Quality of life important
Quality of life important
Excellent commentary by Norman Bezona and Charles Watanabe on July 24. Bezona: Include Trees and native plants in landscape design for our parking lots and building.
Watanabe: Pass “quality of life” ordinances to protect our neighborhoods from thrash and old cars in front lawns, monitor building permits, reduce graffiti, allow better water access at Kahaluu. In essence, Watanabe said the county should follow the Community Development Plan (CDP) we completed in 2005 — 11 years ago.
What I like about these two gents is that they both talk about our quality of life for Kona residents. This is important to me as a full-time resident. Approximately two months ago, I attended a recent presentation with Gov. David Ige and his cabinet — and the first thing out of his mouth was: “The nonstop flight from Haneda Japan to Kona will bring in millions of dollars to Kona for the first year of operation.”
So what?
Everyone is always talking about the monies we are going to receive. First of all, who is receiving the monies, and are more visitors going to have a positive or a negative impact on the quality of our lives?
I was of one of the community planners for the CDP in 2005. But very little has been done. I believe, like Mr. Bezona and Mr. Watanabe, that our public servants (council members, legislators, governor) need to re-direct their efforts to accommodate the people who live here — the locals. Our quality of life is important. We live here, we pay taxes, we vote!
Lei Kihoi
Captain Cook
Signs simply a mess
It happens every election season — thousands of campaign signs pop up on public property and in abandoned lots. I will never vote for a candidate who has put up a sign on public property or without permission of the landowner.
That only shows that they do not respect the electorate or the aina, and that they have more outside campaign money than they have local support to host their signs. They believe you will vote for the most visible name, regardless of what the candidate actually stands for.
Candidates: Educate your supporters about where it is legal to post your signs. Voters: Do not vote for candidates that illegally blemish our island and disrespect your intelligence. County workers and police: Remove illegal campaign signs from our public areas. Candidates should be subject to fines for illegal actions that blight our island.
Joel Aycock
Hawaiian Acres
Racing Association polls on park
The Hawaii Racing Associaton is encouraging its 3,000-plus members to get out and vote in the Aug. 13 primary election. The next mayor and his staff will be asked to begin the long-awaited Kona Fairgrounds and Motorsport Park project in west Hawaii. The HRA’s website now features letters and input from mayor candidates Harry Kim, Pete Hoffmann and Wally Lau stating their position on the new park.
Members are invited to go to www.hawaiiracigassoc.org and decide which candidate may be the one to move the Kona Fairgrounds and Motorsport Park forward if they are elected. And then vote in the primary on Aug. 13.
The nonprofit organization has been pursuing a 250-acre motorsport park for west Hawaii that would now include a 30-acre Kona Fairgrounds for concerts, driver training, CDL licensing, car shows and swap meets.
The public is also invited to visit the website to find out more about the 20-plus year effort and give their feedback via the email address listed.
Paul Maddox
President, H.R.A., Inc.