Justices got it wrong
I am very disappointed by the recent state Supreme Court decision on reapportionment.
Three of the five justices ignored the state Constitutional criteria. Article IV states: “In effecting such redistricting, the commission shall be guided by the following criteria.” Section 6: “Where practicable, representative districts shall be wholly included within senatorial districts.”
The Hawaii Reapportionment Commission plan did not follow Section 6 for Oahu or Hawaii Island. The (Bill) Hicks plan and the (Ralph) Boyea plan clearly showed it was indeed practicable to meet this criteria while satisfying all eight criteria set forth in the Constitution, and complying with state laws on reapportionment.
The HRC did not present any evidence that it was “guided by” the constitutional criteria.
This court decision seems to say that it is sufficient for the HRC to say it considered the criteria without any explanation for why they didn’t apply it.
That renders the criteria moot. The decision totally ignores the input of our communities, and it leaves the door wide open for future commissions to continue to totally ignore the constitutional criteria.
Regarding the 8th House District, the Boyea plan did not “place the 8th House district in Puna.” We just followed the state Constitution, Article IV, Section 6.
We started with the HRC Senate district map. There are four senatorial districts and eight representative districts; we simply put two representative districts into each of the four senatorial districts in compliance with the constitutional criteria. The assignment of House districts was solely driven by the HRC assignment of Senate districts.
Furthermore, the Boyea plan was created by residents from around the island. We shared the plan and sought input from residents in every district on the island, with approximately 80 residents on our email list.
Ralph Boyea
Keaau
Chickens vs. pigs
Lately, there has been a lot of talk concerning the feral chicken population.
I, for one, do not mind the chickens at all. Before they arrived, the noise from the coqui frogs was awful! Since the chickens arrived, no more coqui frogs. None!
What I do object to is the feral pig population that is exploding. Pigs tear up lawns, kill and eat crops, destroy forests and raise hell at night with their fighting.
My neighbors have tried trapping them with little success. The pigs multiply faster than they can be trapped and removed, and no government agency is doing anything to eradicate them.
George Jensen
Kurtistown
