WHIPLASH: The use of tasers by police and what constitutes “excessive force” has caught our attention lately as it’s been impossible to find out what KPD’s policy was and/or is in light of a recent federal 9th Circuit Court ruling in Bryan v. McPherson which limited their use.
That’s why a Maui news headline- reprinted in the Honolulu Advertiser in place of their own neighbor island coverage- that said Maui officer's use of Taser on woman not excessive, court rules.
Seems the use is on a case by case basis with limits on both ends being established on the fly.
But it was the very last paragraph of the story that really caught our attention saying:
Former Deputy Corporation Counsel Laureen Martin argued the case. Deputies Corporation Counsel Richard B. Rost and Cheryl Tipton also represented the officers and county.
Now there’s something- in fact a couple of things- that we’d fall over backward in our chair if we read on Kaua`i.
The first is that they actually went, not just to trial but, to an appeal to the 9th Circuit “in house”- using county employees rather than hiring outside attorney’s at whopping prices as our “county attorney’s” office routinely (make that always) does.
The second is of course the “corporation counsel” system employed in every other county in the state.
It comes on the same days an another entry from seemingly blind and deaf Judge Al Laureta asking what specifically is wrong with our charter despite our treatises on the subject.
Although he asks in the context of the county manager proposal, a reorganization of the broken county attorney (CA) section of the charter is a good place to start.
One of the main problems is the inherent conflict embedded in our charter that empowers the CA to provide all legal advice to both the council and administration yet places the CA’s office within the administration giving the council little or no say- other than confirmation- in the department.
Reform of the CA’s office- whether electing the CA under the current set up or restructuring under a "corp counsel" system- seems a no brainer yet it has never been on the radar screen for the charter review commission (CRC).
The current system has been costing us millions every year to hire Honolulu law firms. It’s about time to see if the CRC can walk and chew gum at the same time and if not, instead of pouring their time into re-asking for the umpteenth time about four year council terms and fighting against putting effort into putting together an appropriate county manager proposal they might concentrate on fixing the most broken of all county departments.
----------------
Yesterday we inadvertently left out a link under “problems with the county’s sustainability plan” to Jan TenBruggencate’s piece on the subject, New county energy sustainability plan draft released which identifies many of the troublesome aspects much better than we could including the use of the word ridiculous and annoying word “disincentivize.”
Showing posts with label Kaua`i Bus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kaua`i Bus. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
CHASING THE BUS
CHASING THE BUS: The screamin’ meemies are out in me-me force over the county’s energy sustainability study and it’s proposed fiddy-cent a gallon gas tax, ignoring the rest of the idiotic study which pooh-poohs windmills and extols an incinerator to generate electricity despite the proven lack of enough trash to make it cost effective even if we foolishly burned all our recyclables.
The main problem with the 50c fuel tax is what they would use it for- promoting the interim technology of hybrid cars.
But apparently even those that get that the idea can be a good one in order to provide public transportation seem to be blind as to what is really necessary to get people out of their cars and onto the bus.
The newspaper article on the presentation of the plan to the council reports the expected knee-jerk politically expedient reaction of most of the councilmembers by headlining “Members criticize ‘ridiculous’ 50-cent fuel tax proposal”.
But it also reports that at least one councilmember gave it due consideration reporting
Councilwoman Lani Kawahara agreed with the goal of the fuel tax but said it is too much, too soon...
“I don’t think we’ve provided enough options besides automobile transportation for us to be able to even consider doing a 50-cent gasoline tax right now,” she said. “Unless we get a bus system that runs 24 hours or every day including Sundays, that would be something that should happen first, I would think.”
Although she didn’t make the connection of using the tax to support a “bus system that runs 24 hours or every day including Sundays” a least she’s connecting it to a “full service” bus system.
Juxtapose that with KIUC board member and founder of Apollo Kaua`i founder Ben Sullivan’s weekend letter-to-the-editor that did make the connection but also came up a bit short on thinking it through.
