Aloha All,
It has been quite a while since my last post, perhaps some of you were wondering if I had gone on my last journey. As attractive as that would be to some, it is not the case. My reason for the extended silence was purely the lack of good news that you all deserve. A number of you actually contacted me, wondering why the Blog was silent for so long, and what the latest status on the issue is, urging me to break my silence.
In consideration of the foregoing request, and to bring you all up-to-date, I decided to write this particular blog minus the positive feedback, I was expecting.
March 29th 2011, I had close to an hour meeting with Mayor Billy Kenoi, who agreed to look into the matter, and thanked me for bringing this community/citizen concern to his attention. He subsequently promised, by email, to study the additional pertinent materials I submitted to him following our meeting. So far I have not received any further communication from the Mayor’s office. I am not giving up, surely the Mayor is a busy man, and will, when able, address our concerns in a positive way. He seemed very sincere, and concerned during our meeting.
Further to my published letter to the Editor of the Kohala Mountain News, regarding WasteStream’s non-compliance with the Sunshine law, and per the Editor's published suggestion, I requested February 28th 2011 a ruling from the Office Information Practices (OIP), who is responsible for enforcing the Sunshine law of Hawaii. They in turn requested from the County’s Allen Salavea , in their letter, dated March 2, 2011, that he provide them with a detailed explanation, including any relevant legal citations, setting forth his position on this matter and any other information he deemed relevant to this inquiry. He was requested that he provide this response to OIP in ten business days from receipt of this letter, i.e. by March 14, 2011. Despite follow-up letters by the OIP, the County has failed to comply, judging from copies of OIP letters I received.
I had no intention to go that far, and I communicated this to North Kohala News prior to the publication of my letter, but their public suggestion that I get an official ruling from the OIP, left me no other choice. A request for a ruling includes an accusation by definition, therefore I did not wish to do that.
In a letter dated April 8th 2011, the EPA informed me that they will continue to encourage the County to engage in meaningful participation with all residents on this waste processing facility issue.
