Musings: Paradise vs Utopia

Is anyone else weary of the “Kauai as paradise” myth?

Especially when it's being used to advance such non-paradisiacal ventures tourism, at the cost of agriculture or any other sustainable endeavor.

Case in point: Today's letter to the editor from a “common-sense visitor” who knows all about what's best for Kauai because he loves it, and has visited often enough to convince himself that it was created to be a “paradise on earth.” Which means it's unfit for dairies or anything but accommodating the adoring hordes.

What's so ironic is the writer — David Boruta — doesn't realize his attack on the dairy could just as easily be applied to the tourist industry:

It is beyond any reasoning to plan a dairy operation of the scale planned for Mahaulepu considering what will happen to our paradise. “Paradise lost” is something no one should take lightly. There isn’t a single reason to build the dairy here other than financial motivations for a few individuals. This will be at the expense of everyone else. More than the expense is the compromising of our most precious asset — Kauai’s paradise.

My favorite line:

The land does not belong to anyone, it belongs to everyone.

Well, except that land owned by folks like David Collison, who recently opined that the diary “will also certainly impact my property values and those of my neighbors as well as detrimentally affecting the tourist industry of the area which is, of course, one of the primary engines of Kauai’s economy.”

David Boruta ends his misinformed missive with this:

Congratulations to the Kauai planning board for taking a responsible stand on the new Coco Palms Resort project. This $135 million dollar project will celebrate paradise while employing thousands of locals.

Because paradise is all about perpetuating illusions like “Blue Hawaii” and all those smiling natives who just live to share the aloha spirit, and every blessed inch of their island, with ever-increasing numbers of wealthy white folks.

Meanwhile, Friends of Mahaulepu (FOM) is ramping up with the rhetoric with their "green ambulance" chaser, Oregon attorney Charlie Tebbutt, who is publicly posturing over plans to sue Hawaii Dairy Farms, Grove Farm and Mahaulepu Farm, LLC — the important ag lands — for alleged clean water violations.

The rhetoric, and intent to sue announcement, mimic the legal strategies employed by the other foes of Hawaii agriculture: Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice, which rely heavily on similar scare tactics.

Still, it's puzzling how Surfrider, FOM and other dairy opponents keep talking about how “pristine” Mahauelepu is, even while releasing data showing it has the island's most polluted stream.

Mmmm, how can you have it both ways? And if it's still pristine, even as the island's most continuously polluted water flows through the valley and into the ocean, is there a problem?

Meanwhile, those who love to talk about sustainable farming have a chance to put their money and muscles where their mouth is. The Agribusiness Development Corp. is looking for tenants to lease 740 acres of former sugar cane land, with water, on the Mana Plain in Kekaha.

That should come as welcome news to the KKCR crowd, which is talking about growing kenaf as an alternative to the seed companies. Perhaps this would be a good place for them to put their model to a test. I'm sure they'd have no problem competing economically with China, USSR, Thailand, South Africa, Egypt, Mexico and Cuba, which also grow it.

Except I'm not sure how they would justify growing kenaf, which is used for fiber, after they so roundly rebuked the seed companies for failing to grow anything they could actually eat.

Kenaf is also useful as a forage crop, but since they're dead-set against a dairy, it's unclear who might be able to use it for that purpose, especially on the scale that would be required to support tens of thousands of acres in cultivation.

And since no one wants anything “industrial” in paradise, they'd likely run into opposition from their friends if they tried to process the fiber into cardboard or newsprint on-island.

But no worries. If that doesn't pan out, they've still got a chance to create utopia at the Kilauea ag park. Though Keone Kealoha has never really accomplished anything of note, the ADC just gave $120,000 in public money to bring that 20-year-old pipe dream to fruition.

In other words, taxpayers are subsidizing the dreamers so they can compete against real farmers who made it all by themselves in the private sector.

Hmmm. Perhaps paradise still exists on Kauai after all.

Musings: Eyebrow-Raising

It was inevitable, given the amount of time Councilman Gary Hooser has been spending at the state Legislature, that he would eventually blow off his Council duties to be part of the action in Honolulu.

Yesterday was that day. Gary ditched a Council meeting – a meeting he is paid by the taxpayers to attend, a meeting where his own property tax freeze bill was up for a vote — to testify against Carleton Ching's appointment as Director of Land and Natural Resources.

Ching's appointment should be challenged, seeing as how he seems woefully ill-informed on such crucial matters as Hawaiian gathering rights, the PASH decision, cultural preservation and public trust resources, such as shoreline access.

But Gary didn't need to show face — especially at the cost of missing a Council meeting, a weekly duty that is one of his few responsibilities as Councilman.

