Getting Ready to Organize a Coqui Frog group

Kona Coastview, Kona Wonderview, Kona Palisades, Kona Highlands.....
Do you hear couqi frogs at night?
Ready to join a group of neighbors to get rid of the frogs?

The County is doing NOTHING, the State is doing NOTHING.
Now it is time for action.
Baking soda worked for us. Now lets go to where they are and getem'

Call if you are interested in joining this group. 325-7576

Comments and responses from you on Floating the Bond -County of Hawaii.

Aloha,

Today, a majority of the council voted to have a public hearing on the Reconsideration of Bill 311 ($56 Million bond).  This positive action allows the incoming council to weigh
the public’s comments. The new, incoming chairperson will set the hearing
date. 

After the public hearing, Bill 311 will come back to the new council. At that time, the new council may be able to get more information from the administration on the project status to be able
to decide what to do with the potential bond issue – wait until the council
knows what the next budget deficit looks like, pass the bond in part or in
total, or vote down the bond issue in its entirety. 

It was very difficult for me to vote against the potential bond issue when two extremely important projects in my district (La’aloa Street Extension to Kuakini and the crosswalk in front of
the Kona Bali Kai) were on the chopping block as well, but the greater public
good was at stake.  However, now the council will have the time to analyze
and match all of the projects against the upcoming fiscal budget to
determine which ones, if any, get bonded. I will continue to work for the
La’aloa extension and the crosswalk in front of the Kona Bali Kai.

Mahalo for your understanding.

Brenda Ford

-------------------

Strong
points.

Josh Green

--------------------------

I too wrote to the Council and Mayor.

I want to know "How many jobs and where" will
they be created.  There is already $36 million waiting to be spent and the $56 million takes the county to the edge of their good credit rating.  Any more and the interest rates would go up
and the Country rating would go down.

Mike Reimer

----------------------------------------

Susan,

Good letter! I concur completely with your observations
and recommendations. Thanks for taking the time to write and share it with the "Aye" team in Hilo.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Curtis Tyler

---------------------------

 

 

Iron Man Father and Son team- the Hoyt's Real Human Spirit.

http://www.wimp.com/fatherson/

Dick and Ricky Hoyt: Fatherson and son team - This is the BEST of the BEST. The ture meaning of the Human Spirit.
We were lucky enough to see the Hoyt's back in 1996. This is a very special team.
This video tells the whole story.
Much Aloha's to the Hoyt's

Nov. 2nd Tue. VOTE VOTE VOTE

This election is very important. The Big Island of Hawaii needs to come out and VOTE. I am reaching out and asking for your vote for Neil Ambercrombie and Brian Schatz.

Over the past 8 years with Linda and Duke, have lost/ sunk the super ferry, thrown our schools and kids under the bus, lost 2 cruise ships, lost Aloha Airlines.............

Step up to the plate and VOTE. Our keikei are depending on your vote.

Let's do a better job of voting then we have in the past. Reach out to your friends and neighbors. Ask everyone you know to VOTE>>>:]

Thanks Susan

Coffee Processing Help! How to remove the beans?

 We are small time coffee growers. We have 30 trees and most are just producing for the first time this year.
We need help with creative methods of home processing. We currently pick only the red cherries, soak them over night. The next day we squeese out the beans, wash and put on our rack. It sun dries for 2 weeks. Then we crunch up the bean to get the shaft off and end up with the green bean.

We do have a coffee roaster and a grinder so we enjoy every drop.

My question is does anyone reading this blog know a better method to remove the beans from the shaft?
If you have any advice, we would love to hear from you.
Thanks, Susan and Tom(JuanValdez)

Charles Flaherty - Affordable Housing hearing

Aloha e,
There will be a public hearing tomorrow, Thursday, October 28th at 3PM at the Keauhou Sheraton Resort regarding Forest City’s proposed Kamakana Villages at Keahuolu.

The developer applied to be a housing project under Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 201H which authorizes the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to develop or assist in the development of housing projects which are exempt from certain statutes, ordinances, charter provisions, and rules of any governmental agency relating to planning, zoning, construction standards for subdivisions, development and improvement of land, and the construction of units thereon provided that:

• The project primarily or exclusively includes affordable housing units (Forest City is proposing less than 60% at 140% of median income);

• The Corporation finds that the project meets minimum requirements of health and safety (Forest City does not); and

• The development of the project does not contravene any safety standards, tariffs, or rates and fees approved by the public utilities commission for public utilities or various Boards of Water Supply (Forest City’s development would).

