Posts: 968
Threads: 74
Joined: Aug 2007
quote:
Originally posted by DaVinci
I respectfully disagree. The Sierra Club misidentified the best candidate in this race for the environment and for Puna. That candidate is not Joy. It is Leilani Bronson-Crelly. She is in my estimation, the better choice.
Hey, thanks for bringing up the comparison! I find it way interesting, especially after visiting Leilani's website, where she lists professional activist as one of her many qualifications.
I find this especially telling in that the Sierra Club would recognize an attorney rather than an activist. Maybe that says a lot for their own tactics in pursuit of what appear to be the same goals as your own. I certainly would expect that they take their endorsements seriously, yeah?
Posts: 14,122
Threads: 424
Joined: Aug 2012
ask the candidates is if they support the Hawaii county GMO ban as law?
More generally, do the candidates support "home rule"?
Remember, LLEP is "unenforceable due to pre-emption by State/Federal law". I would expect a GMO ban to be treated the same way.
Posts: 1,930
Threads: 71
Joined: Jun 2012
Yeah, well it would be funny to see them flap their gums if they are asked what is being done to enforce an ordnance. Realistically, yeah, nothing is going to happen except a bunch of lawyers and judges. This race also seems to be doing everything as expected earlier. The vote will be split among so many candidates that the incumbent wins by a small margin.
"This island Hawaii on this island Earth"
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
Posts: 311
Threads: 15
Joined: Jun 2010
I'm hoping that the race is spilt among so many candidates that Leilani Bronson-Crelly wins by a small margin. Best for Puna.
www.vote4puna.com
Posts: 400
Threads: 7
Joined: May 2014
Wow, Ms. SanBuenaventura seems so sane! The first bit of information came to me from a discombobulated interview in BIC. Ms. San Buenaventura's responses to what seemed to be leading questions were unexpectedly forthright. Now that I've read her planks and viewed Frankie Stapelton's TV interview I'm beginning to be convinced. At last, someone who includes us all; a person of substance and grace. All of you County Council candidates, here's your role model.
Un Mojado Sin Licencia
Posts: 798
Threads: 38
Joined: May 2005
Making everything about GMO is so tiresome, and is really pretty much irrelevant in this race. Statewide labeling is never going to happen and I think Rich nails the issue. It's a federal level issue and that is where it's going to be dealt with.
My concerns are 1) traffic and how quickly we can have 4 lanes from Keaau to Pahoa, 2) improving vital services in Puna, such as a Puna hospital or ER, police, fire, and ambulance response times particularly in more remote areas, 3) improving education, 4) rural high speed internet access, 5) geothermal development that minimizes noise & traffic impact and the savings gets passed on to consumers. I think she is rather smartly taking a middle ground approach to GMO issues, as has Kenoi, knowing that these laws aren't going to be held up at the State or County level and appeasing the anti-science loonies by letting the issue play out in court. Having been a lawyer who has won cases at the State's highest court, she is clearly intelligent, professional, etc. I don't think she's going to throw pencils at anyone, tilt at windmills with ridiculous legislation such as banning copper mining or fracking, or insult people with racial slurs.
I met Leilani recently and while she seemed very nice and probably has her heart in the right place on many issues, I noticed that she misspelled "Hawaiian" in her pamphlet when talking about Hawaiian rights. If you can't get something that basic correct, it makes it clear she is not in the same league as someone who is arguing before our highest court. After reading that she was active in the Ruderman campaign I wrote her off an another anti-science kook.
Posts: 14,122
Threads: 424
Joined: Aug 2012
Being realistic, not really "raining on the parade", but...
1) traffic and how quickly we can have 4 lanes from Keaau to Pahoa
Highway 130 is State; all we can do is ask nicely, and they've demonstrated a "lack of transparency" (putting it politely).
2) improving vital services in Puna, such as a Puna hospital or ER, police, fire, and ambulance response times particularly in more remote areas
Any new building will be dragged through the SUP process. Bigger problem is the unimproved roads, which impede all emergency response. (Example: it's 30 minutes to Walmart, half of which is spent getting out of the subdivision.)
4) rural high speed internet access
Carriers have no incentive to deploy unless they can charge hefty usage fees. Irony: Telcom complains that they're "losing money" because so many people have gone wireless -- while they also refuse to install more DSL.
Posts: 798
Threads: 38
Joined: May 2005
quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
Being realistic, not really "raining on the parade", but...
1) traffic and how quickly we can have 4 lanes from Keaau to Pahoa
Highway 130 is State; all we can do is ask nicely, and they've demonstrated a "lack of transparency" (putting it politely).
2) improving vital services in Puna, such as a Puna hospital or ER, police, fire, and ambulance response times particularly in more remote areas
Any new building will be dragged through the SUP process. Bigger problem is the unimproved roads, which impede all emergency response. (Example: it's 30 minutes to Walmart, half of which is spent getting out of the subdivision.)
4) rural high speed internet access
Carriers have no incentive to deploy unless they can charge hefty usage fees. Irony: Telcom complains that they're "losing money" because so many people have gone wireless -- while they also refuse to install more DSL.
Well I never said these were simple fixes, lol. on 1) We are talking about our representative in the State House. The whole point is to get what your district needs. What is a candidate going to do other than ask nicely? How are they going to build consensus to get this funded, etc.? As a lawyer I think she's going to be on more familiar territory than other candidates in understanding how to navigate through the system of laws and regulations. On our island, some reps are getting huge amounts of funding for their districts while others are barely getting anything. I'm glad she's all for an alternate route, but we also need to vastly improve the existing one. This is going to happen by getting DOT and the governor to address this and if our reps aren't making this priority #1 it is never going to happen.
2) Good point on roads, and is another aspect of this I'd like to know a candidate's position on.
4) As it is, Oceanic has a monopoly contract with the State that does not require them to provide rural access, even to an area with 1000 residents in a few square miles as in the Kehena area or even to HPP! Fix that agreement or open cable up to competition. Make State contracts with Oceanic or H-Tel dependent on providing better services to more customers. Provide incentives to spread LTE coverage island-wide. Streamline the process for this to happen. These are all State issues. Prioritize the State working with the feds to expand rural internet. I want a candidate who is going to get creative on addressing these issues.
Posts: 1,975
Threads: 47
Joined: Jul 2012
Internet addicted? I'm always surprised at how much people want rural to be urban.
Why is that a priority or discussed over things like hospitals, fire departments, evacuation route, schools / education? Much less GMO, thanks for refocusing the discussion.
Posts: 14,122
Threads: 424
Joined: Aug 2012
Internet can be a tool to keep the rural parts rural -- anything that can be done online means fewer trips to town.
|
