Not a scapegoat
Mr. Geoffrey Shaw’s letter (Your Views, Nov. 11) claiming Jennifer Ruggles is the scapegoat of the County Council, and that demands she give up her paycheck are not justified, presents a faulty argument claiming most of the council members are not producing meaningful legislation, and therefore most members should not receive a paycheck.
While Ms. Ruggles participated in council for 20 months, she successfully introduced one bill allowing for a farmers market at the Puna District Park and one resolution urging the Department of Transportation to release funds for work on Highway 130 auxiliary roads.
While the farmers’ market hasn’t materialized through no fault of Ms. Ruggles, the DOT immediately informed us that the money Ms. Ruggles was urging them to spend didn’t exist.
The lack of due diligence on measures Ms. Ruggles has brought to the County Council seems a hallmark of her tenure and resulted in leaving some of her district contingency funds on the table for fiscal year 2016-17. All of her fiscal year 2018-19 contingency funds are unspent, yet those funds are provided to help each district address community needs, which are plentiful in District 5.
Each of the council members serving during her term produced as much, or more, legislation. Some have been quite prolific in introducing meaningful legislation, including myself and Ms. Sue Lee Loy.
Ms. Karen Eoff and Mr. Dru Kanuha spent a year working on Bill 108, Mr. Aaron Chung passed a charter amendment recently on the ballot, Mr. Tim Richards moved forward measures addressing his budgetary concerns, and Ms. Valerie Poindexter, while fulfilling other duties expected of the chairperson, passed an ordinance adding a farmers market to a county park in her district and co-authored a resolution urging the president to employ aloha in dealing with North Korea.
Legislating is the job Ms. Ruggles was elected to do, and since August I have not found her in her office, attending council meetings, or at public meetings relating to emergency response and Puna relief efforts.
Yet, to accuse the rest of the council of not earning their salary is not supported by fact. These are hard-working individuals and each exhibits a healthy work ethic!
Eileen O’Hara
Council member, Dist. 4
Chancellor search
I would like to offer a few perspectives regarding the recent announcement of University of Hawaii at Hilo chancellor finalists.
I am sure that these candidates are extremely qualified and well-educated to do the job. No disrespect to past chancellors or even these finalists, but why aren’t there more local residents considered for these top jobs? What kind of message are we sending to our keiki when qualified local candidates who represent our community aren’t given a chance for important leadership roles?
Becoming the chancellor of our university is a very crucial role. This person must understand all the “local” nuances that involve our very diverse and culturally rich population. From Maunakea, to Native Hawaiian cultural rights, to endangered Hawaiian plants, to invasive species, to language barriers, to diminishing enrollments, to economic conditions facing Hawaii County, along with the general academics, this person has to really be invested locally.
This could be a reason why our local university is not thriving as much as it should. We all have to make do with what we have, but having a person with a local background should be the key criteria in selecting the next leader of our university.
Is this reverse discrimination? Maybe. But not having at least one local candidate absolutely sends a clear message. We deserve better from our higher education institutions in recognizing our homegrown leadership talent.
Stacy Higa
Hilo