After pointing out that for most people, especially in this recession, “it’s gonna be quite a while before we can afford to buy a new car, especially one that carries a price premium like a hybrid or a yet-to-be-seen plug-in hybrid” he does propose an expansion of the bus saying “(o)ne suggestion that has come to the surface is to allocate a major portion of the revenue to fund dramatic improvements to the Kaua`i Bus”.
The problem is that his “vision” still has cars in it. He writes
You jump in your car in the morning (or on your bike) to drive to a nearby park and ride, and board the bus for your daily commute to work. You don’t have to worry about the schedule because it runs every 15 minutes during morning and evening rush hour. You have a bus pass through your employer’s special discount program for employees. They offer it so they can preserve valuable parking for customers, help their employees during hard times, and to get a tax break. Instead of white knuckling it through traffic, you ride in to work sipping hot coffee (with a no-spill lid) and use the on-board Wi-Fi to check your e-mail. The bus drops you off only a block from your job. Late day at the office? No problem. The last bus isn’t until 9:30 at night. Hey, you can even ride to church on Sundays with your neighbors because of new expanded weekend bus service. With a bus system like this, we might even see a return to one-car families who can save thousands of dollars annually between insurance, car payments, maintenance and, of course, gasoline.
The solution runs down the middle of Kawahara and Sullivan’s apparitions.
The only way to reduce the number of cars is to provide a level of service that will enable people to live without owning a car. It really comes down to that and that alone.
Who the heck is going to buy- or really invest in- a car and then get in it to drive a quarter mile to leave it in a parking lot all day and then take the bus?
The answer is no one. With the exception of a few who either buy into Ben’s leisurely ride concept or even fewer hardcore socially and environmentally conscious, if you own a car you’re going to drive it.
Right now, especially with the service/tourism jobs on Kaua`i that depend on shift work, people have to have a car. The bus doesn’t run 24 hours a day, seven days a week and it doesn’t serve enough residential areas.
And that’s just for work. People go out in the evening, sometimes returning late. They go out on weekends. Even if you don’t do it very often it’s reason enough to own a car.
Also people need to be able to carry packages on public transportation, another self-inflicted wound the current system has imposed for no particular reason except for the clout of the rent-a-car and taxi lobbies.
In order to make it practical to live without a vehicle the bus must run 24/7 even if it only comes once an hour after midnight. And in order to make it available to people who live in residential areas off the main highway it must expand into all of the major and even some minor feeder roads in the mostly mauka but sometime makai (such as in Kalaheo) districts.
A few years back when the legislature gave Honolulu the ability to fund public transportation via a half-a-percent excise tax we asked around among some reps and sens about giving the neighbor islands that option even though we usually eschew regressive taxes.
All said it’s a non-starter unless and until the counties ask them for it.
Unless and until that day the Kaua`i bus is going to be a useless appendage because people will be forced to own a car for the times when “da bus no more come”.
And if we own them we will use them. It’s really that simple.
The main problem with the 50c fuel tax is what they would use it for- promoting the interim technology of hybrid cars.
But apparently even those that get that the idea can be a good one in order to provide public transportation seem to be blind as to what is really necessary to get people out of their cars and onto the bus.
The newspaper article on the presentation of the plan to the council reports the expected knee-jerk politically expedient reaction of most of the councilmembers by headlining “Members criticize ‘ridiculous’ 50-cent fuel tax proposal”.
But it also reports that at least one councilmember gave it due consideration reporting
Councilwoman Lani Kawahara agreed with the goal of the fuel tax but said it is too much, too soon...
“I don’t think we’ve provided enough options besides automobile transportation for us to be able to even consider doing a 50-cent gasoline tax right now,” she said. “Unless we get a bus system that runs 24 hours or every day including Sundays, that would be something that should happen first, I would think.”
Although she didn’t make the connection of using the tax to support a “bus system that runs 24 hours or every day including Sundays” a least she’s connecting it to a “full service” bus system.
