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+--- Thread: Greggor V Russell (/showthread.php?tid=17159)
RE: Greggor V Russell - shockwave rider - 07-15-2016
quote:
Originally posted by BillyB
I don't have a problem with him spending his own money.
I was just pointing out it is disingenuous to make an issue of getting money from outside the district, like that is some crime,
when most of the money he has from the district is his own.
Ruderman is the one who is making an issue of it, I just called him on it.
You can't see the difference between funding your own campaign out of your own pocket and actively seeking money from out of district interests? Really? Wow.
RE: Greggor V Russell - BillyB - 07-15-2016
So the richest guy wins. Really? Wow.
RE: Greggor V Russell - shockwave rider - 07-15-2016
quote:
Originally posted by BillyB
So the richest guy wins. Really? Wow.
Or you can get support locally, if there are enough local people who support you. In this case he registered as a Democrat shortly before announcing he was running against an incumbent, then went hunting for money on Oahu. I have no objection to someone getting donations from anyone in their own district, or even island, but all those Oahu donors are going to want something in return for their money, otherwise they wouldn't get involved in a Senate race in a poor rural district on the Big Island, if the kid doesn't know that he is more naive than I thought.
RE: Greggor V Russell - Chunkster - 07-15-2016
If the rich guy is better qualified and hasn't sold out to outside interests and a corrupt good old boy power establishment, then by all means he should win. The Honolulu politicians who are backing Ilagan have never done squat for Puna and don't plan to. They would find it helpful, however, to put a shiny, smiling young face on their neglect. Ilagan fits their bill. At least they know what they are buying . . . a plodding lightweight who won't rock the boat.
RE: Greggor V Russell - Anxious Messiah - 07-24-2016
And Chunkster drops the mic!
_________________________________________
Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence.
RE: Greggor V Russell - pahoated - 07-25-2016
If Greggor gets elected, Oahu will ignore him.
If Russell gets elected, Oahu will ignore him.
The only difference will be which special interest they are beholden to, for whatever reason.
Russell wouldn't be bad except he is a total whack job, a Punatic role model.
Greggor would be OK if he had a spine, only problem is he wants to become a jelly fish.
Either way, Puna gets what it wants. It's a no-win/no-win, Puna once again snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Hoo-ha!
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
RE: Greggor V Russell - kalakoa - 07-25-2016
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/local-news/campaigns-heating-between-ilagan-ruderman-district-2
Puna problems persist; politicians propose planning, progress proves problematic.
RE: Greggor V Russell - Chunkster - 07-25-2016
Anxious Messiah really flatters me with his comment. In all honesty, I have to say that while I have already voted by mail for Ruderman, I saw him as the less unattractive of the two candidates and not a source of enthusiasm. His early missteps with wacko science on GMO and trying to ban fracking in a state where it is scientifically impossible to practice it gave me considerable misgivings. Apparently, someone got the message across because we don't hear a lot from him in that vein these days.
Ilagan, however, managed to sink his own ship with me in an even larger number of shortcomings. He has done little in four years on the council to improve some of the service and infrastructure deficits of Puna. He takes credit for buses and a park in HPP that were already advancing before he came along. (And many of us in HPP would rather have county help with roads or a water line extension with a tap station than a park anyway.)
The whole park thing was jumping on Billy Kenoi's bandwagon of a debt financed park building binge. Speaking of Kenoi, Ilagan gushed over him in an council meeting, saying that he had the highest personal and professional respect for him. Really? The mayor admitted inappropriate use of the p-Card, and is an ethical train wreck whether his indictment results in a conviction or not.
As Ted put it, Ilagan has no backbone. He waffles and says "I'll research that and get back to you" to the point of obfuscation. Several people I know have asked him the same questions several times over the course of his council and gotten that same answer two years or more later.
And finally there is that good old boy thing. Ilagan is accepting heavy financial support from the Honolulu power establishment. As I said earlier, these are the people who have kept Puna waiting for decades for needed state investment. They would love to have a "golden boy" as their happy face to keep the peasants from making too much noise. Ilagan would like nothing better than to become a career politician and member of the entrenched establishment.
I voted for Ruderman because he will at least get in the good old boys faces. I understand how some of you who value science feel you can't vote for him, but please rethink it. Don't reward a smarmy guy who has really done very little in life or on the council by making him an established presence. Maybe next time we can field a candidate who ticks more sensible and sane boxes, but given what we have on the table right now, Ruderman is the better choice.
RE: Greggor V Russell - kalakoa - 07-25-2016
Ilagan ... has done little in four years on the council to improve some of the service and infrastructure deficits of Puna.
I'm not convinced that any councilor could actually make much difference.
many of us in HPP would rather have county help with roads or a water line extension with a tap station than a park
County's misplaced priorities are not HPP-specific, or even Puna-specific; the spending apparently has a mind of its own, regardless of what the people actually need or want -- building parks, when what we really need are roads and wastewater treatment.
RE: Greggor V Russell - Chunkster - 07-25-2016
"I'm not convinced that any councilor could actually make much difference." - - - kalakoa
I agree, kalakoa. The cards seem to be stacked, don't they? What I do expect, however, is for my council rep to at least try to do something substantial. Did Ilagan introduce legislation for fuel tax sharing or other measures to help with subdivision (or other) roads? No, he did not. Did he introduce legislation to loosen the building permit process to enable more affordable housing to be built? No, he did not. With the notable exception of his GMO vote, Ilagan has taken the path of least resistance on every issue. Like you say, we have serious issues with roads, water, and wastewater, but he wants to tout a bus line and park that were mainly advanced by others and not a high priority for many.
And the "mind of its own" that you refer to in relation to park spending is the mind of the good old boy network of contractors, unions, and their supporting politicians who see parks as the low hanging fruit of public works. You get to feather your friends' nests with overpriced, insider dominated contracting while providing a benign project few will object to. After all, what sort of callous person would oppose a new park for the keiki?
Edited to add: Just noticed in today's Hilo newspaper that Ilagan has been endorsed by the Hawaii Island Contractor's Association. Why am I not surprised?