ANOTHER ROUND OF IMAGINARY KIBBLE MY GOOD MAN: Sometimes it seem like people go out of their way to make our job of ridiculing the foibles of the powerful and wanna-bes a lot easier. And sometime the actual story is so unbelievable that people think we’re makin’ this stuff up.
So when someone questioned our derision of Councilpersons Mel Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho’s useless prescription drug discount card the other day we wanted to make sure we weren’t barking up the wrong tree and it actually was the bogus bupkis it appeared to be.
Afterall, you would think that no one is so stupid as to go through the chest-beating made-for-TV, election-year spectacle at last week’s Council meeting for something that is going to blow up in her faces.
But good-old reliable County officeholders rarely fail to make us ponder whether they are complete morons or think we are.
As reported and “as seen on TV” the new “Mel and Shaylene Card” appears to be a scheme thought up by the National Association of Counties (NACo) in order to make people think that their local politicians are getting them cheap prescription drugs.
The Mayor’s Administrative Assistant Gary Heu actually got in on the act by coming before the council and trying to horn in on the publicity saying that when “something is too good to be true it usually isn’t”, bungling the expression but nonetheless assuring everyone that he had checked it out and it was actually not some kind of scam.
But a little deeper look shows that, while it’s not actually some complicated con job to rip-off people trying to save money on prescription drugs it also doesn’t give anyone anything except for the pols who promote it.
It’s been impossible to find out what the card actually does because apparently it doesn’t do anything.
Surrounded with a plethora of methods of promotion for the program here is all that’s available regarding what the actual “benefits” are from the NACO web site.
Consumers always receive the lowest retail price. On occasion, pharmacies will price a particular medication lower than the discount rate available with the NACo card. If that occurs, consumers will receive the lower price. Either way, consumers will always receive the best price available.
As we said Saturday, “huh?”.. That’s it? Isn’t the retail price always the retail price?
Does this all mean, as a commenter claimed: “except when the price isn't the price. Bigger buyers like HMSA can negotiate a lower price than the walk up rate.”
So we called a few pharmacists and found out that the key is the word “retail price”. One told us that big medical insurance companies do dictate the price they pay by taking the wholesale price and saying to the pharmacy “you can make X amount of profit per prescription you fill for our clients- take it leave it”.
But those “prices” are not the retail price. And they aren’t applicable to the card, which is not allowed to be “combined” with any insurance coverage but is only for those paying cash for their prescriptions.
So unless drug stores are charging some people less than others- instead of discounting the “suggested” retail price as they all do- there’s no discount because that’s the price they charge, the highest and lowest being the same- the actual price, for people who have to pay cash..
And if they are charging more to some people for some insane and probably illegal discriminatory reason what makes you think that if you shove a piece of plastic wrapped cardboard in their face they’ll go “oh, we’ve been overcharging you and instead of the price you were going to pay we’re giving you the price we give those people we actually like.”
So what’s the harm? Let the people think they’re getting something for nothing and let the politicians sell us a pig with lipstick and a wig and tell us it’s a beauty queen.
Everyone wins. It’s a Steve Covey dream
Well according to one pharmacist the County went out to all the seniors at the neighborhood centers today giving out these cards and a few our kupuna have already come in for their “big savings” only to find out the card is useless.
And what’s all this costing? No word on who is paying for the physical cards themselves and in order to “find out more” you must be... well, Mel or Shaylene- i.e. members of NACo- and log in with your password.
The card are shipped from NACo via Fed-Ex according to the site but other information isn’t available to anyone but Rapozo and Iseri and they didn’t say anything about cost for the cards much less how exactly the card works to save anyone money despite their lengthy televised promotional presentation.
We do know who’s paying for all those County employees to go out and spend their time promoting and distributing the card and the neat little plastic card-holders that come with them.
But when you look a little deeper you’ll find this little scam.
When you go to the NACo web site you’ll see this.
The NACo Prescription Drug Discount Card program was designed for your uninsured and underinsured county residents. Through a partnership with Caremark, this simple discount card can save an average of 20% off the full retail cost of prescription medication.
And when you click to find out “more” or click on “prescriptions” (and pretty much wherever you click) you go to- surprise, surprise- the “sponsor” of the program,: mainland chain drug store giant CVS/Caremark’s on-line pharmacy.
And- surprise, surprise- you get the same price at the NACo/Caremark price calculator as you do if you go to the regular Caremark on-line pharmacy price calculator, for the popular cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor which is $120.71 without the card and an amazing low low price of 120.71 with it.
How do they do it?- volume. No matter how many zeros you add they make zero.
And, when we reached the “right person” at the Honolulu administrative offices of Longs he said he “assumes”, “presumes” and “thinks” that it works by having the county actually reimburse the drug stores for what they “presume” is a 20% discount, finally admitting he didn’t know what the benefit was and would get back to us. He didn’t by press time.
But the Mayor’s office, as busy as they were today, confirmed that the County definitely does not pay anything, certainly not a reimbursement for any discounts.
We asked to be notified when the chain figured out what the real deal is and, as always if we’re wr-wr-wr-wr-(slap)-wrong we’ll let our readers know..
.A fraud is a fraud is a fraud. It doesn’t have to cost you cash for you to be defrauded. It can be your time and energy. It could be that when someone heard they’d get a 20% discount they went out and bought a new pair of shoes.
But it could be that someone will vote for those who claim to (sob on cue) care so much about us they, as Iseri said, “took the initiative in securing” this worthless piece of publicity-mongering re-election tool, straight from the Councils’ “trade organization”.
And more than likely some people will get all their prescriptions on-line from CVS thinking they’re getting them for less- actually hurting the local economy.
Iseri and Rapozo can’t have it both ways - either they’re dim-bulbs who got scammed by NACo and CVS/Caremark Pharmacies or they think we’re the kind of nit-wits who can be scammed with promises for a free air-sandwich lunch.
Either way it’s another day, another game of “limbo”... where every time we jump down turn around and pick a bale of kala the pols try to set a new record for “how low can you go”.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
THE EDUCATION OF AUGIE DOGGIE
THE EDUCATION OF AUGIE DOGGIE: Doggie Daddy said a lot when we were pups. Some of it still perplexes us but as we remember it here are some of his lessons.
The more advertising there is for it, the worse the product. If it were a good product people would be buying it without ads..
When you buy an advertised product you are paying extra for the advertising.
When people say “it’s ‘only’ a dollar” they mean there’s a dollar of yours they want to be theirs.
When you see a store with a sign saying “Going out of Business” for more than a week, it’s probably just the name of the store.
When it says “prices starting at...” what you want will never be that price.
Things aren’t “free” if they’re “free, with purchase”.
When you see an advertisement over and over and it’s an obvious con or rip-off it’s because people are falling for it. The more times the ad plays the more people there are who fell for it.
If you answer an ad that essentially says “send me a dollar and I’ll tell you the secret of how I make lots of money” you’ll probably get a letter back saying “this is how I make lots of money”.
Walk by the place that says “Best Pizza in the World” and the one that says “Best Pizza in Town” and go to the one that says “Best Pizza on the Block.”
Pay the two dollars. Save the city hall fight for more expensive stuff.
“As is” means as is, it’s broken or doesn’t work..