Juxtapose that with KIUC board member and founder of Apollo Kaua`i founder Ben Sullivan’s weekend letter-to-the-editor that did make the connection but also came up a bit short on thinking it through.
After pointing out that for most people, especially in this recession, “it’s gonna be quite a while before we can afford to buy a new car, especially one that carries a price premium like a hybrid or a yet-to-be-seen plug-in hybrid” he does propose an expansion of the bus saying “(o)ne suggestion that has come to the surface is to allocate a major portion of the revenue to fund dramatic improvements to the Kaua`i Bus”.
The problem is that his “vision” still has cars in it. He writes
You jump in your car in the morning (or on your bike) to drive to a nearby park and ride, and board the bus for your daily commute to work. You don’t have to worry about the schedule because it runs every 15 minutes during morning and evening rush hour. You have a bus pass through your employer’s special discount program for employees. They offer it so they can preserve valuable parking for customers, help their employees during hard times, and to get a tax break. Instead of white knuckling it through traffic, you ride in to work sipping hot coffee (with a no-spill lid) and use the on-board Wi-Fi to check your e-mail. The bus drops you off only a block from your job. Late day at the office? No problem. The last bus isn’t until 9:30 at night. Hey, you can even ride to church on Sundays with your neighbors because of new expanded weekend bus service. With a bus system like this, we might even see a return to one-car families who can save thousands of dollars annually between insurance, car payments, maintenance and, of course, gasoline.
The solution runs down the middle of Kawahara and Sullivan’s apparitions.
The only way to reduce the number of cars is to provide a level of service that will enable people to live without owning a car. It really comes down to that and that alone.
Who the heck is going to buy- or really invest in- a car and then get in it to drive a quarter mile to leave it in a parking lot all day and then take the bus?
The answer is no one. With the exception of a few who either buy into Ben’s leisurely ride concept or even fewer hardcore socially and environmentally conscious, if you own a car you’re going to drive it.
Right now, especially with the service/tourism jobs on Kaua`i that depend on shift work, people have to have a car. The bus doesn’t run 24 hours a day, seven days a week and it doesn’t serve enough residential areas.
And that’s just for work. People go out in the evening, sometimes returning late. They go out on weekends. Even if you don’t do it very often it’s reason enough to own a car.
Also people need to be able to carry packages on public transportation, another self-inflicted wound the current system has imposed for no particular reason except for the clout of the rent-a-car and taxi lobbies.
In order to make it practical to live without a vehicle the bus must run 24/7 even if it only comes once an hour after midnight. And in order to make it available to people who live in residential areas off the main highway it must expand into all of the major and even some minor feeder roads in the mostly mauka but sometime makai (such as in Kalaheo) districts.
A few years back when the legislature gave Honolulu the ability to fund public transportation via a half-a-percent excise tax we asked around among some reps and sens about giving the neighbor islands that option even though we usually eschew regressive taxes.
All said it’s a non-starter unless and until the counties ask them for it.
Unless and until that day the Kaua`i bus is going to be a useless appendage because people will be forced to own a car for the times when “da bus no more come”.
And if we own them we will use them. It’s really that simple.
Friday, May 9, 2008
GOING GREYHOUND
GOING GREYHOUND: The Kaua`i Bus has always been somewhat of a joke. Other than those forced to use it because they don’t have a car no one can use it without oodles of spare time and a residence and workplace that are somewhere near the limited number of lines and stops. And in a rural place with a small sparse-density population, that eliminates half the people right off the bat. And by not running past sundown barely running on Saturday and never on a Sunday who’s left?
But it sounds like some concerned citizens tried to take on our public transit deficit at the County Council public hearing on the budget Wednesday (5/7/08).
According to an earlier article at Andrea Bower’s local alternative news site Save Kaua`i “Apollo Kaua`i and Malama Kaua`i, along with many other community organizations, are asking the mayor and council members to make improvements to The Kaua`i Bus in order to increase ridership.”
