Posted on: Friday, September 10, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Magnificent attraction must be reopened

When my son (born and raised here, now living on the Mainland) and his wife visited Hawai'i a few years ago, they explored the island from one end to the other. The place they enjoyed most was Lyon Arboretum. They returned several times to enjoy hiking through that verdant oasis in the heart of Manoa Valley.

They will be returning in a few weeks and are looking forward to revisiting their favorite place. How disappointed they will be to find that it has been closed "indefinitely."

Come on now, for the sake of us kama'aina and visitors alike, not to mention the keiki, please open your doors once more and let us enjoy the special ambiance of one of O'ahu's most magnificent natural attractions.

Oh, that explains it

Thanks for your brief article finally explaining why the UH president was fired for cause, er, fired, er, resigned under pressure, er, resigned with a golden parachute.

"Some people" objected that he hired his business friends and associates, instead of their business friends and associates.

Duh. That explains it.

Red-shirt marchers are in a losing cause

In Waikiki on Monday, red-shirt marchers once again stomped all over our rainbow society's commitment to unity and equality.

Of course they have a right to march. And I have a right to feel disgusted. Red was chosen to symbolize the blood shared by ethnic Hawaiians exclusively. Thousands marched to protect and expand racial separatism.

Is it impolite to say I'm disgusted? Well, how impolite is it for a mob to march through our streets defending racial privilege? How righteous is it to march against the courts' authority to decide what's legal?

The red-shirts defend segregation at America's most wealthy, powerful school. They defend state agencies serving only one racial group, sucking up hundreds of millions of government money and hoarding it in the stock market.

With children in tow, the marchers lull us into apathy. They smile pretty, but their causes are ugly.

Thank goodness most people of Hawaiian ancestry do not support creating a racial-separatist "nation." Perhaps some day the "silent majority" will speak up and sponsor a real "unity" rally.

Did anyone notice among dozens of flags, not one was American?

Texas study of O'ahu seems counterintuitive

Honolulu traffic is getting better all the time ("Honolulu traffic on road to less gridlock, study shows")? Apparently the good folks at the Texas Transportation Institute spent their entire "study" lounging on the beach.

Or perhaps they didn't bother coming to O'ahu at all? How else could anyone explain this ridiculous study? The notion that traffic has gotten better in the last 10 years is simply rubbish.

Bidding fond aloha to ideal businessman

I am deeply saddened by the passing of Tom Malone, CEO of Aloha Petroleum. I was very fortunate to have worked for Aloha Petroleum under his helm. He welcomed me to the Aloha Petroleum family at a time when I was transitioning my career in Hawai'i.

Tom Malone was a very kind, caring human being who treated his employees fairly. His work not only epitomized that of an ideal businessman, but also in his commitment to his employees and in providing quality product and service to the people of Hawai'i.

He inspired me to represent the company with pride, to always do my job to the best of my ability, bringing Aloha's standard of ethics and integrity to the public. My career at Aloha Petroleum under Tom Malone will always stand high on my personal accomplishments. I am now an ocean away from Hawai'i, but the impact of Malone's leadership remains close.

Losing our beach park to homeless

As a nearby resident and an early-morning walker at Ala Moana Beach Park, the largest park in urban Honolulu, I find the current state of this once beautiful park now a total disgrace. Not only have many homeless taken it over, they are living in filth, with their trash and leftover food items scattered all over.

Most of the restrooms have become impossible to use, because of vagrants utilizing them as a shelter.

Of equal importance, how do we, as the "Aloha State," address the homeless population? Why are law-abiding taxpayers almost forced out of our park due to poor enforcement?

I have noticed a few homeless who care enough to sweep and pick up their trash. Mahalo to them. Unfortunately the majority do not.

An integrated system is desperately needed

In his Aug. 30 column, Cliff Slater says he believes there is no connection between mass transit and traffic congestion.

Some people believe the earth is flat, too. How does he think those who take the bus, walk or ride their bikes would get around otherwise? They would drive. And would that increase or decrease traffic congestion? It would increase traffic congestion.

Mr. Slater also suggests that building more roads is a solution. That is patent nonsense. In fact, if you want to move a lot of people, the most efficient way to do it (and often the most comfortable) is by train, ferry or bus. All three of these modes are much, much more energy efficient and in many situations much faster.

When will our public officials build the integrated system of highways, railroads, and ferries we so desperately need?

Play any song at all that gives us a 'W'

Blah, blah, blah. Play "Hawaii Five-O" or don't play it. Add "Rainbows" or don't add it. How about figuring out a way to win football games.

