Letters to the Editor
Smoking ban won't close up businesses
All of this fretting regarding the upcoming smoking ban is unnecessary.
As a resident of California (and frequent visitor to Hawai'i), I can testify that the smoking ban will not put anyone out of business. In California, smoking is banned in restaurants and bars with no business ill-effects.
As to the "weed fiends" who are so fearful of the ban, they are encouraged to follow my footsteps, i.e., do as I did over 30 years ago: Quit! Best thing anyone could do.
Michael A. Traynor
Lakewood, Calif.
Gambling a bad bet, given our leadership
Putting aside momentarily the moral and ethical aspects of gambling, I doubt whether legalizing it would improve our local economy.
Some Mainland communities have quickly raised themselves out of economic problems after opening up gaming venues. Native Americans have done well for themselves with reservation casinos.
On the other hand, some programs fail to deliver promised benefits to their originally intended recipients, such as the strong and self-sustaining California lottery that has yet to contribute more than 2 percent of the state's school budget.
But before we consider legalizing gambling in Hawai'i, let's think about how it would be done. For instance, who would manage it? A Hawai'i Tourism Authority that refuses to explain how it spent $61 million? One of the many political candidates who seem to have difficulty grasping the finer points of campaign fund accounting? A Mainland company that would take the profits out of the state?
For those with morality concerns, we will be blessed in a few years with the return of a retired city councilman whose fight against vice helped reduce his jail sentence after his felony conviction on bribery and obstruction-of-justice charges.
Now, are we ready to gamble with our paradise image?
Dai Kokusai
It's an election year; we can force change
When a state agency such as the Department of Transportation has the power to implement a program such as the camera van without letting the public vote on such an issue, I believe we have let our sense of governing ourselves go into limbo.
If we don't like what we see, why not change it? It's an election year. We can be subjects or participants. How about you? I choose participant.
Kihei A. Ahuna
Hilo
First gather the facts before proceeding
I agree with you that the traffic program should be rebuilt from the ground up. The Department of Transportation started the camera program before it had enough factual information about what was happening on our highways.
To rebuild, a research program on highway activity is needed, without any tickets whatsoever. The DOT may find that some drivers are too slow and others are too fast, that much weaving can be avoided, and that one targeted speed is the safest. In theory, the optimum amount of traffic flow occurs when all cars are moving in the same direction at the same speed.
I suspect that the DOT started with tickets to pay for the camera vans, and so avoids asking the Legislature for funding. Highway traffic research should be undertaken and public hearings held before punitive tickets in a program of this kind.
E. Alvey Wright
Free bus passes proposed earlier
I was pleased to read the coverage and resulting editorial on a bill being proposed to allow college students to ride free on city buses. If you recall, I advocated this issue in the 2000 mayoral race and continue to advocate it in the mayoral race of 2002.
My position, however, was broader in scope to include the use of extended lower-cost or no-cost bus fares, not just for college students, but also students at all grade levels and to include senior citizens once more.
Frank F. Fasi
Free bus passes a terrific proposal
Duke Bainum's proposal ("Bill would let college students ride free," Feb. 16) is the freshest air from the City Council in years. Indeed, the bill would freshen Honolulu's air by eliminating cars. Giving students bus passes eliminates a car and saves families between $5,000 and $10,000 yearly, depending on depreciation.
Bus-riding students ease congestion, reduce driver frustration and enhance Honolulu's quality of life. TheBus transforms students from road-rage problems to scholarly solutions.
Paying for the passes is easy: multi-story parking structures cost as much as $10,000 per stall. Government parking fees are far too low to ever recoup those taxpayer dollars. So raise the fees to match bus pass expenses so that no more of these megaliths need be built. Charge extra for SUVs that require 1.5 parking spaces.
Bus riders are first-class citizens. They get at least 100 miles per gallon, making them models of efficiency. In a just world, they'd be honored every day. Bainum's bill offers students a chance to clean up Honolulu, save their parents thousands each year and shift from being problems to solutions.
Howard C. Wiig
O'ahu is becoming a Socialist state
Supposedly, the elected city leadership is nonpartisan. Wrong. In one fell swoop, we just discovered what party our city leaders are card-carrying members of: the Socialist Party.
The newly enacted ban on smoking is proof. While I sympathize with the respiratory plight of restaurant workers, to universally ban smoking in restaurants and bars denies and abrogates the rights of both smokers and restaurant owners.