Do correct your teachers when they are wrong. They didn’t do that and that’s how they wound up being wrong.
When people say “be careful- there’s a lot of dangerous people out there” it’s better to be the one people are afraid of than fearing it’s the other person. That said, when you meet the truly deranged person, run.
No one is any smarter than you are, they just have you conned into thinking they are. That said, there are people smarter than you.
It’s safer to assume someone’s crooked and learn they are honest than to assume they’re honest and then find out they’ve been robbing you for years.
The easiest person to rob is the one robbing you. The next easiest is the one obsessed over not being robbed.
There is no such thing as honest work. The world’s economics system depends on people ripping-off other people. Look around- if you aren’t ripping anyone off, someone’s ripping you off.. Do business with the person who rips you off the least.
Respect is earned. You earn respect with respect for earning respect. Respecting disrespect breeds more disrespect.
People are the same all over in that each one is different.
All generalizations are wrong, including this one..
No one on their death bed ever said “I didn’t spend enough time making money”.
There are no secrets in life, only people who “believe” there are secrets and are too lazy to think beyond what they believe they believe. A thousand secrets you believe you’ve found out is not worth as much as one fact you know.
No matter how much people say life is precious they will act like life is cheap if it isn’t their life.
Happy Fathers’ Day Daddy. We miss you.
The more advertising there is for it, the worse the product. If it were a good product people would be buying it without ads..
When you buy an advertised product you are paying extra for the advertising.
When people say “it’s ‘only’ a dollar” they mean there’s a dollar of yours they want to be theirs.
When you see a store with a sign saying “Going out of Business” for more than a week, it’s probably just the name of the store.
When it says “prices starting at...” what you want will never be that price.
Things aren’t “free” if they’re “free, with purchase”.
When you see an advertisement over and over and it’s an obvious con or rip-off it’s because people are falling for it. The more times the ad plays the more people there are who fell for it.
If you answer an ad that essentially says “send me a dollar and I’ll tell you the secret of how I make lots of money” you’ll probably get a letter back saying “this is how I make lots of money”.
Walk by the place that says “Best Pizza in the World” and the one that says “Best Pizza in Town” and go to the one that says “Best Pizza on the Block.”
Pay the two dollars. Save the city hall fight for more expensive stuff.
“As is” means as is, it’s broken or doesn’t work..
Do correct your teachers when they are wrong. They didn’t do that and that’s how they wound up being wrong.
When people say “be careful- there’s a lot of dangerous people out there” it’s better to be the one people are afraid of than fearing it’s the other person. That said, when you meet the truly deranged person, run.
No one is any smarter than you are, they just have you conned into thinking they are. That said, there are people smarter than you.
It’s safer to assume someone’s crooked and learn they are honest than to assume they’re honest and then find out they’ve been robbing you for years.
The easiest person to rob is the one robbing you. The next easiest is the one obsessed over not being robbed.
There is no such thing as honest work. The world’s economics system depends on people ripping-off other people. Look around- if you aren’t ripping anyone off, someone’s ripping you off.. Do business with the person who rips you off the least.
Respect is earned. You earn respect with respect for earning respect. Respecting disrespect breeds more disrespect.
People are the same all over in that each one is different.
All generalizations are wrong, including this one..
No one on their death bed ever said “I didn’t spend enough time making money”.
There are no secrets in life, only people who “believe” there are secrets and are too lazy to think beyond what they believe they believe. A thousand secrets you believe you’ve found out is not worth as much as one fact you know.
No matter how much people say life is precious they will act like life is cheap if it isn’t their life.
Happy Fathers’ Day Daddy. We miss you.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
BARK CLEARLY
BARK CLEARLY: Another day another pile of “huh?” on Kaua`i.
The first one regards the report in today’s paper from new reporter Michael Levine, who’s been doing an unparalleled job so far of covering the police and court beat with vigorous, clear and concise coverage.
In his article today we get news that despite the deliberate lack of funding for it in the County’s new Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) budget, Chief Darryl Perry is going ahead with creating an Internal Affairs Division (IAD) anyway, in possible violation of the budget ordinance..
The article itself is careful to call it a “pseudo” IAD despite the misleading headline, “Police chief to add internal affairs unit, information officer”, apparently written by someone who didn’t bother to read the article.
The headline is factually wrong in two respects- first in saying the Chief is the one adding a Public Information Officer (PIO) when the Council approved and funded the position thereby creating it and second in saying that the Chief is adding an actual IA division instead of a “sort of” one.
The distressing news is that the already understaffed department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB) will apparently be giving up officers to create the pseudo-IA, despite bitter complaints from the Council during the budget process this year that department heads are misappropriating salary monies and shifting around positions without Council approval for purposes not specifically identified by the Council in the ordinance
But the illegality might be one of those problems that takes care of itself since now the CIB will have even less time to investigate “The Case of the Shifting Salaries”.
Certainly we’ve needed an IA division at KPD for many years and the Council can certainly be criticized for reportedly giving the Chief a bad “choice” in saying he could have either more clerks or an IA division but not both.
The extra clerks will presumably be used to get officers back on the street and away from doing paperwork that can be done by non Public Safety Officers. This has been a long standing problem discussed at length by the Police Commission and this and past chiefs.
But so much for the Council’s past promises to give funding priority to reasonable requests for necessary items requested by KPD to not just make better use of personnel but to put a clamp on rogue officers without pitting the chief against his personnel, which is what the IA is supposed to do.
We’re also a little “huh” about the way the PIO position was described. The article claims
(T)he new position will be opening dialogue with community leaders to coordinate joint efforts, Perry said.
Whether that was meant to say that average community members will be excluded and only “leaders” will be included in these dialogues is an important distinction for many especially given the current perceived lack of public input on policing policies.
If it was an unintended word slip-up one would think the Chief would choose his words a little more carefully what with the ill-considered way many say he has responded to community complaints recently.
But in any case getting the filter of the administration out of the mix- where it shouldn’t be by law- and allowing the Department to speak for itself is certainly a step in the right direction.
Another “huh?” is contained in a report in Walter Lewis’ column today saying that the new administration-proposed property tax reform bill was put together by what the Mayor Bryan Baptiste has called a “Real Property Tax Commission”.
We’re beginning to think the administration doesn’t just “not get it”- the idea of open governance or the concept of following the law- but is blatantly thumbing their nose at it.
In addition to the fact that, as Walter says, according to the Charter only the Council can create boards and commissions, when a commission meets their confabs must be open to the public, take public testimony on every agenda item and announce and “post” their agenda with the lieutenant governor’s office six days in advance according to State law
Somehow this commission formed, met and delivered their work product in complete secrecy.
It would take pages to list all the times Baptiste’s babooze brigade of crony consultants have done this kind of thing- meeting secretly to come up with “done-deals”- so we don’t expect anyone to notice unless the Council decides to enforce the law and send the proposed bill back as dead on arrival. But unless it’s politically advantageous for them to nix it, don’t count on it.
Last but not least is this weird little “huh?” piece from the yesterday’s paper announcing how Councilpersons Mel Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho have really brought home the bacon in the form of prescription-drug discount program for Kaua`i.
