Democrats, big business don’t mix
Many in Hawaii’s Democratic Party at the State Legislature have a problem upholding the party’s progressive values of economic justice and environmental sustainability. At the last party convention in May 2018, delegates passed resolutions supporting a $15 minimum wage and protecting our fresh water resources for the benefit for all of Hawaii’s people.
The 2019 legislative session ends in a few weeks. SB789 that supports a $15 minimum wage will be in conference. A minimum of $12.50 an hour being pondered by some legislators would be an inadequate compromise. “UH grad students want to unionize for good working conditions …”
Grad students average a meager $17,500 a year. Legislators have a chance to prove they stand with Hawaii’s poorest workers and not the selfish interests of the Chamber of Commerce.
The “water theft bill” HB1326 was just recently deferred because of popular statewide dissent, but Gov. Ige wants to revive the schemes of Alexander & Baldwin hogging central Maui’s stream water for it’s Mahi Pono development. Big business and its huge load of cash has no right being represented in the Democratic Party. They really belong in the GOP.
Raymond Catania, Lihue
Finally end Big 5 influence
Gov. David Ige’s use of the authority of his office to attempt to buck a court ruling and public sentiment in the case of the rejected HB 1326 bill is a throwback to Big 5 stranglehold on government in Hawaii.
HB 1326 allows water diverters, including KIUC on Kauai, to continue to divert without a lease, as required in the water code. Instead they would be allowed to continue for an unspecified time with a yearly permit.
The problem: the last of the Big 5 companies, Alexander and Baldwin (A&B), had its permits to divert water invalidated by a circuit court ruling in 2016.
The problem for A&B: They recently sold hundreds of acres of central Maui farmland to a Canadian corporation with the promise of daily delivery of 30 million gallons of water. Without passage of HB 1326, they can’t deliver, and must return $62M of the sale price to the buyer.
A&B lavishes politicians from the governor down with campaign contributions. Now it is calling in the favors. Seldom is corruption laid bare for all to see, as a governor and some legislators attempt to reverse a decision that the Legislature has already made, and side-stepping a court ruling in the doing.
We hope that our Sen. Ron Kouchi, president of the Senate, and others will turn the page on Big 5 dominance of Hawaii politics and take a proactive path forward for all water users based on existing legal authority.
Kip Goodwin, Wailua
