Mel Rapozo would be good mayor
Mel Rapozo would be good mayor
We have some good people running for mayor of Kauai but, for me, only Council Chair Mel Rapozo has the guts and ability to tackle the many problems that have been with us for way too long.
Traffic, the horrible shape our roads are in, our solid waste program, low income housing and our homeless people — nothing but talk and consultants going on with no action happening. Isn’t it easy to see that over so many administrations and councils our problems have gotten worse with no one doing anything about them?
My choice for mayor is a person who will be a realist and one of action who will live in the real world and be proactive and not reactive as we have been in the past to get us into this mess. More buses, bikes and walking is not the answer to our traffic and pot hole roads — more alternate roads and proper paving is what we need.
Our Council Chair, Mel Rapozo, is that person.
One night in 2003 when Mel first became a councilmember we were having a council meeting that was still going on at 8 in the evening. All of a sudden there was some yelling and screaming in the lobby of the council chambers and while others just ignored it Mel jumped up, ran into the lobby and tackled some person who was causing all the commotion and held him down until the police arrived.
Mel was once a police officer and it is in his DNA to take action when action is needed.
If elected he will hire people for key positions because of their experience and not for political reasons. Obviously so many of our problems today are there because we have incompetent people in charge who do not have a clue as to what should be done.
We need a person of action who puts the problems of Kauai before any others — we need Mel Rapozo.
Glenn Mickens, Kapaa
But Glenn, what you let out was Mel tackled the Mayor. Doh!!
Hey Glenn.
Your memory seems to go back to 2003, when you say that Mel jumped up from a council meeting, ran into the lobby and tackled some person who was causing some commotion and held him down until the police arrived. Wonderful…instead of talking the situation down he commits an act which could have gotten Mel, and the County, into some serious legal trouble!
You write “Mel was once a police officer and it is in his DNA to take action when action is needed.” Is that what happened when Monica Alves, accused of prostitution, was brought in to cellblock when Mel was the officer in charge. Mel apparently facilitated a “fun and games” photo session in Alves cell with other cops. He was subsequently forced off the police force and Alves successfully sued the County for his actions and those of the others officers, costing the taxpayers plenty.
It is ludicrous that Mel Rapozo was later elected to any public office, and even more so that he has the nerve, and is being considered, for Mayor.
Throw the bum out!
I’ll stick to another Rapozo thank you very much!!! Lenny is gonna take it guys it is destiny. He will make all your wildest dreams come true!!
My issue with Mel Rapozo (and Lenny Rapozo and Derek Kawakami) concerns his pro-growth and development views. He accepts campaign funds from groups who want to build more resorts, more houses, more condo projects and turn Kauai into another Honolulu. Our roads can’t handle more growth. The beauty of our Island is that we are the least developed of the 4 major Islands and we have room to breath and enjoy the wilderness and open space. Let’s put the breaks on over-developing Kauai. Sorry Mel, can’t support you with your pro-growth views.
Need I remind everyone that Mel Rapozo has served on the Kauai County Council for many years ( along with so many others ) and who has not made any necessary changes to help progress of all of the situations that this letter addresses. What makes anyone think that that would change if he were elected Mayor? We clearly need new leadership with a fresh prospective and ideas to move our County forward-
I think mr. Mickens must sleep at those council meetings or he is getting paid well for his letter. After reading Mr. Rapozo’s Actions for his part in KPD blue he shouldn’t be an elected official period. Mr. Mickens says “isn’t easy to see that over so many administrations and council our problems have gotten worse with no one doing anything about it.” In case mr. Mickens forgot Mr. Rapozo is the council chair and he too has spent years and years and is a big part of it all getting worse. Why would anyone endorse a candidate that has shown to be a big part of the problems of not doing anything about it. He is about as embarrassing as it gets. I have news for mr. Mickens Mr. Rapozo has shown us over the years that he too is incompetent and as a result has done nothing productive for our problems and only has shown his disrespect in working with other council members.,. His game is to tell people what they want to hear and if you notice it’s always at election time. It’s like I said, you don’t elect professional management , you hire them.
Why would anyone endorse a candidate for any position of change when the candidate has been a big part of all the problems mr. Mickens has on his list. I think mr. Rapozo might have promised mr.Mickens that he would talk with the AJA baseball to get the rules changed if he would write a nice letter. You hire good management not elect it.