I am all for keeping tradition, but I truly feel the change of the name and team uniform have boosted the program. Come on orange, green and white — not the nicest combination of colors. I know I'm wearing more team apparel since the change.

They could play "The Sound of Music" at the games for all I care, provided it inspired the crowd and the team to a win.

With last week's loss, obviously there are bigger problems then what music is being played. When the game was finished I wasn't asking what songs I heard. I was wondering how the game could've been won.

With all the mistakes that night, all I kept hearing were "The Blues."

Natatorium repair defies frugality, common sense

Forty years ago the Waikiki Natatorium of my youth was in general disrepair. Other than youth braver than I who would cannonball into the water, I never saw anyone swim in the bright green water that obscured the bottom. A swimmer, I imagined, would meet with a shallow coral bottom or with sea monsters slithering in this algae soup.

It is curious that the costly repair and then ongoing maintenance of a decayed structure continues to be a persistent issue with the mayor's office. With the great many priorities needed by the people of Ho-nolulu such as solution-based programs for the homeless, drug-related law enforcement and treatment programs, road restoration and reasonable upkeep of our public parks and restrooms, there appears to be overwhelming public consensus for returning the pool to its highest and best use: as much-needed beach space, while keeping the facade as a fitting and honorable memorial to our World War I veterans.

On a crisp morning jog last fall in Stockbridge, Mass., I paused at the flagpole area of the town meeting hall. There on a large bronze tablet imbedded in a granite boulder were the names of hometown veterans who served in World War I. It was a solemn, enduring and eternal tribute to these men from a historic area of our country — one that required minimal maintenance after its installation about 90 years ago.

Perhaps Yankee frugality contributed to the design of this dignified memorial. With respect to the Natatorium, this same frugality married to common sense should be exercised: When would you spend $5,000 to fix a $500 car, or $500,000 to fix a $100,000 home? Probably when the money doesn't come from you and potentially benefits special interest groups.

Good stewardship — the prudent and effective use of another's resources — should always entail two questions: "Do we really need this?" and "If this were my money, would I buy or build this?"

The mayor's office may have answered the first question, "Not really" and the second, "But it's not my money." In this time of fiscal limitations due in good part to government overspending, it is really time for common sense priorities — and taxpayer opinion — to prevail regarding the huge uncertain costs of rebuilding and maintaining the crumbling Natatorium.

Vancouver shows us the way

Don Newman with the Grassroot Institute of Hawai'i suggests that a 20-mile-long, four-lane "reversible flyover" between Kapolei and downtown "would handle eight to 16 times more commuters than is possible with rail, at a lower construction cost."

Mr. Newman needs a crash course in highway engineering. A free-flowing freeway lane can handle between 1,600 and 2,000 vehicles per hour. A four-lane elevated roadway with 12-foot lanes might carry 7,000 vehicles per hour.

Surface light-rail systems in Boston, San Francisco and Philadelphia carry between 7,000 and 15,000 passengers per hour. Modern grade-separated light-rail systems are more impressive. In Vancouver, Skytrain carries about 205,000 passengers per day with 22,400 passengers during the peak hour. It is capable of carrying 27,000 people per hour in one direction on a single track.

This is equivalent to more than 10 freeway lanes. The two-track elevated guideway is 22 feet wide and requires a single column so a system can weave through developed areas. Try doing that with a four-lane freeway.

Elevated highways are not only unsightly, they are also very costly. A 10-mile, two-lane reversible highway between Waipahu and Iwilei (about a quarter of the system that Newman is proposing) is estimated to cost more than $1 billion, yet would only serve about 16,000 cars in each of the peak traffic periods or about 32,000 vehicles.

Annual highway maintenance and policing would raise the public cost even higher. And of course, the private cost of vehicle ownership, operation, parking, accidents and injuries would need to be added to this total. But that's only part of the cost.

We would need to add more local street capacity in central Honolulu and everyone would need vastly larger parking structures. It would mean greater reliance on fossil fuels and more emissions. Central Honolulu would be in perpetual gridlock.

Compare this with Vancouver, which has recently decided to develop a new 12-mile automated light-rail system estimated to cost $1.3 billion. This will be Vancouver's third automated transit system. We need a balanced approach to transportation planning on O'ahu that provides people with real choices. A four-lane reversible freeway aimed at downtown would change our urban fabric forever.

O'ahu should invest in quality mass transit that provides residents with a convenient and fast commuting option.