Outing Myself- Pumpkin Crunch and the Kauai Beer Summit:The Backstory

Yes, it is time to out myself. Wherever you see the words pumpkin crunch lately, there I am, or there I have been. Why? What is the reason for this?

Well, for one thing, pumpkin crunch as made by the one and only Suzy Tasaka of Hanalei is really the only Pumpkin Crunch I would jump of a cliff on fire for.

So what really is this whole "pumpkin crunch" thing all about?  And what in the world does it have to do with the now famous Kaua'i Beer Summit?

Well lemme tell ya........

It really all started with the Kauai Beer Summit, and not pumpkin crunch. The insinuation was that Dickie Chang, a truly sweet soul, who is really very genuine and a total innocent babe in the woods as far as the council goes was visited by three of the county attorneys who brought beer to his house and they all sat down to talk about the TVR bill. Now, at first flush I was pretty mad about that, and fired off a lot of crazy postings on my patient friend Joan's blog, who puts up with my visiting craziness on her blog whioch I think is very sweet of her.

Now it seems that we all seem to coagulate, er I mean cohabitate er, um..I mean descend upon Joans blog for some reason. So all of the good action always happens over there. Anyways, after thinking about the beer summit the night before the meeting I got this crazy idea of saying at the mike "I would only change my vote for pumpkin crunch."  So of course I said it. I am a little nuts, as everyone knows. There was a smattering of nervous laughter in the room after that.

But during the breaks, in the parking lot ect, the county attorneys and me kept joking back and forth. They would say.."Hey I will bring some pumkin crunch!", and I would answer "You better make it a big pan of it!". SO, it sort of became this joke about how I would sell my soul and change my mind for pumpkin crunch.

So, the whole "pumpkin crunch" thing, is really saying: I will only sell my soul for pumpkin crunch. Beer won't work with me. I need food to feed this big belly of mine to change my mind." Hilarious but true. However, I forgot to tell them that it has to be made by hand, by Suzy Tasaka for it to work. See I left that part out.

So what am I really saying? You can't buy me off with anything. Including pumpkin crunch.  I don't change my mind that easily.

So, as the days have worn on after the whole TVR controversy, I keep using the whole pumpkin crunch analogy in my posts, signing off with things like, "gotta go, my pumkin crunch is ready", "gotta go, I gotta wash the pumpkin crunch pan", or to my many detractors and critics,l "hands you a slice of pumpkin crunch with a smile."

It has sort of gotten a bit viral on Joan's blog. So I thought I would explain the inside joke here on my blog. Maybe it might make its way over to Joan's blog. Who knows. So that's the inside joke. I can't be bought for beer, or even pumpkin crunch.....unless Suzy Tasaka brings it to my house with a 6 pack. That's a triple threat. Might work. But probably not.

As for the Kaua'i Beer Summit, Dickie did change his vote from a "no" vote to a "yes" vote. But he did have serious reservations about doing so. I think he might be with my idea now, and ask for pumpkin crunch next time instead of beer.

And a side note for all of you who are still wondering if it is worth being an activist on Kaua'i, I will share with you the video that keeps me pumped up for the fight!

Christina Aquilera's "Fighter."

Also, don't forget to sign the petition to take to the Mayors office, to ask him to VETO the TVR bill.

Gotta go. My pumpkin crunch looks so lonely all by itself in the fridge. I am gonna go keep it company.

Dear Mayor Carvalho, VETO the "TVR DUE PROCESS" Bill-a letter

To:
The Honorable Mayor Bernard Carvalho
From:
The Citizens of Kaua'i
Dear Mr. Mayor

We humbly implore you to veto the current TVR "Due Process" bill before you.

We realize that TVR's that wish to be "grandfathered" into an exempted class may or may not have been legal. There are various legal opinions on this. However, we also stand by the State Attorney General Opinions in which it has been stated that overnight uses shall not be allowed, and this applies to TVR use, which is not considered an accessory to a farm use, because there is no farming occurring on the properties.

