Why The Lack Of Isle Political Legacy Clans?
Wednesday - September 30, 2009
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Del.icio.usJerry Burris of the Advertiser recently wrote that in Hawaii we don’t seem very interested in “legacy” families such as the Kennedys - that we don’t relish voting into office the sons or daughters of our distinguished politicians.
I think he got it wrong. We well might if we had any legacy scions to vote for. We haven’t and we don’t. Of all the kids of prominents who’ve held the office of mayor, governor or Congress, none seems to have been raised with or developed that Kennedy-like sense of politics as an inherited duty.
With our strong Asian culture, I’m sure we’d have voted for legacy kids if they’d have been there.
I’m a little unsure where to stand - or ride - on the city’s bike path-and-lane proposal.
I’ve been a bicyclist here and am currently a moped rider, and Honolulu is certainly a biker’s dream weather-wise. There is a problem with all our hills, but those are serviced by bike-carrying buses.
Still, we’re not a bicycling island. I’m not talking about those who do morning or after-work bike exercising or enter bike racing events. We’re not into regular bike commutes to work and market. How many bikes do you see on our roads? That’s right, not a heck of a lot.
Why? It just hasn’t caught fire here as it has in a city such as Portland, with its really crummy weather. We’re car people. Maybe we are infected with something that drifted over from Los Angeles.
So if we’re set on more bike paths and lanes, it would be to encourage more biking, not because the current use demands it the way our highway grid-lock demands mass transit.
I confess to being swayed by Frank Smith of Island Triathlon and Bike in Kapahulu. He thinks road sharing is more financially sensible right now than special bike paths and lanes. He says defensive and think-ahead biking avoids most conflicts with cars and trucks.
I agree, I think, although I’ve had motorists brush very close to me. And I have a friend who was knocked right off her bike on that narrow 700 block of Kapahulu Avenue. And no way would I bike Kapiolani Boulevard or Ala Moana at a busy traffic hour.
I’m not so sure building the paths and lanes now will put more people on bikes. I tend to want to see more bike use and then build out. Let’s see how well that coming rent-a-bike enterprise does first.
My eyes tell me there’s a big Mainland haole transplant interest here in biking but it’s not all the rage with locals. Comments?
Oct. 16 is the fundraiser dinner at the Royal Hawaiian for the new Kapiolani Community College culinary school and restaurant at the old Cannon Club site on the side of Diamond Head.
State money is tight and the project seems to be on the back burner. Too bad, because KCC turns out great cooks and won the American Culinary Federation’s top prize this year.
I wish some amazingly rich person would jump-start this new school-restaurant in return for naming rights.
If that’s not in your budget, at the least do buy into that dinner at the Royal.
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