HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0936.003 2004-2006
Enforce existing drinking laws. -stead of making new ones Page 1 of 1
Murashige, Laura
From: Janice Palma-Glennie [palmtree7@earthlink.net]
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2006 11:27 PM KOS JUN 26 AID I P 3"
To: county council testimony
Subject: Enforce existing drinking laws instead of making new ones
Importance: High
Please add the following to the public record. Mahalo.
Aloha, Council Chairman Higa and Council members:
It's come to my attention that the Council has preliminarily passed legislation which would
make it illegal to consume alcohol in County parks.
I feel that this legislation is redundant and, therefore, unnecessary. Public drunkenness is
already a crime. Adding another law to address this issue won't insure that the law will be
enforced any better than it already is. Yes, there are those who abuse alcohol and will do so
wherever and whenever they get a chance. However, there are many people (myself, my husband
and our adult friends included) who, in this time of shrinking open shoreline, enjoy having a
picnic or dinner in a public beach park. Any wonderful, open-air meal, to us, includes
sensible, civilized consumption of an alcoholic beverage. where people live in a democratic,
free country, they are generally allowed to drink sensibly at the beach (except in those East
coast aberrations where control of the public has gotten completely out of control, including
people being forced to pay fees to even GO to the beach as well having to stay in tiny areas
where a lifeguard watches over the flock while they try to enjoy the ocean while packed into
a tight mass). I hate to see Hawaii going the way of those types of places, as I'm sure you
do.
The majority is being punished unnecessarily for the "bad apple" minority who could be
otherwise dealt with legally if our County police would do their job. Though I understand and
respect those council people who see the need for tightening up on public drunkenness, I
think, if you look back over your own lives, you might be able to see how being made a
criminal for sharing a bottle of wine or a beer with friends and ohana at sunset or pau hang
is misplaced control over individuals' lives.
I ask that those who voted for this measure rethink your stance in these terms and push,
instead, for enforcing useful laws that are already on the books.
Mahalo for your attention to my views.
Best regards,
Janice palma-glennie
Comm. No. • 3
Ref. To: Q
NA mate
6/26/2006