The state agency, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation entered into a development agreement with Forest City Kamakana LLC which allows the developer to simply walk away from the development or any aspect of the development which may be deemed “financial unfeasible” with only 30 days notice.

HHFDC entered into development agreement without any regard to or consultation with the County of Hawai’i administration or its elected council representatives even though this development will have a great impact on the Kona community.

For instance, the county has reserved 431,360 gallons per day (“GPD”) capacity at the Kealakeke Sewage Treatment Plant, but Forest City’s documents state that the development will generate an average flow of 673,778 GPD with a peak flow of 2,555,477 GPD.

Further, as the Queen Liliuokalani Trust’s attorney’s have pointed out Forest City’s traffic studies are inadequate and incorrect.

But the biggest problem is that Forest City refuses to commitment to building any affordable housing units below 140% of median income. So how much money does your family have to make to buy a house in Forest City’s affordable housing project?

Household size = 1 person, $63,800; 2 people, $72,910; 3 people, $82,030; 4 people, $91,140; 5 people, $98,430; 6 people, $105,720; 7 people, $113,010; 8 people, $120,300.
From County of Hawaii website (2009 income schedule by family size)

The average household size in Hawai’i County is about 4.5, so the average family must make about $95,000/year to buy a Forest City “affordable” ($400,000+) home.

HRS Chapter 201H only gives the county council 45 days to make a decision or the project is automatically approved. At the last hearing, none of the county department heads had had time to read the latest revision to the exemptions being requested. It is clear that not all county departments, including police and fire have had time to evaluate what Forest City is proposing.

Forest City has purposefully ambushed the Kona council representatives and Forest City’s attorney has made substantial financial contributions to the political campaigns of council chair, Jay Yoshimoto, and council member Donald Ikeda. So please come speak out against this project as it is being currently proposed and designed. Tell them to go back to the drawing boards and to include our community, not special interests, in the process the next time instead of dictating demands.

Mahalo!
Charles Flaherty

Debbie Hecht on Charter Amendments and Open Space- Vote yes on 1

PLEASE FORWARD to Big Island Family and Friends-apologies for duplicates!
For a listing of ALL of the charter amendments: click here: http://www.dhecht.com/
and the League of Women Voters' Pros and Cons listing

On Nov. 2nd-or walk in voting is happening now!

Vote "YES" for proposition 1-

Relating to the Establishment of the Open Space Fund.

Mahalo to Council members Ford, Hoffmann, Yagong for supporting THE PLEDGE. Candidates Smart and Blas have also support THE PLEDGE. Angel Pilago and Emily Naole told me that they did NOT want to sign THE PLEDGE. After two phone calls and two emails, the following council members did not respond: Yoshimoto, Onishi, Enriques and Ikeda. PLEASE vote for Brittany Smart and Fred Blas; they will support resuming deposits to the fund and saving land for future generations.

ASK your council members to save our treasured lands and protect the aina.

The Save Our Lands Citizen's Committee asked all of the elected council members and candidates to sign our pledge to support the Open Space Fund charter amendment and to support resuming the deposits to the Fund in 2011. We felt this was important for three reasons: 1) If we can elect a council which agrees to fund the 2% amount, then we can acquire the lands that are pending; 2) so that the 100 people that showed up to testify during budget hearings won't have to attend the hearings, which will save their time and the council's time and 3) to introduce a degree of accountability in the Open Space Fund process.

The PLEDGE that we asked council members and candidates to sign states:

1. I support the Open Space Fund Charter amendment and will encourage my supporters to vote for Proposal #1 RELATING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OPEN SPACE FUND on November 2, 2010.

2. I pledge to honor the voters of Hawaii County who voted for the 2% Land Fund ordinance in 2006 to deposit 2% of our property taxes in an open space fund. I will vote to support resuming the deposits to the 2% OpenSpace Fund in 2011 and I will vote to make sure that deposits are not suspended again.

Please vote for Brittany Smart and Fred Blas who have signed the Pledge and support saving Hawaii's great places.

