Letters to the Editor
Bicyclists are ignoring restrictions in Waikiki
Regarding the May 31 letter "Bicyclists already pay their share of taxes": Apparently John B. Kelley has not visited Waikiki nor been run down daily or witnessed children and tourists almost run down by these cyclists with no seeming care.
Where are these signs stating that bicycling is illegal on the sidewalks in Waikiki? Probably the same place our "no littering," "no fishing and swimming area" and "no jaywalking" signs are.
Although I contacted the police on many occasions about being run down by these wonderfully kind bicyclists, not one thing has been done.
Kenneth August Townsend
Leave taxpayers alone on illegal dumping fine
Well, the state really showed the city by imposing "one of the harshest penalties for violating state hazardous waste rules by fining the city $542,459 ... for illegal dumping."
Wait a minute! Where does the city's money come from? Oh, yes, I guess the state forgot that the city's money is really the taxpayers' money, just as they seem to forget the state's money is really the taxpayers'.
Well, then, the state really showed those taxpayers, didn't it?
Why doesn't the state get its priorities straight and penalize those responsible? It says the city is a knowledgeable and experienced operator of solid waste facilities, and the city counters by saying it was the "unauthorized and irresponsible act of one employee."
OK, it seems to me that the responsible city employee should be fined, fired or otherwise severely disciplined, and his supervisors should be dealt with appropriately for not doing their jobs properly.
Leave the poor taxpayers alone ... we did not cause the problem.
Arnie Abrams
Hawai'i Kai
Councilman Djou was absent without leave
Somehow lost amid the chaos of the city budget debacle was the fact that one councilman's actions threatened to send the city into political meltdown. Councilman Charles Djou was absent without leave from his democratic duty as a lawmaker, while training with the U.S. Army Reserve. This absence could have resulted in the city's inability to pass its budget.
While his duty to the military is to be commended, I wonder if during last year's election campaign Djou told voters that he would be unable at times to accept the full responsibilities of office because of his commitment to military duty.
We all appreciate the sacrifices of our military members, including reservists, but there is no higher duty in our society than that of an elected representative of the people. If any representative cannot fulfill this full-time job for any reason, that person at least owes it to the voters to inform them when running for office.
If Mr. Djou were my council member, I would be asking for his resignation.
Keola Kamaunu
New polluting plant for HECO isn't justified
HECO wants another toxic pollutant plant?
Hawai'i must be weaned off outside control of fuel to generate electricity. Coal falls in that category. The ratepayers would be paying for an already obsolete form of energy generation. Ten million dollars would be much more wisely spent on solar systems for every school in the state or invested in any other renewable energy source, including solar.
The $13 million HECO wasted on the Wa'ahila fight should have gone into renewable energy research, a more progressive practical use of the ratepayers' money.
Our payments to HECO are being wasted on archaic systems. We should tell HECO what we think about the waste of our money. It does not serve the user to have overpaid management drag an almost dead system and ignore economical, new and progressive electrical generating systems.
C. Walther
Prices remain way too high in Waikiki
As a former resident of Kaua'i, I would like to comment on the downward spiral of tourism on O'ahu. All of the reasons cited in the June 1 article ("Waikiki's visitor woes multiply") I am sure contribute to that slump. There are other factors.
I am temporarily off-island living in Alaska until my return to Kaua'i. What I see is that prices remain way too high for even non-kama'aina to visit. My doctors are in Honolulu, and for me to come stay in a hotel while I go to see them is exorbitantly expensive. Add to that the high price of restaurant food and that equals fewer tourists — tourists who might come more frequently and thus spend more money overall if the prices were lower.
Another factor of why the draw is to the Neighbor Islands: O'ahu has lost a lot of its old ways and aloha. The other islands still represent more of what most folks are looking for that is soothing to the soul.
Claire Hill
Anchorage, Alaska
Story about 'okolehao brings back memories
That story about 'okolehao brought back memories about a friend of mine, one B.T. Chang (may he rest in peace), who brewed a gallon of pure ti root 'okolehao during World War II and shared it with us. It was the best drink I have ever tasted, before or since — full-bodied and flavored — the smoothest I ever drank.
I don't know what its proof was, but it was very strong stuff. The old-time Hawaiians had something there. I had been accustomed to premium liquor, 12-year-old scotches like Haig & Haig pinch bottle and Johnny Walker Black Label, and the bonded 100-proof bourbons like Old Taylor and Old Granddad, but this home-brew ti root oke beat them all.