I was disappointed to read your comment about buses, bikes and walking. They are not the only answer to our traffic and road problems, but they are indeed part of the solution. Back a couple of years ago the Dept. Of Transportation for the State of Hawai‘i paid our County Council a visit. They had not been on the island of Kaua‘i for over ten years. The point that they made perfectly clear to the Council that day was HDOT would not be giving Kaua’i any more money than they had been receiving. They,also,clearly stated that they would not be giving any more money for the next ten years. I personally was horrified by their testimony to the Council. How Are we going to live with that?
With that reality in mind, we must look at the County budget for road funds. Over 75% of the budget goes to paying current employees of the County and former employees of the County. This doesn’t leave much for affordable housing, economic development or new roads. We need to look at alternatives. Such as making commercial places available in every community to meet the needs of the community so as we do not have to drive to Lihue for everything. Having Car sharing on our island like they do in mainland cities. Developing our bus system so people don’t need their cars to get to work would help greatly in getting cars off the road, you see it all the time on the mainland. It’s too expensive for people to drive their cars into the cities so they take the transit system that is available. Having a better bus system here will help make housing more affordable as people don’t need to buy a car, pay for repairs and insurance. The family’s money can go towards better housing. Just because something isn’t the complete solution to a problem, don’t count it out if it would alleviate part of the problem.
Glen,
I guess you never read “KPD Blue, A Decade of Racism, Sexism, and Political Corruption”…
Mel was a key player in this non-fiction work, and brought that experience to the County Council. I don’t think we need more of the same in the Mayor’s office.
KDP Blue is nothing more than a gossip rag equal to those supermarket checkout headlines that used to say things like “First Lady Bush adapts secret alien baby!” There is not a single verified fact within that worthless book. I know the unrefined and uneducated have had their status elevated by our temporary president but, they are the only ones who would ever reference it.
Just saying… There is nothing of a gossip rag with KPD blue. Anthony Sommer wrote it and it contains factual nonfiction court document info. Mr. Rapozo wishes it was a supermarket gossip rag. You can’t go thru life doing stupid moves and expect the public to shine it on when you want to serve as a politician. He should have donated the fee for running for Mayor to the flood victims instead.
I’ll put it another way for ya: The book has all the stuff Sommer couldn’t get his employer, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, to print. That was for good reason, it was unsubstantiated; in other words…gossip!
Guess what pal, court docs have an AMAZING amount of unsubstantiated gossip!
Resurrecting buried trash from years ago only shows people are desperate to dig up negativity to discredit Mr. Rapozo. Mr. Rapozo has proven himself to be the leader this island needs!
Dear “Stevie Rawanda” and “Just Saying”,
The part Mel Rapozo played in the Monica Alves scandal are hardly “buried trash”. As a grown man and police sergeant he showed incredibly bad judgement and was lucky to get away with a slap on the wrist. If the book “KPD Blue” contained false accusations, the author would have been taken to task by Mel Rapozo and other whose wrong-doing was exposed, and successfully sued for slander. Didn’t happen.
You seem to refer to me as unrefined and uneducated , having had my status elevated by our Trump presidency, and thus feeling entitled to reference “KPD Blue”. How wrong you are! Trump is a chronic liar, and, if and when Mel Rapozo denies the allegations in the book, he’ll be one and the same. That would really be the definition of Fake News!
If you feel that the poor judgement of Mel Rapozo, which cost taxpayers tons of money in the lawsuit mounted by Ms. Alves, should be overlooked, then look no further than Mel’s position as Council Chair: It is Mel’s way or the highway. A real power-monger. Come to think about it, few people remind me more of Donald Trump than Mel Rapozo.
Kauaiboy, interesting enough, you seem to know what happened that night with Alves. Were you there? Mr. Rapozo has served well on several terms on the county council. He has been a great leader and nobody questioned that kpd blue nonsense….until now when he’s going to be mayor.
Those of us who have lived here had the opportunity to read about the Monica Alves fiasco in the TGI. Then they were able to read Somer’s book, which was not questioned by those involved. I questioned Mel’s running for Council way back then, and I was amazed that the general population allowed their heads to be turned. Even if one disregards that fiasco, one have to be blind not to see Mel Ropozo as a power-monger and know-it-all during his years on the Council.
So kauaiboy, you also read in the TGI way back then that the three fired officers were reinstated to the police dept. with Mel choosing not to accept demotion to patrolman from Sgt. that came with reinstatement. You could have mentioned this and added how “It was all bogus, man!” but you just left it out altogether just like your one sided agricultural comments that favor the multi billion dollar European Organic Farming Cartels that now finance Greenpeace! “Those comments are all bogus, man!”