Kailua-Kona
HB2652
Bill cuts public access television
There is a bill thought up and pushed through by one man, ambitious politician Robert Herkes, to take away your free speech on this island.
He wants to black-out and shut down public opinion on this island and this must not happen.
With a tactic straight out of Iran, China or Cuba, Herkes’ House Bill 2652 virtually stops most all practical dissension and discussion on public issues. It silences all of West Hawaii for sure, cutting out public access TV from Kohala down to Ka’u.
To allay any suspicions I am some overreacting firebrand about this, please view the situation and I’m sure you will agree, this legislation is wrong and possibly illegal.
The situation is that in America democracy depends on free speech and political discussion, so there is a federal law stating that local TV stations — here it is Time Warner — must pay a nominal fee to operate a public access channel. Regular citizens who can’t afford expensive air time get a chance to let their voices be heard.
Right now, there are only two public access TV stations on this island, two places where the public can walk in and express its opinion about politics, religion or anything, where you can showcase your talent, your community activities and present your cultural events.
It is a forum that has been used for the past 30 years in Hilo and in Kona — Channels 52, 53, 54 — to present a vast array of needed programs including Hawaiian culture, all cultures, songs and poems, events on the island and, most importantly, discussions about local political issues.
Herkes, for some strange, dark reason, wants to eliminate most all these programs. He is doing it clandestinely, not letting the public in on the scheme.
To the delight of Oceanic Time Wamer Cable, which pays for these programs, Herkes has found a way to circumvent the federal access law and shut down 67 percent, two-thirds, of all public access programs on this island. Time Warner saves money, Herkes gets noticed or gets what he gets and the public, in actuality, loses free speech.
Specifically, he will shut down (Cuba-style) Na Leo 0 Kona, the public TV station, and there is the rub. All of Kona will lose the Hawaiian programs, the colorful events, parade viewing, our songs and, most importantly, political discussions. All the jobs connected with the station will be lost, also. Na Leo, “our voice,” will be silenced.
All of us from Kohala to Kona to Ka’u will be silenced because really, who will make the 90-mile drive to the little, whittled down Hilo public station to voice opinion? West Hawaii programming will stop altogether and the 67 percent redirection will cut the Hilo public access station down by two-thirds, making it even less likely that much free speech will ever to heard on this island.
To stop this disaster, please email Herkes and simply say no on HB 2652. You can vent your outrage or simply give a no vote on this act of anti-democracy. The email is repherkes@capitol.hawaii.gov
Remember, free speech is the First Amendment because it is the most important; don’t let them take it away.
Dennis Gregory
Kona
Editor’s note: HB2652 was held in the House Committee on Consumer Protection.
Energy response
Facts presented were not logical
I have to take exception to the public opinion piece in Tuesday’s (2-21) WHT, in which Mr. Tony Radmilovich seemed to defend HELCO’s recent request to increase consumer energy rates because of its alleged uncovered cost caused by residential Photo Voltaic (PV) installations.
The letter seems to imply because of residential PV installations, the energy companies’ ability to run profitably is effected. I believe this to be untrue.
The facts that were presented seem to be an example of fuzzy logic and the writer failed to state the figures he provided, combined all of HELCO’s production and distribution cost of energy into one lump sum. The energy companies in Hawaii posted a $30,000,000 profit this year.
At the present, I’m charged a monthly fee of $20 to pay for my share of the distribution cost the energy my system uses. Since this fee amount was set by HELCO, I presume the fee fairly represents the actual cost for transporting and accounting the energy my system produces. The five to 10 hours a day my system is actually producing energy does so without adding greenhouse gases or particulate matter to the atmosphere, thus reducing the health problems from the pollution commonly associated from fossil fuel electrical generation facilities.
PV installation saves the energy companies the need to build future additional peak generation facilities. As our population grows, PV systems will keep our state a healthy place to live and could eventually allow Hawaii to be completely independent from foreign oil.
I do not believe PV production is adding to the cost of energy for the consumer. In fact, by cutting down on generation maintenance costs during peak usage hours, HELCO’S labor and equipment replacement costs should be reduced, thus lowering the kWh production cost. Not relying on fossil fuels to generate electricity should make every consumer feel good for doing the right thing.
Perhaps the latest requested increases by our state’s private energy system was driven more by its need to stop the installation of additional residential photo voltaic systems, because it can see in the future the most profitable portion of its business, power generation, is in danger of being replaced by privately owned PV residential energy producers.
M.L. Flaherty
Kailua-Kona