We have heard numerous testimonies from TVR owners that they cannot farm their land, which is why they need to have expensive, palatial mansions costing up to 10,000 dollars a week, and in some cases up to 9,000 dollars a night, for rent on the property to "afford" to "support" their families.

We beg to differ, Sir. Local farmers who bought agricultural land, and who have been farming their lands did not put up palatial mansions on them, and are also struggling to support their families. They did not engage in this questionable activity and farmed their lands. It is highly unfair to favor one class of people over another on land zoned exactly the same. Therefore if you give an exemption to the TVR owner over the law abiding farmer what will that do to the character and dare we say it the very fiber and soul of this island?

Further, Mr. Mayor many politicians and public officials have stated over and over again about the importance of "sustainability", and the "promotion" of sustainable practices on our island. How can the practice of TVR accommodations on agricultural lands be seen as sustainable? There is numerous testimony on record from TVR owners, that they landscape and garden their property in one breath, but then the next statements are clearly to the effect that they cannot farm their land because it is unsustainable for food production. We find this to be highly suspect given the fact that Kauai has sustained food production for centuries virtually over its entire surface and the soil is easily amended. If you can grow landscape plants and grass you can also grow crops.

Further these TVR owners claim to be a major source of employing people. However, we submit to you Sir, that these jobs are menial, and unsustainable. No one working for these TVR owners will be able to afford land themselves due to the fact that the owners are driving up land prices on Kauai to astronomical proportions, even in the current down economy.

Further, Mr. Mayor the creation of Visitor Destinations, or VDA were created for just such types of commercial activity that caters to the tourism industry. These types of operations take directly away from Hotels, smaller lodging facilities and other commercial operations that are operating legally out of the VDA.

It is inconsistant, and frankly just bad policy to allow some to obey the law, and others to be exempt from it.
By allowing certain businesses to operate certain types of operations in certain areas where other operations catering to the exact same type of clientelle (IE Transient Visitors) to not have an equitable opportunity to secure those clients is unfair. It hurts all of those businesses and their employees, and shows favoritism.

Also, another point is the issue of the matter of lawsuits against the county should these operators not be allowed their "due process", however we submit to you that not only will operators sue if they are not accepted and allowed to continue to operate, but that there will be numerous counter suits filed.

The best course of action we believe, would be to veto this bill, and go to the state legislature for clarity and a bill that would be far more equitable to all concerned.  This current bill has had to be amended often, and has caused a large rift in our community. We beg you to reconsider picking up the pen that allows this, and refuse to sign this bill into law, then allow for a much better process and bill to proceed in the future.

Sincerely,
The citizens of Kaua'i.

GET THE PETITION HERE

SIGN THE PETITION TO VETO THE KAUAI TVR "DUE PROCESS BILL"http://vetotvrbill.WebStarts.com

http://vetotvrbill.WebStarts.com

Aloha.

Here is the website I have made today.

The petition and letter to the Mayor is all there.

Please download, share, and spread the word on this.

Everyone sign the petitions, email me and I will arrange a pickup.

Signwaving to be announced.



Lets stop feeling frustrated and do something.

Of TVR's, Farm Worker Housing, and other strange tales of Kaua'i

HERE IS THE ULTIMATE AGRICULTURAL LAND TVR-GOES FOR up to  TEN THOUSAND BUCKS A NIGHT. yep. Should these guys get a permit under the new TVR Bill? Evern if these people are the nicest people in the world, still this isn't right. Honestly. Come on, people. If you have this much money, then you have the money to do farming RIGHT. Big operation. Lots of empolyees, read: FARM WORKERS. NICE accomodations for your farm laborers. big contracts with major food companies. Hydroponics. If your landscape plants work well, then you can grow crops on your land. When they purchased this land, it was zoned ag. No excuses. Lease out the land. Something. Anything. Build yourself a nice home. OK, whatever. BUT NOT THIS!! THIS IS A PLANNED USE, ie they bought it with the intention of using it for THIS, and not ag. That's my problem with it. Plus, the name is absolute GIBBERISH. "Palama Huna Hale?" Huh? No such thing as huna. New age garbage. Palama? As in 

Palama ¹

Definition: A membrane extending between the toes of a bird, and uniting them more or less closely together. , which is NOT a Hawaiian word. Or is a Hindi word of some sort? Or is it named after the district of Palama in Honolulu?  get the picture yet? Gibberish.




