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

Posted on August 26, 2014 by garyhooser

Aloha Friends,

It has been a rocky few weeks and yesterday a federal magistrate ruled against Bill2491/Ordinance960.

While it is a disappointing setback, the battle to protect our community will continue with vigor.

I am committed to pressing forward via the appeal process, the state legislature and additional County legislative efforts.  If our community needs to sue the State of Hawaii to do its job then perhaps that is also an avenue we must pursue.

One ruling by one federal magistrate does not resolve the legal questions and certainly does not resolve the health and environmental issues.

This is far from over and I remain committed to seeing it through.

Our attention must turn to the elections and we must win in November and we must retain a majority on the Council who share our common vision and concerns.

Will the decisions of the future be driven by industry and large land owners or by independent decision makers grounded in community, focused on building a sustainable future and not beholden to any financial special interest?

The choice is yours.  I ask that you please engage this election and support candidates that support the future you want to see for Kauai.

For me personally this election has been the toughest one I have ever been involved in and without a doubt it will get even rougher in the weeks ahead.

The attacks driven by industry bloggers and their legions of anonymous commenter’s increase daily and the negative campaigning, rumor and innuendo is sure to escalate as the General Election draws closer.

They are determined to take me out and I am determined to win 🙂

While I will am running an ole fashion campaign, knocking on doors and holding signs on the highway, it is critical that I also run an aggressive media campaign to counter that of the opposition.

My focus will be on the positive vision of the future we hold for our community and on my track record of accomplishment, experience and leadership.

Now more than ever before I need your help.

Contributions of $100 or less will be matched 100% by the State of Hawaii.

If you are able to make a larger donation of up to $2,000 now would be the time when that is most needed as well.

Online contributions may be made at http://www.garyhooser.com/donate.php or checks mailed to Friends of Gary Hooser, 5685 Ohelo Road, Kapaa HI  96746

As the process to receive matching funds from the State can take up to 3 weeks to complete, it is important that contributions be received by September 2.

Thank you in advance for any and all support you can offer.

Please know that I would not be asking if it was not absolutely necessary to do so.

Sincerely,
Gary Hooser
652-4279

About garyhooser

This blog represents my thoughts as an individual person and does not represent the official position of any organization I may be affiliated with. I presently serve as volunteer President of the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action (H.A.P.A.) www.hapahi.org I am the former Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. In another past life, I was an elected member of the Kauai County Council, a Hawaii State Senator, and Majority Leader, and the Director of Environmental Quality Control for the State of Hawaii - in an even earlier incarnation I was an entrepreneur and small business owner. Yes, I am one of the luckiest guys on the planet. Please visit my website AND sign up for my newsletter (unlike any email newsletter you have ever gotten, of that I am sure) - http://www.garyhooser.com/#four “Come to the edge.” “We can’t. We’re afraid.” “Come to the edge.” “We can’t. We will fall!” “Come to the edge.” And they came. And he pushed them. And they flew. - Christopher Logue (b.1926)
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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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