Letters to the Editor
New act will make retention even harder
It is not surprising that Hawai'i is losing experienced firefighters and police officers to Mainland cities offering salaries nearly double what they earn here.
Although Hawai'i is unable to match the Mainland pay, the one item that other cities can't seem to match is Hawai'i's health-benefits package for state and county public servants and retirees. A huge incentive for some to stay in Hawai'i has been the superior health benefits.
That soon will change when Act 88, the Hawai'i Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust fund law, takes effect in 2003. The result will be state and county workers and retirees presently covered by defined benefit plans being thrust into defined contribution plans leading to inferior health benefit coverage. They also will be burdened with additional costs for what politicians describe as "enhanced benefits," which realistically will maintain their present health-care coverage.
Under the act, another hiring obstacle will be the reduced dependent coverage for future retirees hired after June 30, 2001.
How are Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi and Police Chief Lee Donohue to keep recruits when politicians balance the state budget by taking away health benefits, disguising all this as "civil service reform" and "health care reform"?
The act definitely will hamper recruiting and retention of quality people in all areas of public service.
Earl Arakaki
'Ewa Beach
BRT plans would wreak havoc on traffic
Downtown drivers should be aware that planners intend to dedicate much of Richards Street for Bus Rapid Transit system. Current plans call for two lanes to be devoted to BRT busses, one lane each in the mauka and makai directions.
Additionally, buses would operate every two to four minutes during peak hours. This has the potential to wreak havoc on the already-congested King, Merchant and Queen streets, which would come to a virtual standstill due to the timing of traffic lights to permit buses the right of way.
Plans also call for a new intersection at Richards, Halekauwila and Nimitz Highway to accommodate the two BRT routes, which would have a ripple effect on feeder streets due to the priority that would be given to BRT buses.
Planners have turned a deaf ear to the Downtown Neighborhood Board, business owners and residents in this area who oppose their plans to inflict a monumental traffic problem on the citizens living, working and driving in the downtown area.
Charles M. Ferrell
Solution not in race-based sovereignty
At the time of the revolution, anyone born or naturalized in the Republic of Hawai'i could be a Hawaiian citizen regardless of race.
Pretend for a moment that Queen Lili'uokalani's proffered constitution had been granted and that no revolution occurred. It would have continued to be that anyone, regardless of race, born in Hawai'i were citizens of the kingdom.Ê
The crown and government lands would have continued to be owned by the kingdom, a constitutional monarchy, and all of its citizens of every race.ÊIt is inevitable that the Hawaiian race would have continued to diminish unless there was some restriction on Hawaiians mating with non-Hawaiians, an obviously silly thought.ÊÊ
The solution to some, with the aid of our congressional delegation, includes the creation of a new racist sovereignty. That, too, is silly.
Paul de Silva
Hilo
Multipurpose facilities benefit kids, community
Bravo on the city's plans to build 11 canoe halau. On Maui two halau were built through a private public partnership, and the resulting facilities have played an important role for our community.
Many programs are held in these facilities throughout the year. During the summer there are programs that involve all age groups of children, teaching them cultural values, self-respect and the importance of being drug-free.
Instead of building just canoe garages, building multipurpose facilities that can provide a safe and convenient environment for all ages to learn and experience the magic of ocean activities is to be encouraged and commended.
The Honolulu example should be duplicated on all the islands. Our keiki deserve the best we can offer. Using good materials and design will assure long-term benefits to the community. Investing in canoe halau is investing in our youth.
Nicole Spalding
Updated technology needed in classrooms
Schools never will improve until teachers begin applying appropriate technology in their classrooms. You can reduce class size to five students per classroom and students still will be bored if their teacher relies mainly on the chalkboard and textbook to convey information.
You can walk into just about any public school classroom and see teaching techniques and tools that are centuries old.
Students might be better off if they attended school for a few hours a week just for socialization, art, physical education and music, then went home to their computer to access multimedia Web sites for effective learning.
Larry Loganbill
Kilauea
