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COMM. 342
A2 » HONOLULU SIAR-ADVERYISER >> SUNDAY 7/7/19 NEWS
Visiting mayors are served dirty laundry at royal buffet
t was a scene of contrasts last VOLCANIC ASH The thread connecting the diverse griev-
weekend when municipal leaders ances was a frustration over how land use
here for the U.S.Conference of decisions here so often end up with more
Mayors gathered at lolani Palace. ground paved over.
Inside the gates,mayors and Increasingly,people feel they're not being
spouses in upscale casual attire got a ...... listened to,playing in a rigged game in
VIP tour of the seat of the overthrown which the money—usually tied to big de-
Hawaiian monarchy and then enjoyed velopers,big business and big labor—al-
a buffet on the lawn,attended by a DAVID ways seems to get its way.
royal guard dressed in red. They cringe when elected schlubs
Outside the gates was a different SHAPIRO propped up by special-interest bucks act
crowd:dozens of protesters lining like aiii.
King Street to express displeasure The city,state and federal governments
about the handling of myriad local is- assumed everybody would support a mas-
sues by Honolulu's mayor and other leaders. sive Ala Wal flood control project to protect Waikiki ho-
A photo stream of the demonstration by Stan Sakai tels without adequately consulting affected residents of
showed men and women,young and old,bridging eco- upstream valleys.
nomic strata and representing virtually every island eth- A"world class"playground for Ala Moana Beach Park
nicity. pushed by nearby luxury condo developers jumped
They wore jeans,Jams,slacks,flowered blouses, years of master-planning for the park and became a may-
T-shirts,tank tops,malo,baseball oral priority virtually overnight.
caps,straw hats,rubber slippers Park development at Sherwoods in Waimanalo went
Aand sneakers. through environmental study and neighborhood board L Some of their signs said"Save Our review years ago,but somehow the conversation didn't
Sherwoods,""Stop Ala Wai Project," include many now shocked to see beloved trees bull-
"Save Ala Moana Beach Park""Lis- dozed.
ten to the People,""We Are Mauna Native Hawaiians have resented telescopes on Mauna
"Broken Promises Lies,""Re- Kea since the first pimple appeared on the mountaintop
Caldwell spect the Land"and"Impeach Mayor in the late 1960s,but keep being pushed aside with prom-
Kirk Caldwell!Pricing of locals out of ises of'just one more."
Oahu", Get burned often enough and even good science,plan-
One of the most telling protest signs depicted Caldwell ning and engineering start to look suspect.
with his fingers in his ears and his tongue sticking out, Whether or not we agree with all the positions es-
saying,"I can't hear you." poused by these protesters,we should respect their hard
'Me number of bitterly contentious issues in our com- efforts to make our local government of the people.
munity was striking,as was the resolve of those who
fought traffic into town to spend a Sunday sounding their
unhappiness. Reach David Shapiro at voicanicash@gmaii.com.
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