Letters to the Editor
To our readers:
Tomorrow will be the last day we will run "political" letters or commentary on the primary campaign until after Saturday's election.
Football players did the right thing
I would just like to commend the Kalani High School football team members for their action against what they felt were unjustifiable reasons for a demotion of a popular coach of the varsity squad.
Although Kalani High has never had a winning tradition with its football program, this stance the players took shows the bonding they have with their coach(es).
I hope for the school and the players' sakes that the right decision is made for the reinstatement of this defensive coach.
James "Chubby" Bruhn
Kane'ohe
You're all invited to a garden party
Is Mazie the daisy in the political garden or not? What about the colorful Lingle flower that many suspect has been getting help from some other Bush as she is the greenest plant there.
A John is Carrolling a song that has him as the root of the garden's best efforts. Meanwhile, cactus spines of the Case plant have been ripping into the leaves of the daisy, making room for the Lingle flower to blossom taller than any other.
The large Anderson pinwheel flower spins alternately like a Ferris or roulette wheel, providing rides for all who will take it. There's excitement and action for everyone in this meadow, where only the strongest will thrive beyond this week.
If you attend this garden party, you can decide which plants bloom as you cast your ballot this Saturday.
Smoky Guerrero
Mililani
Duke Aiona is not lacking in experience
As a candidate for lieutenant governor, Duke Aiona has been criticized for his lack of legislative experience. In response, I must note that his experience in the judicial branch of government, where he has served as deputy prosecutor, Circuit Court judge and Family Court judge, more than answers that criticism.
The legislative branch of government is where laws are designed, while the judicial branch is where these laws are put to use. A judge can see which laws work and which don't, where the flaws are and how to fix them, and where the loopholes are and how to fill them.
While his primary opponent was away reporting the news, Duke was here in Hawai'i making the news. He has long been admired for making the tough decisions in the many high-profile cases he deliberated.
Who are you going to pick, the news reporter or the newsmaker?
John Tokunaga
Here's how Orendt stands on the issues
The Voters' Guide published Monday erroneously presents the answers of my opponent, Dennis Arakaki, as if they were my own. So in effect Arakaki's answers have been used both for his section of the Voters' Guide and mine. Let me take this opportunity to clarify my stand on the issues:
- Why are you running for office? To unchain the people. As a Libertarian, I believe free people can make better lives for themselves. The government that governs least governs best.
- Is there any government service for which you would vote to raise taxes? No, the taxes in Hawai'i are way too high.
- Do you support vouchers to allow parents to use public money for private schooling? Yes, parents ought to have more choice on how to spend their tax money.
- Do you favor legalized gambling? No, unless it is totally unregulated and open to competition.
- What is the biggest quality-of-life issue facing Hawai'i, and what would you do about it? The people of Hawai'i deserve more freedom and prosperity. I'll cut government spending, regulations and taxes to set free prosperity.
- What's the No. 1 piece of legislation you'd work on to pass in 2003? Repeal the "tax me before I make a profit" excise tax.
Also, crime can be reduced by 85 percent by legalizing drugs. I call for a moratorium on drug law enforcement until drugs are removed from the prison system. If the government cannot get drugs out of the prisons, then what hope is there of getting drugs out of the general population?
Like the Dutch, we will all be safer from crime when drugs are legalized.
John Orendt
Candidate, District 30 state House (Upper Kalihi)
Anderson has what it takes to run this state
I had the opportunity to sit with governor candidate Andy Anderson and a group of young professionals. He spoke to us from the heart. He told it like it is — straight talk — not a lot of political rhetoric.
It's time that Hawai'i voters give an experienced businessman a chance to run this state. It's time to vote for the most experienced, qualified individual, not simply a party.
We have had too many attorneys running this state instead of business people, who have been in the real world, dealing with government red tape, making a payroll and paying taxes.
Andy can hit the ground running, if elected. He's been a legislator, he's run the City and County for two years under former Mayor Frank Fasi and he's been a successful businessman. We as taxpayers don't have to pay him to learn on the job.
If you had to choose one of the gubernatorial candidates to run your business, you'd have to consider Andy Anderson high on the list.
Please vote and make a difference. Your one vote is important.
L. Fogelstrom
Kane'ohe
More noise pollution
'Tis that time of year again. When politicians speak, it means one thing: Their mouths are open.
Chester Chaffee
Pearl City
Council candidates ignoring key issue
I'm concerned about what will happen to Central O'ahu in the next 20 years. That means I am concerned about who gets elected to the City Council. Will they allow even more development? Will open space be preserved? How do we maintain our water supply if our recharge areas are paved over?
