Just do it
I’m sorry that my letter struck a nerve (Tribune-Herald, Your Views), but any beach or other cleanup project begins with volunteers doing what they can. You won’t get it done the first day, week or month, but it is a start, and the county would be more motivated to provide assistance if they saw volunteers working on cleaning up the beach.
Leadership at the volunteer level will get others to join in and help, and that will get the attention of the county and others in the community to help with your project.
Too bad you can’t find anyone to help clean up the bagasse; maybe you can get some of the radio stations to put out the word for volunteers and see who shows up. You may be surprised.
As for someone from “the Volcano” asking for an environmental impact statement, I’m sure Madame Pele is way too busy to worry about some bagasse collected by volunteers.
Don’t come up with reasons why it can’t be done. Show how it will be done.
Roger Schweitzer
Volcano
Put them to work
Jim Cheney’s suggestion (Tribune-Herald, Jan. 15, Your Views) that misdemeanor offenders pick up rubbish as community service is something that deserves much more consideration by “we the people” of Hawaii. Not only law offenders, but anyone who is receiving public assistance should be required to work for the taxpayer money they receive. If programs like this were implemented, it seems highly likely there might be a lot more respect for the ‘aina.
I recently returned from a monthlong road trip on the mainland and was surprised to see that the highways were much more litter-free than Hawaii. The rubbish along Highway 11 on the way to Volcano is beyond disgraceful and an absolute embarrassment.
Hawaii once had a reputation for clean roadsides, but that is definitely no longer the case.
Victoria Hokulani Latenser
Mountain View
Lawmakers clueless
Well, here we are, again. The Legislature has not yet began its session, and the politicians are already talking about spending money that we do not have (Tribune-Herald, Jan. 15).
I see no plans in 90 percent of the legislators’ comments that include cutting costs or reducing spending. There is even one Big Island legislator who is thinking to increase the most regressive tax we have, the general excise tax. That will choke any attempts by small business to expand or even start up.
Do these people even know how to create a reasonable budget? We keep electing the same old politicians, 90 percent of whom could not balance a household budget, much less a state budget.
Time for a change.
Bob Dukat
Pahoa
Just do it
I’m sorry that my letter struck a nerve (Tribune-Herald, Your Views), but any beach or other cleanup project begins with volunteers doing what they can. You won’t get it done the first day, week or month, but it is a start, and the county would be more motivated to provide assistance if they saw volunteers working on cleaning up the beach.
Leadership at the volunteer level will get others to join in and help, and that will get the attention of the county and others in the community to help with your project.
Too bad you can’t find anyone to help clean up the bagasse; maybe you can get some of the radio stations to put out the word for volunteers and see who shows up. You may be surprised.
As for someone from “the Volcano” asking for an environmental impact statement, I’m sure Madame Pele is way too busy to worry about some bagasse collected by volunteers.
Don’t come up with reasons why it can’t be done. Show how it will be done.
Roger Schweitzer
Volcano
Put them to work
Jim Cheney’s suggestion (Tribune-Herald, Jan. 15, Your Views) that misdemeanor offenders pick up rubbish as community service is something that deserves much more consideration by “we the people” of Hawaii. Not only law offenders, but anyone who is receiving public assistance should be required to work for the taxpayer money they receive. If programs like this were implemented, it seems highly likely there might be a lot more respect for the ‘aina.
I recently returned from a monthlong road trip on the mainland and was surprised to see that the highways were much more litter-free than Hawaii. The rubbish along Highway 11 on the way to Volcano is beyond disgraceful and an absolute embarrassment.
Hawaii once had a reputation for clean roadsides, but that is definitely no longer the case.
Victoria Hokulani Latenser
Mountain View
Lawmakers clueless
Well, here we are, again. The Legislature has not yet began its session, and the politicians are already talking about spending money that we do not have (Tribune-Herald, Jan. 15).
I see no plans in 90 percent of the legislators’ comments that include cutting costs or reducing spending. There is even one Big Island legislator who is thinking to increase the most regressive tax we have, the general excise tax. That will choke any attempts by small business to expand or even start up.
Do these people even know how to create a reasonable budget? We keep electing the same old politicians, 90 percent of whom could not balance a household budget, much less a state budget.
Time for a change.
Bob Dukat
Pahoa