Is it clear enough now that Gary doesn't really give a rip about Kauai, that his own political and personal agendas eclipse the minimal limelight afforded on the Kauai County Council, that his lobbying on behalf of his HAPA organization is more important to him than his responsibilities to the voters of Kauai?

Gary could have submitted his not-very-compelling testimony in writing. But he just can't pass up the chance to have his mug on TV, portraying himself as a champion for the resources and the people — except those who actually pay his salary.

Ching's affiliation with the Land Use Research Foundation, a pro-development group that is always on the wrong side of environmental protection, makes him a dubious choice to head DLNR, which oversees extensive public land and water resources.

“His career track is the polar opposite of the DLNR mission,” observed Randy Awo, a retired DLNR officer on Maui.

Ching should be rejected, and someone more balanced brought in. Unless, of course, it's Gov. David Ige's intent to plow full speed ahead on development, with the public resources be damned.

Still, it was a little eyebrow-raising to watch Sen. Laura Thielen grilling Ching, considering her own do-nothing reign as DLNR chief, where she followed Lingle's resource-unfriendly party line. Funny, how politicians suffer these convenient bouts of amnesia.

In other eyebrow-raising political news, Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. is bringing in former Council Chair Jay Furfaro to serve as the county's director of Boards and Commissions. Paula Morikami, who currently holds that post, is moving into the mayor's office, though she isn't taking the spokeswoman position being vacated by Beth Tokioka, who has taken a job at Syngenta.

It's disconcerting to see Jay, who was rejected by the voters, rewarded by the mayor with a well-paying county post. Isn't there someone fresh and new who could benefit from a county job? 

Instead, in another disappointing display of crony politics, the mayor brings in an old pal at a higher salary than he received as Council chair, which will allow Jay to collect a heftier retirement based on his “high three” years of pay.

All on the taxpayer's dime.

Speaking of which, The Garden Island has refused to print Jay's letter explaining his side of the county's payout to auditor Ernie Pasion — a lawsuit that cost taxpayers $400,000 in legal fees and another $300,000 in a settlement, all for a guy who never did do his job. The paper's stance is troubling, considering how it ran an article letting Ernie say whatevah, and has published numerous letters from Ernie's misguided supporters talking about how great he is.

Just in case you missed Jay's statement when I previously ran it, here it is. Yet another reminder of your tax dollars not at work.

And finally, the full Senate — including Kauai Sen. Ron Kouchi — approved SB 1037, which targets only agriculture for pesticide disclosure while giving all other users a free pass.

It seems the "thank a farmer" bumper sticker should be changed in Hawaii to read, "screw a farmer and thank an anti-GMO activist." Because those are the folks spearheading this misguided attack on agriculture.

Musings: Gross Ignorance

It's not unusual for the state Legislature to be clueless, seeing as how it's susceptible to pressure —financial and otherwise — from special interest groups. But when the Civil Beat editorial board weighs in, I expect them to have at least some idea what they're talking about.

Unfortunately, the Civil Beat editorial board shows its gross ignorance in calling today for the Senate to pass SB 1037, which requires all farmers to disclose all their use of pesticides.

It's not that I have a problem with pesticide disclosure. It's just that I wonder why Civil Beat and some lawmakers think it's OK to target only farmers.

Especially when a pesticide study by the state Department of Healthfound that urban Oahu streams had the highest number of pesticides present.

But even then, “None of these levels present a risk to human health or the environment,” according to DOH toxicologist Fenix Grange.

So what is the problem, exactly?

And then there's the report from the Department of Ag confirming that in the past eight years, not a single episode of school evacuations was caused by agricultural pesticides. Instead, homeowners misapplying pesticides, and a turf company, were the culprits.

From their comfy perch in downtown Honolulu, it's easy for urban legislators and the Civil Beat editorial board to issue a dictate to farmers, to sanctimoniously term the bill a “modest proposal” and the “neighborly thing to do.”

They have no idea what the true cost of this legislation is to farmers. And I'm talking economically, in terms of complying with disclosure, and socially, in having to deal with the nuts who are gentrifying agricultural land and trying to shut down the farms in their midst.

Because the bill requires the land to be identified by address and tax map key, making every farmer the potential target of a nuisance lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Civil Beat and clueless lawmakers turn a blind eye to the pesticides used by termite treatment companies, pest control operators, government agencies and homeowners, who often apply these substances improperly.

Though that pesticide use occurs in densely populated urban areas, residential neighborhoods, roadsides, parks, schools, hospitals, golf courses and resorts frequented by large numbers of people, including keiki and kupuna, it's somehow OK, while the pesticides applied by farmers in rural areas are not.

Tell us, Civil Beat, why is it neighborly for a farmer to disclose pesticide use, but not a pest control company or your own parks and recreation department?

If the goal is to prevent exposure among sensitive persons, or reduce the overall use of pesticides, this bill does neither, because the disclosure is after-the-fact.

