Futures – MidWeek August 3, 2022

As the quagmire inevitably gets resolved about the new tourism marketing situation locally, I’m putting in a plug in to add director/actor/comedian Jordan Peele to the consultants’ list. After all, he’s had big hits with movies entitled “Get Out”, “Us, and now “Nope”, so (just by his titles alone) it seems like he might be a perfect ally to align with on future campaigns as they most assuredly will morph.

And speaking of tourism issues, we know that some early rhetoric has mentioned some plans for bolder moves to redirect or change the visitor experience and perception. Good timing, because they’ve already resorted to boulder moves streetside in Lanakai… 

Last week I needed to get something in quickly to a government office and they actually asked me to fax it. Really? I thought we were living in a post-fax world, which aligns with the sad reality that we’re also far too often living in a post-facts world… 

While I understand (and concur) with reminding people that COVID is still a hovering presence and a concern inside crowded buildings, I found it ironic to see a sign posted recently on the fence at a Hawai`i Public Housing Authority facility that read: “This property is CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC” and right below that it added “NO TRESPASSING”. Boy, if that doesn’t sum up our laissez faire attitude toward the housing situation and public needs in general…

It seems a bit pedestrian, obvious, and generic to see mundane, 2022 political ads that focus on how said candidate will “fight for the little guy”. As opposed to whom- multi-millionaires? You see some politico ads highlighting the concepts of “trust” and “future”. Shouldn’t trust and our future be a voting expectation and a basic given? As opposed to skepticism and looking backwards? Hmmm. 

We need real solutions to real problems in real time; like finalizing flood mitigation plans along the Ala Wai Canal. The Ala Wai Flood Management Project (that name alone might indicate a potentially serious issue) has been around for 23 years, but wasn’t officially authorized or funded until 2018. More talks will soon be held with necessary public interaction, and a supposed “final report” will come out next spring, at which point there’ll be more feedback, then probably more discussion, and invariably more studies. Let’s hope nature remains ambivalent and gives us time to get this one done right… some decade.

Think about it…