09-24-2006, 12:43 PM
Whether or not I agree with Aaron's prediction about the real estate market on the BI crashing (again,) I think he is on to something as far as the infrastructure and politicians go. The local decision making processes seem to involve lengthy talking story among all the interested parties and even lengthier processes to arrive at some sort of consensus as far as what to do. The purpose of consensus-based decision making is to make as many groups as possible happy with the result, but it seldom seems to turn out that way around here.
Once we finally decide we need to build or do something, we have any number of engineering and environmental studies (necessary, I should add) before anything can be actually approved. Is it any wonder that by the time all this is done, the economic cycle may have turned, resulting in no money to actually get it done?
I am a firm believer in participatory democracy, but I also think it is the duty of politicians to sometimes push through projects and programs that may not be universally popular. I don't see more than a very few Hawaii politicians willing to do that. This may seem charming and traditional, but the results can be bad.
Some people seem to think that if we stick our heads in the sand and do nothing about infrastructure needs on this island, people will just stop moving here and everything will be OK. Look around, folks, we're already here, and more are coming whether we choose to deal with it or not.
OK, rant over.
Aloha,
Jerry
Once we finally decide we need to build or do something, we have any number of engineering and environmental studies (necessary, I should add) before anything can be actually approved. Is it any wonder that by the time all this is done, the economic cycle may have turned, resulting in no money to actually get it done?
I am a firm believer in participatory democracy, but I also think it is the duty of politicians to sometimes push through projects and programs that may not be universally popular. I don't see more than a very few Hawaii politicians willing to do that. This may seem charming and traditional, but the results can be bad.
Some people seem to think that if we stick our heads in the sand and do nothing about infrastructure needs on this island, people will just stop moving here and everything will be OK. Look around, folks, we're already here, and more are coming whether we choose to deal with it or not.
OK, rant over.
Aloha,
Jerry