So what, then, is the purpose? I mean, other than to punish farmers — or more specifically, the seed companies. 

Because Civil Beat, like many lawmakers, including Rep. Cynthia Thielen, have been suckered by the Center for Food Safety and other groups that are using the pesticide issue to advance their anti-GMO cause.

It's sad that Civil Beat hasn't used its money and reporting team to educate homeowners on pesticide use, or even explore that issue at all, seeing as how nearly all pesticide problems occur in the home. And even then, very few people are actually being "poisoned in paradise," despite what Rep. Thielen wrongly believes.

According to the Hawaii Poison Center:

Of the 4,800 human pesticide exposure calls, approximately 90% of the exposures occurred in a residence, 4.4% in the workplace and 1% in a school. The remaining 4% consisted of miscellaneous locations (i.e., other/unknown, public areas, health care facilities, and food service.) 

At least 90 percent of the exposures caused no or minimal health effects. There were three deaths. None of the pesticide complaints were linked to atrazine exposures.

And according to the Department of Ag in its report to the Legislature:

As far as statewide pesticide complaints, there were a total of 293 between 2010 and 2013. Oahu had 127, Big Island 73, Maui 51 and Kauai 42. Less than half of the complaints are due to agricultural activities. For complaints involving potential atrazine exposure, atrazine was not detected in any environmental samples collected during this time period.

To spell it out, agriculture is not the problem. So why are legislators and Civil Beat going after farmers?

But then, as I said in the beginning, they don't have any idea what they're talking about.

Musings: Buzz Awhile

A landmark case involving a Kauai man's use of traditional gathering rights has been scheduled for oral arguments before the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

As I initially reported in the Honolulu Weekly, Kauai Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe dismissed charges against Kui Palama back in 2012. He'd been arrested on Jan. 17, 2011, and charged with two misdemeanor counts of trespassing and hunting on private property after a security guard found him with pig meat on Hanapepe lands held by Gay & Robinson.

But defense attorney Tim Tobin successfully proved that Palama is a descendant of the indigenous peoples who occupied the Islands prior to 1778; the G&R land where he was hunting is mostly undeveloped, and pig hunting is a traditional and customary practice.

All three criteria must be fulfilled in order to meet the standard for exercising traditional rights as protected by the state Constitution and established in the Hawaii Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Nansay Hawaii vs Public Access Shoreline Hawaii (PASH), written by Justice Robert Klein in 1995. In his motion to dismiss, Tobin argued that by charging Palama with trespassing, the state was effectively imposing a blanket prohibition on his right to engage in customary practices.

The Kauai Prosecutor's office under Shaylene Iseri appealed the ruling, and it's now before the ICA. When the charges were dismissed, I wrote a post for Kauai Eclectic in which Kui talked about the process of waging a PASH defense:

He said Tim, his court-appointed attorney, was initially reluctant, telling him that he'd seen a lot of guys claim a sovereignty defense, but still go down.

“I told him this has nothing to do with sovereignty, well, it does have to do with sovereignty, but this is in the state Constitution,” Kui said. “If they already passed it, why are they still arresting me?”

And why are they appealing Watanabe's ruling?

In other legal proceedings, isn't it odd that Oregon attorney Charlie Tebbutt has come to fight the proposed Mahaulepu dairy when Kawailoa (the Hyatt) already has an excellent lawyer in Lisa Bail? Of course, Tebbutt, who doesn't have a Hawaii law license, isn't actually working with Lisa, but representing Friends of Mahaulepu. In other words, he's riding on Lisa's coattails in hopes of picking up legal fees if she wins.

He's a “green ambulance chaser,” pursuing an increasingly common practice known as the nonprofit legal fee hustle, in which you can rack up millions in legal fees if you bill high enough and drag it out long enough.

It's how Earthjustice and Center for Food Safety make much of their dough — along with begging for dollars. As I've pointed out previously, those two mainland-based organizations helped write the flawed GMO/pesticide bills in Hawaii and are now pursuing the appeals, which they're using as a fundraising tool.

Why, just last Friday CFS sent out a fundraising email, using its usual deceptive language:

Right now, the CFS legal team is hard at work defending several county ordinances restricting genetically engineered (GE) crops in both Oregon and Hawaii; defending a county ordinance in Hawaii about pesticide spraying disclosure and buffer zones; and helping the state of Vermont defend its GE labeling law.

At CFS, we do all of our work, including our legal efforts, without charge, representing you, our members, and other nonprofits or local citizens. Instead, we count on donations from our members to support these critical efforts.

Of course, CFS and Earthjustice aren't actually fighting “food and chemical corporate giants” on the Big Island, but a coalition of small local farmers and ranchers who are opposing the GMO ban passed there.

