County officials aren’t obeying charter
County officials aren’t obeying charter
A county charter amendment provides $500,000 in open space grants — but there’s no money this year.
Sixty-five percent of voters in 2012 voted for a 2 percent land fund and a maintenance fund to care for these lands. The following properties were purchased with land fund monies and qualify for maintenance funds: Waipio Lookout, Kawa Bay (Ka‘u), Kaiholena and Paoo (North Kohala) and the Kingman property in Kona. Pohoiki in Puna is under negotiation. Are you or your ohana involved with any of these properties? If so, you may qualify for the almost $500,000 put into the maintenance fund each year.
The charter amendment calls for the county to have an application and advertise that money was available. I asked staff at the Department of Finance, the mayor’s office and the Department of Parks and Recreation about the grants. I was told that the county is using all of the funds for this year, there is no money available, so it was unnecessary to advertise or to have an application.
The Hawaii County charter is the governing document for our county, like the Constitution is the highest governing document of the United States. Who do you talk to when the county elected and appointed officials don’t obey the Hawaii County charter?
Debbie Hecht
Campaign Coordinator for the 2 percent land fund, co-author of two charter amendments Hawaii County Charter Article X- Sections 15- and 16-Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Fund and Maintenance Fund.
Kona
Stop feeding cats on our public beaches
I was down at one of our public beaches and I observed two ladies feeding about 25 pounds of cat food to a colony of wild cats — mongooses were eating there, too. That means that our beach serves as a cat litter box for 25 pounds of cat feces per day. That also means that our kids have to dig and play in this filth.
We are warned that if you are pregnant never touch kitty litter boxes and don’t let your children play in them. Toxoplasmosis and other parasites are a real health problem for both pets and humans. I can’t believe that the hotels wouldn’t be liable for any lost human pregnancies because of their support of wild cats with feeding stations on their property. Dogs aren’t allowed on beaches even if you clean up after them but wild cats are fed by hotels and people all along our oceanfronts. All beaches are public so it is all of our concern.
This doesn’t even begin to address what these introduced predators are doing to the environment. Our native birds are really taking a beating and many may become extinct. The BBC reported that, “On islands, cats have been linked with the extinctions of 33 species.” We live on islands here and none of our native animals have evolved with any predators so the only survivals will be introduced animals.
Pat Hall
Waimea