by Simon Russell
Legislators May Be Listening to the Voters Window of Opportunity to Abolish the PLDC
Hawaii ’ s citizens understand there are serious budget shortfalls facing our state and we have empowered our elected representatives to solve this problem . Many of us , however , firmly disagree that private development of Hawaii ’ s public lands should be a way to address our debt problem . Rather , instead of becoming it ’ s own realtor , the government should live within its means . Act 55 , codified into State law as HRS 171C , created the Public Land Development Corporation ( PLDC ) to enter into public-private agreements to develop public lands . The law and the application of it thus far is problematic for a variety of reasons and must be repealed . Specifically , the broad powers that the PLDC has granted to itself are as follows :
1 . PLDC has removed itself from the otherwise lawful need to provide appropriate transparency to the public for planned changes in the land use .
2 . PLDC has cast aside the judicious use of the environmental and planning codes .
3 . PLDC has provided no assurances that the Corporation will produce the results supporting the welfare of Hawaii ’ s people in terms of social , environmental or economic benefit , or obey county zoning rules and regulations .
As of January 25th , twenty three bills have been introduced calling for repeal of all or parts of HRS 171C ( 15 from the Senate and 8 from the House ). The big question is which repeal version will pass , and what will the actual result be ?
Feeding the Pig by Valerie Sisneros
Recently I received my renewal in the mail for the license tags for my ' 01 Toyota 4Runner . When I purchased the vehicle I paid $ 150 for my license plates . The renewal price is $ 395 !! I thought there must be some mistake . I went to the Upcountry DMV to see why the drastic increase . They pretty much just said ; " it went up , just pay it !". I asked for a breakdown of the fees . Big surprise , it ' s all TAXES !! The Weight Tax was $. 75 / lb ., but has now been raised to $ 2.75 / lb .!! The breakdown is as follows : County Weight Tax $ 189.48 State Weight Tax 137.80 State Registration Fee 45.00 County Registration Fee 17.50 Beautification Fee 5.00 Validation Decal . 50
TOTAL $ 395.28 Ironically while waiting for my number to be called at the DMV , I was reading a full page ad in my NRA magazine with the heading ; " Are you over 55 ? It ' s All Free for Seniors " It went on to read ; " Every year Uncle Sam gives away hundreds of millions of dollars in cash , goods and services to people just like you ". The article stated that these " freebies " are available to you regardless of your income or assets . A few examples of the " goodies ": Free Prescription Drugs Free Dental Care Up to $ 800 for Food Free Legal Help Help to Pay your Rent , wherever you live Up to $ 15,000 free money to spruce up your home $ 1800 to pay your Heating Bill this winter Get paid $ 100 a day to travel overseas Get your own VIP tour of the Whitehouse without waiting in line with everyone else ( my favorite !) Up to $ 5000 free to help you pay your bills How you can Travel the World .... all at government expense And then it says " There ' s MORE , MUCH , MUCH MORE !!! All this while we just keep writing those tax checks to Fund this Madness . I can ' t take it . Where exactly IS the Talahatchee Bridge ??
Pono Press , March 2013 , Page 4