Posted on: Thursday, April 1, 2004

Letters to the Editor

We have to do more on drug treatment

I'm amazed at how much Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona is sounding like the national Republican Party line in outlining the Lingle administration's response to the ice problem in Hawai'i.

When he says that money is already being spent on drug treatment, that statement is true. What is not true is to think for a moment that that money is enough.

I think it's a travesty that on the island of O'ahu, the average wait for a teenager to receive residential drug treatment is at least two months. Young people sit incarcerated or detained awaiting placement for residential drug treatment. I think it is a travesty when the only option for our children is incarceration while awaiting treatment for their drug or alcohol dependence. It is even worse on the Neighbor Islands.

Yet the one thing that is clear is that the Republican agenda continues to be to build more prisons and expand police powers. Yes, we can continue to lock up addicts. But unless you are willing to execute drug addicts, they are all going to come out of prison one day, still drug addicts because of no treatment options.

That HMSA 'income' is really your money

HMSA's official "spin" on its $47 million net income for 2003 and its recent rate increases overlook the obvious: Every last cent of the money it generates from investment income is policyholder money. It is money derived from investing policyholder money and belongs to the policyholder.

As I've said in the past, policyholders in Hawai'i pay four times for their health insurance:

• HMSA keeps income derived from policyholder cash reserves.
• HMSA is nonprofit in name only, so the taxpayers are making up the lost Hawai'i state tax revenue by subsidizing this policyholder-owned corporation that HMSA executives consider to be their personal piggy bank.
• Your employers are required by law to pay for your health insurance, so they are unable to pay you a higher salary.
• You are now being asked to pay a larger share of the cost of your premium through payroll deductions and co-payments.

Isn't it a bit odd that healthcare providers, facilities and drug companies are constantly asked to do "more for less" year after year, yet your premiums skyrocket while HMSA's payrolls, bonuses, benefits and personnel keep increasing?

Why not require HMSA to cut its overhead 25 percent and to spend down "your" cash reserves by $125 million?

Don't you find it ironic that HMSA spends millions of your dollars on media advertisements, events and charitable donations to let you know how wonderful it is?

Paper misrepresented Inouye on No Child

In your March 28 Focus section package regarding No Child Left Behind, you have again tried to mislead the public by putting Sen. Dan Inouye in the "con" column.

Nowhere do I note that Inouye is against this George Bush initiative. He is merely stating that he feels it was underfunded by Congress.

Instead, you make it appear as if he is against a wonderful Bush program.

Let's be fair once in awhile. Keep the laughs in the comic strips. We prefer to be fooled on the proper page.

'Citizenship' sums up educational pursuit

At the Reinventing Education for the 21st Century summit at Kapolei High School, Tony Wagner, the keynote speaker, summed it up in one word: citizenship.

The collaboration of citizenship includes government officials, union officials, professional educators/resources, universities, families/communities and businesses.

As quoted by Barry Taniguchi, president and CEO of KTA Super Stores and K. Taniguchi Ltd. from Hilo, "it's common-sense thinking."

Voice complaints about schools to right people

Do you know that there is a way to make your schools better? Do you know that you can make a difference? Talk to your local principal. Talk to your local teachers. Talk to the students you know. Get to know their point of view on education.

If you have constructive criticism that could assist in improving our education, don't just complain about it and wait until the school governance issue is resolved. Let your Board of Education members know now.

It's déjà vu to fight landfill all over again

Kane'ohe residents, in particular the thousands in Kokokahi, Mikiola, Bay View Heights and Pikoiloa (including Pohai Nani Retirement Home and Medical Facility), should all be very concerned about the proposed Kalaheo landfill just over the ridge from them.

Nineteen years ago, a similar proposal by the city for the same site was attempted and, thankfully, quashed, due in large part to community uproar regarding its proximity to those residents on the Kane'ohe side of the ridge, some within 400 feet of the ridge line.

If the site was deemed environmentally unacceptable for a full-scale landfill almost two decades ago, why is it OK now? If anything, the number of Kane'ohe abutters has increased since then.

How many times will Windward residents have to fight this battle?

The problem with gas is our dependence on it

I think the most important statement in your March 22 editorial on gasoline price caps was the last one: "Ultimately we have a national problem with gasoline prices, begging a national solution." I don't think there is a national problem with gasoline prices but rather a national problem with our dependence on oil.

Applying gasoline price caps will only worsen that problem. Low prices at the pump hurt us in the long run because they discourage the research, development and use of alternative-energy resources. We will need to use other energy sources in the future because there is a finite amount of fossil fuels. The earlier we can make the transition and lessen our dependence on oil, the better. We need to think in terms of how much gasoline we use each day rather than how much we pay for it. The few cents on the gallon that we might save from a gasoline price cap is nothing compared to the amount of money we could save by using more fuel-efficient automobiles.

Cars that run on a combination of gasoline and electricity (hybrid) are much more fuel-efficient and are a good step in solving our dependence on oil. Today's hybrid cars get between 40 and 60 miles to the gallon, which is about twice the amount the average car gets and is more like five or six times the amount a typical SUV gets.

We as consumers have the right to regulate how much we spend on gasoline by consuming less. By increasing the fuel efficiency of your car, you can save money and at the same time help alleviate our nation's dependence on oil.

