Letters to the Editor

Cal Kawamoto delivering a shameful performance

The sheer audacity of Sen. Cal Kawamoto to introduce bills that would undermine the independence of the Campaign Spending Commission.

He acknowledges the commission was set up to shelter it from political influence, but now that "they're dealing with our lives and all of that kind of stuff ... we want the proper people in there."

Maybe his buddy, airport official Richard Okada, could be made chairman.

People like myself did not vote for Linda Lingle because we are enamored of Republicans. We are disappointed Democrats, fed up with the arrogance of the Democrats in power who, like Sen. Kawamoto, think they can get by with anything, including bending over backward to support special interests to the detriment of all citizens of Hawai'i. They still don't get it.

Council vote on raising police pay underhanded

What a dirty, double-crossing, low-down, underhanded, stab-in-the-back action by the City Council to raise taxes on vehicle weight to support the Honolulu Police Department pay raises. And to hold a meeting on Christmas Eve, a day hardly anyone could attend the emergency meeting. And a meeting where mostly Honolulu police testified in their own behalf.

I agree that police officers put their lives on the line for the people and may be in need of a pay raise. But when the council uses this kind of tactic to give police a pay raise, that is not right. The City Council should have waited till after Christmas to give the public more notice to appear and testify so both sides could give their points.

Makes me wonder, whom does the City Council work for? The people or the unions? It's time to keep our City Council accountable for its actions. And if we need to, impeach all of them.

Facts getting in way of liberal rhetoric

Rick Lloyd (Letters, Jan. 23) chooses to ignore the facts when they don't agree with his political agenda.

Sen. Fred Hemmings is correct. The unequivocal truth is that the Bush tax cuts have worked.

The facts speak for themselves. Here are just a few of the headlines that appeared in The Advertiser recently: "Jobless claims hit 3-year low" (Jan. 1), "Fewer in Hawai'i seeking unemployment benefits" (Jan. 1), "Retailers look forward to a year of growth" (Dec. 28), "Sales of new homes up 22%" (Jan. 14), "Home resales set record" (Oct. 3), "Home resales surge on Neighbor Islands" (Nov. 25), "Home resales up from year ago" (Dec. 4) and "Home sales hit new high" (Jan. 7).

By all means, Mr. Lloyd, don't let the facts get in the way of your liberal rhetoric.

Fly us to the moon, or better yet, the Islands

Dear Aloha and Hawaiian,

We applaud your far-reach aspirations. But we would be quite content if you didn't fly us to different continents.

Give us direct Island flights and low prices — like straight from Kahului to Hilo.

If you can't bestow affordable, direct flights, your priorities are kapakahi and plenty lolo.

Too bad Mahalo Airlines is no more.

Parking on Ala Wai has created a mess

In their infinite wisdom, the all-knowing powers of the city have done it again. By allowing parking on Ala Wai Boulevard during the commute hours, one traffic lane has now been eliminated and the traffic is at a standstill morning and evening.

Additionally, several cars have been parked in the same places for more than one month without being marked as abandoned and without receiving a citation.

Isn't it time for the city to find people who can make intelligent decisions?

City taking unwise step in selling Block J

I question the city's wisdom of selling prime real estate ("Pflueger to buy downtown lot," Jan. 23) for the temporary gain of balancing a budget. While using the corner of Beretania and Bishop as a parking lot may be considered underused by some, I suggest one try going to the courthouse on Alakea without it.

Furthermore, does the math add up? At $37,000 (the monthly parking revenues), it would take only 283 months, or 23.6 years, for the city to purchase such a prime downtown location for $10.5 million (the city's sale price). In one sense, it has almost paid for itself during the last 20 years while the city tried to figure out what to do with it.

In other words, even "underused," it has paid for itself. And where will the public obtain more land in the future as our city and island grow if the government needs it — borrowing from the public by way of a bond? Duh!

Just how successful is ice-user rehabilitation?

Many of our legislators are talking about spending a lot of our money on rehabilitation for ice users.

Before we even consider throwing a bunch of taxpayer money at this problem, we need to know what the success rate has been for the rehabilitation programs that are now in place.

And, since any such information would be provided to us by the same social agencies that depend on our tax money to keep them employed, how reliable would this information really be?

Big Island smoking ban will weaken economy

The smoking ban that becomes law starting Feb. 1 on the island of Hawai'i will further continue to weaken an economy dependent on agriculture, investment and development, and tourists. The Hawai'i County Council is economically inept to the consequences the ban will cause.

In effect, the smoking ban will be another unenforceable ordinance like the riding of bicycles and skateboards on sidewalks where not permitted, underage drinking and smoking, illegal parking, gambling, etc. The police do not have the manpower nor resources to enforce ordinances set by the council.

The smoking ban will only further prevent the County of Hawai'i from receiving needed revenues and the possibility of creating needed jobs in other fields.