With a headline of “Discount prescription program now on Kaua‘i” the article ballyhoos how:
Kaua‘i County yesterday launched a prescription drug discount card program to help relieve the financial strain on residents due to soaring medical costs, officials said.The free program, sponsored by the National Association of Counties, offers an average savings of 20 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs
“This is the best program ever offered for free to our residents,” said Kaua‘i County Councilwoman Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, who has served on the NACo Board of Directors since 2006.
Wow. Free. And the “best” program to boot.. Tell us more Mel...
Local government may be unable to combat high prices at the pump, but this program should provide some monetary aid for residents, Councilman Mel Rapozo said at the Historic County Building.It costs county taxpayers nothing to make the cards available at neighborhood centers, the Parks and Recreation Department, the Office of Elderly Affairs, the Mayor’s Office and the Historic County Building, officials said.“Why wouldn’t we do this?” said Rapozo, who thanked Mayor Bryan Baptiste’s administration for its help in making the program possible on Kaua‘i.
But credit where credit is do. What did Shaylene do to bring this godsend to our shores?
“I personally took the initiative to start this program on Kaua‘i after seeing the tremendous benefits to other counties and after having the contract reviewed by our county attorney,” (Iseri Carvalho) said. “Since the program began, participating counties have made the program available to millions of Americans of any age, income level or health condition, and has saved consumers more than $83 million through 7.5 million prescriptions in savings averaging 22 percent.”
“It’s so vital ... the networking capabilities ... that put Michigan in the same room as Hawai`i,” he said. “We share so many of the same problems.”Oooo...vital.. Tell us more Shay- you must really care and showed us by taking the initiative. You’re our hero. Maybe we can buy a new car now with all that money we’ll be saving.
But wait there’s more.
NACo President Eric Coleman, who calls the program the association’s most innovative to date, attended the council’s meeting.“The NACo prescription discount card offers significant savings for the uninsured and underinsured residents of our county and even those fortunate to have prescription coverage can use the card to save money on drugs that are not covered by their health plan,” Iseri-Carvalho says in a news release. “Residents do not have to be Medicare beneficiaries to be eligible.”
We’re ready- tell us how dos this program works- how much will we be saving.
Well if you read to the bottom you’ll see.
The program works by simply presenting the card to a participating pharmacy and the consumer will receive the lowest price available from the pharmacy for a prescription, Iseri-Carvalho said.
Wow- you mean this time they’ll charge us their “lowest” price? We sure tied of being charged their highest price. “Let’s see” says the pharmacist, “that difference would be... let me total that up for ya here....
...ZERO, because the highest and lowest prices are both the same- they’re called THE PRICE.”
“We were going to charge you the price we’re charging Mrs. Kanaka but we decided that for you, special today, because you look like an honest lady and we like your face AND you have the ‘Mel and Shaylene Card’ we’ll charge you the price we’re charging everyone“
What, are there pharmacies charging different prices for different people?. Special 10% surcharge for malahinis?. 20% off for one-legged Filipinos? Are there signs at Kaua`i drug stores saying “we cheat kids, old people, sailors and drunks but not ‘Mel and Shaylene Cardholders’?”
Raising the perennial question do three “huh?” make a ?Whaaaaa?”?.
The first one regards the report in today’s paper from new reporter Michael Levine, who’s been doing an unparalleled job so far of covering the police and court beat with vigorous, clear and concise coverage.
In his article today we get news that despite the deliberate lack of funding for it in the County’s new Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) budget, Chief Darryl Perry is going ahead with creating an Internal Affairs Division (IAD) anyway, in possible violation of the budget ordinance..
The article itself is careful to call it a “pseudo” IAD despite the misleading headline, “Police chief to add internal affairs unit, information officer”, apparently written by someone who didn’t bother to read the article.
The headline is factually wrong in two respects- first in saying the Chief is the one adding a Public Information Officer (PIO) when the Council approved and funded the position thereby creating it and second in saying that the Chief is adding an actual IA division instead of a “sort of” one.
The distressing news is that the already understaffed department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB) will apparently be giving up officers to create the pseudo-IA, despite bitter complaints from the Council during the budget process this year that department heads are misappropriating salary monies and shifting around positions without Council approval for purposes not specifically identified by the Council in the ordinance
But the illegality might be one of those problems that takes care of itself since now the CIB will have even less time to investigate “The Case of the Shifting Salaries”.
Certainly we’ve needed an IA division at KPD for many years and the Council can certainly be criticized for reportedly giving the Chief a bad “choice” in saying he could have either more clerks or an IA division but not both.
The extra clerks will presumably be used to get officers back on the street and away from doing paperwork that can be done by non Public Safety Officers. This has been a long standing problem discussed at length by the Police Commission and this and past chiefs.
But so much for the Council’s past promises to give funding priority to reasonable requests for necessary items requested by KPD to not just make better use of personnel but to put a clamp on rogue officers without pitting the chief against his personnel, which is what the IA is supposed to do.
We’re also a little “huh” about the way the PIO position was described. The article claims
(T)he new position will be opening dialogue with community leaders to coordinate joint efforts, Perry said.
Whether that was meant to say that average community members will be excluded and only “leaders” will be included in these dialogues is an important distinction for many especially given the current perceived lack of public input on policing policies.
If it was an unintended word slip-up one would think the Chief would choose his words a little more carefully what with the ill-considered way many say he has responded to community complaints recently.
But in any case getting the filter of the administration out of the mix- where it shouldn’t be by law- and allowing the Department to speak for itself is certainly a step in the right direction.
Another “huh?” is contained in a report in Walter Lewis’ column today saying that the new administration-proposed property tax reform bill was put together by what the Mayor Bryan Baptiste has called a “Real Property Tax Commission”.
We’re beginning to think the administration doesn’t just “not get it”- the idea of open governance or the concept of following the law- but is blatantly thumbing their nose at it.
In addition to the fact that, as Walter says, according to the Charter only the Council can create boards and commissions, when a commission meets their confabs must be open to the public, take public testimony on every agenda item and announce and “post” their agenda with the lieutenant governor’s office six days in advance according to State law
Somehow this commission formed, met and delivered their work product in complete secrecy.
It would take pages to list all the times Baptiste’s babooze brigade of crony consultants have done this kind of thing- meeting secretly to come up with “done-deals”- so we don’t expect anyone to notice unless the Council decides to enforce the law and send the proposed bill back as dead on arrival. But unless it’s politically advantageous for them to nix it, don’t count on it.
Last but not least is this weird little “huh?” piece from the yesterday’s paper announcing how Councilpersons Mel Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho have really brought home the bacon in the form of prescription-drug discount program for Kaua`i.
With a headline of “Discount prescription program now on Kaua‘i” the article ballyhoos how:
Kaua‘i County yesterday launched a prescription drug discount card program to help relieve the financial strain on residents due to soaring medical costs, officials said.The free program, sponsored by the National Association of Counties, offers an average savings of 20 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs
“This is the best program ever offered for free to our residents,” said Kaua‘i County Councilwoman Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, who has served on the NACo Board of Directors since 2006.
Wow. Free. And the “best” program to boot.. Tell us more Mel...
