Letters to the Editor
'Improve efficiency' from taxpayer's view
I see we are now going to be charged $2 at the satellite city halls for transactions we could have done online or by mail. The mayor says it will "improve efficiency" and shorten the lines.
How about we hold him to it? Require that numbers be taken, time stamped, upon entering any line, and if the taxpayer isn't serviced within 15 minutes, the $2 fee would be waived or deducted from a transaction requiring a personal visit.
It's not just about the money. It's more about efficient services.
J. Turner
Repeat property crime must be addressed
Hawai'i has one of the highest rates of property crime in the nation. How many police officers and citizens will have to die before those who are sworn to protect us will take it seriously?
Repeat property crime is serious crime. It is an indicator of drug use, particularly crystal meth use. These criminals eventually become paranoid and violent. Our police, our judges and our legislators must act quickly and forcefully to protect us from this scourge.
Rhoads Stevens
Hawai'i Kai
HMA's proposed drug plan still unlaunched
I am amazed at the complete lack of substance in a recent letter submitted by the leaders of the Hawai'i Medical Association regarding medication for the poor ("Prescription plan criticism unwarranted," Feb. 27).
Dr. Calvin Wong commends the governor for supporting the Hawai'i Medical Association's proposed program (which includes a $3 million grant to the HMA from the Weinberg Foundation). That's smart — don't ever bite the hand that feeds you. On the other hand, just what is he objecting to? Dr. Wong does not say.
The HMA's proposed benevolent program is not in operation and won't be for another six months. Why not? Is it waiting for the money? That's not very charitable. Six months is a long time to be without one's medications.
In the meantime, there is another group of M.D.s and volunteers (I'm one of them) that is doing something about the problem — daily. It's a nonprofit organization that assists the needy, young or old, in obtaining their medications at either very little or no cost. It uses the pharmaceutical manufacturers' patient-assistance programs that are already in place and working. Its services are entirely free. The service is called MEDS and it can be contacted at www.hawaiimeds.org. It will help — now.
Michael C. Jordan, Ph.D.
Delegation appeal to Japan won't work
I agree with Sen. Donna Mercado Kim's statements regarding the Hawai'i Tourism Association's plans to send a delegation, including Gov. Linda Lingle, to Japan to boost tourism. I thought it was a foolish idea when a delegation was sent post-9/11, and I think it is even more foolish to try it, again, when the previous attempt was such an obvious flop.
The HTA can say the post-9/11 trip was a success all it wants. The numbers tell a very different story.
I have lived in Japan, work with Japanese clients and media, and continue many close relationships with friends there. I know the market well. Believe me, a visit by a bunch of government officials will not get them all calling their travel agents and packing their Louis Vuitton bags, despite the fact that Japanese love Hawai'i. For starters — surprise! — Japan is in an economic slump.
Second, and more important, the threat of a potential war and terroristic acts are not going to be undone in the collective Japanese psyche by a bunch of lei-giving Hawai'i delegates, no matter how big their smiles or reassurances. The delegation's motives were too obvious post-9/11, according to my Japanese contacts, and a total "turn-off" when they had a genuine fear of traveling or other concerns.
The Japanese will come when they are good and ready — as they always have.
I agree that marketing efforts are important to continue — as well as improvements to our "product." However, this delegation plan is a waste of our hard-earned tax dollars and not the way to go.
Mona K. Wood
Airports Division needs to get its act together
The signage problem at Honolulu Airport is worse than you have reported.
Signs direct interisland travelers to the upper Ticketing/Departures area for parking. Due to 9/11, the entrance to interisland parking from the upper level has been blocked for months. Once you are on that level, your only option is to go all the way around the terminal, where the signs again direct you to the upper level for interisland parking.
After nearly missing a flight because I could not find the interisland parking (you have to enter it from the lower Bag Claim/Arrivals area) in early February, I visited the palatial state Airports Division offices on the seventh floor of the terminal and was informed that temporary signage would be installed, pending arrival of new permanent signage.
On March 13, I followed up with the Airport Engineering Division (Dennis Higa) and was told that no temporary signs have been installed, but maybe they would do something about it soon.
It is absolutely outrageous that 18 months after 9/11 the Airports Division still has not gotten around to correcting this signage. Hundreds of people have been seriously inconvenienced because of the "public-be-damned" attitude of these bureaucrats.
Tom Macdonald
State must hold drug dealers accountable
It was reported in the media that convicted felon Shane Mark, the suspect in the killing of officer Glen Gaspar, was on illegal drugs at the time of the shooting. It is unfortunate that we do not yet have laws that can charge his drug dealer as an accomplice to murder.
There is a basic principle in life that states you are responsible for your actions and the consequences of your actions. Until we remove the shield that protects drug dealers from the consequences of their actions, this kind of human tragedy will continue. We need to begin to view drug dealers as terrorists.
Too many decent citizens in our society have suffered physical, emotional and mental pain caused by actions initiated by illegal drug dealers. It is time our legislators debated the issue of making drug dealers more accountable for their actions. Everyone in our society is vulnerable to the deadly actions of crazed drug users and their suppliers.
