FoPF in suport of Bill 132 -land sale transparency

[Rob Tucker]

This is submitted by the Board of Directors of Friends of Puna's Future:

Another Swing Vote Issue- Bill 132

Bill 132, sponsored by Dominic Yagong, is a call for transparency in the sales of county lands of over ten acres. While the bill would affect all such land sales, it is inspired by the pending sale of the Hamakua lands in Dominic Yagong’s District 1.

Councilman Yagong and a number of citizens don’t want a fire land sale to be made in a down real estate market and without consideration for or the blessings of the Hamakua Community Development Plan. Whether you agree or disagree with the Hamakua Land sales, Bill 132 is worthy of support on its own merits.

Bill 132 is focused on a good open government practice.... transparency. Transparency in this context mean fully informing the public and their representatives (the Council) as to the terms of sale and the buyer’s identify and intentions. Could be Hamakua, could be Kona, could be Hilo. It is common real estate practice for all terms of sale to be reviewed by the seller, in the case of public land - us, before closing.

Doing business in the open and subject to public review makes simple sense and is one of the basics of Democracy - supporting an informed public. Regarding Bill 132 Councilman Enriques was quoted as saying, "transparency has got to end somewhere." So where do you think transparency ends? Transparency is not something that begins and ends. It should be present in the middle too.

Bill 132 should be strongly supported by all of us.

Now a funny thing happened on the way to the Council for this bill. It was about to get a boost in a council vote in Kona. Emily Naeole was expressing support. For reasons unexplained, J. Yoshimoto withdrew it from vote for a two week delay. Two weeks later Emily Naeole is against the bill. Not for any reasons concerning Bill 132 but because the public has been testifying against Mayor Kenoi and because she has a bone to pick with Dominic Yagong (according the the Tribune Herald). Someone has got her all fired up.

We residents of Puna need to reach out to Emily on this subject. She has to hear from her constituents. The basis for voting for or against bills must reflect the force of logic and serving the needs of the community ... not retribution. She is our representative. We need to politely tell her this.

The Emily Naeole Effect is a story of its own suitable for its own commentary. She is in possession of the Swing Vote. In the words of one council member, Emily Naeole could get everything for Puna that Puna ever needed or Puna ever wanted. For now we need to talk with her about Bill 132.

Emily Naeole <enaeole@co.hawaii.hi.us> - 965-2712

[Kapohocat]

Thanks for the address. I just emailed her.

[JerryCarr]

I emailed her, too, but will she listen? She hasn't in the past, choosing instead to follow her personal agenda.

[Barbara]

I really hope everyone calls her and then logs their call and her response here, on Puna Web. I sent an email and asked friends to email her and get a yes/no if no why? response and then email me. Evey email back to me was in favor of voting for Yagongs Amendment to Bill 132. One person said, you are wasting your time emailing Emily. She doesn't read/respond to email. I don't know if that is true, I do think it is better to call the office, give your name, ask if Emily is supporting Bill 132 as amended by Council Member Yagong. If she's in some kind of a snit for some reason, she can darn well get over it and grow up. Bill 132 as amended by Yagong is a good bill. Transparency and accountability is key to good governance in Hawaii. I don't care who is related to whom else..., in one way or another we are all related. She needs to support her district who supports this bill.

[JerryCarr]

Barbara, I think you are right about Emily not doing email. I have never gotten a response from her, but I used to get replies from Tiffany Edwards-Hunt when she was her assistant. Since Tiff left, no replies. I would be interested to know if that has been other people's experience.

[mikewj]

Over the last couple of months, I have sent 3 or 4 e-mails to Ms. Naeole; one was a repeat,since I got no reply to any of them. As of this moment,I hear only a deafening silence from Ms. Emily. It may be that our representative is technologically challenged, however there must be someone on her staff who can twitter, or tweet, or even respond to old fashioned e-mail. Well, as they say, payback's a b***h, and some time in the future Ms. Emily is going to be begging for our vote to keep her place on the gravy train. My mind is made up, based on performance to date, how about you?

What will it take to find a representative who will actually do what the voters want? More to the point, what does it take for the voters to remember the (generally pitiful if not outright contemptuous of the electorate) performance of those for whom they voted, and vote next time based on results measured against campaign promises?

I'm beginning to think there's truth to the old saying " you get the government that you deserve".

[Rob Tucker]

I have asked Emily's staff to add me onto email notices of public meetings and such. They say they do not do email notices..... but they will call me. For the last eight months.... no calls.

It seems they only want to talk with and listen to campaign supporters and those only when they praise Emily and agree with her.

[Barbara]

I've been thinking about this situation, that Council District 5, represented by Emily Naeoli, is NOT being represented by Emily. Maybe, just maybe, she has been taken over by an alien... I've heard of these things happening before.
How else can her behavior be explained.
Emily has always said she represents Puna, her people. Well, I'm one of those people and her erratic behavior doesn't represent me... as a matter of fact, I'm concerned about her physical and mental health.
When I first saw/met Emily, it was at a Candidate Forum in HPP, that was 2 elections ago. I saw Emily surrounded by a golden light, and I told her about that. For me, it was striking. Then that light began to blink, kind of on and off. Again, this is me speaking, and I am drinking coffee, plain, black coffee. Following the Barbara Hale disaster, and other erratic behavior, I gave her a pass... she had lost her husband, was new on the council...
Time passed and the HTH had many articles about her "colorful" behavior. The light I saw went out, in its place was a smudge.
This most recent vote business about Bill 132, and a bizzare explanation that she's mad at Council Member Yagong for questioning Mayor Billy Kenoi, that's crazy talk. That is Yagong's job, that is Naeoli's job, that is every council members job.

Bill 132 is all about good open government practice... transparency.
Informing the public, fully, and the public is us.

So, if she hasn't been taken over by an alien, and she jumps from indicating support FOR A GOOD BILL, Bill 132, and the reason given in the HTH is that she has a bone to pick with Dominic Yagong, please Emily go into a cane field with Dominic and duke it out! Shake off this childish behavior, totally unbefitting a council member, come back into that golden light!
How do we all get to talk with you, if you're stomping your foot in a tantrum?
Set a time and place for a public forum right near your office where we can talk with you about Bill 132.
Bring back the light!