They're aren't defending Kauai's pesticide/GMO disclosure law, either. David Minkin is. EJ and CFS are just sponging off him as he does the heavy lifting — like Tebbutt will be. And they'll be right there with their hands out if the real attorneys win the case. It's to their advantage to write bad bills and keep them going through the court system for years while the citizens and counties are stuck in legal limbo.

Yes, it appears the first of those dreaded flies have indeed arrived at the Mahaulepu dairy. But then, they've been cruising the seed fields for a couple years now and the anti-ag folks haven't seems to mind.

The CFS appeal ends with its director, Andrew Kimbrell, saying:

Together, we can succeed in defending justice, democracy, and our right to know.

Ah yes, justice, democracy and our right to know. As practiced by lobbyists and political advocates masquerading as nonprofits, hiding their income and expenses, and using money donated by the heirs of industrialists and oil barons while denouncing corporate influence in the process.

It's the kind of democracy practiced by people like Makoto Lane, vice chair of Kauai Young Democrats:

Poor little Makota. He not only has a problem with my free speech — and fails to recognize the hypocrisy inherent the comments he made to The Garden Island today: "In the age of information, any campaign to censor my access of information is bad. At the very core of the issue is people’s sense of freedom." —  he utterly fails to recognize the influence that outside corporate interests — those funding CFS and others pushing the anti-GMO movement he embraces — have had on Hawaii politics.

And it's the kind of democracy practiced by CFS Hawaii Director Ashley Lukens, who similarly see can't the hypocrisy in her own sour grapes post about a hearing that didn't go her way:

Oh, yeah, I can feel the love, Ashley.

Returning to the topic of flies — gadflies, in this case — I couldn't help but laugh at  Councilman Gary Hooser's claim to The Garden Island that his fireplace-banning bill is just  on "a pause" before the Council takes "a re-look at the whole issue."

Uh, Gary, the bill is dead. The Council deferred it indefinitely. It ain't never coming back up. 

So you can return to your real job: using Council services staff to write HAPA's your anti-GMO testimony on Council letterhead, most recently in support of GMO labeling, which is yet another issue the Council hasn't taken a stand on, other than to trash-can an old resolution that supported it.

Note to Council: when are you folks gonna rein him in? Unless, of course, you're all totally OK with him speaking on your behalf and misusing county resources for his own political gain.

Musings: Waiting for the Blue

I love watching the full moon rise, all bold and yellow, juiced up for its journey across the black expanse, and then seeing it set the next morning, cozying into the blushing mountains, still round, but pale, white as a sky waiting to be blue.

I think a lot of folks are waiting for the blue, looking for the dawn, a fresh beginning, hankering for the hope that accompanies the start of each new day.

For me, it's the idea of how Kauai can heal, mend the fractures that have split the community over pesticides, GMOs, dairies, different belief systems, opposing points of view.

And then, among the wasteland that is The Garden Island, I saw the smiling photo of the Rev. Kaleo Patterson, and a little article on how he's going to be speaking at “The Spirit That Heals” seminar tomorrow, delivering a keynote address titled, “Aloha is Peace.”

It got me thinking about the work that Kaleo has done on reconciliation, indigenous peacemaking practices, the challenges of answering questions like these:

Can there be reconciliation without forgiveness? Can there be reconciliation without justice? Can there be reconciliation without repentance?

While these queries typically have been posed about America's illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, they're equally valid when dealing with the issues dividing us today.

Because I know that I and many others are waiting for an apology — some sense of repentance —from those who have leveled unfounded accusations against their neighbors, perpetrated misinformation, intentionally fanned the flames of fear. And they no doubt are similarly waiting for an apology from those whom they believe have wronged them.

Do have to keep waiting for apologies that likely will not come before we can move forward?

I've heard some folks say we need to engage in ho'oponopono to set things right. It's a practice that's frequently misunderstood, and in an article I wrote some time back, Kaleo provided an explanation:

While it’s often purported to be an ancient tradition, Patterson isn’t so sure. He notes that Mary Kawena Pukui, in recounting all the family traditions of Hawaiians in her 1950s book, The Polynesian Family System in Ka’u, made scant mention of ho’oponopono. “The one reference is to healing. If you want to be healed, you should go through ho’oponopono first, you should cleanse, release. It’s the beginning of any healing process.”

We don't need the apologies or forgiveness of others to cleanse, release. Just as we don't need to wait for others in order begin practicing what Kaleo sees as the foundation for ho'oponopono:

It sounds cliche, but I’m talking about aloha. This is rooted in love, forgiveness and compassion.

As someone who often uses words as lethal weapons, I know how easy it is want deliver a death blow in a dispute. It's much harder to sit down with an opponent and lay our issues side by side on the table, without the desire to dominate, or be right. But that's where I hope the joint fact-finding group on pesticides, which convenes today, can take us by collecting some body of evidence, finding some science-based middle ground, that can inform our next steps as a community.