Here's a SHORT LEGISLATIVE HISTORY of the 2%-1% Open space Fund. In 2006, The Save Our Lands Citizen's Committee collected 10,000 signatures on petitions, of which the County disqualified 6,000 signatures. The council placed the Open Space Fund measure on the ballot. 63% of Hawaii County voters voted to save Hawaii Island's treasured places in 2006.

In 2009, the county council voted to suspend deposits to the 2%Open Space Fund for two years. Mayor Kenoi submitted this measure BEFORE the budget was even printed. Stopping the Fund was his first piece of legislation in office. Only 3 council members voted against the suspending deposits to the fund: Greenwell, Ford and Yagong. The rest of the council: Naole, Enriques, Yoshimoto, Onishi and Hoffmann, voted to ignore the 2006 voter's mandate regarding the Open Space Fund. Deposits will resume as of July 1, 2011, unless the council votes to suspend the deposits to the fund again during budget hearings in the spring of 2011. THAT is why your vote for the council seats in Puna and Ka'u is so important.

The land fund is working! The county has acquired Waipio look out, Kawa Bay (Ka'u) and Kaiholena (N Kohala). Purchases that are pending if deposits resume are Pao'o and Kaiholena in N. Kohala, Kawa Bay in Ka'u and the Kingman Trust Parcels in Kona. To see past and pending purchases with matching funds go to:http://www.dhecht.com/?page_id=196

IN 2010, the Save Our Lands Committee submitted a 2% Open Space Fund charter amendment to the charter commission. This amendment echoed the existing ordinance and was meant to replace the ordinance. We submitted the charter amendment because 1) Charter amendments can only be changed by a vote of the people, NOT by the council or Mayor; 2) and all other counties in Hawaii have an Open Space Fund charter amendment. The charter commission left the ordinance intact in the Code and put the Open Space Fund charter amendment on the Ballot at a minimum of 1% of our property taxes ($2 million per year). The 2% ordinance in the county is still in effect, so the council can still vote to fund the 2% amount or more. With the ordinance still in effect it became evident that we needed to make sure that the council members would fund this amount in 2011, so we could buy the properties approved by the Open Space Commission and the council to protect shoreline access, beaches, surfing and fishing.

For information on all of the charter amendments and to get the link to the League of Women Voters Pros and Cons publication, go to http://www.dhecht.com/.
Debbie Hecht
Campaign Coordinator 2% for the Land Fund
(808) 989-3222

A Fishy SECRET in Hawai'i

Heads up!

Do you care?
I added that meetings should be held in Hilo and Kona as I believe that this is an island wide concern.
Thanks for taking time to consider how you feel.

Mahalo, Merry Anne
---------------------------------------------------------------
From: Christina Lizzi, Food & Water Watch [mailto:fwwatch@mail.democracyinaction.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 8:31 AM


Subject: A fishy secret in Hawai`i

Shhh - don't tell anyone about the tuna!

Ask the Army Corps of Engineers To Go Public With a Hearing

Aloha e Merry Anne,

Give Kawaihae the chance to protect these waters.
Ask the Army Corps of Engineers to hold a public hearing.

Want to know a secret? About three miles off of Kawaihae, on the Big Island, a company wants 247 acres of your ocean to put 12 huge untethered cages to grow 6,000 tons of tuna -- mostly for export to the Mainland and Japan. It isn't actually a secret, but with the lack of public hearings held so far, you'd think it was. Before the Army Corps of Engineers gives the green light for a corporation to pollute Hawaiian waters, tell them to hold a public hearing.


Industrial fish farming poses threats to communities like Kawaihae, including disrupting and interfering with the natural ecosystem, fishing grounds, and way of life. Unfortunately, Hawaii Oceanic Technology has almost all its ducks in a row to put its floating "oceanspheres" in the water. Did I mention that each cage is the width of a football field and could hold 30 Olympic swimming pools worth of water?


Even on the Big Island, very few people know that this is happening. Only one public hearing has been held on the Island during the permitting process, and even then the notice for it included incorrect information. A decision like this could greatly impact not only Kawaihae, but all of Hawai'i. Tell the Army Corps of Engineers to hold a hearing near Kawaihae and give people a chance to particpate in this decision.


Contact the Army Corps of Engineers now:

http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4132

Malama ke kai,
Christina Lizzi
Food & Water Watch

fish@fwwatch.org

Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

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