Home Newsletters |
January 2006 President's Message (Marianna Scheffer) Sunshine Week (Marianna Scheffer) Impact Fees Legislative Advocates (Marianna Scheffer) LWV-Hawaii County - Minutes for General Meeting - 10/8/05 (Maiden Temple) Hawaii County LWV Board Meeting - 12/9/05 (Marilyn Ednie) LWV of Hawai'i County Member Roster New LWV Website (Andrea Dean) Legislative Advocates Interviews |
Legislative Advocates InterviewsEditor's Note: these summaries are printed as submitted, without editing other than placing the legislator's name in bold. Representative Robert Herkes, District 5
Representative Herkes identified the following priorities:
Senator Russell Kokobun, District 2
Senator Kokubun identified the following priorities:
Notes: Meeting with Clift Tsuji
Hawaii Clean Elections: Suggests a step-by-step implementation rather than starting out with an all-inclusive bill. He favors the bill but worries about the money aspects. Agriculture: He is vice chair of the House Agricultural Committee. The AIL (Identifying Ag Lands) has been passed and signed into law. The big issue here is the disputed Hokolea Development in Kona. Transportation: (Not all of this may be accurate; it's just what I heard.) ½% rise in excise taxes. The General Excise Tax will be used for public transportation wherever it's collected. Kim says we don't need the ½%. Lorraine Inouye is the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. Health: He mentioned the Kamana center and Keauu Community care center. We talked about Plan D, the Medicare Prescription benefit. He says those who qualify need to get covered under this. And he said something about HMSA which was not too clear to me. Invasive Species: He is very "up" on these. His mission has been to get supplemental funding. (How much is available now I forget.)He said the big concern is coqui frogs, but we should also watch out for the nettle caterpillar, which delivers a nasty bite. Not to mention fire ants! There is a Big Island Invasive Species Committee. Each island has such a committee. We can e-mail him our point persons to contact on various issues. Lois mentioned watershed protection as a concern. Marianna mentioned long term care as a concern of Sen Inouye and hers. Talk with Don Ikeda. Garbage disposal and recycling are big concerns of his. He thinks that private companies should finance/fund recycling stations. He believes that the county should do the sorting but that further than that companies should take away what they want and process it at their own expense. The remaining garbage would be incinerated or disposed of, preferably in a high-tech way. He would not favor any polluting incineration method, but if a high-tech and clean method of incineration could be implemented, he would favor that. He sees educating the public as an important part of waste disposal. He will soon be going to Taiwan to see how they take care of waste. He says that they have "zero" landfill. (Later note: in a short conversation with him before a Council meeting, he said that the incineration plants in China were so good that they "removed any objections" he might have to waste disposal using their technology.") Crime and Safety are big concerns: "ice," traffic safety improvements, crime in Section 8 public housing in Puueo. The police have raided the Riverside and Valhalla apartment buildings. He is "kind of" opposed to parks, because they are "magnets" for drugs. He has a lot of ideas about infrastructure. One of the most important things to him is flood control. He mentioned building a ditch- the Alinaio-Wailuku project- to control flooding. His grandest idea is to close the Bayfront Highway and turn it into a recreational area. He points out that that highway was built for the cane trucks and we don't really need it any more. He likes the idea of light rail and a "park and ride" system. He states that he understands that Kona has a lot of problems but points out that Hilo needs things too. Councilmember Fred Holschuh, M.D.
Main concern: methamphetamine epidemic. Notes that 15 out of 100 first users of ‘ice' become instantly addicted. He quoted the saying' put the money in the playpen, not the State Pen' in order to reach youth early and spend money wisely. Feels that treatment does work, but it is terribly expensive. Better to stop the first use, that leads to addiction. Said that the Hawaii County Council gives close to 1 million dollars to health and human services. Is very interested in the program ‘DEC' Drug Endangered Children. In our County, we have started a branch of the "National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children'. Re Bill 270 Public land acquisition: in favor of the idea, but not by charter amendment, which is not flexible enough in varying economic conditions. Maybe a private conservancy with local board members to raise funds. Philantropy, not tax dollars. General Plan: voted against it because he felt that the health and safety section was flawed. Wanted to basically delay passage until it was brought up to date. It will have revisions done, and passed soon. Parks and Recreation: has over 100 projects on their docket. Feels most important repairs need to be done on school gyms and pools. Laupahoehoe gym has not been fixed as yet. The same with Paauilo gym. Money has been allocated but need more planning staff. Road repairs: local Pauuilo sand-gulch bypass road held up because of overfull docket. Dangerous conditions for school bus are worrisome, on existing Sand Gulch Road. A 2.5 million dollar bond float passed last year for Sand Gulch bypass and the Laupahoehoe Point emergency exit road. Won't start until 2006. Gambling: Is against casino gambling, but thinks a controlled state lottery might work. Also says that Waimea has a good race course, and pari-mutual betting could also work if proper officials could oversee . Clean Elections: In favor, but warns of loopholes. If private contributions are not favored, must allow little known candidates to be heard. Domestic Violence: Has been an advocate for action against domestic violence for years. Wanted police reporting of all violence to be mandatory . Hilo Hospital ER must now report abuse to police if adult victim has knife, gun shot, or serious life threatening injury. A competant adult victim without such injuries may refuse police interview but is afforded discussion with an advocate. Mandatory reporting of abuse to police occurs for seniors and children. Final important issues: The ability for families to pass on land to their children and grandchildren without fear of huge inflation in taxes etc. due to outsiders purchasing our land. We must also do everything we can to preserve our agricultural lifestyle. Fred Holschuh Editor's Note: Five additional interviews, for Angel Pilago, Bob Herkes, Bob Jacobson, Virginia Isbell, and Russell Kokubun are being forwarded as pdf files because I was not able to convert them into Word without garbling the text. If you can't open them, let me know and I can send a hard copy through the postal mail. Maiden Temple, DaPooh@earthlink.net
|
Home Newsletters |