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Why disguise "Meetings"? No matter what they're called, they're the same old thing. Meetings.
Of course, it will be interesting to see what people come up with. And a few laughs always help.
Kim

Indeed, the very word 'meeting' can make one's okole start to ache and the brain start to frantically reschedule whatever else among too many other things is waiting to be done and will need to be delayed so as to be able to attend.

Ugh.

No 'labels' (yet), but... a few things that make the Big-M experience mo' user friendly...

+food -- pot luck rocks.
+music -- live of course -- for 30 minutes or so while folks eat and get settled (like right now, I'm listening some ono slack key).
+door prizes --
+care for children -- this, I am sure, was a deficiency in the public input for PCDP.
+transportation/ride share -- 'a traffic jam going to a meeting to talk about how to solve traffic congestion?' ouch!
+free blood pressure check -- before and after? ;)
+a conversation is better than a lecture

...enough already, this is starting to sound like a ... party!

What if the traffic jams in Puna were a priority?

I'd suggest "confabulation." The dictionary has two definitions:

1. the act of confabulating; conversation; discussion.
2. Psychiatry. the replacement of a gap in a person's memory by a falsification that he or she believes to be true.

Go to enough meeti--, er, confabulations and you'll understand the second definition too.

Dear Russell:
There are a plethora of priorities in the Puna district and traffic jams are among them. See letter below. Feel free to write one yourself. You're welcome to call me anytime at (808) 961-8020 or to email me at tedwards@co.hawaii.hi.us or newswoman@mac.com, or to pull me aside any time I am shopping at one of your health food stores --- if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or complaints. I remain as approachable as always.
Aloha,
Tiffany Edwards Hunt

TO: Hawai’i Congressional Delegation, Gov. Linda Lingle, Legislators Representing Hawai’i Island, State Senate Transportation and International Affairs Chairman, State House Transportation Chairman, Federal Highways Administration, State Department of Transportation

FROM: Emily Naeole, Puna District Council Member

DATE: November 15, 2007

RE: Highway 130


Dear sirs and madams:

Aloha mai! I’m writing all of you because I am deeply concerned about the state of Highway 130 and the fact that the Hawai’i Department of Transportation does not have any immediate plans for an alternate route into and out of Puna, the District that I represent.
I believe this is a catastrophe waiting to happen and I am writing, not just to put you on notice, but also to plead with each and every one of you to help the District of Puna obtain an alternate route as soon as possible.
I want to describe for you what it is like everyday traveling on the one road into and out of this rural community with an estimated 40,000 people. In the mornings, I am among countless residents who commute to Hilo, suffering in bumper-to-bumper traffic, sometimes extending the entire 17-mile trip from Pahoa to Hilo when there is a stalled car or, worse, an accident. Some of us are patient, others rage, opting to illegally speed down the shoulder of the road. At night, it is the same scenario in reverse. Every day the commuters are more and more aggressive.
I’m sure that you are aware of the fact that the District of Puna is one of the fastest growing communities in our state. The Puna Regional Circulation Study projects the population will be 63,886 by 2020.
I can only imagine how much worse the traffic is going to get. I urge you all to help me do something for the people of Puna who have no choice but to commute between Puna and Hilo for their livelihoods. We must be proactive, not reactionary. We must pursue an alternate route, possibly extending Railroad Avenue from its terminus in Hilo to Shower Drive in the Paradise Park Subdivision, with its 8,835 lots. Please, the Statewide Transportation Improvement Project (STIP) List for 2008 to 2011 does NOT include among the projects an alternate route between Hilo and Puna. This is deeply concerning, knowing that we have an EXISTING and EVER-GROWING problem. I do realize that the STIP list includes improvements to Highway 130, but these projects are to widen and install signal lights along some areas of the highway. In my opinion, these projects are mere bandaids to our MAJOR problem.
We desperately need an alternate route into and out of Puna and I urge you to do everything in your power to make this happen in the immediate future. We cannot wait until 2012 or whenever the alternate route finally makes the STIP list.

Lau Lima,



Emily Naeole




EIN/tce

Regarding a new meeting section name, "hālāwai" is my suggestion.

I think Puna should try something unique rather than the SOS (same old stuff) The problem with continually building roads for more cars is that when the road gets congested than folks will ask for more lanes and more lanes and soon you will be asking for just one more road and then another. It never ends. Soon you will ruin your rural atmosphere in Puna. When you're of the car addicted mindset, you can never get out of the "more roads, more lanes" rutt. Why not dedicate the next road for buses only? I mean, who wants more cars from your district impacting the Hawaiian Homestead farms of Panaewa in Hilo????