KAPA’A – Seniors urged the Kusaka Administration to continue to fund recreational and educational programs rather than put more money into programs serving seniors who are frail and homebound. Through activity programs, Kaua’i seniors will remain vital and energetic and
KAPA’A – Seniors urged the Kusaka Administration to continue to fund
recreational and educational programs rather than put more money into programs
serving seniors who are frail and homebound.
Through activity programs,
Kaua’i seniors will remain vital and energetic and live fuller lives, Althea
McCleery, a senior citizen from Anahola, told Mayor Maryanne Kusaka and her
cabinet members at a Tuesday night meeting at the Kapa’a Neighborhood
Center.
Kusaka held the meeting to get input from residents on their
priorities for next year’s county budget. About 15 people, mostly seniors,
attended.
McCleery said it is a mistake for the Executive Office on Aging
with the state Department of Health to require counties to spend more funds
serving frail senior citizens.
“Money will be spent there rather than on
people who are going, seniors going, seniors not sitting in front of the
television and mesmerized by what is flashing in front of them,” McCleery
said.
But unlike other counties, Kaua’i County doesn’t have to change its
focus yet and can continue to implement recreational and educational programs
because there are funds to do so for the next two years, said Kealoha
Takahashi, a representative with the Office of Elderly Affairs.
If the
seniors want to protect funds to continue the activity programs after 2002,
they must lobby the state Legislature, Kusaka said.
For this fiscal year,
nearly $128,000 in federal, state and county funds were appropriated for
senior programs on Kaua’i, Takahashi said. The county has no plans to cut its
share, about $42,000, Kusaka said.
The county should seek more federal
funds to support elderly programs, one elderly resident recommended.
That
is already being done, not only for programs for seniors but for programs
serving the community at large, Kusaka said.
In addition to beefing up
programs for the elderly, more police patrols should be deployed along the
shoreline in East Kaua’i, recommended Rosemary Woodyard, a senior citizen from
Wailua.
Many seniors take walks along the shoreline, but they won’t walk
there if they feel threatened, she said.
Kapa’a businesswoman Anne Leighton
said she and Kapa’a residents feel the Kaua’i Police Department has done a good
job in deterring crime in East Kaua’i. She said she welcomes the installation
of a police substation by the Kapa’a Beach Park.
During the meeting,
Kapa’a resident Glenn Mickens challenged Kusaka’s proposed 14.5 percent salary
increase for her and at least 30 other appointees and department heads.
A
key issue facing the county, said Administrative Assistant Wally Rezentes, Sr.,
is establishing a solid waste management plan to dispose of the island’s
garbage.
The county has received proposals from 23 companies for the
disposal of island debris, and it may take up to six months for the county to
select the right technology to do the job, Rezentes said.
One proposal,
plasma arc technology, which essentially vaporizes debris, would be too costly
to use, he said.
Kusaka listed some of her top priorities:
* The
relocation of county departments into the old Gem’s Store at the Lihu’e Civic
Center once the building is renovated.
* Sale of up to $28.5 million in
bond funds for 13 construction projects, including a new headquarters for the
Kaua’i police, the county’s Civil Defense Office and the county Prosecutor’s
Office, a computer system for the county’s Real Property Tax Division, work at
the Kekaha Landfill and construction of curbs and other improvements related
to American with Disabilities Act requirements.
* A 1.8 mile bicycle and
walking pathway and campgrounds at Lydgate Park.
* Demolition of an old
seawall at Brennecke Beach.
* The $5 million “Gateway” project to beautify
roads by the Lihu’e Airport. It calls for planting of thousands of flowers and
plants along Kapule Highway and Ahukini Road.
* Improvement of the water
safety program to reduce the risk of drownings.
* Construction of new
soccer fields.
Kusaka has scheduled another community meeting on Thursday
at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center and others will be held at various locations
on the island. For more information, call 241-6564.