The Council can do that?
The County Council can amend a community development plan?
Having been a fairly active participant in the development of the South Kohala/Waimea community development plan, I was very surprised to see that the County Council is taking action to amend the Kona community development plan.
A huge number of people put a tremendous amount of effort into developing plans that reflected the consensus of the people in each community.
If anything requires an amendment or clarification, it is the law relied upon by the Council in unilaterally amending CDPs. That simply should not be permitted.
Judy Howard
Waimea
Rule of law
The Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii has reviewed the evidence regarding the dispute of the TMT project. It has approved the building of the project and found all legal process requirements fulfilled.
The issue now is about one of our most important concerns as citizens of the United States. The rule of law. As we watch respect and honor eroding in our nation, we have to ask ourselves a question that should bring chills down our spines — what other laws will be ignored? How will your own livelihood, family or property be effected as we stand back and watch those who have been elected to serve and protect us abdicate their responsibility, or bow to blackmail or pressure from individuals or interest-groups. And those that would speak out against it now afraid to be threatened?
Gov. David Ige is responsible for overseeing the enforcement of the Supreme Court’s final decision, and has abdicated his sworn duty to Mayor Harry Kim — a tragedy of epic proportions for the rule of law.
Ignoring the rule of law will not wipe away injustice from the history of Hawaii, but it will open a new chapter that tells a story of an absence of strong, honorable leadership on all sides, and paves the way for more chaos.
Protest is also a guaranty provided by the rule of law, and is honorable and important. But this current approach also violates the rights of the owners of the current installations to service their facility and their clients, as well as the current Supreme Court ruling. My heart is crying for our beautiful island and our people.
The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.
Vicki Penney-Rohner
Kailua-Kona
Time to end protest
The Hawaii people take such pride in being able to navigate by the stars and that’s how they discovered what we now call the Hawaii Islands. But now some Hawaiians want to keep all of us from learning more about the universe. The protesters believe in the rule of law and the judicial system only if they win. The University of Hawaii has agreed to remove five telescopes and a road at the summit that are part of the TMT permit. They also said that TMT won’t interfere with cultural practices at the summit. The University of Hawaii is showing Aloha, what have the protesters shown?
Maunakea is a very big mountain and to miss such a scientific and economic opportunity with jobs not dependent on tourism would be such a loss.
It’s time for the politicians to let the police do their job and start issuing tickets every day to any protester blocking the road and/or parking illegally. Once they start doing that, it will stop being a social gathering and hit them in the wallet.
Paul Prosise
Kailua-Kona