Inefficient government
There has been a festering frustration regarding the lack of efficiency within our county government that surfaces whenever I’m confronted with it. An example would be the following.
As always, three months prior to the expiration of my driver’s license, I gathered my paperwork and went to the Hilo police station to renew my license.
I was informed that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I would need to wait until a month prior to the expiration. As directed, I once again gathered the necessary paperwork and went to renew my license 30 days prior to it’s expiration.
I was then told to register online for an appointment. That day, I went to the website and tried to register. The earliest appointment I could get was four months after the expiration. I voiced my concern to a county employee and was told that the expired license would be valid for a year after expiration.
Last week, I had business at one of the major banks here in Hilo and was told that my license was invalid and asked if I had any other identification.
My VA disability ID card, nor my county-issued senior citizens card, both with my picture, were not valid. My only option would be to carry my passport. What happens to those without passports, or if I needed to show my license while driving?
I was told that the COVID pandemic was the reason many of the procedures had to be changed. That is a crock of B.S.
The COVID pandemic is but an excuse to mask the ineptitude of county government. I do not blame the workers, but the administration. Perhaps this is a reason there is much dissatisfaction with government today.
Perhaps they need to be reminded that they’re at their jobs to support the people.
Walter Tominaga
Mountain View
‘Fraud and extortion’
Don’t ask what your county can do for you. Ask what they can do to you.
Hawaii County is ganging up on homeowners who don’t pay their gang cesspool bills. Gang cesspools are illegal, and the Department of Environmental Management operates one in Naalehu.
They send us a bill in the U.S. mail. People who don’t pay up are threatened by mail from the county’s corporation counsel. All of this mail is fraud and extortion.
To make things worse, our County Council passed an ordinance that allows the Department of Water Supply to shut off the water to a resident who pays their water bill but not their illegal sewer bill. This is draconian. Yet, the county gets away with it.
All of this is happening to homeowners who live in old, affordable workforce housing. These are the old plantation camps in Ka‘u.
A lien will be placed on the property if the owner doesn’t buckle under. It’s the American way.
Jerry Warren
Naalehu