Smokers have consistently been marginalized to the point where they have become second-class citizens, now unable to light up even in businesses that welcome them. Restaurant owners are no longer free to run their businesses as they see fit.
The second proof is the move to condemn Waikiki property on behalf of Outrigger. While this move is premature at best, it suggests to all property owners that they do not, in fact, own their land (despite the fact that they pay property taxes), that they are merely transitional stewards of their properties, that with government backing one side, they will not be able to get "the other side" to negotiate in good faith.
Remember back in 1997 when Forbes magazine characterized this state as "The People's Republic of Hawai'i"? It didn't know just how right it was.
James Ko
Teach children how to protect themselves
Regarding the Feb. 20 article "Maui man arrested in online child sex sting": It is important to protect children; that kind of shameful adult behavior should be purged. However, I wonder if the incident might be police entrapment.
The article mentioned that the man, Thomas Schnepper, and the girl, "Mandy," started chatting on Dec. 2, but it is not clear who started the conversation. In addition, it is not apparent how their conversation went on to sexual matter.
How can we protect children? I think it is more important to help children have a clear understanding of and responsibility for their sexual activities. It is impractical to arrest all adults like Schnepper, but it is feasible to teach children how to protect themselves.
Chika Ikeuchi
High property taxes are due to no income tax
I just read Roland Nishimura's Feb. 21 letter comparing the high property taxes in the state of Washington versus those in Hawai'i. What Mr. Nishimura fails to mention in his letter is that the state of Washington does not have a state income tax. Hawai'i does.
Regardless of his letter's intent, Hawai'i remains one of the highest-taxed states for residents, and for that reason alone, Mr. Nishimura's decision to remain on the Mainland is a smart one.
Bob Marouchoc
Campaign to promote health an outdated idea
Honolulu's puritanical population must be happy now. The state is spending $850,000 on a campaign to promote health. Taxes on liquor and tobacco will probably rise. And in blatant disregard for the institution of private property, smoking will be banned at bars and restaurants.
Of course, there was another government that did even more to promote the health of its subjects. Under the slogan "Health is not a private matter," the government I'm referring to preached against smoking, drinking and the eating of meat. In fact, there were plans to ban all of these activities as soon as it was feasible. Exercise and the eating of organic foods were heavily encouraged by the state.
Which government did all this? Nazi Germany, ruled by a vegetarian, anti-smoking teetotaler named Adolf Hitler.
Brandon Bosworth
Confiscation of cars should be widespread
I hope the bill recently approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee that allows confiscation of vehicles involved in repeated racing incidents also allows for confiscation of cars driven by repeat DUI offenders.
They should also confiscate the cars of those driving without auto insurance.
And what about the cars driven by City Council members who flee the scene of an accident?
Mike Uyehara
Campaign finance reform critical
The campaign donation scandal that is plaguing Mayor Harris has much broader implications than the media and the politicians are recognizing. The major corruption in our system is in campaign financing.
So many local architectural, engineering and construction firms feel obliged to donate the maximum (or more) to major candidates' campaigns if they want to receive state or city contracts.
These "donations" are seen as a business expense and are usually passed on to the consumer, the tax-paying citizenry, by these businesses when they land a government contract.
In the city system, the managing director has the last say on choosing the successful bidder and can ignore or override recommendations made by departmental panels assessing the bids. This allows considerations of campaign donations to enter and foul up the process.
Politicians get huge donations to their campaign chests, the business donors get a greater likelihood of lucrative contracts, the public gets hijacked and the media get millions of dollars in campaign advertising revenues.
It's time to clean up this mess. The solution is simple but would necessitate a major overhaul. First, businesses that contract with the state or city should not be allowed to contribute to incumbents' campaigns. If this is not possible to legislate, then all candidates must be asked to promise that, if elected, they will not solicit or accept contributions from businesses with government contracts.
Second, the media should be required, as part of their licensing, to provide free public-service time to candidates to get their messages across.
They should not be able to haul in monies from candidates' ads and profit from the political electoral process. As it is now, viable candidates need significant wealth or major contributions in order to run. This restricts government to the rich or to those who are indebted to major contributors who want something from the successful candidates they support.
Small wonder there are few working-class people in the Legislature, although we make up over 80 percent of the population. Professionals and affluent business folks dominate both legislative chambers. It's time to overhaul this elitist and exclusionary government and mandate true campaign finance reform.
When one hears of the frequent and major overcharges paid by the state and city governments to contractors, our current mayor's donation scandal seems minor compared to all the "legal" bribery and theft permitted by the system.
John Witeck
