dakinetalk...Live from Kaua'i,Hawai'i: 12/15/15

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

"Kaua'i faces multiple problems..." 'Glen Mickens' (Special to dakinetalk)

Glenn Mickens has lived on Kauai with his wife Ruth for the last 26 years. Born July 26, 1930 in Wilmar, California, USA) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in four games (two of which were starts) for the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers. He also played for five years in Japan, from 1959 until 1963 for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. There, he compiled a record of 45–53 with a 2.54 ERA. Glenn also served in the Army for 2 years and coached baseball at UCLA for 25 years.
Last but not least Glenn would really like to see Kauai give the county manager style of Government a chance.

Kaua'i faces multiple problems

Mr. Mickens is locally known
as one of Kauai county's
political watchdogs.
Mahalos Glenn!

A recent guest columnist in The Garden Island News, Kathy Sheffield (TGI Forum 11/25) does an outstanding job of enumerating the multitude of problems facing our Island.
(Editors note, guest columnists are not included in the online edition of The Garden Island News,therefore no link to share.)

Her plea for no increase in the excise tax is valid since it is regressive and hurts those in the struggling class of our population far more than it does those who are doing well. Yes cities like Los Angeles have higher sales tax rates than Kauai but, as she says, they do not tax professional fees, rent, medical expenses and groceries as we do which probably brings our rates near or above theirs.

And she makes another truthful statement that everyone knows but no one in power wants to admit to:
The infamous "bike path" was built for alternate transportation (later changed to a "multi use" path since it was never used for transportation to lessen traffic"). And the bike routes along our highways and streets maybe have one or two riders on them each day while traffic is bumper to bumper on roads that need widening.

Also we are going to spend $12.5 million to beautify Lihue---proposing to again make Rice street 2 lanes from the 4 lanes it is now only to exacerbate our traffic problems. From 2 to 4 and back to 2--Planning?????

To do this the "planners" are proposing to put bike lanes on each side of the street (for phantom bikers) and making 12 foot wide sidewalks for the phantom walkers who want to see the beauty along that street! Who are these planners that don't have a clue to what this Island needs for the long term? Are they the same ones who we have paid huge dollars to that have gotten us into the mess we have today? How hard is it to prioritize our needs BEFORE spending millions on projects that are worthless.?

Then Ms Sheffield wisely says, "What you need to rethink is cutting the budget and bring responsible contractors for the millions of dollars spent on projects that are supposed to be enhancing our lives on Kauai."

And finally, in her closing statement she says, " It's time for a professional county manager." Please keep that thought in mind, Ms Sheffield and make sure all your friends hear your words.

Now that Councilman Chock, Kualii and Kaneshiro along with Council chair Rapozo are working hard to push this manager issue forward, there is a good chance that Kauai will finally have a Council and a Manager who are responsible and accountable for all actions taken on Kauai.

Editors note,
This blog also appeared as an opinion article (LTE) in the Sunday 12-13-15 edition of The Garden Island news titled, "County plans won’t solve traffic woes." Listed Below;
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-dec/article_47108dd8-550e-5e84-9595-da1325afae04.html