They state the reasons- all great ones- for the need for expansion of the Bus saying among other things that “(c)limate change has become an undeniable global crisis, and it is our responsibility to take part in solutions to slow its progression. CO2 produced by automobiles is one of the largest contributors to climate change. Increasing bus service, thus ridership, is an effective way for the County to reduce emissions on our Island dramatically.”
But the devil is always in the details and although their proposal for expansion is meant to deal with the need to get us out of our cars and into public transportion it doesn’t deal with the core of the problem- the need to have a car in the first place to live and work on the island.
They propose four major expansions:
“1. An increase in the frequency of busses during peak commuter times on the main lines. The main lines run from Lihue westbound and from Lihue northbound. They currently run every hour from early morning to about 7 pm. We’re asking for the service to be stepped up to every 1⁄2 hour from start of service until 8:30 AM, and from 4 PM until service stops. We feel that this, in combination with the establishment of designated park & rides, will give the largest number of commuters a viable option to use the bus to get to & from work. Estimated cost – approximately $400,000*
2. An increase in service to Hanalei. Currently, on the mainline northbound route, busses run ever hour to Kapa`a but continue only every two hours to Hanalei. Along with the above increases, we are asking that this service be increased to hourly throughout the day.Estimated cost – approximately $300,000*
3. An extension of service until 9:00 PM currently, bus service on all routes stops at 7:00 PM. We are asking for an increase in hourly service on the two main lines until 9:00 pm, which will allow more people to use the bus for evening activities and service jobs whose hours often run into the evening. Estimated cost – approximately $450,000*
4. An extension of the ‘Saturday Schedule’ to Sundays also. The Bus runs on a reduced schedule on Saturdays, but does not run at all on Sundays. We are asking for the same reduced schedule to be extended to Sundays as well. Estimated cost – approximately $350,000*
While these measures might increase ridership among those either forced by their circumstances to take the bus or those who are socially conscious and want to do their part or even those who want to save money and not drive their car sometimes, they don’t address the main cause of people driving their cars- the fact that they have one.
Kaua`i is not a 9-5 community, or even an or 8-4 or 7-3 as is more common among those with professional or trade jobs. Most work in the tourism industry and most of those jobs are in service and an awful lot of that is “shift work”.
These are the lower paid among Kaua`i residents and the ones who need the bus the most. But they can’t rely on a bus if they don’t work daytime only- and so they have to have a car.
And most people who have a car will use their car. It saves time and makes it possible to run errands before and after work. Even if it’s a day when they don’t have errands they will use their car for the convenience if they have one even if the bus were to “work” for them.
This yields a situation where the ones who need the bus the most and so will use it the most- and would be most likely to not even own a car if the service could provide dependable transportation when they get off work at 10 or 11 p.m.- are the ones who can’t possibly live and work under either the current level of service or proposed expansion and so must have a car.
It’s not a forgone conclusion that if the bus ran 24 hours a day- at least once an hour from midnight to 4 and more often otherwise- that everyone will immediately give up their cars, even if all areas and routes were set up to get people to shopping and tourist service areas with minimal need for transfers.
Things like express and local service and enabling people with packages might help more too but there are many who will never give up their cars. But the fact remains that when you look at places that have full-service public transpiration most people don’t even think of owning cars.
And until it is not a question of whether to use the car but whether to own a car, the bus will continue to be our white elephant that everybody wants but no one quite knows how to use or what it’s supposed to be for.
As fuel costs continue to increase exponentially public transport will make more and more economic sense to more and more people. And as younger people move into the job market if they were raised with a full-service public transportation system they will be much more likely to use it.
And perhaps some of the tourists who look at the current state of our system and immediately run to the rent-a-car lot upon arrival might see their way to getting some of those cars off those roads.
But the economic pressure alone won’t overcome the convenience, comfort and time and even necessity factors if those pressures to own a car aren’t fully managed, mitigated and ameliorated.
Money is the main factor but Kaua`i will get it’s fair share of transportation dollars from the State and Federal governments. It’s just a matter of our vision- is it an automobile based six and eight lane superhighways or something else?