And here it is: The luxury vacation rental on the north shore, that goes for 10,500 dollars a WEEK! Oh yeas, we NEED this on Kaua'i! Absolutely! This is the future of Kaua'i! This will make us all propepsrous. Hey don't be hatin cuz I can get a house for vacationin and you can't!! take a look at this abomination, here at:
 http://www.holomakani.com/holomakani, Yeah, here, take our land, and make 10,500 bucks a week off it. Enjoy. Yeah. Sure. Aloha Spirit, brah!

Here is their availability calender. They seem prety booked up. Lets count the money shall we? From now, until November, so far this year looks like they will be making 80 grand. Of course that doesn't include the first part of the year. I would say probably when the bookings are all down and all of the dough has been counted pretty cose to a cool million, since the potential is 40-50 thousand a month.

You might be surprised at what you see on this "availability calender".  Is this property on "ag land". Probably not. BUT is this a TVR outside of the VDA? Forget that. Is it just morally and ethically wrong? My ohana is from this area. They dont charge 10,500 dollars a week to live there. In fact many of my ohana regularly took in people with no place to stay and never charged them anything. Some of them grew up to be real estate agents in Hanalei. Think about that. The surrounding properties in this area actually are inhabited by some very poor and humble poeple, who would offer you the shirt of their backs, a hot meal and a spot on their counches. Just think about that for a second. And then you wonder just why some of us fight against these things. ALoha spirit my a$$


For my take on yesterdays meetings, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN HERE:




Well, it was a very long day, (and night) at the council chambers. If you ever want to know what going through a marathon ride of emotions, ranging from mental exhaustion, elation, fear, anger, indignation, happiness, hopefullness, forgiveness, and every other emotion there is just go to one of these meetings. You will be physically and mentally exhausted afterwards, trust me. I know I was. I wonder why I do this. I must be a glutton for punishment, a complete idiot, or completely insane, or all three. Frankly after waking up this morning with a Council Meeting Hangover, commonly known as a CMH, in council-speak, I think I am all three most definatly.

IT was really Kauai political theatre at its best. In its strange incubatorial world of nether reality we live encased in this bubble of a hub engrossed in influencing each other both on and off camera, a nd as usual, the audience area serves as the hub for the "shadow council", as we cut our deals amung ourselves, try to influence our opponents into common sense and out of their own opinions and self interests, and other strange alternative reality activities.

Our audience area is a strange sea of flotsom and jetsom, punctuated by a few leaky rowboats, and Cruise ships all maneuvering and banging heads in the same salty water of acidic verbal discourse thinly disguised by politeness while gritting your teeth from the inside.

Occasionally, councilmemebers attempot to swim into our turbulent waters and navigate through our lines of communication often, I am sure regretting their attempt to do so without water wings, or a good inflatable. We, for our part, are like Sirens, calling from the rocks to cajole our helpless victims into the water, to swim the dangerous currents that are the Citizen Gallery while the beleagered staff actually tries to keep everyone happy.

Another great sideshow is the Bull Pen of attornies which is always fun to watch if the rhetoric at the mike on either side of the bar gets a little boring. Whispering, postulating, getting up and down, getting their turns at the mike, which they relish almost as much as we do. We really can't complain, as we are all part of the same theatre group, and everyone has their parts down to a "t". We also do our share of getting up, and down, grabbing mysterious peices of paper scribble down as much as the attornies to, in a beautiful ballet of futility at times. But we have learned the ploys, the plays, the eye contacts, hand signals. When you have been in this Theatre of Fools long enough, you learn well.

It is always facinating as the camera gets turned off, and the breaks go through we exoplode, or implode into a cackling sea of hens where we really spark up the charm, or the ploys, or acts of sheer desperation. When the cameras go on again, at least 7 new alliances have been made, and 126 new deals have been struck. All within a blink of an eye. Its real Twighlight Zone stuff. Facinating to participate in.

