Mayor shouldn't allow prolonged closures

I believe that the the first candidate for mayor and other elected positions who promises to review and adjust the HPD's policy of shutting down all lanes of a freeway for hours to investigate a traffic fatality would easily improve his chances of winning the upcoming elections.

It's inconceivable, given today's technologies, that accident investigators cannot take the pictures and measurements necessary, and remove enough wreckage and debris, to have one lane or more available for traffic flow in less time than an hour.

And my complaint is not simply an issue of inconveniencing the public. Nor is it a lack of compassion for accident victims or their families but, for some the "inconvenience" may adversely affect their life, starting with the ill, the elderly and infants.

Whenever there's a major traffic jam, we've all seen the overheating cars pulled over to the side. And for some unlucky drivers, it might mean a blown engine.

Let us not forget about the economic impact. Companies and businesses suffer when a freeway is closed. Appointments are missed. Flights are missed. And some bosses are unsympathetic when you're late for work.

With the recent closure of west-bound lanes between Kunia and Makakilo, a major trucking thoroughfare was closed. The freeway remained closed in the middle of a business day for nearly four hours. All drivers headed west who needed to go beyond Waipahu were stuck in traffic for hours.

So, who wants to be mayor?

HPD shouldn't allow officers to use SUVs

The recent accidents that left one police officer dead and another critically injured should send a clear message to the new HPD chief: stop allowing SUVs to be used as subsidized police vehicles.

SUVs do not offer any law enforcement benefits over a standard passenger sedan and are inherently more dangerous. SUVs have a higher tendency to roll over in a crash, and a higher incidence of fatalities when they do roll over.

According to the NHTSA, there are more than 11 deaths per 100,000 in an SUV rollover crash. That's almost three times higher than a passenger car. Further, 61 percent of fatalities in an SUV crash occur because of a rollover; for a passenger car it's only 23 percent.

I don't like to see my tax dollars spent subsidizing the use of dangerous vehicles for law enforcement.

Why not do away with pennies instead?

Oh, goody. Our government is giving us a new nickel.

Isn't that exciting? I wonder how much it is costing us taxpayers to produce and distribute the shiny new coin.

Better we should do something constructive, such as eliminating pennies. They are worth so little that not even street people or children will bother to pick a penny up from the ground.

A few years ago we visited Australia, an incredible country that is far ahead of the States in some ways.

For one, Oz has a national healthcare plan that is simple and that really works.

Also, the folks in Oz have done away with pennies!

Every price is rounded off to the nearest nickel. So simple, and so clever. Why can't we do something like that in the States? I guess it's too simple for us.

We have to do everything the hard way.

Or is it Bob Hope?

Having never seen Thomas Jefferson, I'd say the new nickel looks like a commemorative issue for Bob Hope. Not a bad idea! But what happened to "E Pluribus Unum"?

Attack on Tasaka was out of line

Pam Lee Smith's attack on Allicyn Hikida Tasaka's leadership of the Hawai'i State Commission on the Status of Women was out of line and inaccurate (Letters, Sept. 17).

Having worked with her on numerous projects to improve the state of Hawai'i, including as commissioners for the Hawai'i state Board of Education Commission on Gender Equity in Athletics as well as in my capacity as previous chair of both the Hono-lulu county Committee on the Status of Women and the Hawai'i State Violence Prevention Consortium, I can say without a doubt that she always worked professionally, ethically and tirelessly to serve all women in Hawai'i in an arena that does not always value such traits.

In return, she has seen her budget slashed, her programs eliminated and the clock of equality set back for all.

I have no idea who Pam Lee Smith is, but I do know she has no idea of what a consummate, hard-working professional or a woman of integrity looks like. Shame on her, and Gov. Lingle, for not seeing the value in such a state treasure.

Both owe her an apology, and a debt of gratitude.

Is commission just a nice-sounding name?

But what does the commission do?

In your editorial and letters I have seen nothing that says what the Commission on the Status of Women accomplishes. They only complain that funds are being cut.

What programs and services does the commission provide that benefit women, and how many people are positively helped? Are there other community organizations doing the same thing? Is there anything that can be measured to convince this taxpayer that the commission is worthwhile and providing something of benefit to the community?

Or is it just a nice-sounding name and the only benefit is a salary for the executive director?

Enemy is unwillingness to help sick people

Listening to Commander Rey Nejo describe the destruction of Native American families by ice, not once did I hear him speak of a "war on drugs," a term you used to open your piece.

