Letters 1-7

Hilo facility

County-funded should mean county-operated

I am writing in response to the article about the Hilo materials recovery facility. There was an important background to this story that was left out.

Let’s take a second to review history. In 1993, the Puuanahulu Landfill was opened. This was sent out to bid and won by Waste Management (a private company). They were to build and operate the landfill that was owned by the county. A stipulation to this contract was that they were not able to pick up trash commercially on the Big Island, because that would give them an unfair advantage over other private haulers.

Contract signed, the landfill was built and opened in 1993. In 1997, the United Public Workers union sued both the county and Waste Management, stating that county workers ran the Kealakehe Landfill and should be running the Puuanahulu Landfill. The union said the county was violating civil service laws by turning over traditionally civil service jobs to a private company. The court ruled that the landfill was to be transferred to county-operated from private-operated. The Circuit Court determined that waste intake services are traditionally performed by civil servants and thus could not be privatized.

Waste Management was to stay on and perform half of the duties (for example, environmental monitoring) while county workers would operate the “intake of trash.” Our tipping fees have also gone from $35 per ton (under Waste Management) to the current $85 per ton.

It is hard for me to believe the same type of suit would not be filed against the Hilo materials recovery facility as long as it is using county properties for private enterprise. This will just drive up costs for everyone — except the person operating it. Because no matter what they pay, they are paying themselves.

I am not against a privately owned materials recovery facility, sort station or landfill, as long as it’s not county funded.

The county has already put in the legwork thus far — meaning every taxpayer has paid for it and to hand that over to a private company is a slap in the face.

If a private company wants to establish a materials recovery facility, or any other facility, it should buy its own property, build its own buildings and apply for its own permits. It should not ride on the coattails of the county — the taxpayer. There is a huge difference between winning a county bid and providing a service and the county providing a facility to operate a private enterprise. If that was the case, we’d all be entrepreneurs.

Angela Natali

Kailua-Kona

AV complaint

Why no action?

Maybe the county traffic department is understaffed, but, why is there still a gray van parked on Nani Kailua Drive makai of Queen Kaahumanu Highway with about 10 yellowing parking tickets under the windshield wiper? It’s been there for weeks. Why hasn’t it been towed as an abandoned vehicle?

The county could surely use any fine or impound money and I’m sure the neighbors would be glad to get rid of an eyesore.

Bekke Hess

Kailua-Kona