Local government may be unable to combat high prices at the pump, but this program should provide some monetary aid for residents, Councilman Mel Rapozo said at the Historic County Building.It costs county taxpayers nothing to make the cards available at neighborhood centers, the Parks and Recreation Department, the Office of Elderly Affairs, the Mayor’s Office and the Historic County Building, officials said.“Why wouldn’t we do this?” said Rapozo, who thanked Mayor Bryan Baptiste’s administration for its help in making the program possible on Kaua‘i.
But credit where credit is do. What did Shaylene do to bring this godsend to our shores?
“I personally took the initiative to start this program on Kaua‘i after seeing the tremendous benefits to other counties and after having the contract reviewed by our county attorney,” (Iseri Carvalho) said. “Since the program began, participating counties have made the program available to millions of Americans of any age, income level or health condition, and has saved consumers more than $83 million through 7.5 million prescriptions in savings averaging 22 percent.”
“It’s so vital ... the networking capabilities ... that put Michigan in the same room as Hawai`i,” he said. “We share so many of the same problems.”Oooo...vital.. Tell us more Shay- you must really care and showed us by taking the initiative. You’re our hero. Maybe we can buy a new car now with all that money we’ll be saving.
But wait there’s more.
NACo President Eric Coleman, who calls the program the association’s most innovative to date, attended the council’s meeting.“The NACo prescription discount card offers significant savings for the uninsured and underinsured residents of our county and even those fortunate to have prescription coverage can use the card to save money on drugs that are not covered by their health plan,” Iseri-Carvalho says in a news release. “Residents do not have to be Medicare beneficiaries to be eligible.”
We’re ready- tell us how dos this program works- how much will we be saving.
Well if you read to the bottom you’ll see.
The program works by simply presenting the card to a participating pharmacy and the consumer will receive the lowest price available from the pharmacy for a prescription, Iseri-Carvalho said.
Wow- you mean this time they’ll charge us their “lowest” price? We sure tied of being charged their highest price. “Let’s see” says the pharmacist, “that difference would be... let me total that up for ya here....
...ZERO, because the highest and lowest prices are both the same- they’re called THE PRICE.”
“We were going to charge you the price we’re charging Mrs. Kanaka but we decided that for you, special today, because you look like an honest lady and we like your face AND you have the ‘Mel and Shaylene Card’ we’ll charge you the price we’re charging everyone“
What, are there pharmacies charging different prices for different people?. Special 10% surcharge for malahinis?. 20% off for one-legged Filipinos? Are there signs at Kaua`i drug stores saying “we cheat kids, old people, sailors and drunks but not ‘Mel and Shaylene Cardholders’?”
Raising the perennial question do three “huh?” make a ?Whaaaaa?”?.
Friday, June 13, 2008
BECAUSE THEY CAN
BECAUSE THEY CAN: It sounds like the dog-people carried the dog-day at the dog-path meeting Wednesday according to Nathan Eagle’s account in today’s local paper as well as yesterday’s .new blog entry at Councilman Mel Rapozo’s blog.
Mel’s tome drew more commentary doggerel from those who doggedly persist in thinking “dogs are people too” replete with the god-given constitutional right to “go” wherever they want.,
Mel did not however, despite two promises, clear up that pesky detail that makes the farce all the more farcical- whether the bike path actually is a park at this point in time where dogs would be banned by ordinance
But the newspaper story seemingly confirms- through lack of confirmation, as things usually get authenticated in Kaua`i government circles- what we’ve been saying to no avail- that the path has never legally been designated a county park and therefore dog walking is legal now.
We asked Eagle for a clarification a month ago after he wrote that the path was “considered a linear park” without attribution.
Today Eagle reports that, like Rapozo apparently, he still can’t get an answer out of the Parks And Recreation Department head Bernard Carvalho as to when and how the path magically became a county park without going through any process at all, saying:
Under the county Parks and Recreation Department’s management, the path is a linear park and as such falls under a county ordinance banning animals without permits.
Parks and Recreation Director Bernard Carvalho did not return calls seeking a more detailed explanation as to why the path falls under the park classification.
After a verbal warning process ended in March, the Kaua‘i Police Department started issuing citations to owners walking their dogs on the multi-use path.
We haven’t seen the testimony of the 50 some-odd people who testified at the hearing yet but from Rapozo’s Eagle’s and others’ descriptions it was a banding together of a bunch of dog-loving nut-cases who want to their habit of owning their precious little dirt-collectors shoved down our collective throats.
Many even claim they felt threatened after showing up to say “no” to having to deal with the mess and abuse of dog-lovers who are blind to the problems their pets perpetrate - so left without testifying.
It’s bad enough these days seeing these poor beasts chained up in little yards or in cages, yearning to run around more than an hour a day and being fed moist “animal by-products” if they’re lucky and essentially bread and water if they’re not. Even the stuff we say we wouldn’t feed to a dog is better than what most get... and that’s with the “responsible” owners.
But now everyone on Kaua`i must put up with the conditions created by people who, instead of taking their dogs to areas where people don’t congregate which is most likely what their dog would want, have to combine their own recreational activities with those of their pets.
Don’t have the time to do both? Then don’t have a dog. Life is full of choices.
This isn’t a rights issue. One person’s right to swing their fist ends at another’s jaw. If anyone has a right here it’s the right to walk without being molested by your dog.
And leashes don’t help. Are dog walkers on the path going to stay seven feet away from everyone else if they have a six foot leash? No, they’re going to ignore people who might not appreciate their wet muddy dog rubbing up against them.
There are plenty of dog owners who would complain bitterly if someone smoked a cigarette around them but have no compunction about exposing us to their smelly, filthy, disgusting habit of cohabitating with wolves.
The worst is Becky Rhodes the head of the Human Society. Her inane statements like
“This is a really important time for Kaua‘i.(and) (t)o be known as a dog-hating visitor attraction is not what we want to be known for”
are baffling enough if they weren’t a violation of the prohibitions against non-profits- especially those that operate through taxpayer subsidies- from lobbying for legislation.
It’s pretty baffling how that would happen anyway since tourists don’t bring their dogs and if anything would probably appreciate not having to step in anything or be attacked by dogs, whether leashed or not.
It’s one thing to advocate for the safety and good treatment of pets. It’s another to insist that we all be forced to deal with your pet If anything Rhodes should be saying that responsible pet ownership includes the rights of people who don’t like your pet, which is traditionally the position taken by responsible authorities.
The dog path lobby would have us believe that everyone loves dogs, mom and apple pie in that order and that “all local people have dogs” and that it’s only a bunch of malahini mainlanders trying to stop us from “living our island lifestyle” who are opposed to having dogs run roughshod over humans out for a walk in the park.
But the “local tradition” is to take care of your animals so they doesn’t bother everyone else. We saw enough of roving packs terrorizing neighborhoods as happened way too often 30 years ago as populations moved into residential rather than true rural areas.
Having a dog around is not only not a right but it is a privilege. And it’s one that is abused by those who bring their dogs to areas where people congregate.
According to the article “Veterinarians and community members said it would be a ‘huge disservice’ to not give residents ‘the freedoms that everyone else seems to have.’”
The freedom that everyone else has? What is this now a constitutional right to have your beast slobber all over our faces and terrorize our kids, who incidentally do have the rights you wish your dogs had but doesn’t..
If you want to treat your beast like your kid be our guest. There’s plenty of coo-coo people out there and you have a right to be one of them. But just because you like dog spit on your face doesn’t give you any “rights” to have it lick even our hands- hey we eat with those things- while you stand there saying “isn’t that cute- he likes you”.
