Bill 39, CD1 raises interesting questions. The City Councilmember representing the District where the landfill is situated also asked for more dialogue in the Nanakuli Neighborhood Board first.

However, it’s important to note that hardly any bill or resolution is discussed or explained to residents as far as I’m aware of.

The impetus for this tax exemption appears to come from the unions. It makes as they represent a segment of their blue collar workers in this area. Unions should rightly advocate for their members.

Environmental Justice and Social Justice considerations are paramount in our public policies. So is fairness and even application of the law.

At a quick glance, the rationale for this Bill raises many questions.

1. Is the city saying that those who live in this area are considered “expendables” and throwing an exemption is sufficient to make up for supposed “shortened life-span”, health hazards and other negative impacts from an active landfill?
2. There are arbitrary lines of demarcation that will benefit those within a designated boundary. Those outside the immediate designated boundary will be disenfranchised. Is it fair?
3. Is this a good policy to continue to pollute our island environment or should more emphasis be placed on recycling and limiting the amounts of landfill materials into our island. For example: Can there be an effort to initiate a recycling industry to say, repair appliances instead of simply throwing them away.
4. Is the city working on implementing cutting-edge technology on this issue?
5. The rationale provided by some supporters also raises questions.

The rationale above is Lualualei and Nanakuli have a lesser life-span of 10 years. What other contributing factors or data are there?

Is this 10-year life span sentence primarily due to the active PVT Landfill? This question is not to discount that negative impacts of landfills but it is to question the rationale used for this Bill.

The fundamental question to be asked is the other two color spots outside of West Oahu. Those two other colored spots are not next to the active PVT landfill area. What could be the reasons for putting these areas into the shortened 10 year lifespan. Are there other factors?

Should the other two color spots be accorded the same property tax exemption?

What about those in Kahuku who live next to the industrial wind turbines with various negative health impacts?