Letters to the Editor
Cayetano deceitful on public pay raises
There is something deceitful about the HGEA's pending agreement with Gov. Cayetano.
If Cayetano were truthful about the state lacking the money to fund HGEA arbitrated pay raises, then how can he now come up with the money for pay raises if the HGEA makes concessions affecting future employees? The governor was apparently trying to force the UPW's contract concessions on the HGEA.
It is appalling that the HGEA leadership, without a full membership vote, would be willing to make these harmful concessions. HGEA, after all, won binding arbitration guaranteeing the pay raises.
What is most ignoble is that it's future employees, future HGEA members, who will pay the bill in full. This is like stealing from your kids in order to get something for yourself. What a horrible precedent and odorous example of backward unionism without an ounce of principle.
This back-door deal sets a disturbing precedent. In the future, when a governor or mayor is reluctant to approve and fund a contract, even if the Legislature or City Council approves it, he or she may resist and demand further concessions from the union(s) involved.
Kowtowing to his threats and to his crass disregard for the law will only encourage further abuses and reductions of workers' hard-won wages and benefits.
I hope it does not go through.
John Witeck
How can governor have so much power?
I've taught special education for 21 years in my home state on the Mainland. This past school year, I've been working as a school counselor in a public school here.
How can one individual, the governor, have so much power over the education system of this state? What has happened to the "checks and balances" in government, with that vital balance between representative and executive authority?
Why isn't there a dedicated source of funding for education so schools don't have to compete with aquariums, golf courses and a host of other politically impacted projects?
I believe Hawai'i's unique single school system and Board of Education is outdated in today's demand for accountability. I don't foresee improvement in the educational picture here until control of policy and distribution of funding are brought closer to the local areas and their patrons.
Regarding special education, my home state is considered a leader in services and innovation. Yet I see the services here in Hawai'i as more comprehensive and much better coordinated — what more does Judge Ezra think can be done?
Jocelyn K. Howard
Parents, students are the real losers
Ultimately both sides stand to benefit in the teacher and faculty strikes.
The governor can proclaim victory by letting his constituents know he fought hard to save their tax dollars and keep the money for use in the classrooms. The unions can call it a win because they stood their ground, fought hard for pay raises and more than justified their existence to their union memberships.
But what do the parents and students gain from the strikes? Lost wages from taking time off to watch their kids, weeks of lost educational opportunity for their children and a tremendous loss of faith in their local government, teachers and the public school system.
And what about the rhetoric of better teacher recruitment, increased accountability, better facilities and therefore a superior public education for our children? That kind of monumental change probably won't be happening in our lifetime.
However, your grandkids can benefit from these strikes if you teach your children that if they want their kids to receive a good education, then they should either move to the Mainland or save up their quarters so they can send their kids to Punahou or 'Iolani.
Kent Matsuo
Election year would have made a difference
Let's assume this was an election year and both Gov. Cayetano and the legislators were up for re-election. They would have surely found a solution to prevent the education strikes.
Masuo Nakamura
Hilo
Sentencing reflects our insane drug policy
U.S. District Judge David Ezra's sentencing of Iupeli Migi to a term of nearly eight years for the possession and sale of crack cocaine in 'A'ala Park (Honolulu Advertiser, March 14) is an excellent example of this country's insane drug policy.
No, the sale and use of crack are not good things. But is keeping this man in a federal penitentiary the wisest use of taxpayer money?
Currently, it costs an average of $24,783 a year to keep a prisoner in the federal system. This means it will cost close to $200,000 to punish a small-time seller-user of a controlled substance. Add to this the costs of policing, prosecution and the $58,000 per bed it requires to build new medium-security federal prisons, and you end up with an astronomical tab to incarcerate someone with a medical condition (drug dependency).
There are very few programs left in prison for substance abusers to help them deal with their addictions. No doubt Iupeli will be returned to the streets eight years from now in much the same condition that led to his troubles with the law in the first place.
As a society, we should ask ourselves why, in a world where it costs about the same to send someone to jail as it does to send them to Yale, we insist on spending our money in such a wasteful way?
Rob Vaughan
American Studies Department, University of Hawai'i
Online liquor order doesn't violate law
It is the pinnacle of bureaucratic arrogance that the Liquor Commission would harass an online vendor for taking an order for liquor between midnight and 6 a.m., as reported in this paper on April 14.
First of all, let's look at the purpose of the law. It's designed to keep people from buying liquor for immediate consumption during the prohibited hours in the interest of public safety. An online order is for future delivery and does not thwart the intention of the law nor jeopardize public safety.
Second, does an order, even when acknowledged, constitute a sale? No. By law, the customer's credit card cannot be charged until shipment is made. That's when the sale takes place.
