;)
08-OCT-2009 - Click comic for full-size
March 20, 2009 Ms. Nomura forgot to mention in her coverage of HB1310 (jet skiis in Maunalua Bay) that Rep. Gene Ward had withdrawn his support of that bill and the issue was dead. This was noted in the Town Hall meeting that she was writing about. But apparently, she didn't receive a copy of my handout that evening or hear my comments on the 10 o'clock news (Channel 4) stating my withdrawal of support.
Rep. Gene Ward, Hawaii Kai
March 20, 2009 Anyone interested in mauka to makai land and water use preservation and planning should take bold action like Senator Jill Tokuda did and oppose SB 1318 SD 1. Tokuda seems to be the lone ranger of Costal Zone Management protection and understands that its repeal removes most statutory protections for our beaches. SB 1318 SD1 relating to planning and economic development titled, "Coastal Zone Management; State Planning; Repeal" does just that: "repeals the chapters relating to coastal zone management and state planning, and transfers the authority and functions of the office of planning to DBEDT" despite DBEDT's public opposition to this proposed action. Unfortunately, SB 1318 SD 1 just crossed over to the House and made the Monday, March 16, 9:00 AM agenda for the Committee on Water, Land, and Ocean Resources. One can only hope our Representatives read SB 1318 SD1 and quickly understand the need to oppose it like Senator Tokuda did. Please help protect the state Office of Planning and the Costal Zone Management program from the pressures of the State's economic development arm. Contact your Representative today and ask them to oppose SB 1318 SD1.
Elizabeth Reilly, Hawaii Kai
February 5, 2009 At 75 years old, I would have preferred not to have to fight any battles. But when I learned the State plans to commercialize the Pali Lookout and Ka Iwi Park to accommodate visitors in order to collect a fee, I told my grandson that it is time to put on the war paint. Shame on the Department of Land and Natural Resources for peddling paradise for $1 and further weakening Hawaii's gracious aloha spirit. But more importantly: this action promotes segregation between "us," local people and "them," the visitors. We need to strike Ka Iwi and the Pali Lookout from the DLNR's hit list, buried well within the glossy title of the state's "Recreational Renaissance." The overall plan had merit, but got sloppy towards the end when it took the "status quo" route to commercialize two important landmarks. Today's Diamond Park, complete with information center, T-shirt sales, nonstop huge buses of tourists and two fluorescent-lit soda vending machines represents changes we should not be proud of. This is not proper care of special places and it is very inconsiderate to future generations. I can only hope our Legislators see the writing on the wall: "Paradise for Sale for $1." "Visitors Keep Right, Locals Stay Left." Please join me in the protest to stop this madness. Email DLNR at: Laura.Thielen@hawaii.gov or get involved with an area grassroots group like Ka Iwi Coalition at www.hawaiikaihui.com.
Sara Yacuk, Hawaii Kai
January 22, 2009 It’s about time Councilman Djou got on board with rail transit for our island (1/9, “Do Rail Properly”). I hope he sticks to his word and supports building rail transit, something our island has needed for at least 20 years. I may not use rail because I live in East Honolulu, but I have plenty of friends and family who live on the West side who will use rail. They deserve rail for traffic relief, just like we deserved the widening of Kalanianaole Highway in the early 1990s.
Rail is a wise investment for our entire island. It will do much more than reduce traffic congestion: it will shrink the amount of oil we import, reduce our island’s carbon footprint, our emissions of greenhouse gases and support the development of UH West Oahu into a true university. We will become a much more sustainable island with rail. I voted for rail. I support rail. Now let’s build it!
Jonn Serikawa, Hawaii Kai
December 9, 2008 Dear Councilmember Djou:
The ACLU has been troubled by the patently false and misleading public statements that you have made, in your official capacity as a Councilmember, about the cause of homelessness in Hawaii. We are writing you to correct the record.
Repeatedly, you have publicly and mistakenly claimed that the City and County of Honolulu's camping ordinance was invalidated as a result of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii (ACLU). Your statements suggest that the ACLU is to blame for the increase in the number of homeless individuals and families in City and County parks.
It is disturbing when a public official makes assertions without even the most basic of fact-checks. Furthermore, your false accusations that the ACLU is somehow to blame for the homelessness epidemic do nothing to address the root causes of homelessness.
First, as to your public misstatements: in your official capacity as a Councilmember, you have made statements - available on the County's website1 - that the ACLU was involved in a civil lawsuit concerning the Hawaii's Supreme Court’s invalidation of the County’s camping ordinances. This is not true. In fact, the Hawaii Supreme Court invalidated the ordinance upon review of an appeal from a criminal conviction. [State v. Beltran, 116 Hawai'i 146, 172 P.3d 458 (2007).] As prominently noted at the beginning of the opinion, the Appellant-Defendant, Ms. Beltran, was represented in the matter by the Public Defender’s office and not by the ACLU of Hawaii. Indeed, the ACLU of Hawaii had no role in this case at all.
Your press release, as well as your November 1 journal article in the East Oahu Sun, Fixing Honolulu’s Illegal Camping Problem,2 appear to conflate the Beltran case with two lawsuits brought by the ACLU of Hawaii. The first lawsuit concerned advocates who were unlawfully arrested while exercising their First Amendment rights, peacefully protesting at City Hall. The second lawsuit (filed on behalf of Reverend Bob Nakata, Reverend Sam Cox and The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii) charged that the County acted unconstitutionally by attempting to restrict the First Amendment rights of one group of people (those people experiencing homelessness and their advocates) more severely than other members of the public. The County promptly settled the cases - a fact of which you are surely aware given that the terms of the settlement were approved by the City Council (of which you were a member at the time). Indeed, the County and the ACLU issued a joint press release setting forth the details of the settlement.
The ACLU filed these two lawsuits in 2006 because the County was violating the First Amendment rights of its citizens. These lawsuits had nothing to do with camping ordinances. As an elected public official, it is incumbent upon you to discharge your duties honestly and truthfully. Therefore, we request that you retract and/or clarify your statements accordingly, and these inaccurate statements should be removed immediately from the County’s website.
Rather than waste precious county taxpayer resources erroneously blaming the ACLU for the homeless crisis, we urge you to focus your efforts instead on helping this most vulnerable population. Regrettably, too often it requires a community advocate like the ACLU to remind government officials of their legal responsibilities towards its neediest citizens.3
In sum, the ACLU requests that you issue an appropriate retraction or clarification of your recent statements. But more importantly, we hope that you will get back to the work of improving the lives of all Hawaii's people. In the meantime, the ACLU will continue to fulfill its mission of protecting fundamental rights for all people, and I and look forward to working with you and with the rest of the County Council in furthering this goal.
Lois K. Perrin, Legal Director