Giving back to first responders ADVERTISING Giving back to first responders In reading West Hawaii Today and the Tribune Herald, nearly a day goes by that the Hawaii Fire Department is not mentioned for their involvement with search and rescue,
Giving back to first responders
In reading West Hawaii Today and the Tribune Herald, nearly a day goes by that the Hawaii Fire Department is not mentioned for their involvement with search and rescue, fire suppression and ocean safety.
As one might expect, the cost of providing these services is becoming increasingly high as are the expenditures involved in providing all areas of the Fire Department with the latest in technological advances in equipment and supply purchases.
The Hawaii County Budget for equipment, supplies, and training is diminished yearly by the cost of providing enough personnel to assist our communities in saving lives in the most expeditious fashion.
This being said, the amount left over for the purchase of new equipment, supplies and specialized training is equally diminished.
The Hawaii Island community is addressing these concerns through their generosity in giving tax-deductible donations to the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation each year to help provide these essentials that are not budgeted.
On Saturday, a gifting of over $42,000 of equipment purchased through the generosity of our community members and visitors will be presented to the Hawaii Fire Department at the Kailua Pier at 8:30 a.m. Included in this gifting will be a $21,734 state of the art underwater-to-ground communication system provided through a donation to the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation by Diana Bertsch and the Ironman Foundation. We encourage everyone to attend and be part of this celebration.
Dr. Frank Sayre and Laura Mallery-Sayre
Kailua-Kona
Look to monarchs to solve emergencies
Our precious ohia trees are being killed off.
Some assumptions are made here, the rapid ohia death fungus can be eliminated. The reason it is not being eliminated is because of Hawaii’s ineffectual democratic representation: afraid, safe, politically correct, underqualified and more concerned about retaining civil servant jobs than protecting our trees. We put a man on the moon nearly 50 years ago, so why can’t we quickly stop a fungi? We can stop it.
In 1962, historian Max Dimont wrote “Jews, God and History.” He said that the Hebrews solved emergency problems “by establishing a constitutional monarchy (in which) the first Jewish dynasty came into existence.”
He was referring to when King David was chosen and then “voted in” as constitutional monarch by the enlightened elders of Israel around 1000 B.C. King David, as constitutional monarch, was the effectual benevolent dictator/autocrat who, if alive today and empowered, would solve the ohia rapid death problem now.
The ancient Greeks democratically voted to temporarily rescind their pure democracy and then instated a most capable man monarch-autocrat when government efficiency was paramount. Then, when the emergency or danger passed, he returned governance to the democratically elected representatives. Both practices reflect the original Abrahamic messianic prediction of a best man protector leader who would quickly direct and implement solutions.
If a similar government was constitutionally installed and the monarch was instated as protector for “ours and us” today in Hawaii, he or she would immediately order funds to pay for the best now available botany, arboreal, and fungi experts to make educated recommendations now, then the monarch would implement those recommendations to save our trees.
If we don’t push for stronger and more capable leaders who posses sufficient constitutional authority to make improvements/changes by “fast-dictate,” many more bad things are going to happen in Hawaii’s future, beginning with the death of our precious trees.
W. Bill Queen
Ocean View
