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The major issues I've been interested in while living here for more than 20 years are:
-Pedestrian and bicycle paths as linear parks along the Railroad Ave. alignment and the old Volcano road easement.
-Subdivision roadway improvement funds returned to the subdivisions by governmental taxing agents for use by substandard subdivisions.
-A multi-modal (bus, scooter and bike) makai alternative to Highway 130 from Hilo to Kapoho to alleviate traffic and take slow movers and less protected vehicles off 130.
-Creating recreational boating infrastructure (boat ramps, marina) for Hilo Bay making Hilo boater friendly.
There has been no progress in these areas and no political candidate has made a platform of these issues with the exception of Councilman Yagong in the area of funds for subdivision roads.
Incumbents or former lawmakers who have done nothing on these subjects will not receive my vote. That includes federal, state as well as county candidates. I'm looking for someone new to vote for who values some of my same interests.
John
John
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I got a call about my post from Mr. Greggor Ilagan. He definitely is paying attention and has enthusiasm and energy.
A bit of a side topic: A suggestion to any candidate for office who wants to know about what the people of the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision want is to get a copy of their Community Master Plan and read it thoroughly. In there is the expressed desire for parks. Unfortunately, the community board didn't understand that when they turned down funds for a County park within their borders.
John
John
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HPP officials understood it perfectly...They turned it down because the county has a bad track record when dealing with HPP of saying they will do something and then not following through. HPP wanted certain assurances in writing this time before "giving" the county a chunk of land...the county wouldn't give them those assurances.
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Ah, but this wasn't the first time that the HPP board turned down some big money for parks. Many years ago John Luchau, Walter Moe and I worked on a plan for an ethnobotanical park on the mauka side of 17th - already Hawaiian signature plants and archaeology on the property. Colleen Cannon-Carlos wrote a successful grant to the feds, and the HPP board decided not to go with the project because they would have had to put up a small match (mostly in volunteer labor and the value of the land). Very short-sighted. They turned the money down - I don't remember the exact amount, but I'm pretty sure it was over $100,000!
@ John: do you remember the details?
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I'd like to see some serious effort put into installing stop lights, round-abouts or some other form of SAFETY traffic control at Kaloli-130, Paradise-130, and Makuu-130 before MORE traffic is invited into HPP with parks and such.
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@gramps - that is already on the State DOT agenda and they even have the funding for it. I think 2013 or 2014 is the projected completion date.
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Very good news! Thanks! Which is the chosen form of traffic control being instituted??
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A much ignored priority for anyone wishing to represent the people of the Puna district, at state or county level, should be economic development. Puna needs jobs in Puna, not jobs in Hilo. We need county councilors and state representatives who will work to get Puna enterprise zones with appropriate zoning for light industrial and commercial uses and tax breaks to encourage investors to build the kinds of commercial and light industrial development that allows people to start small businesses in Puna. Other places with similar demographics have created enterprise zones that serve as small business incubators to support multiple small businesses that provide family wage jobs, those jobs tend to be far more stable than trying to bring in one big employer who will cut and run as soon as the tax breaks run out. The Shipman Industrial complex is barely in Puna, and requires most of the same commute as driving all the way into Hilo, instead we need smaller scale versions of that scattered over Puna: at the least one in Pahoa, and one up towards Volcano in Mt. View or Kurtistown. No large corporation is going to invest in a lot of infrastructure to build a big employer with 500+ jobs in Puna, because of the geologic hazards, but if affordable warehouse type buildings were available to rent or own, we stand an excellent chance that 100 different individuals would start or relocate businesses here that employ 5 people each.
No matter how many new roads get built, no matter how many traffic control devices are installed, traffic will only get worse if everyone in Puna has to continue to drive to Hilo for work, for medical services, for commercial services and products that we could get here if Puna had any acreage actually zoned for those purposes. Look at how few acres are zoned for anything other than ag or residential in Puna and compare that to the number of acres zoned for those purposes for Hilo, even though we now have roughly the same population. The current zoning benefits Hilo property owners and businesses and harms the people of Puna.
I want a county councilor who will work towards Puna being economically viable, who understands that we need changes in the zoning to allow businesses to grow here, and who will fight the status quo attitude of "They can just drive to Hilo." prevalent in our current county and state government. I just don't care how good Fred Blas is at getting bus shelters built, or his road paved, I want to see a commitment to getting rid of the roadblocks to the people of Puna being able to live and work at family wage jobs here in Puna. I want county councilors representing Puna with the intelligence to be able to read and understand the county's code, and the will to buck the old boys network in Hilo to be able to push through the legislation that will benefit all of Puna economically.
Our current county councilor has shown no interest in these issues, our current state reps aren't doing anything at the state level on this. Who will at least try to make this happen out of the current crop of candidates?
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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@gramps: a roundabout at the top of Kahakai Blvd. and Hwy. 130, and traffic lights at the other locations.
@Carol: That is what is in the Puna Community Development Plan - village and town centers so that services are close to home. Some of the areas designated are in subdivisions and it is up to those community associations to decide if they want to proceed or not.
The Pahoa Village Plan is going through the process, and once all the details are taken care of, the light industrial will be up the dump road (Apa'a) - close at hand but out of sight. Pahoa Village, bypass to bypass, will allow village commercial zoning if applied for. A grassroots-driven master plan for Pahoa is being fine tuned, that may determine which of the currently allowable uses in CV will be disallowed.
Last I heard, over 800 people had taken the survey. Mountainview is also moving toward planning their village center. It's happening, folks!
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Carol, good points. Note that much of the current County Council time was spent on doing exactly the opposite of what you are suggesting. For instance, imposing impact fees on a district that desperately needs buildings and businesses works against bringing those groups into the district. It has the direct result of benefiting buildings and businesses where they are currently entrenched. The concept was sold as the best way to get infrastructure to places such as Puna. It ignored the perverse economic impact (higher cost) of bringing those businesses into Puna. It ignored the obvious question of why Puna should have to tax new businesses to get infrastructure when other districts/towns (i.e. Hilo, Kona, Honokaa, Waimea) had somehow been able to get the infrastructure without imposing such fees on businesses wanting to grow there.
Interesting to note that "the good old boys of Hilo" were the ones who primarily voted against the impact fees that would have hit Puna hardest. It was the West Hawaii Councilmembers + Fred Blas who voted for the impact fees. If you want to check the logic, simply ask yourself what happens when large organizations on the mainland (think Boeing, Nissan, Honda, etc.) want to locate somewhere. Do the target communities suggest the huge new taxes they will have to pay to locate or do these communities offer infrastructure and tax holidays to bring them in? Obviously the latter. For small businesses such as we might expect in Puna - the need for positive incentives (and NOT higher fees) is even more needed.
Makes you wonder what is really going on. I can tell you, by the way, from my many meetings with Hilo businesses on Boards and such - that I have never, ever heard anyone of these individuals suggest ways to crimp Puna or keep businesses from moving out here. Much the opposite, they look for ways to expand into Puna. The Hilo 'boogeyman" does not exist. Look to West Hawaii County Councilors and there hangers on for the problem. I understand this is counterintuitive - but it is in fact the case.
