Fireworks, loud car stereos, and loud car exhausts are major problems in Kaneohe. Curious to hear what’s being done about it at the city and county level.
Quieter O'ahu Response:Aloha,
On O'ahu, the City and County Levels are pretty much the same, City and County of Honolulu. And not a great deal has been done historically. Our website has been active for about 13 years now and we try to provide information to the public on noise issues of interest, ordinances and statutes in place to "protect" the public from noise abuses, and a forum via our Blog to air their concerns publicly. We've had some successes, but over the years we reflect that it's always the case of a couple steps forward, but seemingly more backward.
But in light of the disappointments we remain optimistic. HPD under Chief Ballard is seemingly more responsive to noise than her predecessor, Chief Kealoha, and the new mayor, Rick Blangiardi, has already signalled more of a readiness to take on noise issues than we ever heard from Mayor Caldwell.
We very strongly advocate to everyone concerned with noise on O'ahu to work with and through your neighborhood board. The neighborhood board organization is, effectively, the lowest level of City and County Government and the level most integrated with the average citizen/resident. At neighborhood board meetings one "firebrand" or "squeaky wheel" can literally move the entire board to action. You have the ability to speak to the entire board, to question City Officials, and to put your concerns in front of an organization that can move those concerns forward to the Office of the Mayor and the Governor. You'll find that most, if not all, of the neighborhood boards are also concerned with noise. If the trend continues we may see a tipping point in our favor. We urge you to be a part of that. You can find information on Kaneohe's Neighborhood Board, and the other Boards, at the following link.
http://www.honolulu.gov/cms-nco-menu/site-nco-sitearticles/445-meeting-schedules.html
We will comment that there was recently a very, very large "Bust" of illegal fireworks distributors in Ewa. One bust won't solve the problem, but a strong signal was sent that business as usual will no longer be tolerated.
Mahalo for sharing your thoughts. We'll post your comments and our reply to our Blog.
A Quieter O'ahu