“Nooo! Why can’t they leave nature alone? Let the land be. Let the land breathe!” A man drops to his knees in front of Kukuihaele Park and cries these words upon seeing the destruction of Kukuihaele Park, as the county moved forward with its improvement plan.
This man’s sentiment is prevalent throughout the village. And, in spite of overwhelming resistance to the plan and a pending lawsuit initiated by residents, the county is plowing forward with this project that inexplicably doubled in cost, from $2.5 to $5 million.
Why should Hawaiians have their taxes continually raised by those who don’t think twice about launching this bloated project? And if it’s stopped through legal action, countless more dollars will be wasted putting the park back to rights. It’s time to address the county’s ongoing deception and lack of fiscal responsibility.
Councilwoman Poindexter continues to be quoted saying that she’s “only doing what the community wants” and that the county sent out a survey to residents of Kukuihaele regarding the park plan. Well, I’m a resident, and I didn’t receive one; nor did anyone else in the community whom I asked. So who was actually surveyed? What the 15-page document actually shows is a petition (not a survey) of individuals, over 50 percent of whom are softball players with a vested interest in a ball field, and a majority of the remainder who do not live in Kukuihaele. And then the county claimed that our door-to-door survey was biased and dismissed it entirely — despite the fact we conducted it twice to satisfy their demands. Our second survey of 65 Kukuihaele households shows that 86 percent opposed the park design, and specifically the ball field.
This type of dismissal and deception has been ubiquitous throughout this transaction, particularly during county meetings held to “gather community feedback.” For example, during one such meeting, county representatives verbally agreed to requests for a playground to better serve our local keiki. Despite statement from Deputy Director James Komata that “we felt it was important enough to make the changes necessary to accommodate that element,” what was actually added to the plan was not a playground, but a “consideration for future development” and a notation that it was too costly to add to current development. How can they justify an additional $2.5 million beyond budget for an unwanted ballpark, yet fail to incorporate a small playground?
Shortly after this same meeting, the county accepted a bid for double the budgeted amount. This happened despite their assurance that if the bids came in over budget, big ticket items like the ball field could be removed from the plan. Is this really how the county operates? It’s careless and irresponsible. I now understand why so many of the old timers sit back, don’t try, or fail to participate. The county does what it wants, regardless.
The list of irresponsible county actions on this project is long. For example, they’ve ignored the potentially dangerous impact of increased in traffic on our narrow road. When questioned, Komata’s response was simply, “that’s a different department.” And they haven’t set aside even a fraction of the money it will take to maintain this park. Yet they insisted on having eight uniformed policemen escort and stand guard over Isemoto Construction in a wasteful show of force the day construction began.
If Isemoto works fast enough, Mayor Kenoi may get another glorious ribbon cutting ceremony before he leaves office. We, the people of Hawaii, get ill-thought and poorly maintained “improvements” and a higher tax bill.
Lori Johnson is a resident of Honokaa