Barbara Clay responds

Aloha Susan, I congratulate you and thank you for the work you are doing. Yes, I support the division of the county.
I hope you will not be influenced by naysayers. What did not work in California can work in Hawaii. What did work in California may not work in Hawaii. It takes vision, hard work and committment but it can happen. I have written to the council members stating my position and why I have made it.
Our elected councilmen and women did not show up be- cause they are scared for a good reason. Just doing nothing is a positive vote for the status Quo whether it be our council persons or local citizens.
I hope we can keep a sense of humor about all this. I noticed many participants said some things that made us laugh. Good for them. I will be at the next meeting and have told many people about it.
One suggestion I have is perhaps to hire a "West Hawaii PI" in order to get report cards on candidates and present councilpersons. As suggested a thorough look into job descriptions of councilpersons to see if they are indeed not following proper procedure. One thing I would like to know is how much developers are contributing to campaign funds or just plain payoffs. Also, a review of how much nepotism is really going on. How about why construction costs twice as much in West Hawaii as it does in East Hawaii? Could it be that transportation costs are included both to and from Hilo?
Many people do not know that all the taxes collected in Kona for rental cars are syphoned into Hilo. I would like to see a fact finding guy (can use any fancy title) to investigate how the government in Hilo is cheating us and making it public. No one volunteered at the meeting and I can see why. Our West Hawaii Today and the Journal have been our best investigators up to now, but they need help. How about getting to the bottom of why Lako Street connection has been postponed for 6 years or so and the developer is still jerking around the council. I do not know these things but I would like to know. If 100 persons committed to paying $35.00 each month maybe someone from our group would take the job. Just an idea. Mahalo for all you do.
Sincerely

Barbara Clay