As a farmer friend recently noted:

There's no justification on either side for banning GMOs and pesticides, or adopting them wholesale at the exclusion of any other sort of agriculture. We can use the best practices from both approaches.

Though just the other day I saw a letter from an anti-GMO activist that claimed, “There can be no co-existence,” I don't buy it. Universities and agricultural groups are developing methods for co-existence between organic and biotech farms, including buffer zones, spraying notification, GPS technology and other protocols that are mutually agreed upon by people who are highly motivated to find a resolution.

It's called radical collaboration, and we can use that same approach to find ways to co-exist as human beings with different points of view. Because nobody's belief systems are likely to change anytime soon and bullets, be they actual or words, do not deliver an enduring solution.

We've got to try something new.

Musings: Hard to Grasp

Back when Bill 2491 —which solely targeted pesticide disclosure by Kauai Coffee and four seed companies — was up for debate, the County Council amended it to include this bit of reality:

In 2012, restricted use pesticides were used on Kaua’i by agricultural operations (7,727 pounds, or 13%), county government operations (28,350 pounds of Chlorine Liquefied Gas, or 49%), and nongovernment operations for structural pest control (25,828 pounds, or 38%).

Yet even though the termite treatment guys use far more pesticides than agricultural operations, and they use them everywhere, including on and around schools, none of the anti-GMO folks or Councilman Gary Hooser seem to think they should be included in the pesticide disclosure bills moving through the Legislature.

The pest control guys agree. Tim Lyons, executive director of the Hawaii Pest Control Association, submitted testimony on SB 1037 that ironically mirrors the concerns of the seed companies:

We don't believe and hope that we are not the target here and, therefore, there should be an exemption section within the bill.

We are particularly concerned with eco-terrorism. That is, situations where neighbors fight with neighbors regarding what they are about to apply via the use of a structural pest control operator. We are also worried about compromising information between pest control operators dependent on the type of information they would have to disclose and the possibility that a competitor can receive that information and use it to their advantage.

So they get a free pass while the attack on agriculture continues, with SB 1037 now amended to require all farmers to disclose their pesticide use. But non-farmers in the ag district can spray home and landscape pesticides to their heart's content, with no disclosure. WTF?

Our own Sen. Ron Kouchi voted in favor of the amended SB 1037— perhaps because he and his fellow committee-members know that's the poison pill that will ultimately doom this bill. Because now all the farmers are gonna be up in arms, not just the seed companies.

Meanwhile, we're confronted with yet another example of the hypocritical disconnect that runs through the anti-GMO movement. In late January, the anti-GMO nonprofit U.S. Right to Know went on a FOIA fishing trip, seeking the correspondence of 14 university scientists who have written favorably about GMOs.

What the group hopes to find, with this McCarthyite witch hunt, is some indication — whether contrived, or taken out of context — that the scientists are in the pay of industry. Because under the anti-GMO logic, only paid shills support biotech.

The Cornell Alliance for Science has mounted a petition drive in support of these scientists, and I urge you to sign. While I agree that access to public records is a crucial component of democracy, I don't like to see it misused to bully and intimidate scientists or anyone else from engaging in free speech.

This initiative is particularly hypocritical because the anti-GMO nonprofits — U.S. Right to Know among them — are some of the least transparent organizations around. They file their financial disclosure forms late, or not at all, and frequently fail to disclose who is funding them, or where their spending goes.

Meanwhile, the rash of anti-dairy letters and commentary continues unchecked, as folks clamor to keep Poipu “pristine” for the tourists. Most recently, we have developer/builder Jay Kechloian putting up $100,000 in matching funds to support the anti-dairy movement. Uh, hello! Next up: More TVRs, hotels and homestays. Because tourism is a clean-green-sustainable industry, with no shit, no runoff, no water use, no imported feed.....

Speaking of no shit, former Council Chairman Jay Furfaro has released a statement countering the self-serving public claims made by county auditor Ernie Pasion, who just got a $300,000 legal settlement from the county — even though he performed his job miserably, used his post to conduct politically-motivated investigations, sucks down a salary of $114,000 per year and hasn't been in the office since last May.

It's hard to feel too sorry for Jay, since he helped hire Ernie, a good old boy former county clerk who lacks a CPA. But once Ernie got in, it was hard to terminate his sorry ass — even though the Council's own investigation found he had “over-promised and-undelivered," mishandled audits, and let former county attorney Lani Nakazawa, whom he hired, rack up $15,000 in overtime and work on Oahu for seven months on audits that had already been completed.