Infrastructureal investments will be what determines the future of transportation on Kaua`i and the question is whether the next $100 million chunk will be spent enabling private or public transit.
While the band-aid of the current proposal is a start, until we have a 24/7 system it won’t do anything but perpetuate the current transportation modalities.
And the longer we take to get there by concentrating on the low hanging fruit rather than pruning the trees and planning for future production of the entire orchard, the more fruitless the our efforts and expenditures will be.
Update: The usually responsive County Administration’s Public Information Officer has failed to respond to repeated requests for further information and/or comment on the Dayne Apioalani incident as of close of business hours today.
Meanwhile over at Councilperson Mel Rapozo’s blog http://kauaipolitics.blogspot.com/ concerned citizen Jimmy Trujillo posted Juan Wilson’s account of Dayne Apioalani’s arrest http://kauaipolitics.blogspot.com/2008/05/host-community-benefit-for-kekaha.html?showComment=1210095660000#c7567534154623462385 asking Mel to “comment and provide insight on the recent police action taken against Dayne Apoilani last week”.
We wanted to know http://kauaipolitics.blogspot.com/2008/05/host-community-benefit-for-kekaha.html?showComment=1210283040000#c9123224074387684625 if Mel could explain something to us and asked the following:
One thing Mel is that, if Juan’s account is basically factual, it seems that KPD has plenty of resources for executing warrants and didn’t really need to contract with you to bring these people in... especially ones whose locations are known and who can be contacted with a phone call. I certainly hope you are going to try the telephone before hiring a bunch of goons to bring in people who failed to show up in court.
No wonder the KPD budget is stretched if this is what they consider to be a wise use of resources.
Update 2- The county PIO says that she "asked the Police Chief if he had a response to your query. He declined to comment."
But it sounds like some concerned citizens tried to take on our public transit deficit at the County Council public hearing on the budget Wednesday (5/7/08).
According to an earlier article at Andrea Bower’s local alternative news site Save Kaua`i “Apollo Kaua`i and Malama Kaua`i, along with many other community organizations, are asking the mayor and council members to make improvements to The Kaua`i Bus in order to increase ridership.”
They state the reasons- all great ones- for the need for expansion of the Bus saying among other things that “(c)limate change has become an undeniable global crisis, and it is our responsibility to take part in solutions to slow its progression. CO2 produced by automobiles is one of the largest contributors to climate change. Increasing bus service, thus ridership, is an effective way for the County to reduce emissions on our Island dramatically.”
But the devil is always in the details and although their proposal for expansion is meant to deal with the need to get us out of our cars and into public transportion it doesn’t deal with the core of the problem- the need to have a car in the first place to live and work on the island.
They propose four major expansions:
“1. An increase in the frequency of busses during peak commuter times on the main lines. The main lines run from Lihue westbound and from Lihue northbound. They currently run every hour from early morning to about 7 pm. We’re asking for the service to be stepped up to every 1⁄2 hour from start of service until 8:30 AM, and from 4 PM until service stops. We feel that this, in combination with the establishment of designated park & rides, will give the largest number of commuters a viable option to use the bus to get to & from work. Estimated cost – approximately $400,000*
2. An increase in service to Hanalei. Currently, on the mainline northbound route, busses run ever hour to Kapa`a but continue only every two hours to Hanalei. Along with the above increases, we are asking that this service be increased to hourly throughout the day.Estimated cost – approximately $300,000*
3. An extension of service until 9:00 PM currently, bus service on all routes stops at 7:00 PM. We are asking for an increase in hourly service on the two main lines until 9:00 pm, which will allow more people to use the bus for evening activities and service jobs whose hours often run into the evening. Estimated cost – approximately $450,000*
4. An extension of the ‘Saturday Schedule’ to Sundays also. The Bus runs on a reduced schedule on Saturdays, but does not run at all on Sundays. We are asking for the same reduced schedule to be extended to Sundays as well. Estimated cost – approximately $350,000*
While these measures might increase ridership among those either forced by their circumstances to take the bus or those who are socially conscious and want to do their part or even those who want to save money and not drive their car sometimes, they don’t address the main cause of people driving their cars- the fact that they have one.