So it was yesterday,the play played itself out, with calls for recusals, and the bringing up of infamous blog posts, and a litany of people claiming they can't farm and the only way to save themselves was by having TVR's. Then there were rthe assurances that the issue would be looked at sternly by the planning commission. Then there was the presentation that frankly pissed me the hell off. I do not beleive that anyone who has to so ostentatiousely show off there wealth does not have an emotional compensation problem.

The strangest thing to me was that we were all sort of in a dream trance there. Some internalized among each other. Those of us who were rowing the leaky little row boats in the seas of contention knew that we could not plead our case to change the outcome. It was a done deal. Frankly I was already into the "kill em with kindness " mode, and shook the hands of the ones who were seen as the biggest abusers and problems in the TVR's issue. Why? I wanted to see them as human beings. To look into their eyes.  To dfind out what makes them tick. To see how to work on these poeple. TO get them to see the other side.  Wel,l, I am sure its a pipe dream. But idiots and fools always hope for impossible thijngs. Maybe I don't have the spine of steel I like to think I have. Maybe I like to think that anyone can see reason somehow. THe onwe thing I did get to say is that how can you expect me, from my lowest rung to come here and support you on the highest rung when I myself have no support from you? WHere is my motivation! Is that selfigsh and heartless? Perhaps. But then remember this is a play, theatre, a dance.

ANd then the curtain falls. Reality sets in. There are repercussions to two bnills that passed yesterday. Tvr's on Ag lands. The opportunity for "fairness" and to "plead their case", and to have "due porocess". The problem is the people of Kauai do not feel like they have any of those things. The perception is that there is coprruption, back door deals, all sorts of things going on and that the poeple will always lose. That there is no hope. That it is over for Kauai.

Then, we got the farm worker housing bill. For me, that was a victory. Because it was caused by the housing crunch caused by the very same TVR situations. Those that claimed to be doing ag would now have to prove it. What better way, then to need farm worker housing. What better testament to the fact that all of these rich peoples mansions have caused homelessness, a lack of housing, and the very need to build housing for their help. Look at Kukuiula they have to have housing for their middle management earning a decent living wage because their is no housing. Look at the homeless issue. Neglecting to build housing for the minimum wage earners has caused an absolute nightmare.

What better situatioln for the massahs on the hill. Now they will need to build housing for their slaves as they work the feilds. People who will never be able to afford their own land or own their own house, or aI dare say every have their own TVR, because now there will be no more. Now, these people will have a monopoly on the TVR market. Is that fair? Due Process? Equitable? Becasue local farmers followed the law, weren't greedy, and  didnd't build themselves a ten bedroom mansioin and charge 50 thousand dollars for a one week stay there, we should somehow be sympathetic, empathetic, and helpful to them. Why?  Will they be gifting the little laborers any land? Permanent housing? Nope. Because the farm worker housing bill does not allow for that. All of the housing-is temporary. Therefore showing the confidence in the farmers. Which is pretty much zero. If the council had beleived these were really farmers? They would have made the housing poermanent. But it is temporary in anticipation of the inevitable flipping of properties, or the IAL, which I can assure you will be downgrading almost all of these lands out of ag, thus making all of this a huge moot point.

FOr me, as for nmmany others we now know that the IAL process will be the biggest loophole possible for these people. It will be willy nilly happily downgrading perfectly salvageable and usable farm lands, by making the ludicruous claim that only plus 4 and 3 land should be considered important. Lesser soils should be downgraded. Don't beleive me? Just wait, until after the next 20 meetings they have. The criteria and rules they are to go by will convuolute the process and confuse those on the board, as it is meant to do. That is the first step. NEver allow complete copmprehensioin of anything. If people do actually start to comprehend these bills, then it needs to be ammended, the rules changed, or something thrown in there to slow down the process. This is what I have learned from the theatre that is Council Chambers. Expect the same with the IAL bill. It will take our of ag those lands where a lot of those mansions are sitting, trust me. Forever. Even if those lands could have been ammended, and planted. Is this sustainable? Is this what is known aws food security? Is this what a beautiful and countrified Kauai looks like? Or am I a bitter old jealous fool, just a ranting old middle aged woman who has failed to be prosperous and should now be seen as the laughingstock pathetic idiot desperately grasping at anything to shoot poisonous venom at those who have done much better then I have? Why don't I bow down? Why don't I aquiesce with some grace and dignity? Why must I parade myself and make a fool of myself defending the rights of the impoverished and diesenfranchised? Why can't I just shut up and resist the urge to attend these meetings, and put in my worthless two cents, while other people fdar more important then me must wait there turn! Why, ideed. WHy indeed.

