Island Breath: Superferry return to Kauai

SUBJECT: SUPERFERRY RETURN TO KAUAI

SOURCE: JUAN WILSON juanwilson@mac.com

POSTED: 3 MAY 2008 - 5:00am HST

Superferry gearing up for return to Kauai

image above: Adm. Thomas E. Fargo (left) , ex Commander of U.S. Pacific Command visited
Pohakuloa Training Area on Big Island 10/29/03. US Army photo by Bob McElroy.

by Juan Wilson on 3 May 2008

We should expect new HSF CEO Thomas Fargo to act quickly and forcefully yo re-establish service to Kauai. As a military man with a board posiiton at Lehman Investments you can be sure he will be as brutal as necessary to get the job done... namely shove the Superferry down our throat.

The propaganda machine is cranked up.

• You hear about how Love's Bread won't be able to serve Kauai without frequent Superferry service. (That would be a relief).

• You'll hear about how conevenient it would be to shop at Ala Moana and be able to load your Cadillac Esacalade at curbside before the return jaunt of the Superferry.

Ydada, yadda, yadda... You won't hear about the destruction of our way of life on this island when these these bozos try and come back.

The promotion for the Superferry is ramping up\ In the 2 May 2008 there were 3 of 4 letters to the editor about bringing back the Superferry.

There is evidence that our county council representatives are receiving pressure, including hate mail, pushing them to adopt a resolution favoring the return of the Superferry to Kauai.

The 2 May 2008 Pacific Business News has an interview (page 35) with new HSF CEO Thomas Fargo. Here is a quote:

"Any chance Kauai service may resume soon?

Fargo: We are monitoring the situation very closely and we are going to do what 'the community asks us to do.'"

Next question: "Will you be stepping down from the board of Hawaiian Airlines due to possible conflict of interest?

Fargo: We really see Hawaiian Airlines as a partner in almost every respect, but we serve really different markets. We are working with them on a fly-and-drive effort. As is always the case, we will see if there is any issue there, and we will do the right thing."

It is pretty obvious that a public relations war has begun to make it look like Kauai cannot live without the Superferry. It is time to engage the propaganda machine that is already distorting the news here.

Jonathan Jaysuggests we start our own public relations blitz. He writes:

kickstarting a "no HSF" letter campaign
by Jonathan Jay on 2 May 2008

Folks we would benefit greatly from a forceful flotilla of letters against the return of the Ferry to Kaua`i.

Say whatever you like - there are a gajillion great points to raise, some of the most recent being:

depleted uranium "i don't LOVE uranium in my bread"
anti-union manufacture "No SCAB Ferry on Kaua`i"
dangerous welds - "Loose Welds Sink Ships"
the new CEO - "Go back to Fargo"

Whatevers!

But no matter what you choose to emphasize, please try NOT to call anyone bad names - in fact, i encourage you to keep it very clean.

WHY?

Our pointing out the foul and absolutely uncalled for vicious and derogatory language of the "SuperScaries" can be a power tool for us to use in diminishing their impact, and continuing to reach into the broad middle ground - where we expand our base and grow our coalitiion.

We already have established a strong frame - it is they who are now trying to break-in. Since we already have the floor, there is no need for us to shout - but we should calmly continue to press our case, and further isolate the haters.

Don't allow SuperBullies working on behalf of the Millifery to cram through their narrow self-serving agenda. There is no place for haters who care more about the Ferry than they do the wishes of the people and the preservation of the Garden Island we are all blessed to call home.

Malama`aina - `A`oleloa Ferry.

One kind of letter you may consider that seems particularly effective in expanding the breath of our movement - winning more hearts and minds - are the ones that start off with:

"At first i was neutral..."
or

"When I first head about the Ferry I thought it would be great..."

followed by either:

"but then I learned more about..."

or

"but the shady (dishonest - underhanded - heavyhanded)
tactics of the Ferry and their supporters to"

(pick one from below)

circumvent the process
ram it down our throats
batter Kaua`i into submission
send the governor over to lecture us
strong-arm the legislature
re-write the law
bribe our lawmakers
secretly lobby with hundreds of thousands of dollars
subvert our democracy
offer phony ferry service to gain $30 billion in military contracts

etc-etc.

(take your pick, eh?)

"...really changed my mind"

or

"let me see them in a new light"

etc-etc.

This allows people who perhaps have still not taken a strong stand (hard to believe by now, but still surprisingly widespread), or perhaps are mildly supportive still to be swayed and persuaded to join us. and that's what it's all about!

Goodluck!

Maybe some one else can gather a list of all the papers and places to send these to - that would be called teamwork!

SUBJECT: SUPERFERRY RETURN TO KAUAI

SOURCE: JUAN WILSON juanwilson@mac.com

POSTED: 29 APRIL 2008 - 9:30am HST

Kauai Superferry to resume May 22nd?

image above: The return of the Superferry to Kauai meets a Hawaiian roadblock. Graphic by Juan Wilson

by Juan Wilson on 29 April 2008

With the appointment of retired Admiral Thomas Fargo and the collapse of Aloha Cargo service we can be sure of one thing. The Superferry is contemplating resuming service to Kauai in the near future. My quess is that this will be announced before Memorial Day.

