Letters to the Editor: October 11, 2020

Protect and build upon CDPs

At the recent mayoral forum, it was disheartening to hear both candidates insinuate that they would look into taking our county even more deeply into a resort-driven tax base while possibly reinventing our regional community development plans (CDPs).

Untold hours and dollars were put into our island’s CDPs — none more than the Kona Community Development Plan (KCDP). Award-winning and now law, the KCDP was spawned over a decade ago and buoyed by the dedication of a wide variety of public and private stakeholders.

What drove Kona’s residents to get involved in the CDP process was sitting in increasing traffic jams and enduring other economic, social, infrastructural, and environmental indignities that resort-driven development had created. They were fed up with top-down development dictated by corporations and their Old Boy cronies. They wanted land use planning that would feed communities, not rob them. To those ends, many residents volunteered for the KCDP’s first Steering Committee — a diverse group including a teacher, lawyer, environmentalist, farmer, cultural practitioner, developer, and more. The goal was to create a Smart Growth, bottom-up blueprint for the future, guided by the feedback of thousands of South and North Kona residents who demanded that land use policy protect critical ag lands, aquifers, coastal resources, native practices, economic sustainability and the overall well-being of residents.

Strong CDPs only flourish when citizens stay involved and political leaders back each region’s heroic efforts to achieve smarter, less sprawled and damaging growth. Our new mayor must use heart, wisdom, integrity and enthusiasm to encourage and support those communities who want to guide a shared, healthier future. That means allowing residents to decide when, if, or how their regional plans will evolve, including moving away from the mono crop of tourism.

Janice Palma-Glennie

Kailua-Kona

Most marlin landed are eaten

Regarding William Harlan’s letter to the editor on Friday about ending sportfishing for marlin: First, the tag and release policy was developed to ensure the propagation of the species for future catches. It makes sense to increase your chances of a hookup. Your reputation is based on the number of hookups. The charter folks can hash out conditions with the captain on what they can keep for the smoker or dinner table before the lines get wet.

Most marlin over 250 pounds landed go to making fishcake. This subject leads to my second point: Lions and elephants aren’t eaten unless local native guides make arrangements with the hunter and the local community. And special permits are required to hunt and kill said animals. Most of the wild animals that get ink in the papers come out of private property ranches for hunters.

Finally, I winced a bit when reading Mr. Harlan’s description: “… hanging dead with blood dripping out while the fishermen smile and celebrate.” It reminded me of fight mania and boxing matches — especially how the public relishes movies like “Rocky” and all the following rewrites of the characters. The more blood, the better. The old saying in the journalistic news world: “If it bleeds, it leads.”

Enough said.

Dennis Lawson

Kalaoa

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