Fiscal irresponsibility must come to an end

Lee Cataluna's Dec. 21 column about Mayor Harris' recent trophy to himself in the form of a $75,000 book, "The Renaissance of Honolulu," was right on. Her common sense and clear analysis of costs and red ink on this project show that the city could have used her in its fiscal department all of these years.

Responsible spending? What's that? It is clear that Harris' constant cost overruns and miscalculations never seemed to be a problem, except for us taxpayers. But, who cares?

The mayor's huge, lavish projects, expensive mailings, etc., have been in our face while potholes, old sewer systems and unkempt and unimproved parks continue to plague us and our taxpaying pocketbooks. But who cares? The $10 million Hanauma Bay project ended up to be over $16 million. Oops! Has there ever been a clear cost breakdown on the Sunday Brunch on the Beach project? Oh, well. The Natatorium fiasco is ongoing with dollars mounting. Oh, shucks!

Harris' philosophy seems to have been to continue building trophies to himself — that as long as we see a pretty face, never mind the cost of the facelift or the eventual demise of the infrastructure of the body. Do we care?

I sincerely hope that the new mayor and his team as well as the City Council will not let this fiscally irresponsible approach to city government continue. But then, do they care?

Royal Hawaiian Band outlived its usefulness

Right on, Lee! (Cataluna column, Dec. 28). The Royal Hawaiian Band has outlived its usefulness. If we need a marching band, this community has plenty: from high schools to the University of Hawai'i to all the military — none of which requires union scale or a director at $100,000 per.

If our newly elected mayor wants to turn the city around as he claimed during the campaign, this is a great place to start. Lord knows he has plenty to choose from — and now, brass plaques. It's hard to accept this idiotic spending when yesterday's mail brought my property assessment for 2005 up 56 percent over 2004 and almost double over 2003.

Perhaps one final brass plaque might be considered. It could read "On this spot the Royal Hawaiian Band once played."

Better bang for buck

Maybe this year the money one would ordinarily spend on fireworks should be sent to the Red Cross for relief of the tsunami victims in Southeast Asia. Make a difference instead of a bang!

Speeding in school zone is inexcusable

Some people aren't aware of how fast they are driving in a residential area near a school on a narrow road. I am referring to the Dec. 20 article "String of injuries on busy road worries school officials."

As a student at Highlands Intermediate and a peer of some of the individuals who were involved in some of these accidents, I feel it is a sad case. It's unbelievable how some people just speed down streets such as Ho'olaule'a.

Our school had a "slow down" campaign for three days. Students and staff would sign-wave every morning and try to catch the attention of speeders and other violators of the law. During our campaign, we had the HPD out there giving out tickets to people who were violating the law. For a while, Ho'olaule'a seemed safer. But, a week after, we were back where we started.

We shouldn't need the police out there every morning making sure that everyone is obeying the law. It's up to the public to make a difference — to make our communities safer.

Thank you for not forgetting Christmas

Having become quite cynical about bias and agendas during the last few years, I rarely read much of the newspaper, preferring to skim national and international news sections. But this Christmas I picked up the paper for my neighbor, as I went to feed her dog, and decided to see what the news held that day.

I was pleasantly surprised by the coverage of Christmas pageants and events. But when I got to the editorial page, I was overwhelmed with surprise and delight to see "The Nativity," Luke 2, appearing in print. I know that was a brave move and there will be those who do not appreciate the viewing as I did.

It is most often the disgruntled who spill ink abundantly like an irate octopus, so I just wanted to spew forth some grateful words for the wonderful Christmas surprise you shared. Thank you for not forgetting Christmas.

Globalization isn't new

Just like "native artifacts" sold in the International Market Place, if you look real carefully, you'll find on all Polynesians a label declaring "Made in China" (Tianluoshan, to be more specific).

It appears that globalization has been with us longer than we thought.

Wahine volleyball players proved they are winners

The University of Hawai'i Wahine volleyball team epitomized the ultimate of team play and spirit in 2004. Those who have played team sports, whether in high school, college or pro ranks, know that talent alone does not make for a winning season.