Dogs have their place. They can be wonderful companions. But they are a huge responsibility. And their “place” isn’t among those that don’t want to be around them.. A six foot leash doesn’t mean people have to stay 12 feet away from you, it means the ones holding the leash have to control their dogs and keep them away from people without their permission.
Mel’s tome drew more commentary doggerel from those who doggedly persist in thinking “dogs are people too” replete with the god-given constitutional right to “go” wherever they want.,
Mel did not however, despite two promises, clear up that pesky detail that makes the farce all the more farcical- whether the bike path actually is a park at this point in time where dogs would be banned by ordinance
But the newspaper story seemingly confirms- through lack of confirmation, as things usually get authenticated in Kaua`i government circles- what we’ve been saying to no avail- that the path has never legally been designated a county park and therefore dog walking is legal now.
We asked Eagle for a clarification a month ago after he wrote that the path was “considered a linear park” without attribution.
Today Eagle reports that, like Rapozo apparently, he still can’t get an answer out of the Parks And Recreation Department head Bernard Carvalho as to when and how the path magically became a county park without going through any process at all, saying:
Under the county Parks and Recreation Department’s management, the path is a linear park and as such falls under a county ordinance banning animals without permits.
Parks and Recreation Director Bernard Carvalho did not return calls seeking a more detailed explanation as to why the path falls under the park classification.
After a verbal warning process ended in March, the Kaua‘i Police Department started issuing citations to owners walking their dogs on the multi-use path.
We haven’t seen the testimony of the 50 some-odd people who testified at the hearing yet but from Rapozo’s Eagle’s and others’ descriptions it was a banding together of a bunch of dog-loving nut-cases who want to their habit of owning their precious little dirt-collectors shoved down our collective throats.
Many even claim they felt threatened after showing up to say “no” to having to deal with the mess and abuse of dog-lovers who are blind to the problems their pets perpetrate - so left without testifying.
It’s bad enough these days seeing these poor beasts chained up in little yards or in cages, yearning to run around more than an hour a day and being fed moist “animal by-products” if they’re lucky and essentially bread and water if they’re not. Even the stuff we say we wouldn’t feed to a dog is better than what most get... and that’s with the “responsible” owners.
But now everyone on Kaua`i must put up with the conditions created by people who, instead of taking their dogs to areas where people don’t congregate which is most likely what their dog would want, have to combine their own recreational activities with those of their pets.
Don’t have the time to do both? Then don’t have a dog. Life is full of choices.
This isn’t a rights issue. One person’s right to swing their fist ends at another’s jaw. If anyone has a right here it’s the right to walk without being molested by your dog.
And leashes don’t help. Are dog walkers on the path going to stay seven feet away from everyone else if they have a six foot leash? No, they’re going to ignore people who might not appreciate their wet muddy dog rubbing up against them.
There are plenty of dog owners who would complain bitterly if someone smoked a cigarette around them but have no compunction about exposing us to their smelly, filthy, disgusting habit of cohabitating with wolves.
The worst is Becky Rhodes the head of the Human Society. Her inane statements like
“This is a really important time for Kaua‘i.(and) (t)o be known as a dog-hating visitor attraction is not what we want to be known for”
are baffling enough if they weren’t a violation of the prohibitions against non-profits- especially those that operate through taxpayer subsidies- from lobbying for legislation.
It’s pretty baffling how that would happen anyway since tourists don’t bring their dogs and if anything would probably appreciate not having to step in anything or be attacked by dogs, whether leashed or not.
It’s one thing to advocate for the safety and good treatment of pets. It’s another to insist that we all be forced to deal with your pet If anything Rhodes should be saying that responsible pet ownership includes the rights of people who don’t like your pet, which is traditionally the position taken by responsible authorities.
The dog path lobby would have us believe that everyone loves dogs, mom and apple pie in that order and that “all local people have dogs” and that it’s only a bunch of malahini mainlanders trying to stop us from “living our island lifestyle” who are opposed to having dogs run roughshod over humans out for a walk in the park.
But the “local tradition” is to take care of your animals so they doesn’t bother everyone else. We saw enough of roving packs terrorizing neighborhoods as happened way too often 30 years ago as populations moved into residential rather than true rural areas.
Having a dog around is not only not a right but it is a privilege. And it’s one that is abused by those who bring their dogs to areas where people congregate.
According to the article “Veterinarians and community members said it would be a ‘huge disservice’ to not give residents ‘the freedoms that everyone else seems to have.’”
The freedom that everyone else has? What is this now a constitutional right to have your beast slobber all over our faces and terrorize our kids, who incidentally do have the rights you wish your dogs had but doesn’t..
If you want to treat your beast like your kid be our guest. There’s plenty of coo-coo people out there and you have a right to be one of them. But just because you like dog spit on your face doesn’t give you any “rights” to have it lick even our hands- hey we eat with those things- while you stand there saying “isn’t that cute- he likes you”.
Dogs have their place. They can be wonderful companions. But they are a huge responsibility. And their “place” isn’t among those that don’t want to be around them.. A six foot leash doesn’t mean people have to stay 12 feet away from you, it means the ones holding the leash have to control their dogs and keep them away from people without their permission.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
I ROLLED OVER- NOW WHERE’S MY BISCUIT
I ROLLED OVER- NOW WHERE’S MY BISCUIT: A tiny 61-word article deep in the business section of the Honolulu Advertiser announced “Lingle signs off on $10.79B budget” today.
Given the impact of such news in Hawai`i that’s pretty appropriate.
Well that would seem a capper to the crapper of the legislative budget and appropriation process. The hard fought funding battle determining who gets the taxpayers’ money to provide both vital and discretionary services went through the process of debate and decision making in the legislative branch and now the executive has signed the budget. The system has worked it’s, if not magic, at least sausage processing for another year.
All that’s left is to simply let the administration spend the money. Right?
You would think so wouldn’t ya. But in Hawai`i nothing is ever simple or as it should be.
For some inane if not insane reason the executive branch in the form of the governor gets another bite of the apple and, despite signing the budget into law, the funds may sit until the 32nd of Never at the sole discretion of the governor.
Every year everyone and everything that needs those funds expended- from schools to highways to the social services providers- sit on egg shells wondering if they will receive the money they need to operate or whether politics will cause them to wind up waiting for Godot or the electrician or someone like him.
And among those complaining most vociferously at this are the legislators who passed the appropriations. Yet astonishingly enough they are also the ones who can. with the stroke of a pen. end this French-farce that’s degenerated into an American “everyone’s lying” sit-com plot.
The provision does not stem from the State Constitution which states
Article VII- Taxation And Finance- Expenditure Controls
Section 5. Provision for the control of the rate of expenditures of appropriated state moneys, and for the reduction of such expenditures under prescribed conditions, shall be made by law
No public money shall be expended except pursuant to appropriations made by law.
So there is no Constitutional provision and as a matter of fact it is a matter of law, which means there is nothing stopping the legislature from merely ending the insane practice that has made many citizens go bonkers after spending three months at the legislature making sure a project gets funded only to find out they didn’t contribute enough to someone’s campaign to get the money they fought hard to win.
