Cracking down
I just read in the paper that Hawaii is considering a bill to prohibit short-term rentals in ag and residential areas.
Has the council gone insane? Hawaii really only has the tourism and ag dollar to survive on and we need both. This would unfairly limit our ability to use our farm and residential properties as a B&B and would also cut into Hawaii county revenue.
Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot. At a time where we are already over budget, the county needs every tourist and short-term rental in full-spend mode. We’re $30 million overrun on the Kona highway project, wasteful spending left and right and now they want to close the door on future potential revenue? Insanity.
The volcano has chased away many tourists and now this law will further reduce tourism and tax dollars. Have the hotel companies influenced this? How do we stop it? How do we get grandfathered?
Harrison Yelton
Kona
Lack of compassion not Big Island way
Just when I thought America’s moral compass could go no lower, I read Anne Hamilton’s letter (West Hawaii Today, June 29) justifying President Trump’s policy of separating children from their mothers and fathers. Her primary argument seems to be that President Obama instituted a similar policy. I don’t know whether this is true or not, but it is irrelevant. This policy is inhumane and immoral.
My wife and I moved to the Big Island 20 years ago for many reasons, one of which was the aloha spirit and the sense of welcoming we felt. It never occurred to us that some residents were as hateful as Ms. Hamilton. But here we are. If we instituted a test for compassion to move to the Big Island, she would fail it.
Dennis Brown
Kailua-Kona
Elect candidates that focus on us
Lady Pele has reminded us that Hawaii County is not a place that should focus on the quality of the experience of outside people coming for short visits; it’s a place where we can, and should, focus on the quality of life of the people who live here.
We, the people who live here, need more affordable housing, especially for elder folks and struggling families.
We, the people, need better schools for local children, and this is something the legacy of Royal Lands can really help with, as the Royals intended.
We, the people, need more and better medical facilities.
We do not need many of the things we have received in abundance: excuses, delays, double-talk, more parks that are then neglected (proving we didn’t need them — Hawaii itself is our “park”).
We, the people, need more than promises and posturing and same-old-same-old. And we certainly don’t need more and higher taxes.
So, we, the people, need to produce better candidates for public office, and then we need to elect them to refocus our resources and use them more wisely. This has not been our history, but we are a democracy. It can be our future.
Carl Oguss
Hilo