According to Jay's statement, the Council first voted to fire Ernie, then voted to suspend him. Ernie hired a lawyer and sued for retaliation, claiming his politically-motivated audits somehow made him a "whistleblower." Orwell, anyone? Long story short: taxpayers got stuck with a $300,000 settlement and over $500,000 in legal fees, as well as the $1.5 million annual operating tab for the fully dysfunctional Auditor's office, which opened in 2009.

Add it all up, and that's about $10 million down the Ernie Pasion rat hole.

Moral of the story? Hire qualified people from the get-go. And when you do, don't discriminate against them on the basis of age — which prompted the recent settlement with Department of Water engineer Dustin Moises — race or sex.

Why is that so hard for the county to grasp?

Musings: Discursive Bliss

My day began before the day began, jolted from sleep by that dreaded sound of a dog barfing – no, no not on the bed – oops, too late. Off come all the covers, right down to the mattress pad, and as the washing machine chugged, we set out walking to greet the dawn.

As the mountains pinked and the sky blued, I thought of the mindfulness meditation class I'm taking, and how the instructor said the mind is always wandering, and studies have shown that these mental meanderings make us unhappy at least 50 percent of the time.

I like to think my joy quotient is a little bit higher than that, but maybe I'm just fooling myself. The mind has a way of doing that, you know.

He'd also said that of the 5,400 species of mammals, only humans have the ability to project our thoughts onto the past and future – though I'm not so sure that can be stated unequivocally, because who has studied all the mammalian minds? — and while that allows us to invent and create, it also makes us unhappy.

So other than benefitting the bars and drug lords, and the pharmaceutical companies that are selling more anti-anxiety, anti-depressant and anti-psychotic drugs than ever, many of them to women, is that really an evolutionary advantage?

Is that the metaphorical fall from the garden, the rending that allows us to wreak havoc on each other, other life forms, believing ourselves separate and apart?

I brought my mind back to present, looking for the bird singing its little heart out – there it is, atop the telephone pole. Gladness filled my own heart.

And then I thought of an email I'd read before going to bed, the one that had as its subject line “fireplaces and puppies,” which saved it from the delete key that disappears most everything that arrives in the eastsidegrrrl inbox.

It told me about Stan and Maureen Gonsalves, the Wailua couple with the fireplace that is the subject of a bill before the County Council today, and how the publicity and negativity of Councilman Gary Hooser's over-reaching political agenda had been stressful, and given the offended/offending neighbor a broader platform upon which to air — no pun intended — her other complaints, these about the Gonsalves' dogs and pet pig, further polarizing their relationship, with no resolution in sight.

It seems the Gonsalves are retired, and of very limited means, prompting them to supplement their income by breeding Yorkies, and last Friday, while they were off-island, someone stole one of their 7-week-old puppies, but then it was returned, before they returned, economy tragedy averted.

I thought of how I'm always bummed to see purebred puppies being sold when so many mixed-breed dogs are executed daily in the shelters, but then, I've never been in such dire straits that I looked upon dogs as a source of income, rather than an ongoing expense.

And would it really help anything, or anyone, for Mr. Gonsalves to end up facing criminal charges, or a civil suit, neither of which he can afford, simply because he and his neighbor can't agree about chimney smoke?

Which made me think of an email I'd gotten from a lawyer friend, about a kanaka who has been repeatedly cited for driving without a license, a small act of civil disobedience, rebellion against the illegal overthrow — for which no white man was ever fined or jailed — that the Hawaii judicial system takes as a “no mercy” affront to its power. 

The fines have racked up to the point where he can't pay them, so the taxpayers likely will foot the bill to keep him in a cage for a while, just to teach him he'd better get that piece of paper — another person imprisoned for poverty — and since he's the sole breadwinner, his family will suffer.

Which made me think of a New York Times article covering the Justice Department's report on Ferguson, where African Americans were disproportionately targeted for traffic stops, and twice as likely to be searched:

For people in Ferguson who cannot afford to pay their tickets, routine traffic stops can become years-long ordeals, with repeated imprisonments because of mounting fines. Such fines are the city’s second-largest source of revenue after sales tax.

In an unrelated but similar case, the Justice Department recently filed court documents in a lawsuit over whether the city of Clanton, Ala., is running a debtors’ prison. The lawsuit says city officials there keep poor people in jail simply because of their inability to pay fines.

And while I don't think Kauai Prosecutor Justin Kollar and KPD are running a similar kind of racket, can't we come up with a system — more community service, something along the lines of the Pohaku program, sliding-scale fines — that keeps people from going to jail simply because they're poor, or kanaka?

I brought my mind back to present, watching a streak of orange stretch across the sky, dogs nosing bushes, intent on scent, and a smile came to my lips. My heart was happy.

Then I thought of a series of comments someone had left last night, demanding solutions, answers that I don't have — who does? — for solving the myriad problems facing the planet, one small island in the plastic-choked Pacific:

Now Joan, what are the next steps to take to reduce physical, mental and spiritual toxicity on our precious island. Tell us what your vision for our grandchildren's world is. I would like to hear that.

