Letters to the editor: 11-17-19

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How about some real citations?

I see, again, in today’s WHT that Hawaii County Police have written lots of tickets on the Saddle Road. Heinous crimes like no front license plates, darkly tinted windows, etc.

What’s missing? How about tickets for illegally blocking a public roadway? The “protectors” themselves seem pretty well protected. How about writing some citations for, say, camping in a public right of way, followed with a “failure to appear?”

The last time I went over the Saddle, the only thing I saw that was missing was a mini-mart and a Starbucks. They’ve already got the stop light and the blue tarp housing projects.

John Barringer

Kailua-Kona

Pesticide ban is a bad idea

I’m very frustrated the Hawaii County Council is advancing legislation that will ban the use of pesticides by county workers in the near future.

This ban will likely force parks and recreation, and county highways divisions, to hire more workers to main our roads and parks. Parks and recreation already acknowledged they’ll need to hire 400 maintenance workers if this legislation passes. The county highways division will have to hire more people also.

The increased payroll costs, which will be paid by county taxpayers, tells only part of the story. There will be additional impacts to roadway safety, and a carbon impact to the environment because of increased usage of machinery to maintain these areas. The county highways division, for example, is already having a hard time maintaining the grassy shoulders alongside our county highways.

If you drive the Alii Drive Extension to Captain Cook, you can see a stark example of the roadway safety hazards caused by this backlog in work.

I understand there is health impact to humans from this pesticide usage, but what about the increased county payroll costs, and carbon impact on the environment, resulting from this proposed legislation.

Aaron Stene

Kailua-Kona