Letters to the Editor
Cigarette tax hike is good but it isn't enough
I commend the brave individual or people involved in raising the cigarette tax, although I feel it will not be high enough.
The state says some of the money will go into the general fund. Does this fund help the road-maintenance division or state litter division? Some of that money should be used to clean up all the nasty and disgusting cigarette butts on all the street intersections. That is, if the recent rains have not washed the millions of butts down the storm drains and into the rivers and oceans.
The high tax rate will eventually have people looking into the amount of money they are throwing away and creating an unhealthy life for themselves in the long run. Perhaps cigarette smokers will look into the reasons why this cancerous toxic smoke is controlling them and seek help.
Tom Aki
Kane'ohe
Seek common ground in school governance
The supporters of the state House bill calling for 15 local boards of education present the notion that more authority at "local complexes" would be more effective in improving schools because they would concentrate on a smaller population.
The current state schools superintendent, Pat Hamamoto, emphasizes that with one board, there is equity and a more uniform degree of expectation of what a high school graduate has experienced.
Both are right.
What may be a common ground is that the structure to deliver public education needs to change. Agreement should be reached that public education is too important to be a centralized government monopoly. "Market forces" should have a way to prevail.
These "market forces" include the desires of the local community to directly influence the governance of a "school complex." They also include a local job-sharing by the teaching and administrative cadre with nongovernment entities that possess unique entrepreneurial innovation skills in education delivery.
With this mix of local governance and entrepreneurial initiatives, the existing capital assets of the school system can be made to go further in providing quality education.
Philip Blackman
City ignores rulings on property assessment
The article in the Feb. 11 Advertiser titled "Tax assessments: science or speculation?" should read "science or shibai?"
In the accompanying article applying to condominiums, one person is quoted as saying in reference to land values on which condominiums sit: "It would be too complicated to determine each owner's share of the actual value." Perhaps for him that is a complicated idea; however, every condo owner knows the pro rata share of the land value assigned to his or her condo. In fact, such value is stated on the property appraisal notice.
As a case in point, in 2000, the city appraisers valued the land under the Harbor Square Condominium complex at $19,862,800. Upon appeal by a property owner, the County Real Property Tax Appeals Board accepted an appraised value of $8.15 million. In 2001, the First Circuit Court approved an arbitrated appraisal of $8.9 million for the land value under Harbor Square, correcting the city's appraisal.
The above appraisals are a matter of public record: however, the city appraisers continue to ignore these appraisals. To add insult to injury for 2002, the appraisers came in with a value of $19,557,200 for the land value. This is a difference of $10,657,200 over the court-approved appraisal.
The unfortunate aspect of these gross errors is that property owners have to file an appeal for which they pay, and while waiting to be heard, pay the higher tax based on the inflated appraisals. And from personal experience, I can attest the appeals board works on Hawai'i time.
It is too bad the property owners on this island are not as up in arms about this matter as they are about the traffic cam debacle.
Charles M. Ferrell
News about the GOP had editorialized tint
First you make no mention of the Republican Lincoln Day Dinner on Feb. 7 in one morning issue — blatantly editorializing by omission. Then you spin a headline by saying Jeremy Harris and Linda Lingle are equal in the polls. Of course, you do qualify that in the body of the piece by saying that is in name recognition only.
I thought the definition of reporting is unbiased presentation of fact. Editorializing is where you get to bring in the bias. Have the rules changed?
Martha Harding
Government should respond to majority
Supporters of the van cams feel the program should be saved because it saves lives. They say opponents are scofflaw speeders. These arguments miss the point.
If everyone drives 35 mph instead of 45, there might be a reduction in accidents. The same can be said for slowing to 25 mph or 15. The issue is, what constitutes an acceptable level of risk?
Traffic engineers believe the ticketing program initiated by the Department of Transportation doesn't address any real safety issue. Passenger autos can be safely operated 10 to 20 mph over most posted limits when conditions permit. Despite low compliance with posted speed limits, major accidents in Hawai'i declined by 60 percent in the 1990s.
Those who insist on blind obedience to the law don't understand the type of government we have. The government is supposed to obey us, not the other way around. Hawai'i drivers have demonstrated by their driving habits what they think of our posted speed limits. They are the majority.
We have all seen the type of drivers who support the van cams driving slowly along, hunkered over the wheel, never looking from side to side. They are fearful and incompetent drivers, not safe ones.
Tracy Ryan
Unscrupulous people are putting us at risk
Naive would be the most polite way to describe the rationale of those who demand abolishment of Hawai'i's quarantine requirement because animal quarantines are "long and painful" and so would lead people to smuggle in their animals.
I'm assuming it would be burdensome to these smugglers to have their pets spend even the minimal, existing 30-day quarantine because, if it's true that one-fourth of all incoming animals are still spending the maximum 120 days in quarantine, one would have to assume that their owners did not comply with the required vaccination, microchip implants and blood tests required to enable them to meet the 30-day quarantine minimum.
It is, therefore, not a stretch of the imagination to believe that these same pet owners would possibly go to great lengths, no matter how irresponsible, to avoid either expense or inconvenience — even if it meant risking the well-being of all of us who live here.
