Politicians should experience mass transit firsthand
On my second carrier deployment, I was pulled from the shop and stuck on the mess decks as a master at arms, one of those proverbial dirty jobs that nobody wants. I certainly didn’t, but I did learn some things while I was there. One was that the officer of the day was required to eat one meal in the enlisted mess to see if the food was palatable.
At least we never lost an officer of the day to food poisoning. By the same token, I believe each and every county legislator and department head should be required to ride the bus a minimum of once a month to become intimately familiar with each route in their district, even if it crosses into other districts.
For instance, in the Hilo to Pahoa routes, of the 11 runs, three of them go into District 5. Kalapana Kaimu are physically Puna makai, but due to a cartographic perversity, they are politically Puna mauka, much to the consternation of one Kalapana resident I know. This way, the legislators for districts 3, 4 and 5 could get on the same bus and if it broke down and they had to wait two hours for a replacement, this would be just what the doctor ordered! Instead of just hearing about problems associated with mass transit, they could experience them first hand.
Dave Kisor
Pahoa