Letters to the Editor
We don't need both houses of Legislature
If the Legislature is looking for a way to balance the budget without raising taxes, I say let's do away with members of our Legislature. We don't need both a House and a Senate.
The two sides don't work together and never seem to agree on anything anyway. We just need one body. How many times have we heard one group pass a bill only to have the other side not even look at it? What kind of process is that?
All money saved by trimming the size of our legislative branch could go toward schoolbooks, long-term care, health services and other things in the state that are so desperately needed but not being given attention because of a lack of money.
Michael Englar
Pearl City
Focus is needed on downtown tourism
The state should consider more development of the downtown area to promote Hawai'i as a preferred destination for both leisure and business tourism.
I am an international student at Hawaii Business College, and my major is travel and tourism, so I am concerned about the tourism industry in Hawai'i.
For leisure tourism, the downtown area could be one of the top tourist attractions in Honolulu. Tourists are not stimulated to visit there because there aren't many shops, streets are dirty and homeless people are begging for money.
To promote business tourism, more businesses are needed in the area. This would provide jobs for local residents and new public facilities would provide services and recreation for visitors as well as residents.
Yasue Fukuhara
Pay police officers what they are worth
I left the Honolulu Police Department because HPD officers are grossly underpaid.
Make no mistake, Honolulu is a big city with big-city crime. Officers have to deal with the underbelly of society, ridiculous amounts of paperwork, a drug problem (ice) that is completely and dangerously out of control, and a hyper-liberal justice system.
Police officers put their lives on the line daily for the citizens of Honolulu. Sadly, officer Glen Gaspar gave his life in the line of duty on March 4. Officers are involved in shootings with drug-crazed suspects every year.
I now work as a police officer in Washington state, and I'm getting paid much more for doing the exact same job I was doing in Honolulu.
Taxpayers of Honolulu, realize this: You have an excellent police department with talented officers. Your tax dollars are paying to train these officers, so doesn't it make sense to keep them? Pay them what they deserve. Otherwise, the HPD will continue to be a never-ending springboard to higher-paying Mainland jobs.
James Nelson
Federal Way, Wash.
Lingle did right thing with Chinatown lunch
Regarding the April 18 editorial "Chinatown no threat to anyone's health": I am in total agreement with your estimation that Gov. Lingle essentially did the right thing by her actions in Chinatown the other day in having lunch and proving to others not to fear catching SARS by doing normal, routine things in Chinatown.
You gave her the credit she deserved when you recommended that others follow her example, and I appreciate it because she, you and many of us recognize how important it is to get back to life and business as usual in Chinatown, for economic reasons as well as for general well-being in not allowing fear to overcome our lives.
Gov. Lingle did a commendable thing for Chinatown and our state the other day, so it irked me to read your dig that "it was kind of a publicity stunt ... " when it clearly was not. The television coverage gave credence to the fact she indeed was down there, eating lunch, thus showing how "Chinatown (is) no threat to anyone's health."
Right on, Linda Lingle — you are a great governor.
Donna Rewick
Kane'ohe
When does a holy day become a holiday?
There must be something wrong here, but I just can't seem to put my finger on it.
My sister-in-law cannot allow her third-grade students in a public school to include the phrase "One nation, under God" when they give their daily Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America. Yet she, and tens of thousands of her fellow state and county employees, got a paid holiday on Friday, April 18, to celebrate Good Friday.
I guess it's OK as long as they didn't have to attend any religious celebrations of this day of commemoration, unless they wanted to.
Jim Pollock
Kane'ohe
Kudos to Joe Moore for his latest play
A thumbs-up for Joe Moore's play "Dirty Laundry," which is a combination of drama and a little dark humor that added up to a worthwhile evening for audiences at Hawaii Theatre.
Moore intertwines his specific concerns for the state of television news throughout the play, especially during the last scene of the first act. He uses the art-mirrors-life quality of theater to comment critically on the business he is in. He even takes shots at himself, as played through his character, Bryce Edwards.
The central point of the play is that mass marketing and mass entertainment have an increasingly negative impact on decisions about TV news. For a medium that is so pervasive and influential in American life, there is far too little open analysis and criticism of the TV news business.
Moore has taken the time to write about and perform in fictional drama that airs the issues. It is a volley fired with some affection across the bow of a news medium that has extraordinary power in today's society.
Chuck Freedman
Lighten up on Cataluna
I'd like to say a word in defense of my fellow columnist, Lee Cataluna, who is suffering from the slings and arrows of disgruntled readers. So what if she had an off day? How many times have you enjoyed her provocative column? The lady is a fine journalist — talented, energetic and creative. Put a smile on your face and ease up.
