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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, October 12, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Stop spending money on stupid city projects

Regarding the article "City scrambles to find $5.8M" (Oct. 6): Well, well — another headline where the city is scrambling to find money, this time to pay for police raises. The first thing out of the mayor's office is that the city will have to raise some taxes.

I say enough. Stop taking our money for stupid projects like the Lunalilo Home Road million-dollar planter box or Cinerama at the beach in Waikiki.

If we had good managers running our city instead of politicians, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in.

Bob Martin
Hawai'i Kai


Initiative, referendum and recall don't work

My father was the late Sen. Donald D.H. Ching. He served 20 years in the Hawai'i Legislature, as a representative and then a senator, and also served as a delegate to the 1968 and 1978 Hawai'i Constitutional Conventions. In the 1978 convention, he was adamantly opposed to initiative, referendum and recall (IRR). I, with all the arrogance of youth, disagreed. We argued.

Remembering our arguments, my mother sent me the Sept. 28 article entitled "Time for constitutional convention," in which John Griffin favors some form of IRR. I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1987 and voted in every California election since that date. After observing and participating in the IRR process firsthand, I have concluded I was wrong.

In theory, IRR is appealing as a form of direct voter participation. In practice, money rules. Money pays the signature-gatherers who stand outside supermarkets, malls and other public places with petitions to qualify issues for initiatives and recalls.

These are not people who believe in the cause or even understand it; these are people who are paid to get signatures. Hate Gov. Gray Davis? Sign here. Against discrimination? Sign here. There is no discussion about the advantages or disadvantages of any issue. No one weighs the cost (economic or otherwise) of a recall election, or the cost of not collecting health data by race (current Proposition 54).

I do not understand why Mr. Griffin thinks that California is a special case. Money in Hawai'i will also buy signatures, experts and advertising.

Even now, after becoming a parent myself, I hate to admit that my father was right. But he was right on.

Deborah A. Ching
Piedmont, Calif.


Bicycle riders should pay for bus rack use

It's amazing to see how messed up the bus situation has become. Senior citizens and disabled people being turned away from buying a new and costly bus pass, and getting the same bus service as usual.

Senior citizens and the disabled took the biggest hit from the new rates — from paying once every two years to paying once a year.

Why aren't bicycle riders being charged for placing their bikes on the bus rack? If the bus is transporting something extra, bicycle riders should be charged extra for placing their bike on a bus rack.

I now only get one transfer for my bus fare. Wow, a ride has now gotten more expensive for me. It is cheaper for me to drive my car than to catch the bus.

Daniel Pascal
Kailua


Bus passes should have been allowed to expire

I agree with James V. Hall (Letters, Oct. 8): Current senior, or even regular, bus passes should have been allowed to expire.

At the renewal due date, usually the bearer's birthday, any additional fees could simply be prorated and charged. That would have avoided this unnecessary and inconvenient rush and added expense.

It also would keep the stagger of renewals, based on individuals' birthdays, and would avoid a collective renewal two years from now.

Ignacio A. Torres
Honolulu


More money for research welcome

TheÊrecent news of steadily increasing funding for University of Hawai'i research is welcome news indeed for students, faculty and Hawai'i in general.

World-class universities earn that distinction purely on academics, research and facilities — but not sports. All potential monies should be directed at enhancing these areas and, in particular, UH's existing excellent reputation in the fields of oceanography, astronomy and biology.

In short, UH needs far more cheerleaders for its fundamental role as a world-class educational establishment, period.

Paul Perretta
Punahou


Letters, editorial confuse the facts about Koa Ridge

Some of your recent letter writers and even an Advertiser editorial have misstated the facts regarding our proposed development at Koa Ridge. The record deserves to be corrected.

Castle & Cooke Homes followed established procedures in applying to the state Land Use Commission for a land-use designation change at Koa Ridge. The first thing the LUC did in its hearings on our request in September 2001 was to rule that an Environmental Impact Statement was not required at that time. The state attorney general and the City and County of Honolulu agreed.

This ruling was consistent with previous LUC rulings. It wasn't until two months ago that Judge Elizabeth Hifo interpreted the law to mean otherwise. Our EIS, which until Judge Hifo's ruling was scheduled to be submitted to the city with our zoning application, is nearly complete and will be redirected to the LUC for its consideration.

Nearby residential and commercial development makes agriculture an inappropriate land use at Koa Ridge. It simply is not feasible or proper to continue dust-producing and other practices necessary to grow crops on this land. As testimony before the LUC showed, prime agriculture land is abundant on O'ahu, and the most appropriate use for Koa Ridge is to meet the demand for homes by this generation and the next.

The Advertiser's Sept. 28 editorial "Prudence is the key to land-use changes" said that the City and County General Plan requires future growth "be channeled toward the island's second city." This is a mischaracterization of the General Plan's vision for growth on O'ahu.

The General Plan states the following about where growth should occur: "Encourage development within the secondary urban center at Kapolei and the 'Ewa and Central O'ahu urban-fringe areas to relieve developmental pressures in the remaining urban-fringe and rural areas and to meet housing needs not readily provided in the primary urban center."

Unfortunately, the erroneous notion that growth should be channeled toward the second city has been repeated in the media. In fact, the General Plan recognizes the need for, and supports diversity of, housing opportunities and choices for the residents of O'ahu. Development at Koa Ridge is clearly consistent with the General Plan.

We hope The Advertiser will recognize that Central O'ahu is specifically designated for more housing to meet the obvious demand for homes there.

Harry A. Saunders
President, Castle & Cooke Hawaii