Posted on: Saturday, July 24, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Managers should not be awarded bonuses

The 80 managers of Hawaiian Air should be exempted from bonuses.

Managers are typically paid far higher salaries to make up for other benefits that the rank and file may receive.

For example, Mark Dunkerley's salary of $415,000 per year is more than twice the salary of that received by the most senior flight captain, seven times higher than that of an aircraft mechanic and 18 times higher than an aircraft cleaner.

Pay me $415,000 a year and I will gladly forgo bonuses, 401(k), etc., which as pilots we have given up more than $8 million in concessions for.

Flood insurance will help reduce your risk

Most of Hawai'i's homeowners have homeowners insurance and/or hurricane coverage, but only a minority have flood insurance. Floods are the most common and widespread of natural disasters except fire.

Knowing what flood zone one is in and purchasing flood insurance will reduce the cost of structural damage to one's home and contents, flood-related erosion, and flood-caused mudslides should a flood or flash flood occur.

Any lender to a homeowner who borrows from an institution that is federally regulated or making federally backed loans will check the flood insurance rate map. If the property is located in a special flood hazard area, the lender must require the borrower to buy flood insurance.

Flood insurance covers up to a maximum of $250,000 for single-family residential homes, and the limit for contents coverage on all residential buildings is up to $100,000. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a home in a special flood hazard area, a high-risk flood area, has a 26 percent chance of being flooded over a 30-year period.

Even if you live in an area that is not flood-prone, actually between 20 percent and 25 percent of National Flood Insurance Program claims come from outside high-flood-risk areas. According to FEMA, the NFIP's preferred risk policy discount is only available on the island of Maui. Check the Web site (www.floodsmart.gov) for risk profile with your address, city, state and zip code and premium(s) with flood quick-quote. Flood insurance rate maps for O'ahu are available at the Department of Planning & Permitting.

It's special interests vs. people's interests

The Advertiser's Johnny Brannon got close to the heart of the race for Honolulu mayor with his story about Bill 35 — the agricultural land tax. The headline read "Farm tax defining mayor race," but that's not quite true. The election is not and should not be about the farm tax issue itself. Instead, voters should examine the candidates' positions on the issue.

Mufi Hannemann has sided with the large landowners and their well-paid lobbyists. Together, they're pushing for a tax break for the likes of Bishop Estate, Castle & Cooke and others. They want the tax advantage of claiming their land as agricultural, but they want to be free to develop the land instead of farming it. The result is that all Honolulu taxpayers will have to come up with about $9 million more in taxes.

On the other hand, Duke Bainum believes that if you want a tax break for farming, you should have to declare your land as agricultural. Then and only then would you deserve a tax break. He does not believe in a $9 million giveaway at the expense of the citizens.

Most people on O'ahu don't care about the tax issues facing a relatively small number of farmers. But every single taxpayer on this island ought to wonder why they should pay the tax bills of big business and why they would want to elect a mayor who supports special interests over the people's interests.

Mayoral candidates must keep promises

Yes, voters are still looking for the right candidate for mayor. We need one who can promise and keep these promises: No more tax increases. No more corruption in the awarding of city contracts. No more potholes. No more transfer of funds from other accounts to balance the budget. No more caving in to unions (e.g., bus drivers).

Neither of our current candidates seems to be able to do any of these basic mayoral functions. No wonder — one has his eyes on Washington Place, the other on Washington, D.C. If no one else qualified comes forward, we need the option of "None of the above."

Challenged bicyclist is a real inspiration

Married at the time and living on Maui, my wife and I bicycled daily along just about every road on the island, including the moon dust sugar cane roads, which proved rather treacherous on one occasion. Being some distance ahead, I had endured the passing back draft of a cane hauler, what felt like inches. Looking back, I found my wife had disappeared.

Slowly, making my way back, I discovered her in a semiconscious state, having been blown, along with her bicycle, about 10 feet into the sugar cane. Fortunately, she recovered without injury, but that was the last straw as we moved to O'ahu in 1983.

I truly have to second the motion of Mr. Hap Holmwood's July 19 letter about the physically challenged gentleman laboriously pedaling his three-wheeled vehicle down Kalakaua Avenue, even then, as we tentatively relaunched the high-risk daily routine on O'ahu. Twenty years later, he's still at it, and what an inspiration to all. I quit, after my bike was pilfered.