10-01-2009, 01:46 PM
Updating Emily's position on Bill 132, she just emailed me the following response when I wrote her an email telling her how much her constituents appreciated her voting for Bill 132 and for helping to provide transparency in gov't:
From the Councilwoman: "The idea that the County Council should impose a new hurdle to the process of buying and selling land from the County is not my idea of fair. Bill 132 is not about transparency. There already is transparency. It’s about one branch of county government trying to take over the responsibilities of another. It’s a naked power grab, where Mr. Yagong is trying to hide behind the false pretense of transparency. I will not be fooled by this reactionary bill.
In the beginning there was a moment when I thought perhaps this might be a good thing. I believe in transparency but on further investigation of this particular bill I realized that there was a vindictive tone to this legislation and a intimation that there is a basic distrust of the mayor. I will not be party to such juvenile political antics.
Imagine this, bill 132 passes and the County Council agrees to sell the land to a local farmer and one year later that farmer decides to sell the land to the Monsanto Corporation? The point is no matter who the county sells the land to those individuals are free to do with the land as they please. That is America. Now we could lease the land to local farmers but that will not bring in the kind of money we need to balance the budget.
The mayor has pointed to the fact that “Because of the difficult economic times, we proposed selling a portion of the Hamakua lands that have sat unused for 15 years. The sale was part of a budget process designed to avoid raising taxes, avoid cuts in non-profit agencies, maintain free bus service, and protect essential services such as police and fire protection.”
In closing, I would just like to say that I am very aware of my districts passion for the issues. I am also very aware that there are some people out there who don’t agree with some of the decisions I am making yet I find it more important to live with integrity then to spend my old age in regret.
Lau Lima,
Emily I. Naeole
Council Member 5th District"
From the Councilwoman: "The idea that the County Council should impose a new hurdle to the process of buying and selling land from the County is not my idea of fair. Bill 132 is not about transparency. There already is transparency. It’s about one branch of county government trying to take over the responsibilities of another. It’s a naked power grab, where Mr. Yagong is trying to hide behind the false pretense of transparency. I will not be fooled by this reactionary bill.
In the beginning there was a moment when I thought perhaps this might be a good thing. I believe in transparency but on further investigation of this particular bill I realized that there was a vindictive tone to this legislation and a intimation that there is a basic distrust of the mayor. I will not be party to such juvenile political antics.
Imagine this, bill 132 passes and the County Council agrees to sell the land to a local farmer and one year later that farmer decides to sell the land to the Monsanto Corporation? The point is no matter who the county sells the land to those individuals are free to do with the land as they please. That is America. Now we could lease the land to local farmers but that will not bring in the kind of money we need to balance the budget.
The mayor has pointed to the fact that “Because of the difficult economic times, we proposed selling a portion of the Hamakua lands that have sat unused for 15 years. The sale was part of a budget process designed to avoid raising taxes, avoid cuts in non-profit agencies, maintain free bus service, and protect essential services such as police and fire protection.”
In closing, I would just like to say that I am very aware of my districts passion for the issues. I am also very aware that there are some people out there who don’t agree with some of the decisions I am making yet I find it more important to live with integrity then to spend my old age in regret.
Lau Lima,
Emily I. Naeole
Council Member 5th District"