Raising fees doesn’t have to be the answer for AVs
Reading about Harry Kim’s proposal to add $25 to the existing $12 fee included in the annual auto registration cost, causes one to consider the abandoned vehicle problem as a whole. The increasing number of AVs along the roadways is both an eyesore and a public danger. There is one action that could be employed to reduce the problem and all it takes is action by the county council and a little effort by the DMV.
Every vehicle registered in Hawaii has a VIN assigned in accordance with federal law and that number is on file in the DMV computer system. When the scofflaw owner deserts a vehicle, he/she removes the licence plates to conceal their identity. What remains is the VIN, and an entry level IT person at the DMV can search the data base to determine who registered the vehicle.
When that person’s identity becomes known, they would lose their DMV issued driver’s licence for six months or however long the new law would mandate. “I sold that car” or “someone stole that car” would have no validity without either a copy of the bill of sale or proof that a stolen car complaint had been lodged with HPD. No proof, no licence.
Perhaps this proposal sounds overly simplistic, but Mayor Kim’s knee jerk reaction to raise fees on auto owners is reflective of his policy of consistently raising taxes and fees, and does nothing to address those who abandoned the vehicles. Assessing a meaningful penalty on those who break the law rather than penalize all owners would seem to be a first step in dealing with the AVs.
Pete Webber
Kona
Taxpayers, rise up
What is it going to take for our government, state and local representatives to do their jobs that we pay them for? The state of Hawaii is paying and supporting organizations that benefits a small group of people, but it doesn’t benefit us all equally or fairly.
Who is representing the rest of the community on how are tax dollars are being spent? Who is looking after our constitutional and civil rights? Who is implementing and enforcing the laws in Hawaii? Who exactly is running this show? Well, I say it’s the people. This is not the Wild Wild West where anything goes. We do have laws and we are supposed to have civil and obedient order. Even King Kamehameha I knew this was necessary when he made the first laws of the land. He was very strict about those laws. You broke those laws, it resulted in death. There was no hooponopono or a trial in court. You died if you didn’t follow those laws and that was it.
If our state representatives don’t want to comply to our U.S. Constitution, then they need to change the constitution. This is the United States of America, even if they are in denial of this. We are a free nation. Wake up and get your head out of the sand and do something about it. I served. I did my time in the military to secure all your freedom, including the protesting, but the rule of law must be followed.
We could look at this another way. We could be a communist country like Russia, China or North Korea where we don’t have a say in anything.
Taxpayers take a stand. Take this injustice to your local representatives. If you want your message to remain anonymous, then write the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division in Washington D.C. Express to them how you feel on what is happening here in Hawaii. And call them out on their corruption.
How is our tax dollars really being spent? Why do they ask for more money when it’s not managed properly? Why is it so easy to throw away our money away and not account for it? They forget who they represent. And that is all of us because we pay them their salaries. No more arm-chair activism should be tolerated. We do have a say in this, believe it or not.
Mike Nathaniel
Mountain View