For the massahs on the hill, the problem has come home to roost and nest, and fester. Now lets see if we can separate the theatre and the reality and come to some pergatory of normalicy and some sense of fairness and justice. Is it or will it ever be possible on this little unique island of Kauai?

And while the homeless can't find a home, and the public housing residents live in fdear that even though they have followed all the rules and paid their rents they may be tossed out onto the street to house the homeless that are currently on the street becasue we have not cared about providing housing for those who need to work for the rich, and the rich and wealthy have won the due process to stay in their homes and continue their american dream, while we struggle to prevent a nightmare form happening, the world continues to turn and Kauai right along with it. Will we spin into each other, and see each other for what we are? Will we be able to look into each others eyes and make a theraputic break through?

I for one am willing to keep trying. I have not put down my armour yet. I wil continue to try. I still have hope.

Do You?

gotta go. Pumpkin crunch is ready.

Mel Rapozo : Blog Just say NO to the TVR bill-TODAY AT COUNTY COUNCIL

Mel Rapozo for Kauai County Council : Blog

I stand with Mel Rapozo, encouraging everyone to please vote no on th TVR ag bill exemption process which has become tainted with the many antics both in the council chambers and out of it. THe latest antics, are what is being called the "beer summit", when county attorneys visited Dickie Chang with beer, and they discussed the TVR bill at his house.

This bill is flawed for many reasons. It allows TVRs that were operating to come foreward for a exemption and to be allowed to continue to operate. It is being proposed out of fear that 77 landowners will sue the county if they can't have thier cake and eat i9t too. Screw us, screw real ag, these guys want the mansions on the hills, and the "gardeners and landscapers", to make it look pretty for the million dollar guests they will be bringing to the property. Forget food production. Forget farming. These are NOT farmers.

ALSO: today is the vote for the "farm worker housing bill". I have told council over and over, there is a Federal law, that says if someone is on your property as a farm laborer you HAVE to provide housing for them. This bill is too restrictive, and prevents some farmers from providing housing. It also gives a HUGE loophole for "woofing", which is actually tourism, and a step down from the luxury accommodations of some TVRs, but its the same thing, different smwell.

In BOITH cases, the county is trying to recreate the wheel. The process for TVR's is already written into chapter 205. The process for farm ag workers is already written into the State, and Federal law. Further, in thye case of the farm worker bill, the structures haver to be temporary, therefor,, true farmers cannot ask for federal help to build the housing, as that has tpo be permanent.

Please come to council today. For more on the beer summit, visit Joan Conrows blog, Kauaieclectic.

Kaua'is TVR : Ag vs Vacation Rental "supplement". No Excuse for not being able to produce off the land.

Give me one acre of land, I could do a LOT of agriculture on it.

But then, ag lands do not go to people like me, who can actually farm, know what to plant and where and how to ammend the soil and make things grow.

It goes to rich greedy fake so called "farmers", who come here, don't know what the heck they are doing, fail, and then cry and moan that they HAVE to have a vacation rental, or they can not possibly make it!!

What a ridiculous, unfair farce.

The worst thing is when the council whines they don't know what agriculture is and they are trying to figure out how to define it. That's like saying they don't know how to eat, or walk, or stand upright, and they have to define it.

It reminds me of the ridiculous debates a few years ago about what constitutes an "environmentalist", regarding the seat on the planning commission that states there must be a representative from enviromental interests on the planning commission.

