01-07-2016, 04:53 AM
PahoaTed: "It is just the aloha thing HPP needs to do, give a little back to the community instead of always gimme-gimme-now-now."
This is true "through the looking glass" thinking. HPP GIVES access to the roads it paid for and maintains for an emergency escape route from lower Puna, HPP is asked to GIVE a 20 acre parcel to Hawaii county for a public county park (HPP did not pursue this idea, a county councilor did) and HPP already GAVE land for a county park that never got developed on the shoreline. But somehow all that GIVING has turned into GIMMEE in Ted's mind. When a public entity like Hawaii county asks for use of privately paid for and maintained property (like land or roads) and the owner of that property asks to be protected from loss or harm from that use, somehow in certain twisted minds the owners of the private property becomes the selfish ones?
Calling HPP a "private" subdivision as Kalakoa does is a Red Herring, almost all of Puna's house lots are in privately developed subdivisions owned by members of the taxpaying public. They were developed as a land scam with "master plans" and systems of governance that range from nonexistent to barely adequate, and then the developers took their money and walked away. Hawaii County has been collecting taxes on those properties ever since and was complicit in the development of the land to begin with, so providing taxpayer funded services of any sort to the taxpayers living in these subdivisions is perfectly reasonable. Is Kalakoa saying that police and fire vehicles should not travel on "private" subdivision roads, since they are also taxpayer funded? Where would he draw the line on what taxpayer funded services and facilities "private" subdivision dwelling taxpayers deserve, what about fire stations or police substations?
The only thing "private' about any of these subdivisions is that the residents have to pay to build and maintain the roads in addition to all the county and gas taxes they pay, in all other ways these are public roads, used by the public, policed by the public safety departments, and used by police and civil defense as alternative routes when it suites them.
The residents of HPP did not push for this park, in fact a sizable and vocal portion of the subdivision has expressed opposition for a wide variety of reasons, GI pushed for it so he has an accomplishment to run on, and he is hoping (incorrectly I think) that it will get him HPP votes as a solid block, but it is entirely reasonable for HPP to have concerns that Hawaii County will say one thing until the land is transferred to them, and then do nothing, or even worse do something other than put in a park. We are talking about Hawaii County after all.
This is true "through the looking glass" thinking. HPP GIVES access to the roads it paid for and maintains for an emergency escape route from lower Puna, HPP is asked to GIVE a 20 acre parcel to Hawaii county for a public county park (HPP did not pursue this idea, a county councilor did) and HPP already GAVE land for a county park that never got developed on the shoreline. But somehow all that GIVING has turned into GIMMEE in Ted's mind. When a public entity like Hawaii county asks for use of privately paid for and maintained property (like land or roads) and the owner of that property asks to be protected from loss or harm from that use, somehow in certain twisted minds the owners of the private property becomes the selfish ones?
Calling HPP a "private" subdivision as Kalakoa does is a Red Herring, almost all of Puna's house lots are in privately developed subdivisions owned by members of the taxpaying public. They were developed as a land scam with "master plans" and systems of governance that range from nonexistent to barely adequate, and then the developers took their money and walked away. Hawaii County has been collecting taxes on those properties ever since and was complicit in the development of the land to begin with, so providing taxpayer funded services of any sort to the taxpayers living in these subdivisions is perfectly reasonable. Is Kalakoa saying that police and fire vehicles should not travel on "private" subdivision roads, since they are also taxpayer funded? Where would he draw the line on what taxpayer funded services and facilities "private" subdivision dwelling taxpayers deserve, what about fire stations or police substations?
The only thing "private' about any of these subdivisions is that the residents have to pay to build and maintain the roads in addition to all the county and gas taxes they pay, in all other ways these are public roads, used by the public, policed by the public safety departments, and used by police and civil defense as alternative routes when it suites them.
The residents of HPP did not push for this park, in fact a sizable and vocal portion of the subdivision has expressed opposition for a wide variety of reasons, GI pushed for it so he has an accomplishment to run on, and he is hoping (incorrectly I think) that it will get him HPP votes as a solid block, but it is entirely reasonable for HPP to have concerns that Hawaii County will say one thing until the land is transferred to them, and then do nothing, or even worse do something other than put in a park. We are talking about Hawaii County after all.