Below is a letter to the editor I sent to the WHT, HTH,BIW about the Hokulia bypass debacle:
I’m getting very frustrated that neither Hokulia or Hawaii County have taken the bull by its horns and started construction on the last 2.07 miles of the Hokulia bypass.
I know that Charles & Joan Coupe still have a pending appeal that has blocked the completion of this roadway thus far. On top of that Hokulia’s financial condition has probably dissuaded them from proceeding with the construction of this road.
But in my opinion, these are really ludicrous excuses.As it stands now,Hawaii County has possession of the Coupe parcel (pending appeal). Even if the Coupe’s successfully overturn the condemnation (and construction has already started) Hawaii County just has to file another condemnation action against the Coupe’s. In other words, the Coupe’s are fighting a losing battle. It is their legal right to fight this until all their legal options are exhausted.But in my view,they are just stalling the inevitable.
As far as Hokulia’s financial condition, this should not be used as another excuse to not complete this roadway.Hokulia is legally obligated to complete the entire roadway between Keauhou and Napoopoo.On top of that, there is surety bonds in place that should at least cover most of the cost of constructing this last segment of roadway.
The Hokulia bypass debacle is a poster child of Hawaii’s political gridlock.It is simply an embarrassment to Mayor Kim’s administration that this has dragged on for nearly 8 years. All the while South Kona’s
traffic gridlock has gotten worse and worse. We need politicians who can think outside the box to get this road finished.I for one will vote for any politician in the upcoming elections who can guarantee that they can accomplish the latter.
Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona
Hunter Bishop wrote up an interesting commentary on the upcoming Hawaii County’s Mayor race. At this point I’m personally undecided whom I’ll be voting for.
Hunter also blogged about this this Big Island Weekly article profiling Councilman Pete Hoffmann. Hunter criticized Pete for not being compassionate to Puna’s plight when he made this comment in the article :
“Hoffmann regularly refers to Waikoloa as the largest cul-de-sac in the state and he remains deeply concerned that there is only one road in and out of the village, which is heavily populated and situated in an area prone to brush fires.”
Below is a comment that I left on Hunter’s blog about his criticisms :
“I don’t see what the problem is here. Pete is not representing Puna. He is council member for North and South Kohala. The latter is his first and foremost responsibility. I hate to say it but I think you are nit picking here. I suspect because you are really frustrated how ineffective your council member has been.”
