We pay for Oahu Rail

[KeaauRich]

and the House (including our own Joy San Buenaventura approved the measure, so now it goes to the Governor for signature. I guess we know who Joy really represents. I'll remember this next election day...

[terracore]

"I suspect (from your statement) is more than you can appreciate"

Nobody appreciates a politician that sells out their constituents for political/personal advancement, but then again I haven't met any other type of politician.

[Chunkster]

Joy seems more interested in keeping the Oahu-centric Democratic party leadership happy than challenging the status quo of neglect of her district. In one breathtakingly ignorant episode she didn't seem to know that her district had a dengue fever outbreak. This was so bad it got a lot of hits on YouTube, btw. Her apologist, Frankie Stapleton, came on Punaweb and explained that Joy was too busy doing legal work on the Medical Marijuana Dispensary law in Honolulu to keep up with dengue. Talk about misplaced priorities! And I don't need to tell most of you what a miserably delayed and overpriced mess medical marijuana has turned out to be.

In contrast to Joy, Russell Ruderman is not afraid to take a poke at the power structure and call a spade a spade when it come to the State's treatment of Puna. I respect him very much for that even though I don't agree with some of his policies. I will probably vote for him again. If Joy really wants to help Puna, she should stop playing the Honolulu legislative power game and use her legal skills to launch a class action federal suit against the State for failure to provide equality under the law for her home district. That would be something I could respect.

[reni]

posted by glinda
"Btw.. if you, and all the other folks that feel like you do, were to vote for someone that would 'stand up for Puna' to the point of isolating themselves from the rest of the state representatives, how much 'bacon' do you figure they'd be able to bring home?"
Why is "representing" one's constituents considered "isolation" to you? Do you honestly suggest citizens should simply not stand up for themselves and simply continue to be screwed? It seems to be working well on Oahu and my guess is that it WILL continue on Oahu and the outer Islands. I can not see this rail project as bad planning, miss calculations any more than I can see someone with a law degree as stupid. I see corruption.

[punaticbychoice]

Chunkster and Reni -
Couldn't agree more.

[David M]

Disappointed with Joy. Maybe she got enough points for a judgeship.

Ninole Resident
Please visit vacation.ninolehawaii.com

[kalakoa]

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...l-governor

"When an island needs help, we step up," said Rep. Dee Morikawa, a Kauai Democrat. "In many ways, Oahu residents help the neighbor islands."

Let's make a list, shall we?

- Redirecting RLW funding from actual research to public "outreach"
- Holding back a bigger share of TAT funds
- no money to widen 130
- Dengue Fever "fight the bite" campaign
- no price caps on interisland flight
- land-use control
- Banyan Drive

I'm sure there's more; I haven't lived here that long.

[randomq]

Glinda, I think you make a good point, and she could be trying to play the long game. But, chances are she'll be gone before she can cash in those chips. Perhaps instead she should have traded her vote for something more immediate for the Big Island.

[KeaauRich]

Joy may be trying to play the long game, but have the neighbor islands ever won the long game? Anyone? Anyone?/

Hard to win when Oahu makes (and changes) the rules as they see fit. I think Joy was the one who was played.

[Midnight Rambler]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chunkster

There are other options besides the GET and TAT. If Oahu really wants rail, set it up so they can pass a special local option sales tax that isn't applied to off-island wholesale or on-line purchases.

---

That's literally what the GET surcharge is - on Oahu the GET is 4.5%, on other islands it's 4%. It's already set to provide the bulk of the funding, and virtually everyone, including all the rail proponents and the mayor of Honolulu, say they should just extend the period the surcharge goes for to give the rest. The issue is that the legislature refuses to do it because people like Sylvia Luke and Jill Tokuda refuse to do anything sensible.