Not once did Nejo use language that confuses this issue and lets us stray from solutions. Not once did he pass judgment on users, dealers or even manufacturers, including the psychotic father whose baby's splattered brains landed at Nejo's feet.

Nejo's message was not one of war, but of understanding and education.

If he identified an enemy, it is our own persistent, perverse unwillingness to help sick people.

Nejo spoke of a wave of destruction dismantling Native American society. This wave broke on our shores before his, and still we are not rescuing our brothers and sisters — not moving our children to higher ground.

Kaimuki trolley: Mahalo to those who made it happen

From my heart, a huge thank you to the many people and organizations that provided help and support throughout the past four years with the Kaimuki-Kapahulu-Waikiki Trolley:

The biggest mahalo to our former councilman Duke Bainum and his loyal staff for giving us the dream and the vision in 1997, and bringing it to fruition. Thank you to Cheryl Soon of the city Department of Transportation Services for working patiently with us to make the program truly community-based. To E Noa Tours — Maki, Bill, KC, the drivers, and staff — for providing outstanding service and the warmest aloha to our riders. Especially to E Noa's Katsumi Tanaka for being our heroic champion in the community, and having continuing faith in the project. To Asian Pacific Advisors — Amanda and her tireless workers — for years of attention and nurturing for our businesses and vendors. Together they gave countless hours and labored tirelessly to make our neighborhood trolley the top-of-the-line service it has become.

Thank you to all our communities' businesses and residents, who have ridden, commuted on, sang aboard, promoted and supported the trolley and its efforts since 2000. Mahalo and aloha to the many visitors who discovered our communities, our businesses and our people. Some 23,000 riders per month took KKW to their hearts!

To our friends in the media, who were constantly kind and supportive. To all the neighborhood boards who provided resolutions of support to the Budget Committee in recent months. A very special mahalo to Chaminade University and the UH Student Organization for taking the trolley into your lives, and for your supporting resolutions and letters.

Mahalo to Councilman Charles Djou and his staff, for your supportive efforts to secure budget funds under trying circumstances. You are truly appreciated.

To my fellow GEHCA members and directors, mahalo for helping me to carry on the trolley project. To Karen Ah Mai, for taking us all feet-first onto the ride.

To all the others who deserve thanks — the trolley brought so many of us together — my personal mahalo. We are proud of our project, and satisfied with its success. Our communities and our people have come together in cooperation and aloha. For this I will be forever grateful. I am so glad we jumped on board.

Weak argument hard to defend

In regard to Counselor Rick Fried's letter of Sept. 14, Fried is surely an attorney anyone would welcome to represent client interest. He begins his letter with a recitation of his client's self-declared achievements, then attempts to avert any rebuttal by his concluding statements, "The result was a statement that having found no fault, expressed a desire to move forward in a positive way. I think the time has come to do that." If so, why did Fried persist in stretching a cardinal rule of mediation, no fault-finding must be agreed to by the parties involved?

His client advocacy is to be expected, but following a mediated settlement, both parties move on with no further comments. So, why was it necessary to repeat his client's brag sheet which has been reiterated several times over, particularly through The Advertiser?

The public should be reminded that the medical school construction was planned before his client arrived at UH. The guiding force for the construction of the John A. Burns School of Medicine was former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano. If anything, Fried's client stalled the starting date by repeating a study that had already concluded Kaka'ako was the preferred site.

Moreover, the Research Corporation of the UH (RCUH) had already demonstrated during UH President Mortimer's term, and the enhancement of UH autonomy which he labored hard to achieve, how quickly capital improvement projects could be processed through RCUH. The Yanagimachi Cloning Lab, for example, was constructed in about 10 months, once the drawings were done.

Besides, does Mr. Fried really believe we so lacked local talent to oversee the construction of JABSOM that we had to stretch all the way back to the East Coast to find "overseers"? And is he not aware that every UH president has had a "strategic plan," but in actuality has there ever been an "operational" plan, especially for budget and personnel purposes?

More to the point, has he ever wondered how, after a self-declared 17 years of "higher education" experiences, consisting primarily of two junior colleges leadership with about six years as president of tiny (slightly over 2,000 students) Trinity College, his client was chosen to lead a very complex UH system (in Hawai'i, all public post-secondary education is included)? Is he not aware that his client shows no record of having taught any college courses, nor published a text or academic paper? All this in the face of a woman applicant who possessed superior qualifications but lost out to the majority vote for his client? Auwe!