One unnamed source at a recent social event overheard that the Superferry Corporation/Lingle Administration strategy is to resume service to Kauai with the Unified Command prepared to arrest everybody they find in the water and on the land (slowing down traffic or blocking access. Their hope would be to take-out the core of the anti-ferry activists from the picture in a single stroke. The next day would be clear sailing.

I do not think that will be successful. Many possible strategies by the Superferry opposition have already taken that blunt-force tactic into account.

Brad Parsons has done some analysis of the HSF Oahu to Maui schedule and makes the following conclusion:

About a two week ago I mentioned a quote Garibaldi gave and because of that I studied closely many variations in routes and schedules that HSF could use with one and then two ferries. There are better routes than what HSF has thusfar proposed. But, one of the early points that I figured they would do based on Garibaldi's quote is in fact the following schedule.

They announced April 18th a second trip every other day to Maui... Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That leaves Saturday open because the canoe clubs use Kahului Harbor often on Saturday's for the next number of months, and HSF is trying to not incite Hawaiian Canoe Club, at least until harbor improvements are made. I kept this to myself.

What they have not announced, but which I think they will attempt in the next few months is transits to and from Kauai on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in the afternoon-evening. I have thought for two week now that they will attempt this, but have kept this to myself until now. I am keeping to myself the better routes that HSF could be following, but I will say their key MS mistake is that they have only considered out-and-back routes, which are not optimal internally nor externally for a number of reasons.

Based on Brad's schedule review I suggest that the date for the return to Kauai of the Superferry will be noon on Thursday, 22 May 2008 - the day before the beginning of the Memorial Day Weekend.

Once again we must prepare ourselves for the invasion of an aggressive and unwanted interloper that will damage our island. With the former Admiral of the Pacific Command in charge it will likely be a long and persistent battle.

Fortunately, we have the inneficiency, bad design, ham-handed leadership and horrendous public relations of the Superferry on our side. With some strategy and luck we should be able to puch these scheming fools back again.

SUBJECT: SUPERFERRY RETURN TO KAUAI

SOURCE: BRAD PARSONS mauibrad@hotmail.com

POSTED: 30 APRIL 2008 - 12:30pm HST

Firms want Kauai ferry service

image above: Joe Souza of Y. Hata and Co. unloaded cargo bound for Kauai at Honolulu Airport.
Photo by Craig Kojima for Star Bulletin

[Editor's Note: The public relations has begun. Soon you'll see Grove Farms and others with investment money in the Superferry pretending they are farmers and whining about the lack of transport for products. Is it possible that Aloha was sacrificed for the Superferry Corporation?]

by T. Finnegan & R. Bernardo on 30 April 2008 in The Star Bulletin

Food industry leaders ask for help in getting the Superferry to sail to assist with cargo.

A number of food industry executives, led by Love's Bakery President Mike Walters, are asking the Hawaii Superferry, Gov. Linda Lingle and Kauai politicians to bring the Superferry back to Kauai.

Walters, whose bakery shipment to Kauai was still sitting in Los Angeles late last night, met with Superferry executives yesterday, asking them to return to the Garden Isle for cargo purposes.

Dick Botti, president of the Hawaii Food Industry Association, a lobbying firm, also sent a memo to Linda Smith, Lingle's chief policy adviser, asking her to help out to get the Superferry back to Kauai.

"We desperately need it," Botti said. "If we don't (get it), the people will suffer."
Members of the Lingle administration said last night that it's up to the Superferry to chart its next trip to Kauai.

Superferry officials remained noncommittal.

But Botti also urged all his vendors on Kauai to contact the Kauai County Council and ask them to support the Superferry's return.

Jimmy Trujillo, one of the organizers of the anti-Superferry movement on Kauai, said the vessel still is not wanted.

"Aloha Air cargo is certainly a valued service. Perhaps Aloha Airlines should have been the beneficiary of a special legislative session," Trujillo said.

"The military cargo Strykerferry isn't the vehicle to carry depleted uranium and baked goods," he added.

Meanwhile, the Hawaii Farm Bureau is looking into alternatives to help farmers transport produce in the wake of the sudden shutdown of Aloha Airlines' cargo operations.

"It's going to take a concerted effort by all parties to find alternatives and solutions," said Executive Director Alan Takemoto.

Some farmers and distributors affected by the shutdown are likely to turn to Hawaiian Airlines, Young Bros., the Hawaii Superferry and interisland cargo companies.

But officials fear that those affected by the shutdown will be forced to increase prices.

The farm bureau was inundated with calls yesterday from farmers looking for alternatives to transport their produce.

"They're at a standstill right now," Takemoto said.

A spokeswoman with the Department of Agriculture said officials were assessing the situation yesterday.

Dean Okimoto, owner of Nalo Farms in Waimanalo and president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau, said the shutdown puts a lot of farmers at risk.

For 12 years, Okimoto said, Aloha's cargo service was Nalo Farms' sole cargo carrier for perishable items that include tomatoes, onions and lettuce flown to Oahu from the Big Island and Maui. Nalo Farms distributes produce to 80 restaurants on Oahu and a number of restaurants on the neighbor islands.

Kelvin Shigemura, vice president of Armstrong Produce Ltd., used Hawaiian Airlines Monday to fly produce to Kauai soon after the announcement. The company also secured Trans Air, an interisland cargo company, to transport produce to and from Oahu.

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