10-21-2008, 01:57 PM
Punafish, I’ll answer a bit out of order to pull it together:
3. Government (State and County) is an industry unto itself. Government grows as people grow. More people equals more government services. More people, more roads to be maintained. More people, more workers to handle permits. More people…… It’s not a question of big government being good; but on Hawaii government is a major player in the employment arena. If tourism and it’s infrastructure ended on the Big Island, how many government workers from cops to clerks, from roadway workers to restaurant inspectors would no longer be needed?
2. Military is here and there’s nothing we can do about it, or is there? With BRAC, how many people who moaned and groaned, pissed and griped about the military presence suddenly switched to moaning and groaning in hopes of stopping their base from being closed? It does us no good to complain about what will come. We need someone who can channel the military’s presence into a positive. Let’s not have people come here, blow up the top of a hill and leave with little put back into the community.
1. Tourism can not be made second to anything. The most valuable resources Hawaii has is its land, sunshine, ocean and weather. Those equal tourist. Face it, Honeywell isn’t going to build a missile component plant on Hawaii. Monsanto isn’t going to move their R&D to Hawaii. Bank of America isn’t going to open up a processing center on Hawaii. Verizon isn’t going to move their load center to Hawaii and certainly Travel America isn’t going to build a state of the art truck stop on Hawaii. On the mainland, those 5 companies in one community alone employ more people than the Big Island has in population. All those companies offer jobs from highly skill to entry level porters under their one roof and they are not here and will not be here. But, there are opportunities. However, if those limited opportunities are met with resistance because they may not fit neatly into the environment, the aloha, the papayas, the ocean waves, well lets hope Wal-Mart gets their super center!
4. “Made in Hawaii” is indeed the only unique resource to Hawaii. But if we can produce one of the world’s best coffee and people still go to one of the 66 Starbucks on Hawaii, lets face the music. Even those dancing dashboard Hula-Girls sold at Hilo Hatties on the mainland has a Made in China sticker on the bottom. Do you really think people care if it’s Hawaii made or from some polluting factory in China? Look at all the Hawaiian aloha shirts made in Singapore or the Philippines sold right here on the Big Island. Honestly, I don’t think anyone looks at the “Made In” label, just the price label.
So, what does any of the candidates have to offer in terms of real economic development instead of a sound bite?
3. Government (State and County) is an industry unto itself. Government grows as people grow. More people equals more government services. More people, more roads to be maintained. More people, more workers to handle permits. More people…… It’s not a question of big government being good; but on Hawaii government is a major player in the employment arena. If tourism and it’s infrastructure ended on the Big Island, how many government workers from cops to clerks, from roadway workers to restaurant inspectors would no longer be needed?
2. Military is here and there’s nothing we can do about it, or is there? With BRAC, how many people who moaned and groaned, pissed and griped about the military presence suddenly switched to moaning and groaning in hopes of stopping their base from being closed? It does us no good to complain about what will come. We need someone who can channel the military’s presence into a positive. Let’s not have people come here, blow up the top of a hill and leave with little put back into the community.
1. Tourism can not be made second to anything. The most valuable resources Hawaii has is its land, sunshine, ocean and weather. Those equal tourist. Face it, Honeywell isn’t going to build a missile component plant on Hawaii. Monsanto isn’t going to move their R&D to Hawaii. Bank of America isn’t going to open up a processing center on Hawaii. Verizon isn’t going to move their load center to Hawaii and certainly Travel America isn’t going to build a state of the art truck stop on Hawaii. On the mainland, those 5 companies in one community alone employ more people than the Big Island has in population. All those companies offer jobs from highly skill to entry level porters under their one roof and they are not here and will not be here. But, there are opportunities. However, if those limited opportunities are met with resistance because they may not fit neatly into the environment, the aloha, the papayas, the ocean waves, well lets hope Wal-Mart gets their super center!
4. “Made in Hawaii” is indeed the only unique resource to Hawaii. But if we can produce one of the world’s best coffee and people still go to one of the 66 Starbucks on Hawaii, lets face the music. Even those dancing dashboard Hula-Girls sold at Hilo Hatties on the mainland has a Made in China sticker on the bottom. Do you really think people care if it’s Hawaii made or from some polluting factory in China? Look at all the Hawaiian aloha shirts made in Singapore or the Philippines sold right here on the Big Island. Honestly, I don’t think anyone looks at the “Made In” label, just the price label.
So, what does any of the candidates have to offer in terms of real economic development instead of a sound bite?