"The bridge over troubled waters..."

Last Tuesday, June 2, 2011, the new Bryan Baptise bridge had a dedication ceremony during peak lunch rush hour after a three day holiday Memorial day weekend which had traffic at a standstill from Kealia beach to the new Wailua bridge. (approximately 4 miles of standstill traffic...)

We all suffered stress and headaches with major traffic jams for 4 long weeks when the Kapa'a bi-pass road was closed, now to have a bridge ceremony during peak lunch hour is some of the worst planning ever. Talk about the bridge over troubles waters, Kaua'i county wins by a landslide.

I would like to quote one of the many comments which appeared with the TGI online story;"Mayor Baptise memorial bridge dedicated."
http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/article_7ef5e2f4-8c1d-11e0-aa0b-001cc4c002e0.html

"Holding a blessing and dedication ceremony in the day when commuting is at its peak is absurd. For what? Posing, stroking of egos with government and political puppets patting each other on the back is unnecessary to say the least. Hold the dedication when traffic is less severe...even if it is at night! What's so wrong with that? Oh, that's right. No one can see the dog and pony show if its dark! That bridge has brought us nothing but headaches. Just get the darned thing over with!"

I talked to a friend who was on the bus from Friendship house to her final destination of Walmart and it took a little over 2 hours for a 11 mile bus ride that usually takes, 25 minutes.

Politicians need some sort of political education before taking office, Lawyers must pass a very difficult bar exam and Doctors must intern and serve a residency on top of 8 years of school before being set free to practice on the public.

In contrast the only requirement to be a local county council person or even run for mayor is to reside in the county for at least 2 years, be at least 18 years of age and if you ever had a felony conviction you must have received final discharge from your crime. A person can be a high school dropout, or someone with no business experience or people skills or someone who with a felony conviction that has been dropped.

This major traffic catastrophe could had been so easily avoided, one way to help avoid this type of insanity in the future is to start by changing the minimum requirements to run for public office and stop making elections a popularity contest but rather look at it as we are the employer looking for the best person to manage our company and make money.

Whoever set the schedule for the bridge dedication needs to heed the words of Donald Trump, "Your fired.!"