Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann has issued the following statement:

The old cliche “desperate people do desperate things” appears to be alive and well in some sections of Hawaii County these days as we careen towards the Nov. 2 General Election.

We’ve heard that a tired, well-worn figment of someone’s imagination has surfaced again in an apparent attempt to sow the seeds of doubt and distrust into a Council election.

You’ve heard this fantasy in various forms before: “The Westside Council members wish to divide the County in two,” or some similar nonsense.

One can only wonder at the desperation that stoops to generate such foolishness, and marvel at the presumption that such a statement might actually find fertile harvests among the voters.

I for one have more faith in the intelligence of our residents not to be deceived by these efforts, but since this topic has arisen once again, it may be well to remind all why splitting the County is not the best of ideas. I have argued continuously against this idea, and to the best of my knowledge, so have Council-members Ford and Yagong.

First, as the originator of this hot-air should know, the Council can do nothing in regards dividing the County. It isn’t our ‘kuleana’.

Even if the Council wished to split the County, the best it could do is to pass a resolution, which is simply a statement of desire without force of law. It is the State Legislature that must bring forward such action, and unless I’ve missed something, I haven’t heard our State representatives rushing to support a two-County proposal.

Therefore, if someone is attempting to intimidate voters with tall tales of dire consequences, I’d suggest that individual should look to the State Legislature and not the Council.

Second, even if by some set of circumstances, the State Legislature and the Governor (who must sign off on any such proposal) agree to split our County, think how long it will take to establish a functioning bureaucracy to run this new County.

I’d say it would be five-seven years before an administration is fully operational. And what resources does this new County have to fund such a bureaucracy, complete with offices and facilities? A great deal of taxpayer dollars would have to be spent organizing and establishing this entity, resources that are badly needed for so many more projects on our island.

I have a hard time believing that when the costs of such a proposal are calculated, many in West Hawaii will advocate for this as a reasonable solution to our difficulties.

Third, ask the Department Directors in the current administration and I think they will tell you it is not easy to find the qualified individuals to fill the positions required in our County government, particularly mid-level employees and supervisors. If we are having trouble finding quality individuals for one County, where are we to find sufficiently trained personnel to run a second County government?

Finally, no one has responded adequately to this concern: after spending so much, time, energy, and money trying to set up a second County government, what guarantee do we have that the people running that new effort will be any better (at least in the minds of the constituents) than our current crop of County officials? I’m not willing to travel that route to find out the answer.

To some, a West Hawaii County may sound like progress. I don’t believe it and can’t advocate for it. The current system isn’t broken. Perhaps some of the individuals who inhabit the system need to be changed, but we are one island and should remain that way. As for those who wish to spread fabrications, I trust they will exclude the current Westside Council members from such fantasies.