Roundabout needed
I would like to agree with the writer complaining about the lack of maintenance on Olohena Road. But what bothers me even more than the potholes is the intersection with Ka‘apuni and Kaehula Roads.
Traffic from Ka‘apuni Road is supposed to see in a fuzzy mirror if a car is coming up the hill from the right while also checking for cars coming up the hill from the left. Cars from both directions have accelerated to get up the hill, so by the time you think it is clear to one side a car has appeared on the other.
I believe this is the most dangerous spot on the island. With roundabouts being constructed all over Kaua‘i, please put one in there!
Ruta Jordans, Kapa‘a
Ke‘e lifeguards are lifesavers
I realize this is politics season, but this isn’t a political letter, even though it is a thank you to our Mayor Derek Kawkami.
We are thankful, Mr. Mayor, that you decided to keep the lifeguard tower at Ke‘e Beach. No lengthy details necessary in this letter, and suffice it to say that you were under a lot of financial and even legal pressure to no longer have county lifeguards guarding this state beach.
Well, after this Labor Day weekend there is a very nice woman who is alive and well because of your decision. On Sunday she collapsed on the beach itself and not in the water. Our lifeguards were there in moments. They found that her heart had stopped and she had no pulse. Per protocol, they immediately started CPR, attached the AED, and found a “shockable rhythm,” i.e., ventricular fibrillation. They administered two shocks with the AED while continuing CPR, she got her pulse back, and she is alive and well and undergoing more tests to find and hopefully fix the cause for what happened. Needless to say she is also very grateful. If there weren’t lifeguards there she would have died.
Thank you Mr. Kawakami, and thank you lifeguards! We would have had a lousy weekend without you.
Monty Downs, M.D., Secretary, Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association
Current council out of touch
OK, some have already made my comments as to how wrong this is on so many levels.
Too many of our citizens are relying on food banks to feed their families, struggling to pay bills, rents are rising and many fear for their homes. Homeowners’ insurance went up 40% in the last two years, adding thousands to their cost. A previous article talked about “how the mayors and councilmembers of other islands make more!”
So, this is about keeping up with the Joneses, not about ability and contribution. Many of these councilmembers make more as outside income or pensions than the majority of Kaua‘i residents, without the fat county paycheck.
As for “keeping up with the payments made under union contracts,” maybe they should look at who negotiates these contracts. Another excuse is that “subordinates” make more than the bosses. I thought they were stopping “salary spiking” with overtime to pad pensions??
I have to admit, I voted for many of these members in the primary, mostly because I felt the others running for the positions did not have policies that aligned with the needs of Kaua‘i.
However, I will seriously be rethinking this come the election in November, as should every voter. Seems the “needs of the few” outweigh the needs of the many. Apparently our current councilmembers are totally out of touch with the people they are supposed to serve.
As for our mayor, while it is basically a known that he will be reelected, I don’t think his contribution to Kaua‘i is worth the price of admission!
Barry Dittler, Kapa‘a