Supposedly there is a rhyme to the lack of reason- in case there is a budget shortfall or the money isn’t there. But that “excuse” is one that, like so many others in the state, seems to be a conveniently skewable based on the modern equivalent of the court soothsayers and astrologers- the Council on Revenues, which concocts consistently wrong predictions every few months.
Their notorious “damnable lies”- or statistics as they prefer to call them- make the situation bad enough when they do this in the yearly ritualistic blood-letting toward the end the legislative session turning two-and-a-half months of deliberate attempts to allocate limited funds into a final couple of weeks of crap-shooting by wiping the ledgers clean and instituting last minute slash-and-burn budgeting.
It’s like wheel of fortune where 99% of the spaces say “lose a turn”. Round and round she goes and where she stops doesn’t really matter because they may not give you your prize no matter where she stops.
But it doesn’t ever really matter what the Council say because the governor isn’t even required to rely on their numbers into account but can just seemingly state there isn’t enough money- usually meaning a crony didn’t get a cut.
Here’s the law that seemingly sticks in everyone’s craw:
§37-31 Intent and policy. It is declared to be the policy and intent of the legislature that the total appropriations made by it, or the total of any budget approved by it, for any department or establishment, shall be deemed to be the maximum amount authorized to meet the requirements of the department or establishment for the period of the appropriation, excepting as may otherwise be provided by law, and that the governor and the director of finance should be given the powers granted by sections 37-32 to 37-41 in order that savings may be effected by careful supervision throughout each appropriation period with due regard to changing conditions; and by promoting more economic and efficient management of state departments and establishments.
The various sections 37-32 to 37-41 describe certain exemptions both partial and total for certain areas and departments.
It’s easy to criticize a governor who doesn’t release funds. Especially one like the current governor who uses this privilege to exact political retribution and dictate policy regardless of the legislative process from which the funding was derived, leaving us when it comes to expenditures with essentially only one governmental branch- also known as a totalitarianism
And some say we need to bring back the monarchy. Whaddaya mean “bring back”.
But the real criticism should be reserved for those who we’ll be hearing from as the year progresses with their sack-full of belly-aching over it- the legislators who would rather sit on their port-a-potty throne and complain rather than getting off the pot and changing the law.
But then they wouldn’t be able to tell constituents “oh, we’re sorry- we did the best we could but that mean old governor won’t release the funds... it’s not our fault.” while knowing full well all along that the money they “gave” them will never see any use
Like all good pickpockets they create a diversion and do a handoff before you even know your wallet is gone. And like any good con man they leave you thinking you actually got what they stole from you and leave you thanking them for the theft.
But guess what- this change will never happen because, although the legislatures and governors have done a god job in hiding what’s really going on, the ones who are to blame are the people whose eyes glaze over whenever someone tries to tell them how they’re being scammed.
Will anyone reading this come away and think “I’ve got to talk to my representative and senator and make sure they do this next session”.
Are you kidding? It’s like pulling teeth to get anyone to acknowledge the depths of political depravity right there in front of people’s eyes- the ones which make Hawai`i the world renowned, third-world kleptocracy we all know and love
So as we see funding sit unreleased this year and hear the legislators who appropriated the money engage in the yearly hand-wring and bloviating over it you might remind them who makes and can change the law that allows this “give with one hand and take away with the other” anomaly of governance to happen in the first place.
Given the impact of such news in Hawai`i that’s pretty appropriate.
Well that would seem a capper to the crapper of the legislative budget and appropriation process. The hard fought funding battle determining who gets the taxpayers’ money to provide both vital and discretionary services went through the process of debate and decision making in the legislative branch and now the executive has signed the budget. The system has worked it’s, if not magic, at least sausage processing for another year.
All that’s left is to simply let the administration spend the money. Right?
You would think so wouldn’t ya. But in Hawai`i nothing is ever simple or as it should be.
For some inane if not insane reason the executive branch in the form of the governor gets another bite of the apple and, despite signing the budget into law, the funds may sit until the 32nd of Never at the sole discretion of the governor.
Every year everyone and everything that needs those funds expended- from schools to highways to the social services providers- sit on egg shells wondering if they will receive the money they need to operate or whether politics will cause them to wind up waiting for Godot or the electrician or someone like him.
And among those complaining most vociferously at this are the legislators who passed the appropriations. Yet astonishingly enough they are also the ones who can. with the stroke of a pen. end this French-farce that’s degenerated into an American “everyone’s lying” sit-com plot.
The provision does not stem from the State Constitution which states
Article VII- Taxation And Finance- Expenditure Controls
Section 5. Provision for the control of the rate of expenditures of appropriated state moneys, and for the reduction of such expenditures under prescribed conditions, shall be made by law
No public money shall be expended except pursuant to appropriations made by law.
So there is no Constitutional provision and as a matter of fact it is a matter of law, which means there is nothing stopping the legislature from merely ending the insane practice that has made many citizens go bonkers after spending three months at the legislature making sure a project gets funded only to find out they didn’t contribute enough to someone’s campaign to get the money they fought hard to win.
Supposedly there is a rhyme to the lack of reason- in case there is a budget shortfall or the money isn’t there. But that “excuse” is one that, like so many others in the state, seems to be a conveniently skewable based on the modern equivalent of the court soothsayers and astrologers- the Council on Revenues, which concocts consistently wrong predictions every few months.
Their notorious “damnable lies”- or statistics as they prefer to call them- make the situation bad enough when they do this in the yearly ritualistic blood-letting toward the end the legislative session turning two-and-a-half months of deliberate attempts to allocate limited funds into a final couple of weeks of crap-shooting by wiping the ledgers clean and instituting last minute slash-and-burn budgeting.
It’s like wheel of fortune where 99% of the spaces say “lose a turn”. Round and round she goes and where she stops doesn’t really matter because they may not give you your prize no matter where she stops.
But it doesn’t ever really matter what the Council say because the governor isn’t even required to rely on their numbers into account but can just seemingly state there isn’t enough money- usually meaning a crony didn’t get a cut.
Here’s the law that seemingly sticks in everyone’s craw:
§37-31 Intent and policy. It is declared to be the policy and intent of the legislature that the total appropriations made by it, or the total of any budget approved by it, for any department or establishment, shall be deemed to be the maximum amount authorized to meet the requirements of the department or establishment for the period of the appropriation, excepting as may otherwise be provided by law, and that the governor and the director of finance should be given the powers granted by sections 37-32 to 37-41 in order that savings may be effected by careful supervision throughout each appropriation period with due regard to changing conditions; and by promoting more economic and efficient management of state departments and establishments.
The various sections 37-32 to 37-41 describe certain exemptions both partial and total for certain areas and departments.
It’s easy to criticize a governor who doesn’t release funds. Especially one like the current governor who uses this privilege to exact political retribution and dictate policy regardless of the legislative process from which the funding was derived, leaving us when it comes to expenditures with essentially only one governmental branch- also known as a totalitarianism
And some say we need to bring back the monarchy. Whaddaya mean “bring back”.
But the real criticism should be reserved for those who we’ll be hearing from as the year progresses with their sack-full of belly-aching over it- the legislators who would rather sit on their port-a-potty throne and complain rather than getting off the pot and changing the law.
