Moral authority not used
Moral authority not used
Mayoral candidate and former Hawaii County managing director Wally Lau claims he had “no authority over the mayor’s actions ”regarding Mayor Kenoi’s alleged illegal PCard purchases — for which the mayor has now been indicted.
Implicit in Mr. Lau’s statement is the tacit acknowledgment that he indeed knew of the mayor’s alleged impropitious purchases, but was powerless to expose the abuses.
Lau’s refusal to do was deplorable and unconscionable. As county managing director, Mr. Lau may not have had the technical authority to expose the abuses, but as second in command of the Hawaii County government he needed to place himself above politics and technicalities and do what citizens hoped he would have done — used his moral authority to take the correct steps and surface the alleged abuses.
Had he done what was right — perhaps in concert with a few other county officials or in consultation with the county prosecutor — Mr. Lau could have cut short Mayor Kenoi’s embarrassing, divisive, distracting, and costly alleged indiscretions.
Instead, the alleged PCard abuses by Mayor Kenoi continued unchecked. Why? Because acting solely on his sense of moral authority, was not seen by Mr. Lau as the right thing to do.
Richard Dinges
Hilo
Peace, not fear the answer
After watching Mr. Drumpf — Yes, that is the original Trump family name, his grandfather altered it upon his relocation to the U.S. entering in 1885 during the height of German-to-U.S. migration. He was an immigrant from Southern Germany, if that doesn’t give you pause — speaking at the Republican convention I was afraid to turn off the lights and go to bed Thursday night due to all the fear mongering, even to one such as myself, who believes that, “unreasoned fear is a master intellectual fraud practiced upon the evolving mortal soul”.
Because of the over abundance of adrenalin coursing through my blood stream, sleep did not come easy. I pray that our brothers and sisters on the mainland of the USA can look to our state and see that it is possible for many different races and cultures to live in peace and acceptance of each other with aloha in their hearts and not buy into this negative fear.
Wasn’t it Jesus who said “fear not.” I ask who is accusing who of not being a Christian? Our well-balanced and even-tempered President is a product of this Hawaiian mindset. If only he had had more cooperation in the Congress, millions more people would have been put to work, like in the 50s when the national highway system was built. But no, those old prejudiced white men in power made it their goal to make him “a one-term president.”
Well now you have reaped what you sowed.
Rev. Marian Hughes
Waimea
Losing money left and right
We already have the highest electric bill in the nation, why is HELCO giving $20,000 to education instead of lowering our bills? If we wanted to donate to a cause we could do that on our own.
Also, why are we paying for a 12-month registration renewal for our cars and only getting 11 months? My registration was good until July 30 but when the slip came back it was only good through June 2017? In my brain, I’ve lost a month. Am I wrong?
Hildene Callies
Ocean View