I have no vision for the world that anyone's grandchildren will inhabit. I could not have envisioned 10 years ago the world I inhabit today. Who knows what awaits humanity 20, 30, 50 years hence, what world will be created by minds that flit between past and future, making us unhappy 50 percent of the time? I can only think it will somehow be better, because people keep having children, which seems to me the ultimate expression of hope — or madness

In the meantime, perhaps there is an answer to this question:

What about the poisoning of our mental environment with stress due to the fear of illness due to poison?

I brought my mind back to present, felt the softness of the breeze blowing against my cheeks, gave thanks for the breath flowing in, flowing out, life. A smile played on my lips, sweet joy returned to my heart.

And when I got home, I found a friend had sent me a link to this video, which in the quirky workings of serendipity, somehow seemed to fit.

Musings: Baaad Bills

In their rush to cater to misguided constituents, the Senate is considering another poorly worded measure — SB 1037 — that requires pesticide disclosure by anyone cultivating more than 200 acres in crops.

Nobody wants to see kids, or anyone else, dosed with pesticides. So why does the Lege keep considering bills that don't actually address what is purportedly the underlying issue — public health?

This version — hawked vigorously by Councilman Gary Hooser, who has spent more time lobbying the Lege than serving the Kauai folks who pay his salary — would put the onus on the Department of Health to create a new pesticide disclosure program.

But it gives the financially strapped agency no new funds or expert staff to implement it. So what important DOH programs would be cut to satisfy fear-mongering fanatics like Hooser, or Kauai's own Fern “Anuenue” Rosenstiel, who sat in front of the House agriculture committee last week and flat-out lied:

For two and a half years we've been trying to find out what chemicals are being sprayed.

Really, Fern? Why don't you just navigate off Facebook and over to the very public Good Neighbor website, where that information is clearly spelled out and has been for over a year? But then, the poor misguided wahine also claimed she represents the 4,600 people — yes, that figure is still being wildly inflated —who marched in the streets of Lihue.

Since when did donning a red shirt and walking on Rice Street automatically make Fern your eternal shepherdess? Baaa...

Once again, the bill specifically targets agriculture and lets roadside-spraying government agencies, pest control companies and golf courses — even those right next to homes — completely off the hook. Yet it's presented as a public health measure.

Hooser, in a comment to The Garden Island, expresses the many deliberate distortions of his movement:

Full disclosure is an essential element for regulating restricted use pesticides. The public is not able to avoid the areas being treated and they do not know when to shut their windows.

First, the reporting is made a month after the pesticides are sprayed, so ain't nobody gonna be closing their windows or avoiding areas because of this law. And though the bill is very specific in its reporting requirements only “a summary” would be posted on the DOH website for public perusal. Second, restricted use pesticides are already highly regulated by the feds and state. Third, this bill includes general use pesticides, too.

It absolutely infuriates me to watch Gary boldly lie — and then whine on his blog about “blatant and shameless charades” and politicians “disrespecting community.” Yeah, Gary, we know all about it from watching you. Like how you brought in Mason Chock specifically to override the Bill 2491 veto. And how you continue to improperly use County Council staff and resources to carry out lobbying activities that support positions taken by the HAPA group you head.

Gary's bullshit aside, recent legislative testimony by state Agriculture Director Scott Enright and pesticides branch chief Tom Matsuda made several points very clear:

First, in the past eight years, not one school evacuation/illness incident has been linked to the seed companies — including the oft-cited Waimea Canyon School episodes. Check it out. The culprits primarily have been homeowners using crap they can buy over the counter.

Yet not a peep is said about controlling residential use of pesticides near schools, or even educating folks. Why?

Second, as part of the Good Neighbor disclosure and notification program, Kauai seed companies voluntarily contacted residents adjoining their fields and asked them what notification they might want. Just 10 households requested notification. So who are these scared citizens desiring disclosure that Hooser supposedly represents?

Third, in response to community concerns, the state conducted a number of studies and found no cancer clusters on Kauai — save for melanoma on the North Shore — and indeed, the island's cancer rate is declining. It tested for pesticides in waterways, and found levels way below standards in agricultural areas. Guess where they found the highest pesticide runoff in the state? The decidedly non-ag Manoa Valley on Oahu. A birth defects study is nearly completed, which should provide actual data on claims often made by Hooser and his ilk.

And as Tom noted, pesticide labels, which are the law, “take drift into account. So a good applicator would not allow drift to happen.”

Even Hawaii SEED's own pesticide drift tests found nothing. Yet Hooser and others repeatedly spread the fear that folks are being poisoned by drift from the seed companies.

