A bit more perspective
I would like to add a bit more perspective to former Mayor Harry Kim’s call for a challenge to Circuit Court Judge Wendy DeWeese’s decision invalidating certain provisions of Bill 108 – the county’s Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVR) law – as they related to prohibitions on agricultural lands. When that bill came before the County Council in 2018 there was a clear need to regulate STVRs. The peace and tranquility of some neighborhoods were being negatively impacted as were the inventory of much needed rental units available to our residents.
I supported the intent of Bill 108 and voted in favor of it, largely in deference to the stated importance it held in Kim’s overall administrative agenda. However, there were several aspects of the bill, which some councilmembers viewed as being susceptible to legal attack, one of which was precisely the issue considered by DeWeese. It would take too much time to explain in this writing the complicated application of two state laws to the formulation of our county STVR law, but at the risk of oversimplifying, let me just say that our law essentially created an uneven playing field for owners of similarly zoned properties through the use of what is commonly known as a “grandfather clause.” STVRs could be allowed on properties created before June 4, 1976, by way of a Nonconforming Use Certificate (NUC) while properties of the same State Land Use designation created after that date would not be allowed.
I’m not going to give my opinion as the whether DeWeese’s decision was right or wrong. That will ultimately be done by a higher court, if it gets that far. I can say, though, that DeWeese has a reputation for being responsible and thoughtful in her evaluation of cases. So while it’s okay to pursue a challenge to the court’s ruling in order to prove the rightness of our law, we might be wise to also invest ourselves concurrently in understanding the bases for the court’s decision and exploring ways in which to the law can be amended so that it comports with principles set forth in that ruling. In the process, the county could revisit ways of striking a balance between two important public policy goals: Protecting important agricultural lands and creating fair and equitable standards for our citizenry, each of which need not be mutually exclusive of one another.
Aaron Chung
Member, Hawaii County Council
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Point the finger of blame in the right direction
Many of us lament the recent rulings of the conservative Supreme Court, reversing Roe v. Wade, allowing state support of religion, and so on. We might reflect that it was the American electorate that put into office the man who turned this court solidly conservative, appointing three conservative justices. The voters put Donald Trump, a man with no history of public service, but rather with a past of financial fraud and personal scandal, into office in a legitimate election. They rejected a candidate with a long history of public service, allowing themselves to be duped by Trump’s groundless attacks and “lock her up” fulminating.
So let’s point the finger of blame in the right direction. Regrettably, the voting public may be poised to make another grand mistake. From the news I am getting, the voters are likely, in the midterms, to turn both House and Senate solidly Republican. That will ensure that a party that is controlled by Donald Trump will virtually rule the country.
A democracy can kill itself by its own voters. It’s presumed strength, that the voting public determines the direction of the country, can be turned against it by a thoughtless voter base. I hope that the midterms dispel the grim possibility of the death of what has been the world’s grandest democracy.
Mike Keller
Kailua-Kona
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