I want to Thank everyone for showing up at the meeting!
We had 30+ people, which is awesome.
Becky Rhoades was NOT there, but Jerry Rich - Director of Operations & Jessica Venneman -
Fields Services Manager were there & we Thank them for coming and for their expertise.
Joann Yukimura & the Mayor's secretary - Beth Tokioka joined us as well.
Beth sent us an email the next day:
" I’ve been in government for 15 years and I’m not sure you realize what a feat it is to get 35-40 people into a room on a Saturday afternoon to discuss an issue like this. You had several very articulate people present who, as a core group, could really help you move your initiative forward."
Thank You Beth!!
My thoughts about the meeting:
The first thing I felt with Joann was NO empathy.
Unlike Beth, who stated, after listening to us, that she didn't know how bad this issue was & couldn't imagine living with barking dogs on a daily basis & felt lucky that she's never had this problem.
I didn't feel that Joann is behind us, as she stated that in 1984 she wrote a 'barking ordinance' bill that she wound up voting against.
She didn't give us a reason why, in retrospect we probably should have asked.
I will email her & see if I can get a response.
I am also not sure why she would admit this to us, especially us, as she could have said it didn't pass.
(BTW - by the way - I retrieved those 'minutes' from the County last week)
Maybe I am the only one, but I felt she was promoting herself on what she has done for Kauai, certain bills she has seen through, yadda yadda, that had nothing to do with us. Then she proceeded to tell us how long it might take.. 5 yrs.. and that we better do our homework.
I watched the faces in our group go from edge of their seat interested & excited to deflated.
Well thanks for that vote of confidence.
No offer to help us, or if she would be a comrade in arms if elected.
On a positive note... she suggested we call the Outer Island's Humane Societies or whom ever is enforcing the 'barking law' & talk to them about what is working for them & what is not.
Obviously a great idea, one that needs volunteers...I will happy to do one, but I need help folks!
FYI - Tim Bynum definitely supports us.
Kaipo Asing holds the gavel & backs the 'hunters'... I know, I know, this isn't about hunting...but that is his take on the barking dog issue.
I am going to meet with Derek soon, as I spoke to him at the Children's Justice Center Fundraiser a few weeks ago & he agreed to chat about this issue.
Nadine is supportive.
That is all the info I have right now on the County Council. Will keep you posted.
OK...Back to the meeting.
My first thought was that we should come from an 'Health Issue' stand point, as clearly, most of us are suffering. I asked for letters from everyone, which I still want PLEASE, that includes all of you that have emailed us!
ie: A scaled down version of your story, where you live, how tried to deal with your situation, how it has affected you & your family. If it has effected you work performance- letters from your employer. Your health: letters from you Doctor, including medications you are currently taking.
Signed/dated.
Even if we don't come from this angle, we still need this letters for the packets that will be given out to all new County Council Members, Mayor & the Director of the Health Dept. - Dr. Dileep Bal.
It was suggested, I think by the Humane Society, that we try to add on to the existing Noise Ordinance.
I am not sure if this is the way to go, we need to discuss this further.
As far as writing a bill, that won't be the hard part. We can look at the Outer Island and Mainland ordinances, cut & paste. The hard part is figuring out WHO is going to enforce it.
KPD? HUMANE SOCIETY? BOTH?
Where will the funds come from?
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Letter from Michael Mann:
Perhaps you can forward this message on to the other attendees, as a way to get us thinking about how to stay on track here. There was something that struck me about the meeting. Two "locals" (sorry for the quotes, but I honestly don't even like using this word) spoke up about the hunting issue. One related that as a local, hunting was a very personal and somewhat emotional thing for them, as they had family who hunt. The other, also having a rich hunting history in their family, could not understand why hunters needed more than one hunting dog. What this said to me was that locals are not some monolithic group all sharing the same opinions, thus, we can't allow this issue to become mired in "local vs. malihini." That is an obfuscation tactic that we can be assured will be used by the detractors, and we have to RESOLVE right now that we will not allow it. Hunting must be completely removed from this discussion. I'd honestly rather not hear any more talk of hunting or hunters other than making sure that the law has explicit language in it to drive home the point that this ISN'T about hunting. Irresponsible dog owners are the issue here. Issues of "cultural practices and expectations" must be downplayed at every instance they try to rear their ugly heads. If we don't commit to doing this, we are going to reach a deadlock before we get anywhere.
