08-25-2007, 08:56 AM
in all the talk over the last few days about the effort by harry kim to respond to the publics concern over the potential of the lava to impact communities in lower puna, as well as questions of infrastructure vulnerabilities etc., I found myself defending the cautious way in which harry apparently dodged the more controversial questions. if I was standing up there trying to put some sort of reassuring official face forward to calm the communities nerves, especially in light of how far away we are from any real disaster developing, I do not think questions of how the government will react if and when etc belonged in the current discussion.
in my opinion harry has shown, since the eruption that sent a lava flow towards kalapana in 1977, that he is a caring and responsible administrator that learns from prior experiences, and applies those lessons as new experiences demand. in his evolution of a policy that deals with those effected by lava inundation I believe he has, and I have faith that he will continue to, act with all of our best interest in heart and mind. and, that in the end the results will be something that we as a community can be proud of. as someone that saw first hand how things went through the spring of 1990 in kalapana I was extremely proud of harry throughout the experience. that does not mean a blind agreement with ever little thing he has done, but rather a deep respect for the myriad of forces that he has had to juggle, and the end results of his policies as a whole. I feel we couldnt be in any better hands with regards the current situation.
with all that said.. boy I sure can go on cant I... I do however feel that putting the questions.. and their answers.. of government policy in a disaster such as the one being discussed off until the last moment may not be the way to go either. especially in light of the current discussion across every community in puna about those very same issues. I would hope that the current awareness of our vulnerabilities would actually go a considerable way towards spurring everyone, private citizens and government officials alike, to resolve and put into policies and actions the answers to those questions.
in my opinion harry has shown, since the eruption that sent a lava flow towards kalapana in 1977, that he is a caring and responsible administrator that learns from prior experiences, and applies those lessons as new experiences demand. in his evolution of a policy that deals with those effected by lava inundation I believe he has, and I have faith that he will continue to, act with all of our best interest in heart and mind. and, that in the end the results will be something that we as a community can be proud of. as someone that saw first hand how things went through the spring of 1990 in kalapana I was extremely proud of harry throughout the experience. that does not mean a blind agreement with ever little thing he has done, but rather a deep respect for the myriad of forces that he has had to juggle, and the end results of his policies as a whole. I feel we couldnt be in any better hands with regards the current situation.
with all that said.. boy I sure can go on cant I... I do however feel that putting the questions.. and their answers.. of government policy in a disaster such as the one being discussed off until the last moment may not be the way to go either. especially in light of the current discussion across every community in puna about those very same issues. I would hope that the current awareness of our vulnerabilities would actually go a considerable way towards spurring everyone, private citizens and government officials alike, to resolve and put into policies and actions the answers to those questions.