Lots of council candidates have answered a question about Central O'ahu development on the dnet.org Web site. Some candidates answered that more development should be avoided, some were worried only about transportation issues and a few responded that the Second City in Kapolei is the place for further development. No candidate talked about the water recharge and distribution issues involved in more development in Central Oahu. And some candidates thought that Central O'ahu is the Second City.
That's what worries me. If the uninformed candidates are elected, will we pave over our beautiful central green space?
Emma J. Parnell
Glowing description of Fishman puzzling
I am sorely puzzled by your editorial endorsements in the race for Honolulu City Council, District IV.
First, with respect to Michael Abe, my immediate reaction is, "Why do we need another lawyer?" After all, the city has a corporation counsel to advise the administration and the council. Another lawyer is simply redundant.
But your rather glowing description of Bob Fishman's experience really knocks me for a loop. For years your newspaper has sounded off against the "old-boy network." Yet, you choose to ignore a glaring example of someone who has been and continues to be an integral part of that conspiratorial web. He has served three governors over the years, and was Mayor Harris' managing director. Those positions are not earned so much on the basis of ability as on the basis of "who you know."
And aren't the cost overruns on the Waikiki and Hanauma Bay projects an outgrowth of the time when he was the city's managing director? I believe it can be rightly said that the financial problems facing the city in the future can be traced directly to his tenure in the city's second top office.
The height of your folly, however, is your apparent disregard of the state auditor's scathing report on the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and its management contract with Fishman Enterprises Inc. The auditor pointed to "a number of unfavorable provisions" in the contract, and found that "Fishman Enterprises' failure to ensure the implementation of adequate internal controls over contracting has resulted in serious deficiencies in the contracting process and opens the authority to waste and fraud."
To me, that is not only "old boyism" but the same deficient contracting process experienced at the city under his managing directorship.
Dwight Tokuda
Affordable housing would be disastrous
The idea of affordable housing is an excellent one. The idea of putting it on the corner of Punahou Street and Wilder Avenue is a disaster waiting to happen.
The area is already flooded with traffic. Punahou is the main artery into and out of Manoa Valley. It's also one of the streets that crosses and allows entry for the H-1 Freeway. The proposed development is directly across the street from Punahou School. During school hours, it's not uncommon to see children rushing across streets, to and from school, trying to fight the traffic.
How can the City Council Zoning Committee approve a resolution exempting this project from certain requirements when so many citizens of the community oppose it? The only factions that I've encountered so far that are in favor of it are the YWCA, which is selling the land, and the developer, who will purchase the land.
I read in a Sept. 11 Advertiser story that Keith Kurahashi, a project consultant, said that "the traffic concerns have been addressed." How has he addressed it? Whom does he represent?
I beg that common sense and wisdom prevail before we further endanger the lives of our most valuable asset: our children.
Martin Kogan
Makiki
Kids Voting Hawai'i is making a big difference
As board chairwoman of Kids Voting Hawai'i, I am proud to see that Mililani Middle School students, under the inspired leadership of teacher Kurumi Kaapana Aki, are kicking some voter apathy in Central Oahu.
As Catherine Toth reported in her Sept. 15 story, Mililani Middle students have been learning about the voting process, waving signs urging adults to vote, hosting candidate visits to their school, studying campaign promises and staging voting awareness and registration rallies. Kaapana Aki noted that students aren't old enough to vote, but they "have the right to influence others. And that's powerful in itself."
I would add that every student, kindergarten through 12th grade, in public and private school, will have an opportunity to vote in the 2002 Kids Voting Hawai'i general election. And they will make history as the first kids in the nation to vote statewide in a general election entirely on-line.
Students are getting a personal password from their teacher, and they will use that, along with the family's precinct and district numbers, to cast their ballots at www.kidsvotinghawaii.org, Oct. 22 to Nov. 5. From any computer with an Internet connection, kids will be able to call up virtually the same ballot their parents will see in the voting booth on Election Day. If they can't vote on-line early, they are invited to any school serving as an official polling place Nov. 5, where Rotarians will help them log-on to cast their votes.
And students will be able to practice voting and explore the candidates' Web links from Sept. 24 through Oct. 21. Students are encouraged to take their parents with them to www.kidsvotinghawaii.org for a virtual tour of the biggest election in the state's history.
Kids Voting Hawai'i is a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort sponsored by American Savings Bank, with volunteer support from Rotary Clubs statewide. Commercial Data Systems has generously provided the virtual voting technology, and the DOE and state Office of Elections have been with us every step of the way.
Now, it is up to the youth of Hawai'i to further demonstrate that voting is a privilege of citizenship that will not succumb to apathy. The future of Hawai'i — the future of voting — is in the hands of our kids.
Linda Coble
Board chairwoman, Kids Voting Hawai'i 2002