Its the same thing. Some people said, well I know which bin to put cardboard in, and I drop off my cardboard at the recycling center. Therefore, I have been active in the enviromental community and know enough to represent that seat on the commission." That was what some people were actually saying, I am not kidding you.

The same theory is now being applied to agriculture. "Well I have plants on my land, so I am a farmer. See all this grass?".

I just cannot tell you how totally p.o.'d that kind of very ignorant, and fake stupid "well I dont know I am innocent. Whats agriculture anyway? How do we define it? Lets ponder this until after the election. "

I will never forget, at the meeting I had a great conversation with one of the landowners, who actually turned out to be a really great couple.

I mentioned to the wife, that if they paid more attention to doing ag on their land they probably would not even need to supplement their income with the vacation rental, after finding out how much they charged for a room rental.

She agreed but said that the mortgage payments on the house were very high and that is why they needed to rent out rooms, but that if they did do more ag it probably would produce more.

Another issue that I heard, not from this couple whom I actually like, and think they really are pretty sincere poeple, I often here from these "farmers" that they can't sell their crops. Thats ridiculous. People are SCREAMING for Kauai produce.  When I mention this, then they say that they can't get a good enough price for it if the market is flooded with certain seasonals.

So I tell people you need to niche market. Do hierlooms. Look at other varieties of crops. Do people listen? Nope. Want to know why?: Its real simple. They will "token farm", and then delight in failing, so they can say see, the land can't produce we cant make it work. SO we need to change the zoning because this ag land is just no good for farming.

That is the most bogus argument there is in this modern agricultural era. There are tons of soil ammendments that are safe, like sunhemp, a natural soil conditioner. Two or in the worst cases three rounds of this crop and you can fix the most depleted soils. A round of liming afterwards, and there is just absolutely no excuse for not being able to get in a crop of anything. A good load of loam from the west side maybe, if you need to, and six inches or organic topsoil tilled in, and you are on your way to a highly productive peice of land. There is NO EXCUSE for not being able to bring in a crop. Especially if land has been fallow for awhile. Everyone knows fallow land is the best for ammending and rejuvination, and will be able to produce well if you take care of your spoils properly.

But all this is a waste of breath. These poeple will do the exact opposite to ensure they DON'T get a good crop or do well. Then they can whine, moan,  and complain. THey waste all of the ag lands, they trash them, they do everything wrong, and they are the ones that contribute to the degeneration of our soils and ag lands.

I would like an ordinance where we take the land away from farmers, and give it out to poeple like me who can actually farm. WHo know how to produce food, or to ranch and produce meats, cheeses, or who can grow herbs or medicinals, or who can produce traditional canoe plant crops, or florals that can be used for mass producing leis, such as vanda orchids, and plumerias.Ho0w about growong ipu gourds, and Kauai wauke, and producing real Hawaiian tapa again? how about lauhala groves, and a manyfacturing area, where we can produce lauhala weavinjg from right here on Kauai? How about ulu groves, and the selling of breadfgruit? More taro farming? how about hawaiian medicinal plant farms?  How about niche marketing, such as truffles, vineyards, and then wines produced right on kauai? Fruit tree groves, and then the production of jams and jellies from them? What about the numerous varieties of teas, and then the manufacture and packaging right here? What about the fruits which we need to export such as papayas, mangoes, bananas? How about edible gingers, and a host of other hierloom and niche marketing crops? This is what agriculture is.

The guy that said he couldnt grow an orange tree by the ocean, obviousely a mainland transplant does not understand that years ago, in the kalalau valley true farmers came here form the mainland, planted citrus in the kalalau valley, on the ocean, on the coast, with wind and rain, and saltwater, and were able to supply all of California with citrus, including oranges limes and lemons. When I hear this guy complaining he cant grow an orange tree, that just really insults the intelligence of Kauais people. since we know the history of citrus here. In particular the varieties of Ka'u oranges that are adapted to those conditions, the Hawaiian lemon s and limes, ect. So we know the guy is just totally incapable. HE should not have that land. Give it to a real farmer.