Bob Krauss
Indigo's move would be Chinatown's loss
James Gonser's February story ("Indigo, theater dispute puts downtown revival at risk," Feb. 2) and your follow-up editorial have detailed the lease negotiation problems Indigo is having with the Hawaii Theatre.
While I am convinced that Indigo's clientele will follow it to any location, should the restaurant have to move, the loss would be entirely the theater's and Chinatown's. Havana Cabana, also a Hawaii Theatre property, has been sitting empty for months.
It would appear that finding a good tenant may not be that easy. And it would appear shortsighted to not accommodate a great tenant and proven winner.
Rike Weiss
Long-term-care bill should pass
Faith Action for Community Equity is a faith-based, multicultural community organization. Its members challenge the systems that perpetuate poverty and injustice to improve the quality of life in our Island communities. FACE represents 42,000 constituents on O'ahu.
As an organization that for many years has been working hard to pass affordable long-term-care insurance, we find it necessary to respond to Rep. Galen Fox's April 3 commentary "Long-term care: There's a better way" as it highlights several of the common misconceptions that continue to surround the law now being debated in the Legislature.
To begin with, while it's true a person receiving Medicaid benefits is allowed to "keep" his home, the federal government still attaches a lien on the property. A surviving spouse who remains in the home may be "allowed" to do so without satisfying the lien right there and then, but eventually, when the property is sold, the government gets its due.
The proposed program is unlikely to pose a burden on the poor. Those living below the poverty level are not required to pay the tax nor are those on a pension. Another important feature, which is often overlooked, is that the tax rate is the same for everyone. This means that thousands of Hawai'i residents who would either not qualify for private insurance or could not afford the premiums if they did qualify can still benefit from some level of coverage.
The benefit was never intended to cover the full costs of nursing-home care, although it could help supplement amounts not paid by insurance or Medicaid. Instead, one of the ideas behind this program is its inability to allow some patients to remain in their homes if all they require is a little extra assistance with daily activities such as bathing or eating.
For some of our members who have had to quit jobs or turn down promotions in order to care for an ailing spouse or relative, $70 a day would allow them to return to work or pursue their careers. And rather than "slow growth," as claimed by Fox, because the benefits pay for local healthcare services, the money would be returned to the community and should even foster the start-up of new in-home care businesses.
Finally, as Rep. Fox has pointed out, nursing homes are expensive — with the state of Hawai'i spending over $100 million annually. Doesn't it make sense that if a patient can remain at home longer, the ultimate costs for nursing-home care paid by the state (out of its citizens' taxes) would be less?
Rather than Rep. Fox's recommendation to sit back and wait for the federal government to take action, House Bill 1616 SD2/Senate Bill 1088 SD2, now before our legislators, already has the ability to address many of our residents' long-term-care needs. While it may not pay for everything or solve every problem, it is a giant step in the right direction.
Cheryl Nakamura
First vice president, Faith Action for Community Equity
More Aloha Air flights will mean more noise
Aloha Airlines president Glenn Zander gave us the good-news/bad-news routine ("Aloha could add more flights," April 19) but conveniently left out the bad-news part.
The good news (and it is indeed good news for Neighbor Island folks) is that Aloha is prepared to significantly increase the number of its interisland flights if Boeing succeeds in repossessing Hawaiian Airlines' fleet of shiny new aircraft.
The bad news is that Aloha will be making these flights with its antiquated and extremely noisy 737-200 aircraft.
Our powerful U.S. senators have arranged for Hawai'i-based airlines to be permanently exempt from federal rules that make it illegal to fly 737-200s anywhere in the Mainland 48 states because they violate the jet noise standards established in 1990. Apparently the good senators think that Hawai'i's single-wall homes and open-window lifestyle make us less sensitive to aircraft noise than our Mainland brethren.
Aloha does have some shiny new, quiet 737s, but it doesn't fly them on Hawai'i interisland flights. It saves them for its Hawai'i-Mainland service, where it is prohibited by law from using the old 737-200s.
When and if Aloha steps in to replace Hawaiian Air flights, Zander says, Aloha will "lengthen the day," flying earlier in the morning and later at night with these noisy airplanes. He will undoubtedly re-establish the 5:15 a.m. parade of Aloha flights that awakened thousands of East Honolulu residents every day except Sunday, until Hawaiian's quiet planes took them over under the recent federal interisland cooperation agreement.
And the 20-plus middle-of-the-night Aloha cargo flights will also undoubtedly be increased to replace Hawaiian's cargo capacity.
Zander patted himself on the back for having a "somewhat better crystal ball" and continuing to "operate our 737-200s, which, while not bright and shiny and new, are more economical." But for those living in East Honolulu, Zander's brilliant business strategy will mean that once again a good night's sleep will be a thing to dream about.
Tom Macdonald
