Err on the side of caution and open more Voter Service Centers
The League of Women Voters of Hawaii County is very pleased that you will be implementing mailed ballot elections in Hawaii County in 2020. The League has been and continues to be very supportive of this effort. Passage of this legislation was a priority of the league for the past several legislative sessions.
Because of the league’s support we are committed to making mail elections in Hawaii a big success. As such, we are very concerned to learn that Hawaii County plans to open only two Voter Service Centers on the island for 10 days prior to the election. We fear that this will not be sufficient to serve the needs of the voters of such a large county.
As voters become more familiar with all-mail ballot election procedures in the future it may be possible to decrease the number of Voter Service Centers, but we believe that it would be prudent to err on the side of caution and open additional centers in 2020. We also recommend that the public be consulted on where these centers are located.
Rosemarie Muller
League of Women Voters Hawaii County, president
‘Balance of power,’ local style
Hawaii County Council meetings are a pleasure to attend. Environmental Management meetings are not.
The County Clerk and his staff treat members of the public with dignity and respect. The Environmental Management Commission chairman and vice chairman do not. The County Council allows public testifiers to enjoy their Constitutional rights of free speech. The EM commissioners do not. The County Council provides a sound system which allows everybody in the room to hear everything that is said by all council members. The EM Commission does not.
Therefore, the legislative branch of Hawaii County government is serving the public, while the administrative branch is authoritarian. Let’s call this “balance of power” … local style.
But all is not lost: EM commission meeting minutes are accurate and painless to read.
Jerry Warren
Naalehu
Be ready for some very hard times
It’s time to do what North Korea and 11 major cities in China have been forced to do and close the border to Hawaii. Shut down the airports, meet all ships entering Hawaii and let no one on shore.
The Wuhan coronavirus is a lot worse then being reported. Before this week, the death toll was increasing six-fold every 10 days. This week it’s even worse. If the death toll only maintained a six-fold increase every 10 days, by April 30, over two billion would be dead. Jan. 11 … one dead. Jan. 21 … six dead. By Friday, Jan. 31, we would need 36 dead to continue on that mathematically reality.
As of Jan. 24, we’re already over 40 dead in this ten day period with a week to go. Stories online claim the death rate is 1% to 3%. They arrive at this phony, low percentage because they divide the death total today, divided by all of the confirmed cases today. My research shows that the original 17 deaths occurred approximately 17 days on average after victims fell ill. If you want a more accurate kill rate, use the number of confirmed deaths today from the disease, divided by the confirmed cases 17 days ago when they first got sick. The number will scare you.
It’s true that there are a lot of sick people that the authorities don’t know about. For example: They had 41 confirmed cases about 17 days ago. The death toll Friday was 41. That would mean 100% death rate. The number is high for lack of accurate number of confirmed victims 17 days ago.
My hunch is that the death rate is closer to 25%, which would mean that the 1,000 sick individuals confirmed carriers is four times lower than it should be to make the 25% kill rate accurate.
Please contact the governor and beg him to close the airport to incoming visitors. This is way to serious to worry about making money off of tourists. If we can’t get the politicians to lock out potential virus carriers, plan on taking your kids out of school and stock up on food stuff, etc. Be ready for some very hard times ahead. Sorry to be the messenger, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t share my research. Good luck to all.
Paul Harder
Naalehu
There when you need them
My husband recently spent an extended stay in the hospital; as a result, he needed to use a walker, not something he was happy about. We live in Ka’u, where there is an amazing service organization “O Ka’u Kakou.” OKK is there when and where you need them, building ramps for seniors who require them. That was us.
Mike McDonough and Wayne Kawachi and others gave of their time and expertise and built us the most wonderful ramp along the side of our house, complete with rails. This not only added to the look of our home, it made it safer for my husband and myself. We are seniors who are not getting any younger, but we are determined to stay active. OKK made that possible for us.
OKK is a local volunteer organization that sponsors numerous community activities, in addition to repairing seniors’ homes and assisting in other charitable endeavors. President Wayne Kawachi can be reached at (808) 937-4773.
A big mahalo to Wayne, Mike and OKK. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Marti Simpson
Waiohinu