Wednesday, April 2, 2008

LIFT A LEG

LIFT A LEG: Foodland founder Maurice “Sully” Sullivan’s scion, Foodland CEO Jenai Wall and her goons have apparently stopped the telephone harassment of and threats toward (see update at bottom) Foodland boycott-movement leader Linda Harmon and given her actual written shibai implying that Foodland isn’t responsible for cutting down the Koloa monkey pod trees that were cleared to put in their specialty stores in the monkey-pod-tree logo-ed “Shops at Koloa Town”.

Although previous reports that were repeated here that Foodland would be an anchor tenant appear to be untrue (for which we apologize) Wall somehow maintains that Foodland couldn’t stop the development even though they were putting in various Foodland owned specialty stores and apparently did not use their position to leverage even appreciation for much less adherence to community concerns over the tree removal..

“From the time the concerns were first brought to our attention in December, we have communicated our concerns with the developer on numerous occasions and have been told that various alternatives were being considered” wrote Wall in a letter to Harmon.

“Despite the fact that neither Foodland nor any of these stores has any control over what is done with the property in Koloa, we felt it was important to share our concerns and the feedback we received with the developer.”

Of course telling the developers they would not participate in the shopping center was apparently never on the table for Wall. Yet she somehow has the nerve to imply they did all they could in sharing their concerns.

Gee, thanks for sharing Jenai. But she didn’t end there. She ended her blow-off letter by saying “we care about our community and have a vested interest in our environment. While we recognize that development is often necessary and beneficial, we also feel strongly that environmental impacts and community concerns should be taken into account when decisions are made. “

Harmon has a few suggestions for Wall who continues to promote Foodland's concerns for it’s “carbon footprint” by cutting down trees . And though we suspect a few might be to tell her where to shove her feigning of corporate responsibility- perhaps into the grave in which her father is probably tuning over, “Sully” famously being one of those old-style bosses who actually seemed to take at least minimal community responsibility in his business operations- here are the actual three she is graciously asking for.

1. Go public with a statement of regret for the destruction of so many trees in Koloa.

2. Publicly request the Knudsen Trust to spare remaining mature trees on plaza site.

3. Ask that subsequent trimming, or pruning be done by community approved arborist with the purpose of the survival and health of the trees affected.

The boycott demonstrations continue in front of the Waipouli Foodland this Friday, April 4th, 2008 between 5 and 6:30 p.m.

Oh- and by the way long time Kapa`a merchant- jeweler Jim Saylor is another tenant as is ABC Stores. No one, as of yet (ahem), is boycotting them.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What were the threats you mention? I didn't see any threats. (To be honest I didn't see any harrassment either).

Anonymous said...

This whole thing has gotten so stupid.

1) The "community" isn't uniformly excited over the trees. Judging by the 3-4 lonely protesters at Foodland in Kapaa, there really isn't that much real angst any more.

2) There is no need to get excited about protecting the rest of the trees. The cutting/moving is basically done.

3) "Of course telling the developers they would not participate in the shopping center was apparently never on the table for Wall."

If they've already signed a lease, canceling it would be a lot more expensive than lost revenue from the angry dozen.

Maybe the Developer can just ship all the trees to Oregon. That should be a perfect solution in Parxworld.

Anonymous said...

"telephone harassment of and threats"???

how do you get there from:

"In a personal phone call to me she saught (sic) an apology from the People for the Preservation of Koloa Trees, for making unreasonable statements about her and her company."


I'd say she should be asking for the same apology from you. You'd make Hearst proud with manipulative yellow press journalism though.

The community's concerns were addressed. Only 12-13 of 37 monkeypods were cut (35%). All will be replaced. If you mean "don't build a shopping center period" then why would any landowner/developer spend much time addressing your concerns?

Anonymous said...

As I see it, a major failing in this whole campaign has been a willful refusal to focus on the broader issue of settler-class development. The trees are lovely, of course, but at heart this is a question about the appropriateness of building a tourism-oriented strip mall.

Andy Parx said...

The threats and harrassment (as described in the earlier linked to post) were via phone by Wall hersalf followed by a couple by her "associates"

Anonymous said...

Then describe the threats. Otherwise this is just ParxBS.

Asking someone to apologize or perhaps (fingerpainting) reacting to threats from the loony fringe doesn't seem unreasonable. There are reports of threats of physical violence against the developers. If something similar was made to Foodland, would you call them "goons" for stating such threats would be taken to the police for example? It seems "goons" might apply more to the vandals and the old crones swearing in the street.


"but at heart this is a question about the appropriateness of building a tourism-oriented strip mall"

One of the few honest statements. Trees have been a cover for opposing the development. The trouble is the site has been zoned for a shopping center for decades. Would the excited minority propose using public funds to buy out the development? Doubt it. They didn't even work to raise funds to move trees.

Again it's not a strip mall. It's a pseudo plantation era grouping of buildings, just like the pseudo plantation era constructs across the street. There is not much all that old left in Koloa.