Ted Chernin
Students concluded lunches are unhealthy
During my senior year of high school, my leadership class was given the task of determining whether or not school lunches are healthy. After researching for several months, we concluded they are not healthy.
Sixty-three percent of the food eaten in the public school system is processed. This includes saturated fats and newly discovered transfats, which contribute to long-term illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and strokes.
One of the suggestions in the Advertiser article was to meet with your school principal. My class and I did this, to no avail.
The project we started this year will continue next year, and hopefully a plan can be devised to make school lunches better.
It was also mentioned in the article that if schools were to serve healthier lunches, fewer students would eat them. What's more important to our administrators — feeding fewer but more nutritious lunches that will encourage healthier lifestyles? Or serving a greater quantity of fattening lunches?
The issue shouldn't be about profit or the number of lunches sold. It should be about the health of Hawai'i's students.
Brandi Nakamura
Kalani High School senior
Compromise is needed on UH bidding system
Regarding the May 28 story "Bid system called unfair": I agree with an Internet bidding system, but not this one.
What was not explained is that the savings expressed is the elimination of a paper system, which I agree is the right step to take. The savings quoted has little to do with the savings from a lower bid from the Mainland. This is key, because local and branch companies can offer the same low bids as the Mainland companies. And why charge another local company supporting our economy an added cost to bid when a simple solution is to send an e-mail with fewer than 10 e-mail addresses?
As for the logic that UH must include the Mainland because of federal funding, I see no other university in the United States soliciting our local companies for their business as CommercePoint does in seeking Mainland companies for UH bids. Do you?
The cost of CommercePoint is passed on to companies investing here. That in principle is against the support of local companies and branch offices. Now a branch can leave and work from its headquartered state without the cost of being here, paying the tax and hiring the locals, which all support our local economy and feed our tax revenue. That's not a good message to send out.
The most distressing statement made was that we could put the cost of the bid into our bid price. Doesn't that just increase the overall cost of the purchase to the state and our tax dollars? Why not use a bidding system that would not pass the cost on as referenced in the article?
The other statement made is to mandate all UH purchasing through the system. That would mean mandating the bid process to a private contractor who makes money off every single bid won. That's an ethical question that will have to be answered in the future.
Maybe there could be a compromise for a better solution for us all and our 'ohana.
John G. Scalera
Pacific Rim regional branch manager
Technology Integration Group
Alternate energy had a good start
There was good news and hopeful progress on a vital program for Hawai'i's future that was launched 24 years ago by Sen. T.C. Yim, chairman of the state Senate Energy Committee.
Yim listened to key researchers in wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydroelectric, conservation, etc. Task forces were formed for each one of these, and their recommendations were carefully considered. Funding requirements needed to advance the research, demonstration and implementation of these technologies were set forth. Suggestions as to helpful legislation were included in the state Senate energy program.
The costs of what these experts thought might be needed to accelerate the replacement of imported oil were added up, along with a concept paper to enable Hawai'i to be energy self-sufficient as these technologies became economically viable. The House Committee went along with this program and $10 million was appropriated for the Senate energy program funding bill.
In this process, Hawaiian Electric personnel were included on each committee, where they often expressed concerns and doubts. Behind the scene, it was reported that HECO officials even tried to stop this effort. The Department of Planning and Economic Development energy official was also cool toward this ambitious program. Buying oil to generate electricity was more attractive to them, and now they have added polluting coal power.
So it is encouraging that Hawaiian Electric some 24 years later has come up with a $10 million program to invest in the financially viable technologies. Its wind resource maps published on its Web site are not as clear as those developed over a three- to four-year period from field measurements by the university department of meteorology.
An article in the June 2, 2003, BusinessWeek shows a picture of some wind generators and a solar system whose cutline says: "Wind turbines now produce electricity as cheaply as coal, and revenues are climbing."
The Kahuku, Moloka'i, Maui and Kahua wind regimes could power the state 70 percent of the year. With advanced energy-storage technology, the energy generated could be used for peak periods when energy is needed.
It is good news that HECO is now moving forward although its recent enclosure in its bill shows only 0.1 percent of its energy statewide comes from wind power and does not even list solar, as solar water-heating today is less costly than oil and coal in Hawai'i. A 42-unit apartment complex that installed a solar water-heating system is now saving about $1,400 a month in its electric bill. Unfortunately, HECO has announced plans to expand its coal power electricity.
D. Richard Neill
Former chief clerk
Senate Energy Committee
