Letters to the Editor

Handicapped parking permits being abused

I am a retired person. I am in reasonably good health and I exercise daily. When I see those "handicapped" men and women park in those special spaces, my blood begins to boil.

What criteria do the government use in the issuance of those permits? Is there a code for their expiration — for example, blue for a lifetime permit, red for two years, yellow for one year, etc.? (All the ones I have seen are blue.) Or do they indicate the date of issuance and expiration? But most important, does it stipulate that the permit is valid only when the handicapped person is present in the vehicle?

I am certain there are others who believe, as I do, that something should be done to prevent the abuse of the system. Those of us who are in good health and are able to walk should be thankful.

Tomio Hirayama
'Aiea

Home schooling is indeed good system

When I read the article on the May 13 front page about home schooling, I was absolutely thrilled that there was so much support of it. I was also impressed by how much work was put into writing the article.

I absolutely agree with the statement that home schooling is a good system of education and even that, despite this, it may not be for everyone.

I myself have been a student of domestic education throughout my educational career and have seen the benefits. Having received my diploma two years early and always scoring well on standardized tests, I know I would never have gotten so far had it not been for my schooling background. I would also like to point out that many great minds in history were home-schooled, like Ben Franklin.

I have often been asked about home schooling, and my home-schooled peers and I are sometimes met with prejudice from people who are ignorant of the good that our brand of education does. I have ascertained, however, that the majority are very accepting toward home schooling and even encourage it. I think it is the current positive exposure from the media that has encouraged this new attitude, and I thank you.

Also, I commend you for including Christian home schoolers in your article. Not many journalists these days would be brave enough to write about any particular religious denomination for fear of stirring up controversy.

Jonathan Oshiro
Kailua

Council deliberations on budget are baffling

City Council finance chairwoman Ann Kobayashi has deleted many items from the budget and with some has asked for additional information. I am dumbfounded about a few of her deletions:

• The partial funding of a park/parking lot on Seaside Avenue and Aloha Drive has been in the works for three years. Seaside is a densely populated street experiencing heavy tourist as well as resident traffic. This plan would provide green space as well as income and visually enhance what is currently a blighted area. Councilman Duke Bainum, Rep. Galen Fox and the vision team have worked tirelessly for this project.

• Maintenance for the bronze surfboard markers: While I felt they were a maintenance problem at the inception, someone approved these markers. Now, are we going to let them fall into disrepair because we won't spend the money to maintain them? Didn't the council approve these?

• Brunch on the Beach and Sunset on the Beach: Wasn't the council involved in approving both of these? Didn't anyone know there would be costs involved? Does anyone know that purchases of tables, chairs and other equipment decrease in cost as you use them? Does anyone come down to Waikiki to see the number of tourists and locals who participate in these events? Wasn't that the purpose?

Diane Tippett

There is a method to the city's madness

There is a family in Hawai'i struggling to make ends meet.

Even with both parents working two jobs each, with one child delivering newspapers and another collecting aluminum cans, paying the monthly rent, having meals, filling the car with gas, and buying gifts for occasions are a constant struggle. Every family member even coats only half the toothbrush with toothpaste to make the tube last longer.

One night, the family gathers together for a family meeting to discuss the financial situation. The outcome of the meeting is for monthly picnics, planning a lavish Christmas, and agreeing to meet on a regular basis to approve other spending projects.

Welcome to the Honolulu City and County budget meetings.

Warren I. Okazaki

Stop the bickering, reach a compromise

It would seem appropriate that the mayor's office find a way to work with the City Council on the budget, instead of turning it into a war. All I've heard so far are threats, gloom and doom and then more threats — but no solutions.

I realize that the city government, both the mayor's office and the council, is a "lame duck" institution, but this is really poor governing. The residents and taxpayers (the voters) do not need to be threatened. It is very childish on the part of politicians to play these games.

If you need funds for basic services, cut out some of the frivolous items such as the vision teams.

Let's face it, the streets are dirty, streams are clogged and dirty, storm drains are clogged, there are mattresses and refrigerators sitting on curbs all over the island and the potholes don't get fixed anyway. Why employ scare tactics and threats? The voters are not that stupid.

Everything is done for the visitors, for better bus service to Waikiki and for moving more people and cars into town from the Leeward side. What about the rest of us? What about those of us who live and work (and did I mention vote?) in the city core? Or on the Windward side?

The residents of this county deserve better behavior from our leaders. We deserve leaders who are not looking at higher office but who will do the job they were elected to do, for the time elected.

We deserve leaders and representatives who will make an effort to work together, to compromise and to come to a consensus of what is best and most productive for the people they govern.

F. Orian

Fill the seats first, then raise prices

I hope the UH Board of Regents considers the impact of raising the prices for the sports "money-makers."

It appears that the demand for some of the sports (football, volleyball and men's basketball) is increasing (i.e., higher attendance). However, the sports venues are not filled. If the price of seats goes up, fewer seats will be filled. Having a sparsely attended event fosters even less attendance.

Let's fill up the stands first, then raise the prices.

Eldred Kagawa

Business climate bad

The Forbes magazine article was correct in pointing out the bad environment for business in Hawai'i. According to your May 18 article, the Aloha Stadium Authority just gave a private subcontractor the power to reduce the current 25 to 30 lei vendors down to seven to nine this year.

Ask the lei vendors what they think of our "business climate."

Barry Long