ISLAND VOICES
Waikiki not getting better for residents

By Rico Leffanta

"Waikiki as home" (March 31) illustrates the continuing drivel from the Jeremy Harris/Duke Bainum propaganda machine. In all of the years they have been in office, what have they done for the people who live in Waikiki?

• A popular tourist attraction was taking photos of loved ones from the groin, with Diamond Head in the background. Harris/Bainum "improved" this by chopping down the ironwood trees and replacing them with a giant movie screen, which not only reflects light into cameras but also destroys the most popular photo site in Waikiki.

• In the entire history of mankind, neither god nor man has been successful in legislating against prostitution. Undaunted by this history, Bainum forged ahead with his plan to capture headlines and spread prostitution from Waikiki, where it was easily controlled by police, to communities throughout O'ahu, where it has been impossible to control.

• True to his words — "We must allow the visitor industry to flourish" — Bainum adopted a policy that, if it is free, it does not belong in Waikiki, and put our community newspaper, the Waikiki News, out of business.

• Despite his oath to uphold the law, Harris led hundreds of dogs through Kapi'olani Park, where animals are prohibited. In response to complaints, Harris had the signs prohibiting animals on Kalakaua and Waikiki beaches removed. Now, weirdos from all over O'ahu bring dogs dressed in baby clothes and secured in prams to bake in the sun on Waikiki beaches. (I use the term "weirdos" because these are people for whom the dog is not a companion but a cosmetic intended to attract people to the dog's owner while the dog suffers in vain.)

Then, after months of not being clear about when the signs would be restored, the mayor's office has adopted the policy of showing their support for the police and the people of Waikiki by responding, "Soon."

• The ostentatious revitalization of Waikiki is a transparent sham. Look at those costly tiles along Kalakaua Avenue; from the first day it was obvious that it would take only one skateboarder to destroy dozens of tiles, and it would take only one senior citizen wearing rubber slippers to slip and fall from one drop of water on the tile.

Look at the tiny beaches and the sand clogging the drains in all artistic pools decorating where the beach once was.

The "revitalization" very clearly isn't for Waikiki, it is for contractors.

Rico Leffanta lives in Waikiki.