SOURCE: ANDY PARX andyparx@yahoo.com
POSTED: 18 DECEMBER 2007 - 8:00pm HST
Till the last Dog Dies
The Rabid Reporter |
Pau
INDEX - LOCAL POLITICSwww.islandbreath.org
SUBJECT: COUNTY POLITICSSOURCE: ANDY PARX andyparx@yahoo.com
POSTED: 18 DECEMBER 2007 - 8:00pm HST
Till the last Dog Dies
The Rabid Reporter
by Andy Parx on 17 December 2007 for PNN
I want to thank all our Sicko-ferry brethren for holding this victory party Wednesday eve. We won- it’s over. They’re aren’t coming- the status quo is that Garibaldi and his Tainted-ferry wouldn’t dare try to come here.
It certainly is also time to think of how our “conquest” came about.
I don’t think anyone on Kaua`i wants this ferry anymore. They may still want a ferry but almost no one wants this ferry.
Kaua`i people are used to having things shoved down our throats- maybe for the first time, something was “too much”..
One of the most ironic comments from O`ahu folks is “how come you Kaua`i people never said anything until now about ‘over-development?’”.
Even though many of us have for years, maybe they’re right in one respect.
We may think we’re effective for one brief moment... but isn’t that the problem Kaumuali`i had?
It’s ironic that the Wednesday’s night of celebration coincides with the most dangerous County Council meeting in years.
So much bad stuff is about to happen it’s hard to comprehend.
After being illegal for years, the council is about to legalize vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. Worse, they’ve been hiding from the public some purported legal opinions that fly in the face of the law, which they say supports what they plan to do... real Star Chamber stuff, illegal in and of itself.
But that is only one- they’re probably going to water down the shoreline setback ordinance that Karen Diamond has been fighting for. And instead of returning the Spouting Horn park to the people- as originally planned in the 70’s- they might not sunset sales of junk jewelry in the parking lot, as originally planned and reported this year.
And all of that is because none of us- save my hero Glenn Mickens- showed up last year. That allowed a stream of developers, vacation rental owners and Po`ipu vendors to snow them into allowing all that nonsense.
That’s where the real corruption happens- that’s where the dirty deals are done. Sometimes they listen- if a lot of people show up demanding justice they are more likely to listen... it is on TV and they know it.
The agenda and communications and bills are all easily available just begging for someone other than Glen- to sit up, pay attention, show up and say something.
When everyone wakes up from the reveling in our triumph and reads what happened in the paper (thanks to reporter Nathan Eagle that’s now possible) it would behoove us to drag our partied-out asses down to the real meetings.
They happen every Wednesday at 9 am in the Kaua`i County Council Chambers in the Historic County Building starting again in January. If you really like meetings, that’s where they happen every week..
Pau