06-12-2012, 02:57 PM
Billy Kenoi has reacted to the threat of lava inundation/geothermal dangers like most of the local Hawaiians: they live with it because they've always lived with it and it may sound trite, but it's true: it's part of their culture. Read Rev. Ellis's account of people living in Puna; they'd wake up in the night with the earth opening up under them, regularly. Have you seen the upheaval Pahoa went thru in the 1920s prior to the 1924 explosive eruption of Halema'uma'u? There's film you can see on the USGS website. What did the government do then? Well, it's the same now: nothing (except draw maps creating lava zones). It was a part of life for Puna residents and they lived with it. Remember, this was still a territory on the most isolated population spot on the planet! And Puna being the fastest growing district in the state currently doesn't mean we have the most people; it means the ratio of people moving here is greater because there were relatively fewer people here to begin with!
Harry Kim essentially imposed martial law in Puna subdivisions when he was CD director and grass fires would break out makai of Hwy. 130. Pre-cell phones, parents literally ran his barricade (one mother was actually prosecuted for doing so) when he refused to let parents drive home to gather their children who had been delivered home by school buses before Kim imposed the roadblocks. The Territory of Hawaii was the only state or territory to function under martial law throughout WWII. So local people were used to that; didn't question it and knew nothing about "a man's home is his castle."
Re: the Leilani community relief center, it's my guess that Leilani's board is the only one that had CERT people in their community pushing for it. I took the CERT course and was CERTified, but I was the only one in Nanawale Est. to do so and I was totally unable to get the Nanawale board to consider networking or doing anything that the CERT program tries to establish in our neighborhoods. I know there were a number of HPP residents taking the CERT training at the same time as me and I'll bet they couldn't get their community to establish a CERT relief center in HPP either.
I wonder if Fred Blas even knows what the CERT program is about. He should. I haven't seen him do anything outside of getting Kahakai Blvd. paved and he voted with the Hilo majority on too many issues of importance to Puna to get that blacktop payoff, IMHO! It also bothers me that Pahoa business "leaders" don't pay much attention to politics unless it affects the Pahoa business community. IMHO...
Harry Kim essentially imposed martial law in Puna subdivisions when he was CD director and grass fires would break out makai of Hwy. 130. Pre-cell phones, parents literally ran his barricade (one mother was actually prosecuted for doing so) when he refused to let parents drive home to gather their children who had been delivered home by school buses before Kim imposed the roadblocks. The Territory of Hawaii was the only state or territory to function under martial law throughout WWII. So local people were used to that; didn't question it and knew nothing about "a man's home is his castle."
Re: the Leilani community relief center, it's my guess that Leilani's board is the only one that had CERT people in their community pushing for it. I took the CERT course and was CERTified, but I was the only one in Nanawale Est. to do so and I was totally unable to get the Nanawale board to consider networking or doing anything that the CERT program tries to establish in our neighborhoods. I know there were a number of HPP residents taking the CERT training at the same time as me and I'll bet they couldn't get their community to establish a CERT relief center in HPP either.
I wonder if Fred Blas even knows what the CERT program is about. He should. I haven't seen him do anything outside of getting Kahakai Blvd. paved and he voted with the Hilo majority on too many issues of importance to Puna to get that blacktop payoff, IMHO! It also bothers me that Pahoa business "leaders" don't pay much attention to politics unless it affects the Pahoa business community. IMHO...