If I walk into Safeway at 2 a.m. and ask the manager to order a special bottle of wine for me and she says OK, no sale has been made — only a request that a product be set aside for future sale and delivery.
If this distinction is too fine for the Liquor Commission to grasp, then perhaps it could just change and clarify its rules to simply state that "no liquor shall be furnished or delivered" during the prohibited hours. This would eliminate the heinous crime of acknowledging a valued customer's order in the wee hours of the morning while fulfilling the bureaucratic mandate of protecting the public from itself.
B. Robin
Mansho deserves some more 'kicking'
I can't believe Mayor Harris has asked those who opposed Rene Mansho's using her campaign funds to pay off fines to stop kicking her when she's down. As far as I can tell, we, the taxpayers, were the ones she so blindly "kicked" and kicked hard for allowing this kind of behavior to continue for as long as it did.
What kind of message does this send to the people of Hawai'i and those in the district she represents? That cheating us out of donated money is okay and all you have to do is pay your way out of a mess by using money that doesn't even come from your own pocket but from your supporters instead?
Mansho should have been ordered to repay the money she spent for non-campaign uses in its entirety and from her personal net worth and not from her campaign funds.
Michael Sasano
Hawai'i's children need more protection
For someone who claims to "support the protection of young women from commercial exploitation," Rep. Eric Hamakawa gives a pretty flimsy reason for his refusal to hear SB 864 on protecting teens from use in strip clubs, massage parlors and escort agencies.
SB 864 was designed to protect children from exploitation in Hawai'i's sex industry by expanding the definition of commercial sexual exploitation to include nude massage, exotic dancing and escort services. It would have made commercial sexual exploitation of a minor a class B felony, and stiffened penalties for this crime to include property forfeiture and business license revocation.
Currently, there are no state laws addressing the use or attempted use of minors in forms of sexual exploitation such as unlicensed massage, exotic dancing or escort services — activities that sex exploiters use to recruit and exploit children while circumventing the existing law. Pimps and perpetrators use this loophole to prey upon naive, unsuspecting kids and coerce them into selling sexual services for an adult's gain or sexual gratification.
The state has a responsibility and an obligation to uphold children's rights and protect young people from sexual exploitation and abuse. Our legislators must take bold action to protect our children from all forms of commercial sexual exploitation.
Linda Chinn
Board has sought answers on project
The April 11 article regarding the median strip for Kailua Road gives the impression that the Kailua Neighborhood Board at the 11th hour has asked the city to halt the project because of a number of concerns that have not been adequately addressed.
In fact, since last October, we have sought information from the managing director's office regarding this Vision team project. The board is very concerned about the impact to traffic and had requested a traffic study.
It is surprising to read comments regarding the traffic pattern. Was a study done or not? Don Bremner, of the Vision team, indicates in the article that "the board better check around because they're not in tune with the pulse of this community" regarding this project. We believe it's the other way around.
Faith P. Evans
Chairwoman, Kailua Neighborhood Board
And now, 'Win Ben Dakine's Money'
From the state whose governor starred in "Baywatch, Hawai'i," welcome to Hawai'i's hottest new game show, "Win Ben Dakine's Money." Cash prizes may drop during non-election years. All winnings are subject to state tax audits. Buzzers are provided, but please don't press any of the gov's buttons. And now on to our game ...
1. The key word in "binding arbitration" is:
A) "Binding," as in to put the HGEA in a bind.
B) "Arbitration," as in compliance is arbitrary.
2. In labor disputes, the governor may cut off his nose to spite his face because:
A) With autonomy, how else can one stick it in other people's business?
B) No loss — it'll grow with each state claim in tomorrow's newspaper ads.
3. Ignoring cost-of-living adjustments when citing teacher salaries is justified because:
A) COLA eliminates hidden relative costs, and in Hawai'i, relatives are always a hidden cost on state contracts.
B) Living in Paradise — priceless.
4. Complete the following analogy. Ben Cayetano is to Hawai'i's education governor as:
A) Gray Davis is to California's energy governor.
B) Jesse Ventura is to Minnesota's diplomacy governor.
5. The governor was able to stop all teacher benefits by declaring strikers on "unauthorized leave" because:
A) Who needs death benefits with a gov who single-handedly brought the entire Republican Party back to life.
B) Sick people are more likely to need sick, not health, benefits
6. Merit pay hasn't been suggested for the governor's office because:
A) It would be illegal due to minimum-wage laws.
B) The gov is already over worked micro-managing the schools.
7. Ben's legacy as education governor is assured because:
A) Before this strike is over, he'll have taught each and every one of us a lesson or two.
B) As the first state with none, he has bettered his campaign pledge to make our education second to none.
Please allow at least two years before contest results are announced.
Joe Ciotti