Jeff asked at the very beginning what we were trying to accomplish. I think the consensus is that we want some kind of law in place to give us relief when "rational discourse" or the attempt at such fails, as it already has on multiple occasions. Laws exist to protect us from those that don't care about or don't think about the personal rights of others--under no circumstances should we question whether or not it is appropriate for this bill to exist. I want to go one step further and say that we want to focus on creating a law that deals with ONE issue--noise produced by barking dogs regardless of the type. I personally believe we have to leave roosters or other animals out of this for right now...the law can be amended if needed at a later date to deal with such issues. For the purposes of getting anywhere on this bill, we absolutely have to leave behind any discussion about whether or not the offending dogs are used for hunting, how many dogs a person has on their property, or the conditions those dogs are kept in. While those issues may be valid, they only complicate the issue that REALLY concerns us, and should be dealt with elsewhere. We need to keep this very simple--it will be easier for us to deal with the task if we do so, and we will minimize unnecessary disagreements within our ranks. I also think it will be easier for the rest of the public to grasp the merits of any bill that comes out of this if we keep it simple. As a result, I would prefer that we not try to piggyback on a general noise ordinance. As JoAnn indicated yesterday, this is just a can of worms. The two issues are certainly related, but why make our efforts more difficult by tying our issue to that one, which doesn't seem to be going anywhere at the moment? Let a clear, enforceable dog barking ordinance by the catalyst to getting a more appropriate general noise ordinance in place. Narrow scope, surgical precision.
Finally, I'm going to try getting in touch with the friends I have in various parts of the country to find out what laws exist in their area, to start this background investigation.
Sorry for the tone, but I'd like to see this effort get off on the right foot.
P.S. Could we also resolve not to use the word "haole" in any of our deliberations?
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Thank you Michael for a your letter. We appreciate your effort towards our goal.
I am trying to get another meeting together for Sat. Sept.11, so far I haven't had
confirmation from Becky Rhoades.
FYI - I get an average of FOUR new emails a WEEK regarding barking dogs & wanting more information & to join us. That is amazing.
I DO not know how they find us, but they do. Our ranks are growing!!
I DO need to find out what level of commitment you have for seeing this through.
I CAN NOT possibly do this alone. (Thank you Marianne for your suggestion)
Thank you Doug for sending your letter to our wonderful local Government.
With all the above being said, I think we had a successful meeting and Big Mahalo's for
those that joined us for our 1st meeting!
I would like to hear your thoughts, suggestions & comments here on our new site!!
A HUI HO
I would have come to the meeting but we were celebrating my daughter's 14th birthday in Hanalei. Thanks to everyone else who came to support the dog barking problem!
ReplyDeleteThe one issue NOT getting enough attention (and a small letter in 8/30 GI reminded me) is the fact that the PRIMARY issue is that constant dog barking represents a neglected or abused dog and therefor a neglectful and/or abusive dog owner. say what you want (dogs bark, it's about hunting, that's a way of life) and all the other 'look the other way' commentary, but there is no getting around this. for those willing to understand that this IS a problem, it starts with neglect at the very least. I appreciate that there are other 'base-line' issues, and we should hit them all.
ReplyDeleteI live in Lawai Hillside and for the last 7 years it was quiet, however now we have a young man who moved in with a German Shepard, at first the dog cried and whined for weeks on end because he was so sad being locked alone in a kennel without his master, now every night at about 10:00 the dog barks until his master comes home around 1:00am, we get up at 4:45 every morning which mean not much sleep. Also across the street we now have two households with little yappy dogs and if they hear the shepard off they go. There is no where in Lawai Hillside that is noise free
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