HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0421.049 2012-2014 Council Testimony
From: Larry Tool <toolohana @hawaiiantel.net>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 8:41 PM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Aloha I-Iawaii Councilmembers,
I am writing from the Maui County island of Molokai. We may not live in your districts, but we know all about
lack of home rule and state indifference to local needs and concerns. We at I Aloha Molokai are trying to
remedy that with our own energy planning process, the Molokai Clean Energy Initiative. (See our recent
summary article in Civil Beat.)
I'he only way to strengthen local government is to take tough and persistent stands against state poaching in
local affairs. I applaud your effort to ban frocking, simply because the margin for error is so much smaller here
than on the mainland. Our Governors seem to take advice from mainland developers, most of whom have no
idea how to think and plan where both land and water are scarce and precious. California, with all its
population, still appears to have land to burn. This spawns an attitude of"just do it, and to hell with the
consequences." In Ilawaii, this attitude is a recipe for disaster.
l law aii became a US state 74 years ago, but we still lack local self-government, because the "outer
islands" remain colonies of I lonolulu. Many of us think its high time for Hawaii's Counties to band together
and demand more respect from the state, as well as more money and authority to manage their own concerns,
not to mention protecting their own scarce resources. Unlike the looney edicts wafting from the Capitol's 5th
floor, bottom up energy planning has the immense advantage of spotting problems early and obtaining
public buy-in from the beginning.
°"j
Mahalo for your attention. n CD
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I.arry Tool, Kaunakakai �1
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