hunterbishop.com

Well the vast majority want the Super Ferry. Rep. Clift is the only one with thoughtful opposition, and that can be overcome with state agriculture inspectors. Many legislators are not opposing the Super Ferry. They want the Governor to take the PR hit. What PR hit? 20% opposition. These are the same 20% who gripe no matter what improvement. They shop at Walmart but were opposed to it. They want sovereignty for Hawaiians but want the county to push through their no progress agendas. They conveniently forget that whale watching boats hit and harass whales. They fear the military and yet the reason they can protest is the rights protected by the military. You maybe happy with paying three times the going rate for services but not me. You may like renting a minivan for a week at $75.00 a day not me. Oh and lets not forget $25.00 is taxes and fees for the state coffers. I wonder why the legislature wants to keep us seperated? Because, it suits them tax wise, and they protect the people who fund their local elections. Our contractors and farmers will benefit from opening markets. There is a down side more cars here. Which will buy gas, food, fishing supplies, local products and fill local hotels.

Strange how Josh Green hasn't notified his own voting district via his normal email but sends his announcement to the East side first even though the meeting is on the West side.

Is it the HSF or the MTF? Is it Saddle Rd or Military Rd? JA

I'm for the superferry, and all the problems that come with it - we'll just have to work through them. If you've ever been through a hurricane like Katrina, or a tidal wave like the 60, you know you need freight hauling right away, and lots of it. The military channel on cable tells me the military has its own superverry, the MSV2, and the government has the money to buy more of them. They don't need the superverry to make the Stryker happen in Pohakuloa. We have to deal witht the Strykers in another way. For me, the downside of the superferry is the ingenuity of the populace, because there will always be some of us who will take advantage of the loophole, There always will be those who are the takers, taking all the crabs or opihi or what have you, ripping everything down to the root and leaving devastation. The problem becomes more apparent with having a fast moving population, airplanes and all. I say the more transportation we have available to all of us, the more we'll have competition and more fair procing of goods that we all can enjoy.

Why does everything American have to be SUPER SIZED?
Like super centers, super highways, and stupid super ferrys?
A super ferry is much larger than those whale watching vessels. They will not only hit and harass whales, they will kill them as a normal part of traveling. When I travel to Oahu, I plan it so that I can catch the bus to where ever I have to go. In that way, I don't add to the congestion or have to pay expensive parking fees. When I go to Maui, I rent a car and give the car rental agency some business or my cousins come to get me. I don't have to take my car everywhere I go like former continent dwellers apparently are used to doing. Oh yeah, I don't fear the military, I just don't think they belong here in the islands as a permenant fixture to bully and intimidate other countries or even its own citizens. Lets remember, the military really protects the rights of Corporate America way more than our right to speak.

Super, Faster, More, Better, Necessary, a fool and their money are soon parted. Charge it!,"Don't be ashamed about your credit history",EZ Credit. "Just don't show up, show off", Savers, back to school. Buy, buy, buy, spend, spend, spend.
A sucker's born every minute. Instead of buses bring tourists from the boat to block Walmat's parking lot. We'll have a couple hundred more vehicle crammed into the Sears, Walmart, no lihgt intersection on the way to Home Depot, where the SUPER Walmart is gonna be. I'll take two.

and just mention superferry and this topic will generate 30+ posts brfore it dies. Who's gonna POLICE all these 200+ influx of "lost", "first time on da isle" drivers? We don't have enough police to patrol the "right of da boat(Matson) drivers" clooging up the streets now. Last time I called dispatch I think they said, "we'll see if we can send someone out, in awhile"........? Idiot on the road? not witnessed by a cop it's not prosecuted even if you furnish them with a video, and 8x10's.

Before you expand, fix what's wrong with what we have now, first. For the current population, we need improvements, in every aspect of living here. The schools, the county gov. status quo., the lack of sufficient security, emergency response, self pepetuated sustainence, WE"RE IN A GREENHOUSE! you can't stop things fron growing unless you rip it pin to pin.

The more crap you bring to this island,
the less space we all have to live on it.
You fill it with plastic and styrafoam from your Mc meal.
And that's what you'll be living in.
It is a beautiful island,
fill it with cars and it will be like oahu/LA

Aloha e Hunter! Mahalo for the kind words and link. Hilo is indeed my spiritual home, and my wife and I muse about returning on a near daily basis. Take care of our town!

Come on, Puna folks talking of bad driving. My goodness, the kettle has gone dark.

Well, today is the day for our super ferry hearing in Kona. I understand that even the Hawaiian Kingdom is making a presentation or at least providing some testimony on this subject. Unfortunately, I won't be there until after 5 pm but I hope its a good turn out.

Out of respect to those who use their real names, and to give more credibility to my opinions, I am no longer "Goyo".
Wow! I feel naked ;)

I went to Kona meeting for a bit this afternoon. Governor Lingle and HDOT really bungled this whole thing. If they did
a EA/EIS in the beginning,we wouldn't be having these problems
today. As it stands now,the HSF is like a lightning rod for
anyone with gripe with how government operates here.

A couple of responses are in order. First, we have LST's (Landing Ship Transport) the military doesn't need the Super Ferry. Second,the U.S. military sacrifices itself literally to protect lives and rights. We are servants of society not bullies. This isn't just my opinion it's 20years of service in the USMC. Third, this supposed sucker wants to save his limited income not spend more. I live very humbly. I understand the concern about over fishing. We can limit the catch if it becomes a problem. Who's limiting Ice users from raping the Opihi crop now? Finally we come to the crux of the matter, Peter, like many others, doesn't want anyone on his island unless he approves. I missed the coronation of these new Ali'i. I don't want to see Hawaii destroyed. I also don't want to ask permission to go to Oahu or have other citizens come here. Litter bothers me too. I've filled Matson containers with litter, car parts, batteries, and oil. It wasn't left by tourist. If you want the infra-structure improved elect people who will do it.

