The bill that Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong proposed with regards to county council scrutiny with the sale of the Hamakua lands is apparently postponed.
If I had 8 million dollars, I would buy all those lands myself. 1/3 of them to be pastoral/agricultural lots donated to DHHL, and lease the rest of them leased out to prospective agricultural-minded tenants. The idea is creating businesses on this island that will help our island economy, and create self-sustainability. Maybe I would dedicate a small portion of them to be a windfarm and perhaps one or two 15 home subdivisions, and a small commerce/town center (they can call it Kekuawela Village)
Upon my death, the lands would honor out their leases and then placed into a trust that will be used to fund an institute of Higher Learning dedicated to health sciences, business, and agriculture. The college will be called “Hamakua College” with admission preference to residents of the Big Island.
Wait…be original, RJ! (lol!)
Aaron Stene points out in his commentary a remark made by Regina Tom:
But Regina Tom opposed the bill “for the simple fact that is appears to violate the doctrine of separation of powers.”The bill puts too much burden on the buyer, whose plans for the land could change, Tom added
Yes it does. My analogy is this: I buy an iPhone. I use the iPhone as my primary telephone. I later choose to use the iPhone simply for it’s music playing capabilities and use another phone as my primary telephone. Am I not allowed to do what I wish with my property?
This bill would give the council the power to question the buyer, the buyer’s intentions for the land, the price of sale, and the council can either approve or reject the buyer’s offer. Yes, this is a tip in the scales of powers. It gives more power to 6 folks who have clearly demonstrated incompetence, lack of regard to the Sunshine law, elitism, and disregard for the people they are tasked to serve. These people have abused the powers, funds and offices that have been given to them, why give them more?
Next up, it’s not a wise move for Yagong to limit this- especially considering that 5 council members are Billy Kenoi’s yes-men on the council, anyway. Yagong won’t get the scrutiny that he is aiming for, and in the end they will go with whatever Billy says.
(kind of like mindless chickens, who peck and peck at the ground, not even looking up to see where the grain is coming from. no can think for themselves???)
But the real unwisest of moves is selling the damn lands anyway, to balance a budget that ten years from now will no longer have the same meaning and importance that it did today. The economy will eventually turn around, land values with rise, and the person or entity who may purchase these lands will be laughing their way to the bank when they put it up for sale for a higher market value.
(ten bucks says that the county will buy it.)
Selling lands that are prime agricultural lands- which can encourage economic growth, and self-sustainability and purchasing land in lava zone 1 (or 2) that nobody will write a mortgage or insure….
This is our county officials at work. Because of this horrible economic mess that we’re in, we can only think short-term, and not the future.
Lame.
