Mahalo, HTH
Mahalo, HTH
Thank goodness we have a newspaper that promotes investigative journalism (“No action yet on state senator’s questionable land lease in Milolii,” Tribune-Herald, April 26).
As a private citizen, acting without a newspaper behind me, I attempted to determine if my state senator, Kai Kahele legally resides in District 1.
Because Mr. Kahele has a state Department of Land and Natural Resources-monitored low cost state land lease in Milolii, and is required to reside on that property, I called the senator’s Capitol office April 5 to confirm his residency status.
Little did I know, this was the start of a frightful bureaucratic run-around. Kahele’s office manager indicated that DLNR was making that residency determination, and he directed me to DLNR for the answer.
On April 8, I sent a postal letter to DLNR Communications Director Dan Dennison, asking for that determination. I indicated the senator’s representative referred me to DLNR. Although I provided Mr. Dennison with three different ways to contact me, he never bothered — just as though I had never written.
Continuing the run-around, on April 18, I sent another postal letter to DLNR, this time to Suzanne Case, DLNR chairperson, asking her to respond to my inquiry to Mr. Dennison.
Finally, on April 21, DLNR spokesperson Deborah Ward responded that Suzanne Case and Dan Dennison had both received my letters.
And, yes indeed — you guessed it. Ms. Ward referred me back to Sen. Kahele’s office.
So, thank you, Tribune-Herald, for investigating this possible shenanigan, and for certifying why we need a constitutionally embraced and protected free press.
Richard Dinges
Hilo
‘Pay to flush’
Mauna Loa will erupt before Naalehu gets a new sewer. Harry Kim promised us a new sewer, and then a sewer bill afterward. Thanks to Harry, we could flush now and pay later.
Billy Kenoi’s administration arbitrarily and capriciously decided to bill us now and build the new sewer much later. No thanks to Billy, we must pay to flush.
Making it worse, Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd (Department of Environmental Management) can pick and choose whose water she shuts off and whose sewer bill she forgives. Hopefully, she will forgive everybody’s illegal sewer bill in Naalehu, and not shut anybody’s water off.
People in Ka‘u can continue to pay their illegal sewer bills if they want. Those donations will more than cover the expense of the Department of Environmental Management’s crew that comes out to Pahala and Naalehu. They continuously repaint green stripes on the street and ignore us.
The money that already has been extorted from unwilling payers is down the toilet.
Jerry Warren
Naalehu