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In a press interview today, Girabaldi urged protesters to ride the Superferry and experience all its wonders for themselves. Rather than having you all suffer through the same nauseating experience that I did, I will pass on my story of riding the Spooker-Ferry.

Katy Rose, Hale Mawae and I decided to ride the ferry in order to protest in solidarity with Maui and stage a peaceful banner drop while on board. We arrived at Honolulu Harbor at 5:30 am, and were greeted by 30-40 protesters (Mahalo Aunty Terri, Kyle, and everyone else who helped get people out so early). Upon check in, all three of us were informed that we had been "randomly" selected for full security searches (including pat-downs). To our knowledge, not one other person was searched. It seemed to us that as long as you hadn't been pre-identified as anti-superferry/ pro-aloha 'aina, you were allowed to walk right on with absolutely no screening.

Although every mainstream media outlet that I have seen so far claims that there were 200 passengers on board, all three of us counted somewhere between 50-70. Of these passengers, about half were affiliated with the media. We also suspect that of the remaining 30-40 "real" passengers, many were SF employee friends and family. One Oahu protester that we talked to observed that cars were actually driving in, pretending to drop off passengers, then driving out. HSF Corporation was obviously trying to stage a grander first day back in service than it could pull off.

Furfaro's amendment to water down Shoreline Setback Bill from 70-year erosion rate to 50-year erosion rate:
yes: Furfaro, Iseri-Carvalho, Asing
no: Yukimura, Bynum, Rapozo

Thank you to Nathan Eagle for his front page story in the Garden Island today, "'Money is Talking' on the South Shore." In all of these issues we are facing on Kaua'i--the Superferry, overdevelopment, Koke'e--it is obvious that money is a force driving the decisions that are, as many have become fond of saying, "being shoved down our throats."

Yet, there are all sorts of creative and diverse community responses to the inequity and imbalance of power on Kaua'i right now. People are uniting around many different issues in an effort to preserve what we have and build a better future. Many feel that we are at a climatic point, where we have an important decision to make--we will challenge the status quo or become complacent citizens?

Throughout this site there are many inspiring examples of groups organizing right here on Kaua'i. Please take a good look around, and contact us if you are interested in using any part of this site to spread information and build a movement around a cause that interests you.

Yesterday was a long day at the Old Historic County Building. Late into the night the council unanimously passed bill 2202, a housing policy bill that addresses the lack of affordable housing on Kaua'i. Unfortunately, after many amendments and struggles between council members, the original bill was watered way down. The policy mandates that residential developments of 26 units or more include at least 30 percent workforce housing. Yet, of the 30 percent, only 20 percent is for the lowest income bracket (those making 80 percent of the median household income, which is $63,300). Sixty percent of Kaua'i residents fall into this category! So where are the rest of the majority supposed to live? How many of the people classified as "nearly-homeless" will gain access to housing through the enactment of this bill? Of course affordable housing is a complicated issue that will take a multi-faceted solution, but part of this solution must be our government holding developers to a higher standard.

To read more about the housing policy bill, check out the latest news and the "Eye on Government" section of the Save Kaua'i site. In this section you will also find important information on the Shoreline Setback Bill, which will be voted on at the December 16th general county council meeting.

There are several other county issues we need to be paying attention to right now as well. The Updated Solid Waste Management Plan for the island was just released, and it still includes a proposed Waste to Energy Facility. For more on this, visit the Waste/Recycling area of focus.

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Yesterday was a long day at the Old Historic County Building. Late into the night the council unanimously passed bill 2202, a housing policy bill that addresses the lack of affordable housing on Kaua'i. Unfortunately, after many amendments and struggles between council members, the original bill was watered way down. The policy mandates that residential developments of 26 units or more include at least 30 percent workforce housing. Yet, of the 30 percent, only 20 percent is for the lowest income bracket (those making 80 percent of the median household income, which is $63,300). Sixty percent of Kaua'i residents fall into this category! So where are the rest of the majority supposed to live? How many of the people classified as "nearly-homeless" will gain access to housing through the enactment of this bill? Of course affordable housing is a complicated issue that will take a multi-faceted solution, but part of this solution must be our government holding developers to a higher standard.

To read more about the housing policy bill, check out the latest news and the "Eye on Government" section of the Save Kaua'i site. In this section you will also find important information on the Shoreline Setback Bill, which will be voted on at the December 16th general county council meeting.

There are several other county issues we need to be paying attention to right now as well. The Updated Solid Waste Management Plan for the island was just released, and it still includes a proposed Waste to Energy Facility. For more on this, visit the Waste/Recycling area of focus.