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I am glad that Mr. Yagong is looking out for Puna, seeing as how our own council member is not. Anybody have any theories on just why he changed his mind? Is he planning to run for mayor or something? (OK, my cynical side is showing here, but it makes one wonder.)

Wow! I must give Mr. Yagong a gold star for realizing what is right, and changing his vote. This, again, is not about the applicant, but the General Plan that this project would violate.

Maybe now this owner can choose to sell his property, and find another more reasonable site for his storage facility.

The public safety issue should be the first concern, and moving the planned facility to a safer (not on hwy 130) area is an option, if this storage center is really a needed service.

There is hope for this Council. Let's continue to assist them in making more educated decisions.

Those of you who voiced your opinion to the Council, thank you.

How about that!!

Maybe it was that some e-mails made it to Yagong at the right time. I truly hope that our Councilwoman takes a hard look at what has happened. It’s a shame that we have to depend on a Councilperson from another district to pull us out of the fire. I still believe that the idea of re-zoning has merit as long as the entry comes from the rear of the property. Perhaps Ms. Naeole could start working on a real plan to accomplish this task? I think that Ms. Naeole should try and get things done for all of Puna’s citizens, not just her people. Maybe she should take this decision as part of a learning curve for the education of Emily. People of Puna want something for the tax dollars that are being spent, how about bring some of the monies back to Puna?

The Lack

Maybe Mr. Yagong simply saw the proposed rezoning as a bad idea -- it does violate the General Plan...the WHOLE COUNTY'S General Plan.

Dominic Yagong should get a prize for rising above the usual petty Council dealings and voting against Naeole's Folly. There may be hope yet for a reduction of the Bozo Factor. Stay tuned, though. More entertaining adventures undoubtedly lie ahead.

Will Emily have a real epiphany and enter a convent under vows of silence for the good of Puna and all mankind, not to mention the English language? Will Stacy Higa introduce a bill to ban all grocery stores whose initials are not KTA? The possibilities are endless.

Where is the entrance /exit for the Fire/Police Depts. which are right next to the proposed storage site on Hwy 130? Just wondering?

Rex,

You are a crack up. Keep it coming, a smile a day keeps the doctor away.

The Lack

Wankine: To answer your questions re: Yagong running for Mayor - Reliable source states: For sure, 1) Higa will run, 2) Yagong 90% going to run (already lost last run for Mayor, remember) and these are considering so far: Andy Levin, and Lorraine Inouye, among others not confirmed. Jimmy Arakaki's name came up but not verified.

Anyone else have some credible info on this one? We need to keep tabs on the Mayor's race next. Obviously the Council needs a strong Mayor who won't stand for their in- dividual political goals, and keep our public interest in the forefront.

Anyone from Puna qualified and/or interested?

Rex, you crack me up too..Your observations are too funny.

Maybe we can give Councilperson Yagong some kudos for changing his vote toward the direction of well-understood public principles? That has to take some political courage in a highly publicized issue like the storage facility. If political opportunism is in the direction of the public good what's to complain about?

I agree with James, I think Yagong realized that the rezoning went against the GP. I was able to catch the ending of the council meeting on Wednesday after pau hana just before they took the vote on both bills. It was a very tense moment for everyone. Of course Ms. Naeole took it very hard when the Bills didn't pass. Its going to be tough and I couldn't help feeling bad for her. BTW, if some of us are thinking of living in Hawaii for the rest of our lives, it would be good to have a handle on both speaking and understanding the pidgin language so that you can converse better with natives like me. I know that I use it a lot at my job as a way to communicate with all sorts of foreigners since so many of us have a tough time mastering the not-so-perfect English language.

Will Emily have a real epiphany and enter a convent under vows of silence for the good of Puna and all mankind, not to mention the English language? Will Stacy Higa introduce a bill to ban all grocery stores whose initials are not KTA? The possibilities are endless.

February 8, 2007 | Rex

Rex, what do you mean by "not to mention the English language"?

Anonymous, having heard Emily Naeole speak on two occasions and having a BA in English, I am of the opinion that she needs to hone her language skills to be more effective in getting her points across to all her constituents and others. A Native Hawaiian participant on this blog, Concerned, has commented on this fact. In a perfect world it would not matter, but it makes it easy for people to ignore her for the wrong reason.

Josephine, I actually do understand some Pidgin and even have studied one of those pamphlets, but not that many of the Native Hawaiians I deal with every day seem to speak it routinely. I have also noted that a large number of people who I do hear speaking it are non-Hawaiian local, so it is probably not strictly Hawaiian in usage. It is a colorful and distinctive part of the local scene that many enjoy. See my comments to Anonymous for the political angle.

I personally grew up speaking a non-standard version of English. We, along with a lot of other minorities, learned that in order to succeed in business, education, and even politics, we had to speak better English.

Here we go, another great side discussion. As a native Hawaiian, I was taught to speak proper English always, never allowed to speak pidgin in our house. There was either Hawaiian spoken (to keep us kids from knowing what's going on) or proper English. Nothing in between.

We were told in order to succeed in this country, now (as of 1959) part of the USA, we had to learn to speak perfect English. Being sent to a private missionary school, it was never an option to speak pidgin.

In fact, I have to ask some kids today (or whoever) to repeat themselves if the pidgin is too "thick". I can only imagine the frustration for people who don't understand it at all!

As Josephine has pointed out, those of us who have mastered both, can 'flip" from English to pidgin in a heartbeat, depending on the audience you are trying to communicate with. She is correct in that some newcomers have trouble with the "lingo" and should try to learn some key words. In essence, when in Rome...as the old saying goes.

I would rather they learn real Hawaiian words, instead of pidgin. Frankly, there is nothing more irritating that someone trying desperately to be "local" and using pidgin English improperly. It just sounds ridiculous.

We do live in a Western society that demands proper English be spoken, or you are not taken seriously. That is the crux of this issue. Rex is 100% right in his last paragraph.

Does anyone remember the "ebonics" stage we all went through as a country? African Americans wanted ebonics classified as a "language" in schools. Thank God that didn't happen (at least I don't think it went through).

Pidgin is the equal to ebonics in my opinion.