In short, many claims have been made, but none have borne out. So why spend money to make and implement laws that address non-problems, like Hooser's chimney smoke bill?

In its testimony, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Hawaii (Guam & American Samoa) wrote that it: 

[S]trongly supports the overall intent of bills SB793, SB1037 and SB797 to limit population exposure to toxic environmental agents. However, we are not experts in the fields of farming or the environment, and therefore cannot speak to what would be the best way to accomplish this goal.

Amen. Let's listen to the farm experts, not the fear-driven fanatics who are pushing bills that aren't about public health, common sense, good policy or fiscal responsibility, but political agendas, pure and simple.

Musings: Homies Part II

Last week's blog post on the county's proposed ordinance regulating homestays drew quite a few comments, including a lengthy one that Sam Lee, the former state land agent, submitted last night. It was so thoughtful that I decided to run it today, featuring Sam as a guest blogger.

I'll lead off with the highlights of a conversation I had with Planning Director Mike Dahilig. He said the proposed ordinance was prompted by his department's desire for a uniform policy in dealing with homestays, because 15 people have submitted applications for use permits to operate them. They range from a single room in a home in Kapaa to numerous rooms in a house in Wainiha.

Mike is also aware that some people are attempting to convert unpermitted TVRs to homestays. Two of those requests are now being fought through contested case hearings brought by North Shore residents.

The proposed ordinance is intended to “start a discussion” about what homestay regulations should look like, Mike said. The planning department is not wedded to the language in the proposed bill, and is very open to what the community wants, be it a cap on the number of homestays or their outright prohibition.

Sam, who lives in Poipu, is also very interested in hearing what folks in other neighborhoods think. So please share your thoughts, and include a reference to where on Kauai you live.

Aloha Joan

By this time I've had a chance to read the ordinance. I am one of many becoming aware of the size and complexity of the vacation rental business. An article in this past Sunday's Star Advertiser says 25% of tourist stays occur in vacation rentals. Officials estimate there are something like 22,000 (conservative) vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods, most of them illegal. This dispels the notion that folks who operate vacation rentals are people who are trying to pay the mortgage, pay their kids college tuition, or earn a few extra dollars towards family expenses. This is NOT mom and pop stuff. This is BIG BUSINESS. The numbers also say government regulators have failed abysmally, allowing illegal rentals uncontrolled access to neighborhoods across Hawaii. The numbers are now so large and residents so upset, the State and Counties are forced to do something, AGAIN.

Just a few years ago, our County addressed the problem of illegal TVRs by devising a process allowing illegal rentals to file paperwork and suddenly become legal. Residents viewed this with disbelief. Most recently our County pushed for a change in zoning where I live, which if approved, will redesignate Residential zone to Visitor Destination Area. If this passes, unlimited vacation rentals will be automatically allowed completing the takeover of our neighborhood. Now the County is proposing Homestays, another effort to muscle vacation rentals into neighborhoods.

The ordinance has some language to mollify residents; such as a limit of one MINOR permit (allows up to 2 rooms in the house to be rented) for every 300 residents in a given area. But the ordinance also allows Major Permits (5 bedrooms for up to 10 people) with NO Limit on number issued in the same area through a Use Permit. So potentially, there is no limit.

Another feature requires the homeowner to live in the house full time and provide a Homeowners Exemption Certificate attesting to full time occupancy for only one year. At minimum, one year should be increased to five years.

The owner in the house should reduce noise and bad behavior activity by guests. What it doesn't do is address the issues that arise when mixed uses occur in crowded, small lot neighborhoods with oversized houses built close together. From our own experience these include, increased vehicle and foot traffic, speeding cars, sense of crowding, sense of entitlement by guests, tension between neighbors, loss of the "neighborhood" feeling, added burden on aged infrastructure, etc, etc.

For waste control the ordinance requires the property to be on a septic system; which is a good thing. For buyers of newer houses or builders of new ones (transplants) this is no problem as the law now requires this. The downside is, if Aunty and Uncle intend to earn a few dollars by renting a room or two on a cesspool, they may be in for a surprise.

So as our government pushes unceasingly for tourism, we wonder; is the push backed by need? Just up the street from where I live are several hundred acres of vacant land, already zoned, permitted for tourist accommodations but unbuilt on. Between 1000 and 2000 units can be built. Many of these parcels have had permits for years. On the east side, the County recently approved hundreds of hotel rooms with more coming when the Coco Palms gets permitted. On the north shore, Jeff Stone has publicized plans for a 1,000 acre luxury development at Princeville.

With all that out there, I truly wonder why we have to have Homestays, TVRs or B&Bs pushed into our neighborhoods. Is there any place left for residents to call their own?

I'm sure there are many perspectives on this issue- for and against. Thank you, Joan, for allowing me to share mine.

best wishes, sam lee