3 Responses to I am determined to win, they are determined to beat me.

1. Robin Clark says:

   August 27, 2014 at 5:19 pm

   Gary

   I am neither an industry blogger or one of their anonymous commenters. Just a citizen of Kauai who does not want to see one more taxpayer dollar spent on this losing bill. Why aren’t you more concerned about fixing the roads, correcting taxation problems, putting in more school buses, fixing beach parks, and myriad other more important things that will actually benefit the citizens of Kauai! To date, I have not seen one piece of evidence that the Big Ag companies have harmed anyone. If you have actual evidence please supply it.

   Your “cost of business” comment was one of the most irresponsible things I have ever heard a public official say. You and Tim Bynum should realize that the County budget is not a trough for either personal gain (as in Tim’s settlement) or to finance your personal vendetta against Big Ag. If you want to do that, please get off the Council and do your HAPA lobbying full time.

   I found the results of the recent primary encouraging (Rapozo, Kagawa and Kaneshiro on top) so maybe rest of our citizens are finally waking up.

   Robin Clark
   332-5449

   Reply
   • garyhooser says:

     August 27, 2014 at 6:30 pm

     Aloha Robin,
     Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and share your thoughts with me. Note: I deleted your positive reference to a family member as they do not want to “draw fire” from others in the community who might use your positive comment as an excuse to disagree. Unfortunately this is the nature of the anonymous comment environment which I do not support. You should be commended for commenting under your real name.

     Bill 2491 was introduced to deal with the concerns held by a large segment of the Kauai population. If the recent election results are any indication at a minimum 1/3 of our population is concerned about this issue which represents enough of our population to make it an issue that deserves to be addressed.

     Bill2491/Ordinance960 merely requires disclosure and buffer zones.

     There is no shortage of indicators that point toward negative impacts of the agrochemical industry on the health and environment of our community but there has been no study or research conducted whatsoever that attempts to evaluate those impacts and determine what they might be.

     If you have a moment to watch this 15 minute video presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHYwsu3Wefs I describe the situation that led to the introduction of Bill 2491.

     A few short examples of evidence validating the need for Bill 2491:

     *We have medical doctors who deliver baby’s at KVMH in Waimea who believe that there is 10X the national average of a rare heart defect among their patients newborn children. This is on record both as testimony and on video interviews with independent journalists.
     *We have multiple situations where people became ill at Waimea Canyon Middle School after or during times when pesticides were being applied
     *We have a “sea urchin die-off” on the shore subject to this pesticide runoff
     *Approximately 150 residents of Waimea Town are suing DuPont Pioneer because of negative health impacts they believe are a result of the companies pesticide applications.
     *In addition to being supported by thousands of Kauai residents, Bill 2491 was also supported by a majority of Kauai pediatricians, the Hawaii Nurses Association, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, Local 5 Hotel Workers and many, many other groups and organizations.

     Bill 2491 simply required disclosure, buffer zones and a health study.

     Without disclosure we are unable to study the impacts to definitively determine whether or not harm is occurring as a result of these companies operations. Any thinking person will agree that there are impacts. There are short term impacts, long term impacts, direct impacts, secondary impacts and cumulative impacts. But we do not know what those impacts are and cannot evaluate them unless there is disclosure and a study.

     During the discussions of Bill 2491 numerous legal opinions were sought. All sides of the issue agreed that:”There was no State or Federal law that expressly denied the County the authority to regulate pesticides, and no court had ever ruled on the issue with regards to Hawaii’s situation.” The only way to determine whether or not the County had the authority was to go to court. The court agreed essentially with this consensus but then ruled that though the state never expressly said the County may not regulate pesticides, that the state “intended” to have exclusive jurisdiction over this matter and thus ruled that the County did not have authority to pass Bill2491.

     So yes, spending the money needed to defend Ordinance 960 in court is the cost of doing business. Otherwise, if the County isn’t willing to respond to industry lawsuits then we’ll have only laws that are acceptable to industry. If this is the case we might as well just hand the County government over to them, which would save a lot of money.

     I agree with you that there are lots of other very important County issues. If you look at the public record you will see that I am actively involved working with the other council members on these issues as well.

     While I was disappointed that Council member Chock did not make the top 7, my position placement actually improved over the 2012 primary election and I am thankful to the voters for that.

     I sincerely thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts and feelings. I also hope that you take the additional time needed to view this issue through the lens of those who have in fact been impacted and who have very strong concerns.

     Reply
   • Kua says:

     October 4, 2014 at 7:01 pm

     Robin,
     I (and surely others) am STILL interested in hearing your response to Mr Hooser’s response to your intial comment. I’ve asked once in this blog and once on the phone whether you will be responding. Since you are a scientist and your wife a medical professional (I believe that’s correct according to our phone talk), your willingness to continue the dialogue should be valuable to everyone reading Mr Hooser’s blog. If you are going to issue a second response keep in mind time is growing short before the Nove 4 vote. Thanks.

     Reply

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