Posted on: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Book a poor reflection on Hawaiian values

I was disappointed that you decided to reprint the book review "Breakaway exhilarating in memoir" by Ralph Frammolino of the Los Angeles Times (April 24). Neither the review nor the reviewed book reflect the Hawaiian values of diversity, tolerance and respect.

The book is highly offensive to me and others of my belief (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The book makes unsubstantiated defaming claims, treats matters we consider sacred in a ridiculing manner and is otherwise a poor literary work.

The review that The Advertiser printed likewise mistreats our worship — in particular, our wedding ceremonies. I feel that making light of such an important event, for people of any faith, is quite distasteful and does not reflect the views of your readership here in paradise.

Community benefits from woman's efforts

Bob Krauss' April 20 column "Kudos to crosswalk crusader" is right on the mark. After the Downtown Neighborhood Board voted 5-3 on April 7 to oppose elimination of the crosswalk linking Tamarind Park and First Hawaiian Bank, board member Dolores Mollring announced she would be there on Monday, though she gave no specifics.

Mollring showed one person can make a difference. Almost single-handedly she collected 1,360 signatures in six days, aided by 10th-grade students from Hawai'i Waldorf School on April 18, who responded to the Page One Advertiser photo and story showing a lone woman crusader by offering their assistance.

Several lessons are to be learned by Mollring's crusade:

• One person can make a difference. All you need to do is take a stand and persevere.

• Those too young to vote (16-year-olds) can make a difference.

• Mayor Mufi Hannemann is a man of his word. He said he would not make a decision to eliminate the crosswalk until he heard from the community. When presented with the petitions on April 19, he told me, Mollring and Waldorf students Julia Stokes and Morganne Aaberg that the plan would not go forward. This is democracy in action.

Thank you, Mayor Hannemann.

Tax relief for needy is essential this year

At a time when Hawai'i's economy is so strong, there are still far too many working poor struggling to meet basic needs. That's why Aloha United Way is working with others on legislative proposals to help Hawai'i families.

A recent study on family self-sufficiency found that without any kind of private or public assistance, a single parent with one child in Hawai'i needs more than $35,000 in annual household income to afford the bare minimum of food, shelter, healthcare and other necessities.

According to the U.S. Census, half of all families headed by single mothers and 20 percent of two-parent families in Hawai'i make less than $35,000 — an alarming 80,000 working families with children are not economically self-sufficient.

This is why we are so encouraged to see that measures to provide tax relief to low-income working people are making their way through the Legislature. Republicans and Democrats are promoting much-needed increases to the standard deduction and a state earned-income tax credit.

The federal earned income tax credit is the largest, most successful anti-poverty program in the nation. Bipartisan efforts across the country have also enacted earned-income tax credits at the state level. It's time for Hawai'i to follow suit.

The proposed state earned-income tax credit would focus tax relief on those who need help most, create an additional incentive for them to stay in the work force and provide an opportunity to build assets.

We urge lawmakers to pass tax relief for our most challenged families, the administration to support it and the community to make its voice heard on this issue.

Tests are essential in evaluating students

This in response to Shelli Aiona's letter complaining about high-stakes tests. The letter claimed that testing doesn't truly indicate what the children learned.

That's like saying, "Big games don't truly indicate an athlete's skills." If an athlete doesn't prosper in high school games, chances are he or she won't prosper as a college athlete. If a student doesn't do well on algebra tests, chances are he or she won't do well in calculus.

If we don't have tests, how else are we going to know if the students are really learning?

Expensive sod grass isn't being maintained

Everyone has rightly been questioning the safety and other concerns of the trees planted at great expense on Kuhio Avenue. What about the fact that no one is caring for the expensive sod grass that was planted along with the trees?

Surely the mayor and others who walked along Kuhio Avenue to check the trees must have noticed the appalling condition of the grass. What hasn't been trampled by feet (pedestrians go in a straight line from A to B) has not been watered and maintained. Some of the expensively installed automatic sprinklers don't seem to be working.

Either take care of it or get rid of it. Poorly maintained grass looks worse than no grass. What a waste of money.

Republicans must be stopped on filibuster

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the Republicans' desire to eliminate the parliamentary method of the filibuster to force through George Bush's controversial judicial nominations. This must not be allowed to happen.

The filibuster allows a minority party the right to extend debate on issues that the majority party is forcing through Congress. This applies to both Republicans and Democrats. It is an important tool to ensure debate about issues that might otherwise be railroaded through by a ruling party.

We cannot allow the Republicans to take away the Democrats' ability to at least debate the issues on the table, especially the appointment of Bush's far-right judges. These judges threaten to roll back decades of progress in the protection of workers' rights, the environment and privacy.

For the protection of debate between our leaders and for the protection of our country against those who wish to stomp on our Constitution, the Republicans must be stopped.

Rep. Glenn Wakai goes the extra mile

We were saddened to read that one of our neighbors has chosen to discredit Rep. Glenn Wakai.

When landslides in December 2003 sent tons of debris into our backyard, no government agency came to our assistance. Rep. Wakai got Hawaiian Dredging to remove the mud and rocks. He followed up by working with Sen. Dan Inouye to get $1.4 million to remove dangerous boulders in Moanalua Valley. That project begins in July.

