05-23-2007, 04:03 AM
OK, I have to stick my nose back in because the love fest for Emily just has to be answered. Here we go again.
You don't have to be a mainstream politician or even literate to be effective. You just have to be able to keep a level head, introduce intelligent legislation (with the help of staff if necessary,) and get along with the other members of the body in which you serve. These things don't seem to be happening so far.
In less than six months in office, Naeole has had a poorly thought-out zoning change go down in flames due to community opposition, joined in what looked like a childish walkout of a council meeting, made an alliance with old-line good old boy council members from Hilo without bothering to count the votes aligned against it, and now is engaged in a public fight with her primary advisor which involves lawyers and possible legal charges. All the "Aloha" in the world can't make up for the lack of effectiveness that such antics lead to. I think a lot of people supported Naeole because they had romantic notions of and "old Hawaii" type person bringing some freshness to the Council without stopping to think about how the "old Hawaii" way of doing things is what got us in this mess in the first place.
Six months without a decent legislative iniative to remedy the problems of the most poorly served district in the county seem like too long to many of us. There is an active move on to find a solid candidate to oppose Naeole in the next election, but I still wish she could turn things around. There is a year and a half left in her term and we desperately need to get business done.
You don't have to be a mainstream politician or even literate to be effective. You just have to be able to keep a level head, introduce intelligent legislation (with the help of staff if necessary,) and get along with the other members of the body in which you serve. These things don't seem to be happening so far.
In less than six months in office, Naeole has had a poorly thought-out zoning change go down in flames due to community opposition, joined in what looked like a childish walkout of a council meeting, made an alliance with old-line good old boy council members from Hilo without bothering to count the votes aligned against it, and now is engaged in a public fight with her primary advisor which involves lawyers and possible legal charges. All the "Aloha" in the world can't make up for the lack of effectiveness that such antics lead to. I think a lot of people supported Naeole because they had romantic notions of and "old Hawaii" type person bringing some freshness to the Council without stopping to think about how the "old Hawaii" way of doing things is what got us in this mess in the first place.
Six months without a decent legislative iniative to remedy the problems of the most poorly served district in the county seem like too long to many of us. There is an active move on to find a solid candidate to oppose Naeole in the next election, but I still wish she could turn things around. There is a year and a half left in her term and we desperately need to get business done.