Are Puna and Kau being discriminated against?

[glinda]

Are Puna and Kau being discriminated against? Jen Ruggles thinks so, especially when it comes to basic human services.

From Civil Beat at:

http://www.civilbeat.org/2017/07/chad-bl...p/#respond

Where in part it says:

Jennifer “Jen” Ruggles, a Hawaii County Councilwoman, said she wanted to “start a conversation” when she introduced a resolution this spring asking her eight colleagues to acknowledge there had been a history of government discrimination in her district, and to consider doing something about it.

What she got instead was a near unanimous rejection last month by the County Council of Resolution 205, the second and probably last time the measure will be heard.

Ruggles said she is disappointed, but that at least Big Island residents and their representatives talked publicly about what she says are serious problems in Puna and Kau.

Her District 5 covers the western portion of Puna, including Keaau, Mountain View, Glenwood, Hawaiian Acres, Opihikau, Kalapana, Kaimu, Kehena and the mauka area of Pahoa.

Kau is part of District 6 (Volcano Village, Hawaiian Orchid Island Estates, Pahala, Punaluu, Naalehu, South Point, Ocean View, Milolii, Hookena, Honaunau, Captain Cook and parts of of Kealakekua) and borders District 5.

“We don’t have access to clean and safe water, we have no wastewater sewage treatment in all of Puna in terms of commercially zoned land, we don’t have an infrastructure for basic business development, and there is not adequate internet and cell phone service,” said Ruggles. “My goal is to have an equitable level of services in terms of basic human needs.”

But her colleagues, while admitting that rural areas need help, found the resolution “unnecessarily divisive,” “unproductive” and “offensive,” the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.

Some council members “appeared worried that discrimination was being used as the cause for limited public services of all types in Puna or Kau,” the paper reported.

In Ruggles’ view, the resolution, if passed, would “send a strong message” to the people making the decisions about the region, namely, county and state department heads.

More, much more, at link above...

[kalakoa]

Are Puna and Kau being discriminated against?

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: residents of other districts feel that they deserve more services because they're paying so much more property tax, so it's "unfair" that they have to "subsidize" the "poor" districts.

Allowing Puna and Ka'u some commercial-zoned real estate to broaden their tax base might help, but of course that runs counter to the "ruling elite", which gains much of its power by maintaining control over all the "useful" land.

Consider the helicopter issue: Puna is not unlike the mainland "flyover states".

It's long past time the residents of Puna/Ka'u simply recognized that the government is broken and started working around it.

[Chunkster]

The following is from the Hilo Tribune Herald's coverage of the resolution vote:

Councilwoman Eileen O’Hara, who represents the other Puna district, voted against the resolution with reservations.

“My concern with this resolution is it has a little bit of a destructive nature to it,” she said. “It’s demanding something that any of our districts could actually demand.”

So tell us, Ms. O'Hara, just what would it take to convince you that there is a problem with services and infrastructure in Puna? With a representative unwilling to even take a symbolic stand, Kalakoa's advice to start working around the local and state government is about the only option left. Problem is the government has the money.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

From a previous thread on this topic:

www.punaweb.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23540

Four people are in a room and seven leave. How many have to enter again before it's empty?

[kalakoa]

Problem is the government has the money.

Money only has value when exchanged for goods and services.

Radical example to illustrate this point: I believe HOA dues should be a work-trade, side effect being that people might take more pride in their subdivision because they would have a personal connection to the filled-in potholes and trimmed trees. Hawaiian Acres already does this to some extent.