|
|
Standing Up for West HawaiiJune 15th, 2009
Dear Friends,
A major decision will be made
about the future of Big Island this coming week at the
County Council and it will give us absolute clarity about
the character of the current Hawaii County government.
The East Hawaii-dominated
council is proposing to remove all West Hawaii elected
council members from all important decision-making
positions.
This amounts to an undemocratic
attempt to disenfranchise the voters of West Hawaii.
If it passes, this measure will
be a terrible step backwards for county government,
returning us to a time when all political decisions were
made of Hilo, by Hilo and for Hilo, designed to reward
political friends of East Hawaii with county resources, and
sending a few left over scraps to West Hawaii as an
afterthought.
This attempt to silence and
disenfranchise the elected representatives of West Hawaii
borders on taxation without representation. The bulk of
county revenue comes from taxes drawn from West Hawaii, and
if the democratically elected County Council members from
West Hawaii are silenced and marginalized in county
government, these funds will inevitably go
disproportionately to East Hawaii, leaving the west side of
the island without necessary improvements in roads, public
safety, and other crucial areas.
AN HONEST ALTERNATIVE
A balanced Council is the only
way to preserve fair Big Island government. All this takes
is having the Chairperson of the council from one side of
the island and the Vice-chairman and Finance Committee Chair
from the other side. This is the fair and democratic
approach. This approach would show the people that we are a
single united and democratic county.
THE MAYOR MUST STAND UP AND
LEAD
Mayor Kenoi must stand up and
clearly and publicly signal that the proposed divisive
measure to silence Ford, Hoffman, and Yagong on the Council
is unacceptable, undemocratic, and bad for all the people of
Big Island. Mayor Kenoi must stop this outrageous mistake in
its tracks. As an elected State Senator and a witness to
these kind of coups, I know how destructive they are. The
Mayor has the power and responsibility as the executive of
the County to lead, and he must do it now.
This week as the decision is
made, the Mayor will show us whether he is a leader of the
whole island, or merely an advocate for Hilo and the East
Hawaii special interests. He will clearly show whether he is
content to foster the division and unfairness of the past,
by allowing a regional government to form and in effect
disenfranchise every voter in West Hawaii, the very region
that produces most county tax revenues.
POWER GRAB
Make no mistake, this is a
power grab by East Hawaii political interests, and the way
the Council and Mayor Kenoi lead or fail to lead will reveal
their true characters and whether they serve the people, or
the narrow special interests that corrupt our democracy. I
hope for all of our sakes they put narrow political
self-interest aside and represent all the people of the Big
Island, east and west alike.
Senator Josh Green
District 3, West Hawaii |
|
Josh Green
M.D. |
 |
