Notes From the District 5 Forum

The forum was well attended.

Stocksdale arrived on “Hawaii time”.

Funniest moment for me, was right as the first question was being asked…. Naeole excused herself and told the audience “Kalamai” and went off to the bathroom for a minute. The look on the other candidates faces was priceless and I wish I could have gotten a picture of it. I wondered if the nervousness got the best of her?

Another funny moment: Each candidate was asked to say what was the biggest invasive species. The whole room had a good laugh when Mr. Gumapac said the Superferry was the biggest Invasive Specie.

Candidates were all given questions ahead of time…. yet, some still had troubles answering the questions directly.

My overall ratings of the candidates performances:

1. Siracusa and the Community

1. Gumapac

2. Joseph

3. Safarik

4. Naeole

5. Stocksdale

All 5 candidates stayed past 8:00 to answer questions from the audience. I was able to ask Gumapac about short term and long term solutions for the congestion on H130. (Audience members were only allowed to ask one question to one candidate… I wish I could have asked it to all of them…. but based on the poll that I have been running on this site…. Candidate Gumapac is leading in the race on my poll so I directed my question to him… Mr. Joseph did mutter that he wished I would have asked that question to him)

Gumapacs general response was we need more buses going in and out of town (He emphasized that these buses should be Hydrogen fueled). He also mentioned Park and Ride lots for carpooling with security guards that would watch the lots during work days.

In general, I liked his response to the question I asked.

Gumapac, the progressive thinker that he is… also mentioned a possible light rail in the future such as Oahu is thinking about now. I don’t know if a rail system would really work though, because Hilo is so spread out. How would people get around in Hilo once they got there?

He is very against a four way highway.

I’m sure Hunter will be able to report more when he is able to, as I saw him there. If you haven’t read Hunters post today regarding the Kenoi story… I myself would call this one of the best blog postings ever for the Big Island…. talk about a committed blogger.

I’d just like to say “Mahalo” to all the candidates as well as Rene Siracusa for putting this forum on and making yourselves available to us residents of Puna.

And to the candidate that said they liked my blog…. well thanks :) <blush>

I thought all the candidates were very polite to each other and the forum was run very well.

Nope… No pencils went flying… No Barstools… No Terroristic Threatening/Harassment and no Headbutts ;)

Ms. Siracusa mentioned at the beginning that they are hoping to get the footage aired on Local Community TV… However, I looked over and noticed the Battery icon flashing on the display… when I mentioned it to the lady that was watching the kids running the camera…. she said… “I know… It’s not recording right now.” :(

Aka ‘Ula School on Molokai to Go Polystyrene-Free January 1st

An eighth grade student at Aka ‘Ula School on Molokai, Olana Chow, issued a proposal to the school’s Board of Trustees to Ban polystyrene in her school.

The board has agreed and the school will now be the first in the State to have this ban.

Polystyrene comes in various forms, but is often used to produce Styrofoam products….

Olana Chow courtesy of the Molokai Times

“My main goal was to try to eliminate polystyrene from the island, but you have to take baby steps,” said Chow.

Hawaii Number One In Cremations

I was reading this article and it states:

…The popularity of cremations varies greatly by state, from less than 10 percent of all deaths in Alabama and Mississippi to more than 60 percent in Hawaii, Nevada, Washington and Oregon. In Massachusetts, about 30 percent of those who die are cremated….

I thought this number was high, but I found out differently.

1. Hawaii 67.50%

I would think this is probably because of the large percentage of Asian people here in the islands.

District 5 Candidate Forum Tonight in Pahoa

Candidate forum for District 5 County Council candidates, 6-8 p.m., Aug. 19 at the Pahoa Neighborhood Facility. Sponsored by the non-profit Malama O Puna, the forum wll focus on environmental issues facing Puna.

After the forum, I’ll set up a different poll to see how people think which candidate they felt they would vote for after this forum.

Bank of Hawaii Sponsors “Grab the Green” Reusable Bag Campaign… But Not Here in Hawaii

Guam residents are being encouraged to reduce the amount of plastic bags. Pay-Less Markets, with the support of Bank of Hawaii, has embarked on a “Grab the Green” campaign to encourage customers to use reusable bags….

A Pay-Less Store in Guam

…Pay-Less also will continue to issue a 5-cent credit rebate each time a customer brings in any bag to be used instead of a Pay-Less plastic or paper bag….

I wonder why Bank of Hawaii doesn’t locally?

“Junk” 7 Days Away from Landing

The Junk reported yesterday that it is only 8 days from arriving in Hawaii.

Junk Closes in on Hawaii

If I was still living on Oahu, I’d be there to greet them with a lei. I’ve been enjoying their trip across the Pacific and I will probably be taking the link down once a successful voyage has been accomplished.