Letters to the Editor: 4-27-17

Waikoloa association hinders community

I would like to weigh in as a supporter of Mr. Hansen’s opinion of the Waikoloa Village Association debacle. The association is no replacement for support from Hawaii County. The last time Harry Kim was mayor he came to Waikoloa Village and spoke to us from the stage of our school multiplex. He said that Waikoloa wasn’t getting anything from the county because we already had everything and that he was going to concentrate on the Puna side.

Mr. Kim reiterated that we had our association to fill in any gaps that existed; what a joke. If you don’t play golf or use the pool you get pretty much nothing from the WVA. I have seen my association dues almost quadruple since I have been a property owner in Waikoloa Village. The golf course is soaking up almost half a billion dollars annually and is justified by the few golfing residents as the only thing keeping our property values up.

If this is the case, why are there so many vacate properties in Waikoloa? Some of our village residents, as non-members, are not even entitled to use our meager facilities. My argument is that, without the association, Mr. Kim just might step in and return some of our tax dollars to fix our streets, install sidewalks, and support our efforts to acquire our first library and gym.

For exercise, I walk almost daily in our village experiencing no sidewalks, no street cleaning to clear debris, nor street repair of huge cracks that habitually cause the turning of ankles. We are isolated here in the middle of a windy, dry, hot lava field. Our children are forced to play all their sports outdoors, which is sometimes impossible in our high sustained winds. It is heartbreaking to put so much in the pot, paying taxes and fees, and getting so little back while communities around us are on their second libraries and sports centers.

If we did away with the association and gave over our facilities to the county they would still be there to keep property values up. But my opinion is that clean, repaired streets, sidewalks, a library, an inside sports facility, and landscaping and weed abatement would do much more to present us as a viable, attractive, all encompassing place to live and bring up our children, thus, keeping property values up.

Paula Kamiya

Waikoloa Village