But then they wouldn’t be able to tell constituents “oh, we’re sorry- we did the best we could but that mean old governor won’t release the funds... it’s not our fault.” while knowing full well all along that the money they “gave” them will never see any use
Like all good pickpockets they create a diversion and do a handoff before you even know your wallet is gone. And like any good con man they leave you thinking you actually got what they stole from you and leave you thanking them for the theft.
But guess what- this change will never happen because, although the legislatures and governors have done a god job in hiding what’s really going on, the ones who are to blame are the people whose eyes glaze over whenever someone tries to tell them how they’re being scammed.
Will anyone reading this come away and think “I’ve got to talk to my representative and senator and make sure they do this next session”.
Are you kidding? It’s like pulling teeth to get anyone to acknowledge the depths of political depravity right there in front of people’s eyes- the ones which make Hawai`i the world renowned, third-world kleptocracy we all know and love
So as we see funding sit unreleased this year and hear the legislators who appropriated the money engage in the yearly hand-wring and bloviating over it you might remind them who makes and can change the law that allows this “give with one hand and take away with the other” anomaly of governance to happen in the first place.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
DAWG, YOU GOTTA CARRY THAT WEIGHT
DAWG, YOU GOTTA CARRY THAT WEIGHT: One has to wonder whether this is now being done on purpose or whether Tom Iannucci is just lacks all judgment and discretion.
Another rant from the head of the Police Commission appears in today’s paper replete with a similar tone to, and the type of ridicule you’d expect from, some crazy rabid reporter but not from the top civilian official in the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD).
Whatever one thinks of Juan Wilson’s research or the points he makes in trying to get KPD to consider community policing policies and possibly get officers out of their cars, Iannucci seemingly doesn’t want to discuss anything. Apparently his new “style” is to just ridicule Wilson personally rather than actually argue the points of community policing and it’s applicability to Kaua`i.
Iannucci seems to have fun trying to make his points by using condescending and patronizing ridicule of Wilson personally with such ditties as:
“I appreciate your attempt to”,
“Nice attempt, but it just doesn’t work.”.
“So which Kansas City were you relating us to?”
“That’s why they have the little blue lights on the tops of their cars, with the little “woo woo” sound”,
“Look, here is the reality”
ending with
“It seems like you just got a problem with KPD and this is the real issue. After all the fuss, Wilson, I hope you are driving in an electric cart, or riding a horse yourself. That would only be right.”
But even when it comes to the subject at hand he argues against getting officers out on foot, bike, horse or even Segway by ridiculing anyone he can who would suggest that this is even possible in what he claims is a totally rural area.
His silly, non-analogous, un-visionary professings include such drivel as
Hey, I’m all for the Mayberry RFD lifestyle, where you, me, Barney Fife and Sheriff Andy are strolling down Rice Street talking about the Friday night football game and we stop by Aunt Bee’s house for some apple pie, or Portuguese bean soup. Where the biggest problem the town is facing is that Opey is cutting class to go fishing and they have a town drunk. I want that, Wilson, but the reality is, it’s not where we are at, nor does anyone believe we’re at that place either.
and
Your “Harvard” sociologist police officer, who wrote a book, is just one of over 800,000 officers across our country. Writing a book and going to Harvard does not make one an “expert” by any means.
Iannucci’s “can’t do” attitude seem to preclude all use of non-vehicular policing. His only true argument that addresses the issue is this:
Kaua‘i is a rural and very spread out island. We simply don’t have the manpower or the finances to support one or two officers per neighborhood, per shift, per week, island-wide with substations and equipment. But you’re more than welcome to petition the mayor or the County Council about your request.
Either Iannucci is the most disingenuous person on the island or he doesn’t get out much. Maybe he’s never been to the strip malls and towns, the shopping complexes and beach areas where bikes or horses might be appropriate since, looking that the police blotter, half of the crime seems to takes place in these areas.
How about putting a little thought into it Tom? Are you telling us it’s impossible to include bikes and electric cart patrols in our core areas? Are you saying it’s impractical to have daytime patrols in the makai areas say between Kawaihau Road and Lydgate Park patrolling the streets and beaches rather than doing the current drive-bys? How about the Lihu`e area from the hospital down to the airport up Rice Street and maybe over to Kukui Grove?
Only an idiot would think that we need to have a walking patrol up and down Papalina and Waha and over to Kua road in Kalaheo or put someone on a Segway up Olohena across Kamalu and down to Wailua.
But guess what- to conflate the idea of doing it where people congregate daily with putting an officer on foot atop Wai`ale`ale is just as idiotic- and besides making up such wild misrepresentational projections is OUR job Tom.
In dismissing the getting-out-of-the-car idea entirely, Iannucci has us laughing at him, not Wilson by putting up any straw man in a storm rather than trying to look at the places where community policing might make sense- yes Tom, like through Hanapepe town and down to Salt Pond up to ‘Ele`ele and down to Port Allen.
The Password today Tom is Disingenuity- when you say you’re
“wondering if the beat cop can make it from Salt Pond to Hanapepe Heights in time to stop a fight or a robbery”
you don’t mention of course that the same officer in a patrol car could be in Waimea when he gets the call and take even longer.
Or that the officer could be actually sitting there witnessing the car break-in or mugging without drawing attention to himself through the presence his police cruiser. Those examinations of the logistics of patrolling are the same whether you’re on foot on bike or in a car in that each has advantages and disadvantages.
But it is obviously easier to make up absurdities based on the worst way to distribute resources such as riding a Segway up the Hanapepe- Ele`ele hill instead of thinking about innovative ways to make better use of our policing resources.
Would it take that much to equip some patrol cars to carry bikes and get officers out of them when they’re not responding to calls from the boonies? Or is that too hard to imagine Tom- does it huwt yaw widdle bwane to try to figure out how to do it?
You apparently strained your neurons to the breaking point to figure out all the misrepresentations and excuses in the world for not even considering where community policing might be appropriate. It might not be appropriate.
But you’d never know due to your rejection of the concept out of hand which is even more dismaying than the dismissive, pejorative and downright disrespectful attitude you display in dealing with the suggestions from someone you are supposed to represent in sitting on the Police Commission..
People expect broad brush spoofing derision, scorn and mirth out of this mangy mutt. But we don’t expect either the attitude nor the disingenuous distractions and misrepresentation from the top civilian official in our the paramilitary operation of our police force.
I hear they’re selling clues down in town Tom - maybe you need to get out of your car, climb in the bathroom window and trade in some of that Viagra for one. Or quit the police department and get yourself a steady job... like blogging.
Another rant from the head of the Police Commission appears in today’s paper replete with a similar tone to, and the type of ridicule you’d expect from, some crazy rabid reporter but not from the top civilian official in the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD).
Whatever one thinks of Juan Wilson’s research or the points he makes in trying to get KPD to consider community policing policies and possibly get officers out of their cars, Iannucci seemingly doesn’t want to discuss anything. Apparently his new “style” is to just ridicule Wilson personally rather than actually argue the points of community policing and it’s applicability to Kaua`i.
Iannucci seems to have fun trying to make his points by using condescending and patronizing ridicule of Wilson personally with such ditties as:
“I appreciate your attempt to”,
“Nice attempt, but it just doesn’t work.”.
