• Tough time finding a home Tough time finding a home I am seeking a nice place to live. I am a 53-year-old male. I have income and a small, well-behaved house-trained service dog (about 10 pounds) named Mia. She helps
• Tough time finding a home
Tough time finding a home
I am seeking a nice place to live. I am a 53-year-old male. I have income and a small, well-behaved house-trained service dog (about 10 pounds) named Mia. She helps me with meds and focus.
I have had a stroke and am currently on SSI with a disability. I have had some troubles in the past but that was a long time (over five years). In 2007, I was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance in the state of Washington. I was sentenced and went to jail.
About six years ago, I took the cash box from a business. Although the money was returned, I was prosecuted and found guilty. I completed a treatment program and have not used any drugs since that time. In addition to never using drugs, I don’t drink or smoke. I lead a quiet life and keep my place very clean.
I regret my poor choices but that was a long time ago. I have had a stroke and have led a clean life. I have also been approved and received a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. I believe in God and go to church. I am a good man and able to pay the tenant portion of the rent with my SSI.
I hope my past will not disqualify me from this housing opportunity. I have repented for my sins and mistakes and have led a clean and sober life for many years. HUD approved me for a voucher, so I hope you will approve me for this housing opportunity. I just want a quiet and nice place to live.
I have HUD and can provide excellent references. I am looking for a quiet place to live with my service dog, and I hope you will consider me. The HUD voucher will allow me a one-bedroom apartment for $1,300 or a studio for $1,050. You can email me at jcf.caley@gmail.com, 425-2016.
Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.
Alfred Darrel Caley, Kauai
Houston, public policy and our general plan
The hurricane in Houston was probably not caused by climate change. Hurricanes occurred on the Gulf Coast before the gradual environmental temperature rise, so the presence of a hurricane is not unusual. What is highly unique and most likely reflects the effects of climate change is the deluge of rain that accompanied this storm causing the severe flooding and resulting in tens-of-billions of dollars of damage to this city and its residents.
With the increased use of fossil fuel and the accelerated production of CO2 discharged into the atmosphere the earth’s temperature has increased. Heated water expands, icecaps melt and the sea rises. The gulf water temperature this year was the highest on record and one degree higher then it was 3 decades ago. As water heats up it contributes to more water vapor in the air resulting in more rain. It is little wonder that this storm and record rain and flooding was characterized as “unprecedented” even though it was the third “500 year storm” in recent years.
Experts and the press are pointing fingers at the local government and saying their actions, or lack thereof, have played a major role in the incredible damage and human suffering that occurred as a result of the storm. CNN reported that lax zoning requirements and poor urban planning probably made the flooding worse.
The Washington Post’s headline states “Houston is paying the price for public officials’ ignorance”. The general sense is that government inaction, poor planning for new communities and little or no consideration of the consequences of major disasters all contributed to this extensive tragedy.
Let’s turn our attention back to Kauai. We are an island surrounded by rising heated water and we are facing potential disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, droughts, pestilence and the like. Are these issues addressed adequately, or at all, in the draft of our General Plan?
The answer is no! The plan encourages more people to move to the island by agreeing to unbridled development. It also proposes more tourists, more cars on the road, more use of limited and essential resources such as water and more homes built in the $450,000 price range.
Our policy makers should take heed from the disasters in Houston and note the careful climate-change planning ongoing in the Netherlands. They must accept that these changes in our environment are real and inevitable.
We can plan and prepare for these climate related events to lessen the financial effects and impacts on human suffering. Alternatively, we can adopt the present draft General Plan and all collectively face our future’s disastrous consequences associated with poor county planning.
Douglas Wilmore, M.D., Kilauea