Remember tax, job losses at election time

So the truth finally emerges. Your March 23 story "20% of high-tech tax credits may be illegal" must come as no surprise to those legislators, such as Sens. Fred Hemmings and Colleen Hanabusa, who warned us of potential abuses and tried to amend Act 221 in 2003.

Our legislators now have to make the Hobson's choice of either cutting back vital services and programs or raising taxes or fees in order to make up the tax collection shortfall. The worst part is that the companies that used the high-tech tax credit program as a tax dodge created no new industries or permanent jobs here.

This November, it will be up to us, the voters, to recall these events and hold legislators accountable, in particular Rep. Brian Schatz, who as chairman of the House Committee on Economic Development and Business Concerns resisted all efforts to make the needed amendments and whose inaction resulted in this double-whammy loss to the citizens of this state.

Windward flooding must be addressed

Eloise Aguiar's March 3 coverage of driver complaints because of flooding at Waikane prompts this response.

Several news stories and our federal weather watchers tell us that this year has been a particularly severe winter storm season. Even so, for some time now, I've been acutely aware of flood problems impacting O'ahu's north-windward coastal zone during each year's storm season.

While experiencing travel disruptions, residents in settlements such as Waihe'e, Ka'alaea, Waiahole, Waikane, Ka'a'awa, Punalu'u, Hau'ula, La'ie and Kahuku have endured other equally frustrating experiences: failing cesspools (the area's dominant method of sanitary waste disposal); personal property damage; days on end of standing, mosquito-breeding water puddles; crop losses; damaged garden plots; and property loss to erosion.

In light of the foregoing, I have sponsored legislation asking appropriation of $250,000 to pay the costs of preliminary studies of flooding within the north-windward coastal area, including recommended remedial measures.

Assuming approval by my colleagues and the governor's expeditious handling of this matter, I envision a search for other available funds, be they federal, state or county, or some combination thereof, to pay the construction costs of physical facilities where deemed appropriate.

'This truth' is setting only the zealot free

Just what the world needs in these troubled times — another in a long line of religious zealots going out of his way to pin the blame for the death of Jesus 2,000 ago on Jesus' fellow Jews, and letting us know that the Jews therefore deserved their subsequent fate. As though Jesus were born and died so that believers might have another reason to cast blame on a scapegoat.

Gerald Wright's assertion (Letters, March 25), in this context, that "this truth sets men free" is eerily reminiscent of the words on the gate at the entrance to Auschwitz: "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work makes one free).

Let legislators have trial runs on own turf

Regarding your March 28 article "Traffic camera plan splits lawmakers": If certain state legislators such as Cal Kawamoto and Joe Souki and City Councilman Nestor Garcia want the re-introduction of traffic cams to catch traffic violators on our streets and highways, let the cameras be installed only in their districts for a trial period of four years.

After that period, place the issue on the statewide ballot to allow all voting citizens to vote for or against having the traffic cams permanently installed on all Islands, throughout the state of Hawai'i.

Property tax system is abusive

Your recent articles regarding administration of the real property tax program by the City & County of Honolulu deserve comment. By all accounts, valuations have been arbitrarily increased by an average 16 percent, thereby increasing the tax base, resulting in questionable and unjustifiable tax revenues added to the city treasury.

By law, a 10 percent level comes into play only to determine whether or not a taxpayer is deemed aggrieved and allowed to pursue an appeal. It is a jurisdictional question. If, upon filing an appeal, the Tax Appeal Court or the Board of Taxation Review determines that the value determined by the assessor does not exceed by 10 percent fair-market value of the property, the appeal is dismissed. It is incumbent upon the taxpayer to prove what it alleges to be the fair-market value of its property.

Real-property appraisals are done on a mass basis. Because a mass appraisal involves the valuation and assessment of hundreds of thousands of parcels each year, the law allows the assessor a 10 percent leeway as a margin of error. It was never intended for a tax official to increase the assessor's valuation by 10 percent. The tax official is not the appraiser.

The practice by city tax officials is abusive, illegal and unconscionable. This practice could never occur during the period the state administered the program. County participation in the taxing scheme was only to fix the rate of taxation commensurate with its fiscal needs. By law, all real property tax revenues inured to the benefit of the counties — thus, the state had no interest in tax revenues. The extent of its interest was to be reimbursed its costs.

Because the taxes we pay are directly related to assessed values, an arbitrary 10 percent increase in value results in an arbitrary, unfair and unreasonable increase in taxes. The individual homeowner is double penalized. He not only has to pay the arbitrarily increased tax on his property but, also, whatever is passed on by a merchant whose property has likewise been arbitrarily increased. The city can smile at this unjust enrichment, but the taxpayer bleeds as a result of this secretive and deceptive abuse of powers.

The power to tax is the power to destroy. Destruction is assured where tax administrators are reckless, irresponsible, unfair and arbitrary.

It is hoped the staff of the real-property tax section will neither be maligned nor hindered with the indiscretions of the administration officials. These employees are dedicated, hard-working, diligent and honest. Instead, they should be commended for their outstanding performance in undertaking such a complex, difficult and sensitive program.