It is never easy to go through a season undefeated no matter whether the season is a 10-, 12- or 30-game schedule. There is no guaranteed win. This Wahine team played with so much from every player, starters and reserves, that there was no prima donna, and that was a key factor for a season that should have been a rebuilding one. This was a very balanced team from every player.

Coaches can only teach, train and motivate. It is the players who have to execute and be cohesive even when down two games to none. As the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. This team proved this time and again. Every player, whether a starter or reserve, knew what her role was and continuously supported one another from the opening point.

There is no doubt Dave Shoji and his staff would not have imagined going through an undefeated season with so many newcomers. A lot of credit must go to them for getting the team to improve as the schedule became more demanding.

Too many times, the media focus too much on making the Final Four or winning the national championship. This Wahine team not only made all of Hawai'i proud, but it gave us so much enjoyment in these times of world crisis and loved ones far away fighting to preserve peace in this world.

What this year's Wahine team accomplished should be, no question or doubt, something special and right up there with the national champion teams of the past in this storied history of UH volleyball legacy under coach Shoji. Undefeated in regular season is fantastic.

All Hawai'i is proud of you, and we can't wait for next season to begin. You are all special, and enjoy what you have done. This will remain with you forever. Many times in life, we do not get a second chance. May your New Year's be full of joy and happiness.

Potholes: promises be damned

After a series of winter rains, in early January 2004, our elected state and city officials told the taxpayers of this community the roads would be repaired or completely repaved by Jan. 30. That date quickly came and went with only enough action being taken to make it look as if something was being done about the terrible condition of the roadways in the City & County of Honolulu.

In truth, little was actually done, especially to the main traffic arteries within the city, and, as many will attest to, the work that was completed has already begun to fall apart — for instance, the second lane from the right on Beretania Street in front of the State Capitol building.

A touch of patch-up work was performed on Kapi'olani Boulevard, but the roadway is still in terrible condition from Kalakaua Avenue to South Street in both directions. Ala Wai Boulevard is still waiting for the repaving machines to cross its path, and Ala Moana/Nimitz Highway from Atkinson Drive to Aloha Tower is in deplorable condition.

The excuses our elected officials have made for this lack of follow-through on their part are quite varied: "We can't repair the street because it is scheduled for a new sewer line, new telephone lines, etc., sometime in the next 12 to 18 months (one thousand years?)." "The previous administration spent all of the road-repair money on non-road-repair-related issues, and we also lost all matching federal funds." And my favorite, out of the mouth of Mayor Harris: "We have run out of asphalt."

Not long ago, I received a telephone call from an independent firm conducting a survey for the new City Council. One of the questions had to do with raising taxes in order to repair the streets in Honolulu, or because there is no more money, simply leave the streets in their current condition. You might imagine my response.

The condition of our roadways is always blamed on rain but not on those in a responsible position who enjoy spending our hard-earned tax dollars just about as they please and who do not live up to their word.

One can travel to both small and large cities and towns on the Mainland, or to Canada, New Zealand, Australia or Europe and one will not find roads in such deplorable condition as they are in Honolulu. Yet, these cities and countries must deal with the same kind of rain, and even harsher weather conditions such as freezing rain, ice, sleet, snow and salt, heat, sinkholes, and more. The roads in these places are a pleasure to drive on, yet our government officials seem to think we, the people who pay their salaries, deserve little more than roads comparable to the worst found in Third World nations.

One can drive up a dirt mountain road in Peru and have a better ride than he will experience on Nimitz Highway.

What I can't understand is why the citizens of the City & County of Honolulu continue to put up with this kind of nonsense. The money our elected officials spend is our tax dollars, not theirs. Why isn't there a public outcry?

I wish to thank all of our elected officials for the present condition of our public roadways, and for the $768.28 repair bill for damage done to my car when I hit a large pothole in the left lane of Nimitz Highway behind Hilo Hattie going diamondhead. I was in a line of moving traffic at 6:30 in the morning. It was dark, and there was absolutely no way to avoid that which I did not know was there. Yes, thank you, so much.

Will I vote for any of these people ever again?