Saturday, August 25, 2007
Superferry or Stupidferry?
by Larry Geller
So the Superferry is selling tickets at $5 per person or per vehicle and pushing the startup date to tomorrow. There's still the possibility a judge may grant an injunction in a couple of days which would prevent it from operating.
Ok, so you scored a bunch of $5 tickets for Maui. You, your spouse, kids. grandparents, boy/girl friend, will pack the SUV with camping equipment and the dogs and head for a dream vacation on the cheap.
Now, suppose the judge grants an injunction against the ferry while you're there? Figure how much it could cost you to get all that stuff back. Don't forget possibly having to pay for a hotel stay if you're not the camping type.
Of course, you'll try to get the money back from the Superferry. Fair chance you could win.
But the ferry operators will lose a lot of goodwill in the process if large numbers of people are stranded.
According to an article in today's Star-Bulletin, a certain Maui committee chair could have avoided the possible shipwreck had he not blocked a bill he should have allowed to go to a vote in the Legislature. Read about it here.
[Aside: The bill referred to in the Star-Bulletin article had strong popular support. Wouldn't it be nice if committee chairs could no longer refuse to hear bills that have lots of testimony attached? This is an illustration of why we need some major reforms in our state legislature, particularly in the House.]
So the Superferry is selling tickets at $5 per person or per vehicle and pushing the startup date to tomorrow. There's still the possibility a judge may grant an injunction in a couple of days which would prevent it from operating.
Ok, so you scored a bunch of $5 tickets for Maui. You, your spouse, kids. grandparents, boy/girl friend, will pack the SUV with camping equipment and the dogs and head for a dream vacation on the cheap.
Now, suppose the judge grants an injunction against the ferry while you're there? Figure how much it could cost you to get all that stuff back. Don't forget possibly having to pay for a hotel stay if you're not the camping type.
Of course, you'll try to get the money back from the Superferry. Fair chance you could win.
But the ferry operators will lose a lot of goodwill in the process if large numbers of people are stranded.
According to an article in today's Star-Bulletin, a certain Maui committee chair could have avoided the possible shipwreck had he not blocked a bill he should have allowed to go to a vote in the Legislature. Read about it here.
[Aside: The bill referred to in the Star-Bulletin article had strong popular support. Wouldn't it be nice if committee chairs could no longer refuse to hear bills that have lots of testimony attached? This is an illustration of why we need some major reforms in our state legislature, particularly in the House.]
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