I probably got to the meeting around 5:30 pm. I signed up to testify but I never got called.They adjourned the meeting at 7:45 pm so that the Senators could catch their flight to Oahu. Mahalo to the 10 or so people from Puna who traveled the long distance to testify. Those who supported an EIS before the ferry could operate had lots of valuable information to share with the rest of us. For example, I learned that the ferry travels twice as fast as as the fastest large vessel currently traveling between our islands. Its speed is such that it cannot slow down to travel at a lower speed. So for everyone's information, it will kill whales, no doubt about it.
I also learned that if they transport stryker vehicles that are contaminated with depleted uranium, the DU is so fine, that it will easily contaminate any passengers.
From my own experience with the Lahaina Bypass, I can tell you that the State DOT does lousy EIS work. For the Lahaina Bypass, they had to do a new archeological study because the well-known archeologist who DOT relied upon missed acres of agricultural terraces and nearby kuleana land. If DOT can screw up on a bypass imagine the EIS nightmare ahead of us for the super ferry. Frightening.

If I lived on Kauai and had to deal with their highway everyday, my inclination would be to oppose the HSF. But, how many more cars, and how often, and what would be the rules and regs for parking/loading/carryons, etc.? The truth is that your guess is as good as mine. Why? We don't know because there was no EIS. Only the government's guess. Look at how often government has guessed wrong. Thats why I like public hearings. Gives us all a chance to get it right more often. And if I lived on Maui, I would have mixed feelings about the ferry, depending on where I was in traffic, I guess.

But I still like the ferry idea for the big island. Guarantee we'll be the destination. More roads. More open spaces, more affordable crusing. Puna here they come. But hey, think of the positives that travel and enlightenment brings. .Another Peter, Aaron, Tom, Brian, Jim, Laurie, Goyo ,etc - and a few transplants from Maui or Waimanalo. lots of experiences and,sometimes a good observation for the rest of us. Still, nobody likes anything shoved down their throat. We need the public forum, hearings, blogs, etc. My conclusion probably will still be that, when the big nasty comes along, all will want access to the HSF. Meanwhile, I look at the HSF as another go airline. I think go has proven to be a good move for us.

Right, on, Goyo, I mean, Greg :)
Tiff Edwards Hunt

This really is the problem:

"State DOT does lousy EIS work...Lahaina Bypass..." and "...how often government has guessed wrong..."

SuperFerry, nor any other similar company, is going to be stopped from doing what they want if they are permitted to do business during and EIS. Stop the service because of EIS results? ... flying pigs...

AN OFFER:
I'll buy (and, share) a six pack of any preferred Mehana or Kona Brewing product for anyone who can document for me two cases where the formal results and recommendations of an EA or EIS were used to make major changes on, up to and including discontinuance of, any project.
...not about political heat causing the withdrawal or modification of a project, but a complete formal process.

The cruise ships have been in the islands for years now and not once have I had a desire to do a cruise. Same thing for the super ferry. Many of us don't have 4 hours to waste traveling to Oahu that way and I don't see it as a major enhancement to my life any time soon. BTW, they are having a hearing on House Bill 1 tomorrow. Any legislator voting for this bill should be impeached.

NOTICE OF HEARING



DATE:
Thursday, October 25, 2007

TIME:
9:00 a.m.

PLACE:
Auditorium

State Capitol

415 South Beretania Street




A G E N D A



HB 1
RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Requires the Department of Transportation to perform an environmental impact statement (EIS) for certain improvements made to commercial harbors. Permits operation of large capacity ferry vessel company prior to completion of EIS upon meeting certain minimum conditions. Establishes a temporary Hawaii Inter-island Ferry Oversight Task Force.


Pending Referral to TRN/FIN


DECISION MAKING TO FOLLOW



Persons wishing to offer comments should select one method of transmission (paper delivered OR email). All comments should prominently include:

· Name or person submitting comments;

· Organization affiliation, if applicable;

· Plan to submit (or NOT to submit) in-person comments; and

· Contact call back phone number or email address.



PAPER: Submit 1 original to House Clerk's Office (Room 027); or



EMAIL: For comments less than 5 pages in length, transmit to:



HouseTestimony@Capitol.hawaii.gov

for those who plan to testify in-person

OR

HouseRecord@Capitol.hawaii.gov

for those who do NOT plan to testify in-person (insertion into official record only)



Registration numbers, which indicate one's place on the testifier list and speaking order, will be issued to all individuals who submit comments and plan to testify in-person. Go to conveniently located special House Information Desks the day of the hearing for assistance or additional information.



If you require special assistance or auxiliary aids and/or services to participate in the House public hearing process (i.e., sign or foreign language interpreter or wheelchair accessibility), please contact the House Clerk at 586-6400 at least 24 hours prior to the hearing for arrangements. Prompt requests submitted help to ensure the availability of qualified individuals and appropriate accommodations. For information or clarification, please call the House Clerk's Office at 586-6400.

Anyone voting for HB 1 re the super ferry should be impeached.

Aloha Greg.

Nice move on your part, but not necessary I’m sure you will not temper your words because now we know your name. I sure don’t, and as much as some dislike me there are many that respect my right to say what I please and sometimes some agree with me.

Mahalo Greg,

The Lack