epitome of emergency personnel, the frontline! After all they are first responder certified.
At the same time their pay was cut, other personnel in the county were getting pay raises! Think about that one for a minute.
They still remain on a pay freeze until this day. Why aren’t we paying the lifeguards the pay they desperately deserve, and why are they considered non emergency personnel?
So why don’t we take a step back and take a good hard look on how we can get our lifeguards that everyone praises so much, back on the emergency personnel list, and get them the raises hey so desperately deserve so that they keep showing up to work at the job they love so much, and keep saving lives?
Leila Makanani
Anahola
Setting the record straight
At the Kaua‘i County Council meeting Oct. 10 to discuss the Keiki POHAKU program, I put on the index card to speak, my occupation as “educator,” which I have been for 46 years.
I am many things in the community. I was instrumental in the origination of Growing Our Own Teachers on Kaua‘i and I presently serve as a director on the board. I also serve as president of Circle of Friends & Relatives for First Americans, dba Kaua‘i Powwow Council.
Also for the last nine years, I have been a University of Hawai‘i at Manoa professor, who has been privileged to live and work on Kaua‘i in the statewide Teacher Education program.
But one thing I am not is a “clinical psychiatrist” as stated in the article “Keiki POHAKU request approved,” in The Garden Island Thursday. My doctorate degree is in education curriculum with an emphasis in cognitive psychology.
And besides being listed in the wrong profession, my words were taken out of context in the article. My exact words were:
“We are all here for assisting our youths to make the right choices (in life), to fulfill their potential, and to become our future citizens. And when things go awry, we need to be there, guiding them back. The Keiki POHAKU program does just that with Hawaiian values, self-reflection, and individual participation changing attitudes and behaviors. Should the program be questioned, held accountable, and perhaps even be scrutinized? Yes, but it is time for the council to move forward and approve this program. Funding of $35,000 is a very small investment in our community of youths, especially our local population who can not afford to have their lives defined by a criminal record and need that second chance in life with the tools to make alternatives choices and be provided with positive education.”
I thank the council for approving the Keiki POHAKU program.
Dr Ka-ni Blackwell
Kapa‘a
Iseri-Carvalho would convict herself
I would like to respond to the letter, “Before we judge Iseri-Carvalho,” by Glenn Mickens. I have a question for Mr. Mickens.
If you help an elderly lady walk cross the street, should you be allowed to commit a crime because you did a good deed? Because that is what we are talking about with Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho.
Did she commit a crime? Let’s take a look now at one of your “facts.”
Iseri-Carvalho claims a 93 percent conviction rate, as you stated, but 75 percent of those “convictions,” were plea bargains, reduced sentencing, etc.
Iseri-Carvalho and Rapozo did not keep Kaua‘i from becoming another O‘ahu?; the people of Kaua‘i did. Many of our elected officials helped. It wasn’t the superhuman efforts of the two people you keep voting for.
According to Mr. Mickens, if Iseri-Carvalho was prosecuting herself in this case, she would win a conviction.
Ask yourself this Mr. Mickens, is it possible for an lawyer to be unethical or dishonest?
Is it possible that some of Ms. Iseri-Carvalho’s convictions were done to innocent people?
Dennis Chaquette
Kea‘au
Serenity now
Costco outdoor cafe in Lihu‘e is still the place to go for an inexpensive meal on the cosmic island of Kaua‘i. No membership card is asked for at the outdoor cafe, so anyone, even non-members line up in the never ending lines on a daily basis.
Where else can you get a 100 percent quarter-pound-plus beef frank and a refillable drink for $1.50, or a chicken Caesar salad with enough volume to feed three for $3.99, pizza slices the size of about two normal slices of pizza for less than $2, ice cream sundaes for a fraction of what you pay anywhere else and three times as large?
Costco outdoor cafe, although one of the best deals on the planet, still has not grasped the concept of roped of lines as banks and most fast food restaurants employ where the next person in any line goes to the next available ordering window.
All things considered, Costco outdoor cafe is still the best bang for your dining out experience. Just have patience in case you pick the wrong line and the person in front of you happens to be ordering for the tour bus in the parking lot. In that case just repeat after me, “serenity now.”
James “Kimo” Rosen
Kapa‘a
