What a mess
What’s the point of spending hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars of government money on county projects, just to let them fall into disrepair while government employees just sit around and are paid to sit on their butts?
Case in point: The Pahoa Transfer Station was built with a lot of money and looked really great when it was completed!
There was all of this talk about how much it cost and the beautiful landscaping, etc. But one drive through it now and there are weeds everywhere, dead ohia that have succumbed to rapid ohia death, and employees sitting on their butts doing nothing but talking to each other in company vehicles and wasting time.
Why do we pay these county employees to sit around and talk story when the transfer station looks so bad? It’s a complete joke!
What’s the point of building something with taxpayer money if there’s no intention of maintaining the property? Yes, I know the lava took out part of the fence line on the property, and that couldn’t be helped, but the lava stopped, and that didn’t impact the weeds, dead trees, trees that haven’t been trimmed, trash strewn about, etc.
Stop wasting taxpayer money! Heck, even try power-washing the dumping area once in a while. That would help keep the area from being such a mess, too!
Employees shouldn’t be paid to sit around and do nothing all day long. Stop the waste, and start working. Pull some weeds, remove some trees, and clean up the landscaping!
There’s no excuse for the laziness!
Sean Hannah
Pahoa
‘Complicated history’
This is regarding Mr. Carl Oguss’ letter about the overthrow of monarchy (Your Views, June 10).
In the name of truth, Hawaiians have been insulted enough by people who do not respect fact-finding.
The overthrow of Hawaii’s monarchy in 1893 met with opposition. Protests followed the queen’s arrest. The Hawaiian Patriotic League and the Hawaiian Political Association raised volunteers in 1895 and staged an armed revolt. They were overwhelmed by a superior force.
They were jailed, tried for treason, and convicted to hard labor in chain gangs. The wronged queen was tried with them. President Cleveland demanded her reinstatement. But distance and war intervened against Hawaii.
Lili‘uokalani wanted to abolish the Constitution of 1887, known as the “Bayonet Constitution,” because it severely limited votership, mostly affecting Hawaiians, while members of the Caucasian ruling class and foreigners could vote and hold office. King Kalakaua signed it only under threat of assassination by his own minister.
Hawaii’s monarchs were intellectuals, highly educated, traveled, and open to new ideas. They had much support from Caucasians who understood the need for modernization and progress without sacrificing Hawaii’s people, culture and language.
She stood against a white American power elite that had grown to destroy her country’s identity. She wanted to stop them. It is thus absurd to assume that she intended to recreate a monarchy of 200 years ago.
The abolishing of the Hawaiian kingdom did not happen out of love of democracy. It happened with all the bells and whistles of a corporate takeover. When the insurrectionists succeeded, they built themselves an economic empire with the Big Five — corporations that acted in their own and each others’ interests. But not in the interests of Hawaiian people.
Hawaii’s complicated history cannot be adequately explained in a short essay. But it’s a start.
Sigrid Borgner Yoakum
Mountain View