05-14-2026, 07:54 PM
(05-14-2026, 06:43 PM)ironyak Wrote: This sort of disconnect between commercial development and the long history of failing to actually put Hawai'ians in homes on those DHHL lands is very likely going to be front and center again for the discussion around geothermal development.
While I agree with you 100%, DHHL’s history is a train wreck, I think it’s only fair to point out that as a state agency they have been saddled with the same dysfunctions as their overlords, who have denied them their rightful funding and hobbled their efforts to rise above the fray at every turn. And, only now, has anything been done to rectify the situation, and treat them with the respect their station is due.
With this in mind, and the knowledge that they aren’t going anywhere, I think it is incumbent upon us all to look forward to better days ahead.
The same holds true for state. What a screwed up government we have. But still it is the one we have. And, with each new election, with each passing legislature session, we engage, or not, and can either whine about it all or try to steer it towards becoming its better self.
As such, we can harp on the good ol’ days when dying on the DHHL’s wait list was a right of passage, or recognize that with the current efforts to straighten out their funding, and hopefully with that their rightful place in our system of governance, that there is lots of room to hope they themselves will select stewards that will better serve their constituents going forward.
As Marshall McLuhan pointed out, it's difficult to drive forward while looking in the rearview mirror.