“So which Kansas City were you relating us to?”
“That’s why they have the little blue lights on the tops of their cars, with the little “woo woo” sound”,
“Look, here is the reality”
ending with
“It seems like you just got a problem with KPD and this is the real issue. After all the fuss, Wilson, I hope you are driving in an electric cart, or riding a horse yourself. That would only be right.”
But even when it comes to the subject at hand he argues against getting officers out on foot, bike, horse or even Segway by ridiculing anyone he can who would suggest that this is even possible in what he claims is a totally rural area.
His silly, non-analogous, un-visionary professings include such drivel as
Hey, I’m all for the Mayberry RFD lifestyle, where you, me, Barney Fife and Sheriff Andy are strolling down Rice Street talking about the Friday night football game and we stop by Aunt Bee’s house for some apple pie, or Portuguese bean soup. Where the biggest problem the town is facing is that Opey is cutting class to go fishing and they have a town drunk. I want that, Wilson, but the reality is, it’s not where we are at, nor does anyone believe we’re at that place either.
and
Your “Harvard” sociologist police officer, who wrote a book, is just one of over 800,000 officers across our country. Writing a book and going to Harvard does not make one an “expert” by any means.
Iannucci’s “can’t do” attitude seem to preclude all use of non-vehicular policing. His only true argument that addresses the issue is this:
Kaua‘i is a rural and very spread out island. We simply don’t have the manpower or the finances to support one or two officers per neighborhood, per shift, per week, island-wide with substations and equipment. But you’re more than welcome to petition the mayor or the County Council about your request.
Either Iannucci is the most disingenuous person on the island or he doesn’t get out much. Maybe he’s never been to the strip malls and towns, the shopping complexes and beach areas where bikes or horses might be appropriate since, looking that the police blotter, half of the crime seems to takes place in these areas.
How about putting a little thought into it Tom? Are you telling us it’s impossible to include bikes and electric cart patrols in our core areas? Are you saying it’s impractical to have daytime patrols in the makai areas say between Kawaihau Road and Lydgate Park patrolling the streets and beaches rather than doing the current drive-bys? How about the Lihu`e area from the hospital down to the airport up Rice Street and maybe over to Kukui Grove?
Only an idiot would think that we need to have a walking patrol up and down Papalina and Waha and over to Kua road in Kalaheo or put someone on a Segway up Olohena across Kamalu and down to Wailua.
But guess what- to conflate the idea of doing it where people congregate daily with putting an officer on foot atop Wai`ale`ale is just as idiotic- and besides making up such wild misrepresentational projections is OUR job Tom.
In dismissing the getting-out-of-the-car idea entirely, Iannucci has us laughing at him, not Wilson by putting up any straw man in a storm rather than trying to look at the places where community policing might make sense- yes Tom, like through Hanapepe town and down to Salt Pond up to ‘Ele`ele and down to Port Allen.
The Password today Tom is Disingenuity- when you say you’re
“wondering if the beat cop can make it from Salt Pond to Hanapepe Heights in time to stop a fight or a robbery”
you don’t mention of course that the same officer in a patrol car could be in Waimea when he gets the call and take even longer.
Or that the officer could be actually sitting there witnessing the car break-in or mugging without drawing attention to himself through the presence his police cruiser. Those examinations of the logistics of patrolling are the same whether you’re on foot on bike or in a car in that each has advantages and disadvantages.
But it is obviously easier to make up absurdities based on the worst way to distribute resources such as riding a Segway up the Hanapepe- Ele`ele hill instead of thinking about innovative ways to make better use of our policing resources.
Would it take that much to equip some patrol cars to carry bikes and get officers out of them when they’re not responding to calls from the boonies? Or is that too hard to imagine Tom- does it huwt yaw widdle bwane to try to figure out how to do it?
You apparently strained your neurons to the breaking point to figure out all the misrepresentations and excuses in the world for not even considering where community policing might be appropriate. It might not be appropriate.
But you’d never know due to your rejection of the concept out of hand which is even more dismaying than the dismissive, pejorative and downright disrespectful attitude you display in dealing with the suggestions from someone you are supposed to represent in sitting on the Police Commission..
People expect broad brush spoofing derision, scorn and mirth out of this mangy mutt. But we don’t expect either the attitude nor the disingenuous distractions and misrepresentation from the top civilian official in our the paramilitary operation of our police force.
I hear they’re selling clues down in town Tom - maybe you need to get out of your car, climb in the bathroom window and trade in some of that Viagra for one. Or quit the police department and get yourself a steady job... like blogging.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
MAN DECLINES TO BITE DOG; TASERS HIM INSTEAD
- MAN DECLINES TO BITE DOG; TASERS HIM INSTEAD: Perhaps the blind eyes of Kaua`i Police Chief Darryl Perry and the County Council might be shocked opened a bit by news today (thanks to Big Island activist extraordinaire Shannon Rudolf for the heads up) regarding the first in what will probably be a long string of wrongful death lawsuit losses for stun-gun maker Taser International..
Bloomberg news service reports
Taser International Inc. the largest stun-gun maker, lost a $6.2 million jury verdict over the death of a California man who died after police shot him multiple times with the weapon. The defeat is the first for Taser in a product- liability claim.
A San Jose, California, jury yesterday said Taser had failed to warn police in Salinas, California, that prolonged exposure to electric shock from the device could cause a risk of cardiac arrest.
The story also notes that:
The jury ``exonerated the police because they said the police didn't know repeated exposures could kill someone,''
according to the winning attorney.
So how long will it be before police “know” these things are deadly? Well presumably now they know... unless they don’t want to know.
This should serve as a wakeup call since it won’t be long before the excuse of “they were sick and gonna die someday anyway and how were we to know tasers were deadly” will sound as lame as it is to juries.
The last we heard Chief Perry is still playing ostrich in claiming no one has ever died due to stun-gun use despite more and more deadly incidents being reported all the time.
Is Kaua`i going to play deaf, dumb and blind dumb on the witness stand if one of our boys unnecessarily kills someone while trying to restrain them because our protocols for use were based on the non-lethality fallacy?
The Council has okayed a budget including the purchase of the deadly-debilitators without any KPD protocol in place for their use nor any promises that those developed will be done with community concerns being accommodated..
As a matter of fact, in the face of requests from many in the community seeking input into the use of these 50,000 volt shock treatments in coercive force situations all we have heard is “trust us” statements and some dismissive tomes from KPD leadership.
Just in case anyone at KPD is in the mood for listening we thought we’d present suggestions for police use of Tasers from Amnesty International
Recommendations include:
Governments should establish benchmarks for the safety of conducted energy devices based on empirical research and should regulate the marketing of such devices appropriately.
TASERs should be recognized as potentially lethal, particularly for people suffering heart or breathing problems, and their recommended use restricted to a high threshold – that of preventing use of recourse to firearms in response to a threat of violence.
TASERs should not be used as a routine weapon to enforce compliance in the absence of a threat of serious injury or death of the subject, a member of the public or a law enforcement officer.
Clear terms of reference for the use of conducted energy devices should be disseminated to all forces using such weapons.
TASERs should not be used by untrained officers.
Can the Chief live with something along those lines? Or will the Council and the taxpayer have to deal with $6 million lawsuits? We still await an answer.
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