He addressed recurring speeding in our valley with sign-waving efforts, speed monitors, then followed up several weeks ago by organizing a group of us to contribute to hiring a special-duty officer to patrol our streets. We like this creative leadership.

Other politicians provide excuses. Glenn takes action and updates the community. That effort should be applauded, not denounced. We are proud to have Glenn Wakai as our representative.

Church must stand for what it believes

Huzzah for Pope Benedict XVI and for those who elected him so quickly. This is no time for pussyfooting.

Unless I miss my guess, nominal, cherry-picking "Catholics" who want a little of this, a little of that but want to take a pass on all the rest of the fundamental beliefs of the church are in for some very interesting times.

Under renewed attack in academia and the popular media, the church is thought by some to be a "safe" target for bigotry. The time has arrived for the church to gird its loins for battle in an unambiguous defense of what it stands for. The man chosen to lead this embattled church on the cusp of the new millennium will require the rock-like strength of Peter — and constant prayers of the faithful.

Legislature must be part of Clean Elections

I read in the paper that Gov. Linda Lingle was saying she would veto the current form of the Clean Elections bill.

Well, hello, sure, it's a "nothing" bill, only geared to the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Come on, Legislature, give her a "something" bill that includes the Legislature and all its positions.

The people of Hawai'i, who, it's been said, wouldn't go for it, will go for an all-inclusive bill that levels the playing field so more new-to-politics people can run, more not-connected-to-special-interest-and-big-business people can have a chance.

Maine and Arizona have done it; we can, too.

Graffiti is advertising without a permit

David Lindo's graffiti abatement policy (Letters, April 20) encourages our "street artists" to discipline themselves. Graffiti is nothing more than advertising without a permit.

Section 21-7.70 of the city code regulates this activity. Private property owners who are found in violation should be cited immediately and advised to obtain a permit for the "street art sign" they are hosting or remove the message. Exempting street art from this principle is not in the public's best interests.

Go billboards route if need to raise money

I gather from Wednesday's paper ("Name that city park — for a fee") that City Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz envisions the Mainland idea of selling off naming rights to public places as a way to raise city revenue, and refers to this "idea" as thinking "outside the box."

In case our other leaders want to get on the bandwagon, here's a couple more "outside the box" ideas adapted from various Mainland venues:

• A giant revolving billboard on top of Aloha Tower that could advertise the special of the moment at whatever big-box retailer buys out that spot.

• Gigantic billboards along the freeways. No need to go into the rewards the state could reap. The freeway billboards could be required to flash "scenes of aloha" periodically so that residents and tourists would know for sure that they're in Hawai'i, and not, for example, cruising down a loop around Dallas.

Do yourself a big favor: See the youth symphony

The Hawai'i Youth Symphony brings magical music in these times of so much negative happening daily here and around the world. Nothing is more soothing and pleasing than to see and hear the musical talents of Hawai'i's finest young musicians from the seventh to 12th grades from private, public and home schools.

Having recently completed back-to-back weekend performances at the Blaisdell Concert Hall and the Pearl City Cultural Center, the symphony is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and every year the talent and music gets better and better, thanks to the conductors who put in hundreds of hours of private and group sessions with these talented youngsters from all over the state.

Yes, they all have to compete to be on the various levels of concert orchestra or Youth Symphony I or II. Maestro Henry Miyamura, who conducts the top Symphony I, has been at the helm for more than 20 years, and Michael Nakasone conducts Symphony II, with Derrick Yamane conducting the concert orchestra.

Listening to these youngsters perform complicated and difficult musical pieces, along with modern and movie themes, is a delight and makes for a very relaxing and enjoyable time away from the busy hustle and bustle of everyday mania.

There isn't a soul who doesn't like music, and if music is the universal language, then by all means, when these youngsters do perform at one of many places, do yourself a favor and don't miss their performances. You can get hooked on musical magic. I did and can't wait for their next performance.

Prices are so reasonable that one can take the whole family by skipping a meal out at a restaurant. Just attend, sit back and soak in the beautiful and dynamic music and come out with the "feel-good euphoria."

Limiting population will help solve traffic problems

Unbelievable! Six letters to the editor in one day about traffic and they all miss the boat, train, rail, ferry or whatever other mode of transportation they erroneously think will help traffic.

Do these people really think that a rail system, more roadways or a causeway will improve traffic for very long here? We had adequate roadways and a public transportation system to meet our transportation needs right up until the past 10 years.

The reason traffic is so bad is the overbuilding of O'ahu and the influx of people who have moved here. If we alleviate traffic now, it will just get congested again in the next decade if the current trends continue.

So what is the answer?

The answer is the same answer to the problems that plague our sewers, education, parking and general quality of life. Limit population growth!

Limit immigration and the amount of people who can move here. It is our state, and it can be done if our lawmakers have the will or their constituents let them know what they want and expect out of them.

Reducing traffic is a Band-Aid approach that seems to be the hot button for everyone from our U.S. senators to our locally elected leaders. We must look at the bigger picture and decrease the amount of people coming onto O'ahu.

While discussing this issue with others, I always ask if they think the quality of life here is better now than it was five, 10 or 20 years ago. I have never heard anyone say yes. Let's act now and start discussions on population controls and keep what qualities we still have that make O'ahu and Hawai'i special.