• Warden provided a second chance • Trip was a big success • Writers view on KIUC off base Warden provided a second chance This letter is in regards to the scandalous accusations made against the warden at Kauai Community
• Warden provided a second chance • Trip was a big success • Writers view on KIUC off base
Warden provided a second chance
This letter is in regards to the scandalous accusations made against the warden at Kauai Community Correctional Center. I am an ex-female inmate. I did three and a half years out of a five-year sentence, all at KCCC under the supervision of warden Neal and the administrative staff. I am so thankful that I got caught, and given the chance to participate in the Life Time Stand program. This program is the warden’s program, to help those that lost their way at some point in their life, and give us a second chance to learn the tools to become better people in the community. In all my years at the facility, I have never seen nor heard of anyone being singled out at any of the meetings. There are a lot of people who would like to see the warden and his program fail and shut down. But if you look at the percentage rate of us living life on life’s terms and doing exactly what we need to do, it’s very high.
In closing, I would like to thank the warden and his staff for giving us a second chance at life and not giving up on us, when everybody else did. I seriously feel if not for the warden and his program, I don’t think that I would be where I am today. Thanks again to everyone. Aloha and God bless to all my Life Time Stand family.
Cecile Luis
Kapaa
Trip was a big success
After spending last week on beautiful Kauai, I would like to thank the good people of Waimea for their warm hospitality.
We stayed at the Plantation Cottages and I have to say that it was a rare case of under promising and over delivering.
What a fantastic place! And a special thanks to Mr. Aaron Amayo, who helped us many times throughout the week, and was totally charming throughout. Aston has a great asset in Mr. Amayo for sure. And thanks to the charming ladies at Da Booze Shop (where they don’t serve any booze, LOL) for yummy plate lunches and reasonable prices served in a historic building in old Waimea town. And the same to the folks at Wranglers Steakhouse, another charming local spot. And finally thanks to the charming lady who we met at both the Kokee museum and the Waimea museum, a public spirited citizen for sure.
And the final treat was sitting in the airport departure area on Sunday, Feb. 8, reading The Garden Island and seeing a letter to the editor, “Missile range not such a great place” from my old friend Gordon La Bedz, with which I totally agreed. What an astonishing surprise. It kind of put me in the mind of the old bumper sticker from the ‘70s, “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” It’s nice to see that you’re still in the game, Gordon. Best regards to you and Diana.
So aloha and mahalo to all of you. We are counting the days until our return.
Noel Park
Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Writers view on KIUC off base
This letter is a partial response to Jonathan Jay’s guest viewpoint column in your Feb. 9 issue.
Unfortunately, Mr. Jay conflates two distinctly different types of votes in his criticism of KIUC’s Board of Directors for expending KIUC’s funds in supporting its decision to make the KIUC members who keep their old analog electric meters instead of using the new “smart meters” pay for the extra cost of having to maintain and manually read those meters.
The argument Mr. Jay makes is that because KIUC gives all candidates in the annual election of directors to the KIUC board equal treatment in promoting their candidacies, a treatment that is memorialized in KIUC Board Policy No. 23 initially adopted in 2006, and because KIUC members also vote on member petitions, the board should give both sides of the question to be decided in any member petition equal treatment, i.e. be neutral in the determination of the question with regard to members’ votes. This argument fails.
In many representative entities, like both KIUC and the County of Kauai, at least two different types of votes exist: elections and referendums. Elections allow the individuals charged with governing the entity to be chosen. Referendums allow the electorate to directly decide or change an issue their elected representatives have either ignored or change one they have made. In the election process fundamental fairness requires that the institution being run by those elected should be neutral in the electorate’s choices. Once elected, however, those representatives have a fiduciary duty to govern in the electorates’ best interests, and a corresponding duty to explain to the electorate the reasons for their challenged decisions. This is all that the KIUC board did in promoting a “yes” vote on the member petition on smart meter charges. To do anything less would have been a breach of the directors’ fiduciary duty, and, of course, the vote result overwhelmingly supported their decision!
David Proudfoot
Former KIUC counsel
Lihue
