Unwarranted restrictions
of business and personal rights
Gov. David Ige has again without validation extended the emergency proclamation to July 30. This goes against his oath to uphold the constitution and is continuing to cause serious ongoing financial damages to employees and businesses.
The governor has created draconian and unwarranted restrictions of business and personal rights. We have a 98.6% recovery rate in the entire state and 100% recovery on the Big Island. Continuing the emergency proclamation is unwarranted, unconstitutional, morally and ethically wrong.
Now, Ige has allowed contact tracers to be hired which is a huge violation of our constitutional right to privacy. If you are found in the vicinity of someone tested positive for the virus, you will be asked to “voluntarily” self-quarantine for 14-days. I could not find the rules in Hawaii but I assume they are the same as in California, which if you decline quarantine because you are not sick, they may use a detention order, enforced by police, to ensure your compliance.
Again, if Hawaii is modeling California, if you decline quarantine, you can be incarcerated and fined up to $2,000 per day for everyday you decline. And there is no limit to repeated quarantine time. You have no rights against this. This is beyond unconstitutional and should be criminal.
Officials work for the people not themselves and need to prove what they are doing is valid, which the governor has not. Our civil liberties are slowly being taken away. This “new normal” goes against everything this country stands for.
The governor has exceeded his rights given to him by the people. Hawaiian life may never be the same again. Join the public lawsuit to stop him.
Michelle Melendez
Kealakekua
It is a problem
My husband and I echo “We do not agree” from Teresa Tagon in Tuesday’s paper regarding the problems associated with unhosted short-term vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. In addition to the fact that these STVR guests frequently behave in a manner that is inconsistent with the neighborhood and that reflects a lack of courtesy and respect for their next-door neighbors without any accountability or concern on the part of the STVR’s remote owner, there is no recourse for full-time residents like us.
Since our move to a new home late last year adjacent to a very active VRBO in a private, quiet, residential community, we have reminded incoming VRBO guests to be mindful of their noise levels and conduct and to be respectful of the nature of the community and our right to peaceful use and enjoyment of our own home. This neighborly approach often has not worked, and then the process starts all over again within the week when a new set of renters arrives.
When we informed the property manager (the only listed contact for the property), they were sympathetic to the rental guests and told us we should have done our due diligence about the VRBO property before we purchased ours, implying that we had the opportunity to be informed of the VRBO implications and could have chosen not to proceed with our purchase on that basis. We have not seen or met the property management agent and the VRBO owner has not been on-site since we moved in.
For those thinking this is not a problem, we agree that they would likely quickly change their views if they lived next door to one of these active, unhosted VRBOs wherein the short-term guests frequently don’t care about how their conduct impacts others.
Randi Morrison
Kona
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