• Respect Kaua‘i! • Canadians love Myles • Mayor should take county vehicle home • ‘Wonder Blunder’ was breach of legal duties Respect Kaua‘i! This past Sunday morning I took a drive out to Polihale hoping for another great day
• Respect Kaua‘i! • Canadians love Myles • Mayor should take county vehicle home • ‘Wonder Blunder’ was breach of legal duties
Respect Kaua‘i!
This past Sunday morning I took a drive out to Polihale hoping for another great day of surfing. Queens Pond wasn’t happening so I proceeded down the beach. Half way down to Fishermans I came across a sight that infuriated me.
Someone had abandoned their campsite, leaving two wind-
destroyed pop-up tents, 30 empty and full beer, soda and water bottles, personal effects, clothing, toiletries, cigarettes and food trash.
It was 7 a.m., I couldn’t believe my eyes! I took pictures in disgust as there was no-one close by to witness this. So I decided to clean it up. Twenty minutes into it, my friend Alika Grady stopped by and was as shocked as I still was.
We filled up both of our trucks with their trash! It seems the wind blew out their campsite and they chose to leave the aftermath, sneaking off in the dark like thieves.
There is absolutely no excuse for trashing one of the most beautiful places in the world, our back yard. All it would have taken was the DLNR to show up, see this site and close down the beach access for everyone else on Kaua‘i. Or for some tourists to spot this and question the bumper sticker “Respect the locals.” What a great example!
Maybe it was the three trucks of people that flew by me leaving Polihale as I started the bumpy drive; they weren’t rental trucks either!
If so, do Kaua‘i a favor, stay away from Polihale and feel absolute shame for your actions!
Jules Cannon
Lawa‘i
Canadians love Myles
In order to get away from our cold Canadian winters we have been traveling to Kaua‘i for the last 10 years or so to spend two months each year in paradise. On our very first visit to Kaua‘i we stayed at Po‘ipu and had the good fortune to meet Myles Emura at the beach while he was on duty as a lifeguard. After a couple of years of staying at Po‘ipu we arranged to stay at a cottage in Waimea and each year have continued to see and spend a great deal of time with Myles.
From the very first time we observed Myles at Po‘ipu we were very impressed with the wonderful way he communicated with tourists, how knowledgeable he was regarding not only the ocean and the beach at Po‘ipu but also with respect to all local fruits and vegetation, etc. And we loved his tremendous nature and spirit of aloha. Myles was an “educator” and showed people how to be safe when entering the water.
At the beach we met quite a few local residents and in chatting with them learned of many heroic actions of Myles over the years. We did read an early newspaper article from The Garden Island which set out many highlights of Myles’ career over the years and were awed by it.
I mentioned to my husband one time while we were sitting at Po‘ipu Beach that if ever I were drowning I would hope that Myles was on duty because I know I could depend on him to get the job done.
We also saw for ourselves what type of personality and character Myles had over the years we spent in Kaua‘i. We found him to be a completely honest, trustworthy and very compassionate and kindhearted person and we are proud to be able to call him our friend and we are looking forward to seeing him again this winter.
Liz and Gerry Langbein
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Mayor should take county vehicle home
In a Nov. 20 letter to TGI, “Somethin’ happenin’ here?” Mr. Dorst writes, “I feel the mayor should have free access to all the fuel he needs, both for personal and business use …”
I can agree with you only on the work vehicle. I feel I don’t have to pay tax to support politicians who abuse their authority and privileges. They feel that they can steal from taxpayers for their own personal gains.
I guess Mr. Dorst is OK with people of authority stealing from him. He writes, “I wish to support solutions rather than attacks.”
Mr. Dorst, here’s a solution. The mayor should take a county vehicle home like the KPD officers do.
Howard Tolbe
‘Ele‘ele
‘Wonder Blunder’ was breach of legal duties
The predominant theme as promulgated by the State of Hawai‘i Senate Special Committee on Accountability is that the University of Hawai‘i executive administration failed to exercise “due diligence.”
Lack of due diligence is synonymous with carelessness. Carelessness is synonymous with negligence. Because professionals were negligent, professional negligence and malpractice are at the heart of the matter.
The University of Hawai‘i executive administration, namely, President M.R.C. Greenwood, former Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw, Vice President for Legal Affairs Darolyn Lendio and former Athletic Director Jim Donovan had a legal duty to reasonably investigate the recipient of the $200,000 transfer before dispatching with such a large sum of public monies.
They did not. Therefore, they breached their legal duties.
This egregious breach of duty factually and foreseeably caused damages to the university and the State of Hawai‘i.
Therefore, Greenwood, Hinshaw, Lendio and Donovan were negligent in their job performances.
If Greenwood, Hinshaw, Lendio or Donovan had any honor, they would resign for the benefit of the community.
The fact that heads did not roll, i.e., no University of Hawai‘i executives were terminated for cause, is shocking.
This outcome squarely fits the paradigm of a bureaucratic whitewashing, or as Brooks Atkinson aptly stated, the perfect bureaucrat is the one who manages to escape all responsibility.
David Mihaila
Honolulu