When the initial hearings were held a few years ago, which led to the lowering of the then-mandatory 120-day quarantine to the current 30-day quarantine, many veterinarians and physicians testified that they were in opposition. Nevertheless, the lowering occurred, and now the citizens of this state are vulnerable to the responsible and scrupulous record-keeping and documentation of people in other places who may not care a whole lot about what happens to us here.
What has remained a big question is whether everyone responsible for ensuring the authenticity of vaccination certificates, etc., are scrupulous and meticulous.
Dawn Farm
Let's keep drive-thru out of country town
As a voter and Hale'iwa business owner, I am very concerned that Hawai'i rural communities are disappearing.
I am glad that Hale'iwa has retained its country charm and character. I support businesses and residents of Hale'iwa who are working to protect the Hale'iwa special district from drive-thru facilities.
This is about fairness and equal application of the law. Let's keep Hale'iwa a country town and uphold the ban on drive-thrus in the Hale'iwa special district.
Joe Green
Owner, Surf & Sea
Charter schools must get equal financing
I find it unbelievable and outrageous, if it is true, that the charter schools aren't getting as much money per student as the other public schools, and even more unbelievable and outrageous that the teachers aren't being given credit for the time they teach.
How could the charter schools possibly survive if they don't even get the money per student that the other public schools do, and how can their teachers continue if they aren't given the credit other public school teachers get for teaching?
I understood that the charter schools were created because many teachers and parents thought that the public schools could be better. With all the enthusiasm of the parents and children and the teamwork between them that seems to exist in the charter schools now, it sounds as though they can hardly help but find better ways of doing things, and that would point the way for other public schools, too, to improve.
Elizabeth D. Porteus
Hirono should focus on existing programs
Mazie Hirono's Feb. 15 Island Voices is typical of our state Democrats' cradle-to-grave mentality.
It seems the Democrats are always more willing to start new programs that sound good rather than making the programs all ready in place work as they are supposed to.
Hirono suggests a new "Pre-Plus" program to mirror Gov. Cayetano's A-Plus program that was his ticket to the governor's seat. This program would place 3- and 4-year-olds in a state program that would give them better pre-kindergarten learning than their parents could give.
Her article erroneously claims that "Pre-Plus ... would provide universal access to preschool facilities and learning-friendly playgrounds." You would think that someone who had served in the Legislature and as the lieutenant governor would realize that any construction on school campuses is financed with state bonds that are paid for with general funds over 20 years, hardly no impact on the general fund.
It's time for the Democrats to realize that they need to stop inventing programs intended to enhance their political careers and start making the tough management decisions necessary to make programs other politicians in the past have implemented work as originally intended.
Fred Gartly
Kane'ohe
Underlying message to 'Vagina Monologues'
I was saddened to read the Feb. 15 letter by Jane Hays, who felt that "The Vagina Monologues" was shocking and vulgar.
Perhaps Ms. Hays grew up, as many of us did, with messages of shame about our bodies and our sexuality. It is for precisely this reason that "The Vagina Monologues" brings such an empowering and liberating message to both women and men.
Eve Ensler interviewed women about their vaginas in order to counter shame. It is this shame that often contributes to low self-esteem and sexual abuse. Vagina is a word describing a body part like arm or face or penis. It is a word for a part of the female body that is both desired and reviled. Silence and secrecy around sexuality and sexual abuse are certain guarantees of the perpetuation of violence.
The purpose of "The Vagina Monologues" is to counter violence, to empower women, to encourage healthy sexuality and respect.
Ms. Hays may not be aware that this play is being shown around the world as a fund-raising effort for programs that assist victims of violence. It is just the opposite of anything pornographic. It allows us to laugh and cry together, women and men, in celebration of the life force of our sexuality, the absurdity and pain in our world and, finally, in celebration of our humanity (note the final monologue about birth).
I hope Ms. Hays will be able to look beyond her initial discomfort to the underlying message.
Ellen Ervin
House being deliberate on balancing budget
Your Feb. 18 editorial "House properly rejects hurricane fund refund" hits the nail on the head regarding the excess money in the fund. And yes, the question of what to do with the money is "inseparably joined-at-the-hip" with regard to balancing the state budget at this time.
After Gov. Ben Cayetano first proposed using the fund to balance the budget, House Democrats evaluated the idea and decided it was more prudent to protect the integrity of the fund in case of another natural disaster.
The level at which the fund must be maintained to satisfy this policy choice is the focus of current debate in the House.
The public should also know that House Democrats are not opposed to applying a portion of the fund toward the state's fiscal problems. But we won't support depleting the fund to an inconsequential level.
We have also asked state departments to prepare for potential budget cuts of from 1 percent to 5 percent. We are also supporting legislation to provide economic stimulus and generate more tourist-related revenue.
At the outset, we stated that we would hold a policy of fiscal prudence. It may not have the drama of ill-conceived pronouncements, but we think the people will come to appreciate our honest and deliberate course of action.
Rep. Marcus R. Oshiro
Majority leader, House of Representatives
Comparison not valid
In his Jan. 21 letter, Roland Nishimura points to Washington state real estate taxes as being higher than those in Hawai'i. What he does not say is that, unlike Hawai'i, Washington has no state income tax and must depend largely on property taxes for its revenue. Therefore, the comparison is not valid.
Jim Mazure
