We live in a beautiful location with so many people working to help it be a generous and compassionate community.

The costs around some of the golf course plans and the proposed swimming pool have made for a very polarized community, one I can’t imagine any of us want. When the whole nation is also experiencing this, we lose our sense of safety and trust.

I think the polarization is not just about whether people favor golf or other options, but is likely a result of how the council decided to pursue management and use of the property, the public’s concern about basic needs not being addressed, and taxes going up.

While I am always glad to see value in good planning, in this case it’s first things first. I think we can agree on all of these priorities:

Wildfire season — more funding for crews to be cutting on the sides of the roads. What is the city offering for fire planning? We are not so different than Lahaina.

Road painting – schools open soon and many areas are not clear. Again, more funding for this very important work.

Roads – more funding for much needed repair work.