Breaking the bank
Breaking the bank
“A big bond sale last month by term-limited Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi and the County Council will leave the next administration with a heck of a tab to pay” (Tribune-Herald, March 27).
Everybody loves Billy. He’s a local guy who gets things done. Unfortunately, he’s spending money that we don’t have.
Hey, that’s OK though — he doesn’t have to pay it back! He will be out of office when the bills come due. It will be up to us, the taxpayers, to pay off that debt through increased taxes.
Future Hawaii Island mayors will not be able to fund important projects — without raising taxes — because we can’t afford to pay the increased bond interest.
Billy wins, we lose. Billy looks like a “can-do” mayor; future mayors look like losers. How cool is that?
Sort of reminds me of the pCard scandal — irresponsible use of public funds.
Joel Aycock
Hawaiian Acres
Cows and care
Tony Kent, in his article “Invisible cows in East Hawaii health care,” (Tribune-Herald, Their View, March 27) has many valid points.
We do need to be responsible for our own health care, but that often requires educating the patient, which often isn’t done by a medical provider.
East Hawaii and neighbor islands lack the medical providers to provide basic health care to all. If you happen to need a specialist in East Hawaii, you are out of luck — there is beyond a shortage of oncologists, cardiologists, neurologists and so on.
So, what happens? People go without health care, often basic health care.
There are no proactive measures taken by the patient because the providers aren’t available to give guidance. Many people need assistance in making lifestyle changes because of the enormous amount of information that is out there now.
According to Fox Business News in 2015, the state of Hawaii is 900 doctors short, and by 2020 we will be approximately 1,500 doctors short.
Why are we short on doctors? State government regulations, cost of living, low reimbursement rates for providers. The state of Hawaii has had the dubious distinction of being one of the worst states to do business in. A medical provider who wants to set up a practice finds it almost impossible.
If you want better, available and affordable health care, keep your politicians accountable. They would rather play it safe by voting on parks, gymnasiums, etc., than taking on health care issues.
But without proper health care, we won’t be here to use parks and gymnasiums.
Joyce Carpenter
Pahoa