HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0193.003 2008-2010
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Murashige, Laura t
From: blann [blann@gte.net] 2609 ~18fl 12 P(~1~27
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:35 AM
To: dikeda@co.hawaii.hi.us; donishi@co.hawaii.hi.us; enaole@co{h1il{i'r'us; ] Wr1Rh~1
jyoshimoto@co.hawaii.hi.us; dyagong@co.hawaii.hi.us; genriques@co.hawaii.hi.us;
bford@co.hawaii.hi.us, kgreenwell@co.hawaii.hi.us; phoffmann@co.hawaii.hi.us;
counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us; cohmayor@co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: temporary suspension 2% land fund
Aloha County Council and Mayor Kenoi,
First, my sympathy for the very difficult task of needing to provide a balanced budget under
very trying economic conditions. It is easy to offer advice to those in the trenches from a box
in the bleachers. Nonetheless, I am most troubled by the thought that county law is so soft
that the Mayor and Council may at any time vote to temporarily suspend laws for economic,
or once precedent is set, any transient convenience. Many nations around the globe have seen
their constitutions temporarily set aside for immediate problems.... 20 or 30 years ago, and counting.
This seems to me an extremely bad precedent to set- future county governments might use it for
far less benign purposes. Additionally, budgets may be under stress for decades into
the future, and the 2 year period would likely be followed by' n' two year extensions, where' n' is
an integer not necessarily less than 10.
Less important to me than the precedent, but still important, is the will of the electorate
in having voted strongly in favor of the 2% ordinance even with a very popular Mayor strongly opposing
it. Elected officials, especially those considering reelection, might well wish to respect this strong
statement from the electorate; is this not what democracy is about?
In third place, financial considerations; we are in a period where real estate prices are both declining
and soft. This is the time to be out buying for our future generations, not suspending the funds needed
to take advantage of opportunity until a fuure date when prices will be much higher, or choice parkland
parcels have been purchased by developers and no longer available for public acquisition. Unless
GM builds their next plant here, our future will likely continue to rely on tourism. Being an island with
many beautiful parklands may well help promote that industry in the future.
I urge you all to sharpen your pencils and work to find ways to balance the budget while respecting
present laws. And yes, I am prepared to pay higher taxes to help in these difficult times. Thanks
to you all for your efforts in what must be a difficult and unpleasant situation. Hobson's choice!
Respectfully,
Marshall Blann
Kailua-Kona
Comm. No. ' q 3.3
Ref. To:Pfesanted
Ref. Date MAR 17~-
3/12/2009