Kaua`i is not a 9-5 community, or even an or 8-4 or 7-3 as is more common among those with professional or trade jobs. Most work in the tourism industry and most of those jobs are in service and an awful lot of that is “shift work”.
These are the lower paid among Kaua`i residents and the ones who need the bus the most. But they can’t rely on a bus if they don’t work daytime only- and so they have to have a car.
And most people who have a car will use their car. It saves time and makes it possible to run errands before and after work. Even if it’s a day when they don’t have errands they will use their car for the convenience if they have one even if the bus were to “work” for them.
This yields a situation where the ones who need the bus the most and so will use it the most- and would be most likely to not even own a car if the service could provide dependable transportation when they get off work at 10 or 11 p.m.- are the ones who can’t possibly live and work under either the current level of service or proposed expansion and so must have a car.
It’s not a forgone conclusion that if the bus ran 24 hours a day- at least once an hour from midnight to 4 and more often otherwise- that everyone will immediately give up their cars, even if all areas and routes were set up to get people to shopping and tourist service areas with minimal need for transfers.
Things like express and local service and enabling people with packages might help more too but there are many who will never give up their cars. But the fact remains that when you look at places that have full-service public transpiration most people don’t even think of owning cars.
And until it is not a question of whether to use the car but whether to own a car, the bus will continue to be our white elephant that everybody wants but no one quite knows how to use or what it’s supposed to be for.
As fuel costs continue to increase exponentially public transport will make more and more economic sense to more and more people. And as younger people move into the job market if they were raised with a full-service public transportation system they will be much more likely to use it.
And perhaps some of the tourists who look at the current state of our system and immediately run to the rent-a-car lot upon arrival might see their way to getting some of those cars off those roads.
But the economic pressure alone won’t overcome the convenience, comfort and time and even necessity factors if those pressures to own a car aren’t fully managed, mitigated and ameliorated.
Money is the main factor but Kaua`i will get it’s fair share of transportation dollars from the State and Federal governments. It’s just a matter of our vision- is it an automobile based six and eight lane superhighways or something else?
Infrastructureal investments will be what determines the future of transportation on Kaua`i and the question is whether the next $100 million chunk will be spent enabling private or public transit.
While the band-aid of the current proposal is a start, until we have a 24/7 system it won’t do anything but perpetuate the current transportation modalities.
And the longer we take to get there by concentrating on the low hanging fruit rather than pruning the trees and planning for future production of the entire orchard, the more fruitless the our efforts and expenditures will be.
Update: The usually responsive County Administration’s Public Information Officer has failed to respond to repeated requests for further information and/or comment on the Dayne Apioalani incident as of close of business hours today.
Meanwhile over at Councilperson Mel Rapozo’s blog http://kauaipolitics.blogspot.com/ concerned citizen Jimmy Trujillo posted Juan Wilson’s account of Dayne Apioalani’s arrest http://kauaipolitics.blogspot.com/2008/05/host-community-benefit-for-kekaha.html?showComment=1210095660000#c7567534154623462385 asking Mel to “comment and provide insight on the recent police action taken against Dayne Apoilani last week”.
We wanted to know http://kauaipolitics.blogspot.com/2008/05/host-community-benefit-for-kekaha.html?showComment=1210283040000#c9123224074387684625 if Mel could explain something to us and asked the following:
One thing Mel is that, if Juan’s account is basically factual, it seems that KPD has plenty of resources for executing warrants and didn’t really need to contract with you to bring these people in... especially ones whose locations are known and who can be contacted with a phone call. I certainly hope you are going to try the telephone before hiring a bunch of goons to bring in people who failed to show up in court.
No wonder the KPD budget is stretched if this is what they consider to be a wise use of resources.
Update 2- The county PIO says that she "asked the Police Chief if he had a response to your query. He declined to comment."
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