Also, there is an adage that is applicable here: If you are not a part of the solution, then you are a part of the problem. From cocaine-snorting executives of major corporations to homeless heroin addicts who lurk in the shadows of our alleyways and to all those people in between who use illegal drugs — none of them are as far removed from this crime as they may think. Their invisible fingerprints are on the trigger of the gun that killed officer Glen Gaspar.
Carlino Giampolo
Democratic move to enforce rules good
I support the O'ahu County Democratic Party's move to enforce its own rules. Most recently, all sectors of the party avoided any stance that might cost a vote, instead of telling people what the party and the candidates stood for.
As an example: The party rules require that each candidate complete a survey regarding the platform and all resolutions passed by the recent state convention. The state leadership, with the support of the counties, ignored the rule and did not follow our own rules. As a result, candidates were running who had just joined the party in order to run with the "D," and no one had any idea what they stood for.
Supporting a Democrat, and being a member of the Democratic Party, are two different levels of commitment. I am glad to see at least part of the party structure attempting to follow its own rules.
Lance Bateman
West O'ahu campus needed for good jobs
Dear Gov. Lingle,
My name is Kino Cajigal. I go to school at Makakilo Elementary and I'm in the second grade. My teacher's name is Mrs. Nakamura.
I think it is important to have a West O'ahu UH campus because it will be close for all the people who live on the west side of O'ahu. I believe if a West O'ahu UH campus is built, then more people will go to college and get smarter. If they get smart, then they will be able to get good jobs. I want to go to college when I grow up so I can get smarter and get a good job.
Would you please build a college for the children and other people who live on the west side of O'ahu?
Kino Cajigal
Student, Makakilo Elementary School
(Editor's note: Similar letters were received from others in Mrs. Nakamura's class.)
New prison? Tell us how we'll pay for it
Rep. Bud Stonebraker says of a three-strikes law: "Everybody wants this except career criminals and the Democrat leadership." Has he so few arguments for his position that he must resort to low-ball ad hominem ranting to win his point? How stupid does he imagine we are?
Most of us, failing to qualify either as Democratic leaders or career criminals, are just ordinary citizens. But we can see that it was politicians like Stonebraker, playing on people's normal fear of crime by proposing appealing but unfundable schemes, who got us into our present law enforcement mess.
Wake up, Bud! Our state is almost broke. We're already one prison short of a full deck. Do we really want to swell the prison population further by mandating life terms for petty criminals? Is this the most imaginative solution you can think of?
I recommend changing legislative procedure. Anyone proposing additional prisons, which is what Stonebraker and his kind are really doing, should have to identify, in the same bill, which taxes they're willing to raise, or which schools, hospitals, road repairs or other public services they suggest should be closed down to pay for them.
Jerry Dupont
Kane'ohe
Holes in long-line plan
Regarding G. "Kuna" Kawelo's March 20 letter, "Long-line fisherman's net could corral salvinia": When will people learn that long-line fishermen do not use nets?
William Sullivan
Kailua
Overthrow interpreted differently
Opinions on the role played by the United States on the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani in 1893 seem to depend on how one interprets historical data.
Thurston Twigg-Smith (Letters, March 5) indicated that the United States played a minimal role, with no pointing of guns, no firing of bullets and denouncement by President Cleveland.
Next comes Damon Senaha (Letters, March 12), who indicates that the United States, through actions of its representatives, orchestrated the overthrow and that Twigg-Smith is simply whitewashing history.
And then, lo and behold, comes Michael Lafreniere (Letters, March 13), who speculates that the queen was loved and worshiped by the majority of the people, and the lawless occupation of Honolulu by U.S. forces prompted her to resign.
I think all three critics would agree that the crucial basis for their divergent views stems from different interpretations of the actions of John Stevens, U.S. minister to Hawai'i, and Capt. G.C. Wiltse of the USS Boston, as well as the statements in the queen's capitulation.
Stevens indicated to the Committee of Safety, whose members precipitated the overthrow, that he would likely approve of a new government resulting from a potential overthrow, but would play no role in their revolutionary actions. Capt. Wiltse, with the approval of Stevens, sent a limited number of troops to Honolulu for the express purpose of protecting Americans and American property. The U.S. government in Washington had no knowledge of the overthrow until after the fact and expressed strong objections when word was received.
The queen's interpretation as to who was responsible for the overthrow may be ambiguous and irrelevant to those who believe the United States played a minimal, if any, role in the overthrow. Was it a clever ploy on her part to blame the U.S. minister to Hawai'i, hoping the favorably leaning U.S. government in Washington would counter Stevens and argue for her reinstatement? Further actions seem to indicate this.
But for those looking for supporting evidence to support the belief of major U.S. involvement, the wording of the queen's capitulation, however profound, is crucial.
Discussion of the pros and cons on the issue will likely continue unabated unless a critically needed, unbiased investigation is conducted by the U.S. Congress. In retrospect, it is obvious that such an investigation should have preceded the 1993 apology resolution.
Frank Scott
Kailua
