Posted on: Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Same problems yearly but never any action

Every year, after New Year's Day, reports on fireworks noise, pollution, litter, structure fires, adults setting off homemade bombs and innocent children getting hurt from fireworks seem to be in the headlines for a few days. It seems that only negative stories about New Year's Eve are reported, as opposed to the positive side to it.

What's the use of compiling New Year's statistics on fireworks-related accidents if our elected officials won't do anything to resolve these problems? What is the reason for having environmental laws pertaining to noise, littering and air pollution if fireworks usage is allowed to continue?

Replacing Aaron Mahi would be a mistake

Shortly after I returned to the Islands after 30 years in Boston, I was invited to a Royal Hawaiian Band concert at Kapi'olani Park. I went halfheartedly since my early memories of the band were lukewarm at best. But I was in for a big surprise. The sound of music under Aaron Mahi's direction was impressive. It was richer, more symphonic and subtler than the brassy and predictable Royal Hawaiian Band I knew as a teenager.

I have since heard the band perform a remarkable range of music from beloved Hawaiian classics to Dave Brubeck's musically challenging "Gates of Justice" cantata. To describe the band under Mahi's leadership as a "marching band," as some have done, is inaccurate and unfair.

Some have also suggested that Mahi is overpaid. But a glance at his concert schedule and other responsibilities would not support that criticism. More important, however, is the impact he has had on the quality of life of our island community. He is more than an exceptionally gifted musician and conductor. He is truly an ambassador of the aloha spirit.

How many other department heads of the City & County of Honolulu have touched the lives of so many residents and visitors for nearly 25 years? Aaron Mahi is one of a kind. It would be a mistake to try to replace him.

U.S. oil appetite, debt also major problems

Sunday's Focus section devotes about 65 column inches to Jared Diamond's New York Times article "We ignore history at our peril" concerning what makes nations thrive or fail. I find no problem with his analysis of the many civilizations mentioned but am concerned that two important threats to our own are not brought out.

First, we have spent a century designing our nation around cheap oil. We destroyed the world's best railroad system in favor of trucks and cars, sprawled our population and industry into a configuration incompatible with mass transit, created an agricultural and food-processing system that turns oil into food, and petrochemical industries that create from oil the many products we use briefly and discard to landfills. It will require more time than we have to adapt gracefully to the increasing cost of energy.

With China and India and much of the Third World on the path to duplicating our "success," the competition for the rest of the world's oil will lead to soaring oil prices and expensive conflicts.

Second, our immense national debt and record deficits are moving us toward an untenable financial future. At some point, it will be impossible to roll over the federal obligations on acceptable terms, particularly in light of alternative currencies such as the strengthening euro.

The first of these threats is unprecedented in human history, but the second has a long history of nearly worthless currencies. We seem to have no national plan to address either of these threats. Indeed, if there is concern among our leaders, they are doing a good job of hiding that concern from us.

Leasehold conversion extension good for all

Bill 04-53 would repeal leasehold conversion, immediately, even though over 5,000 owner-occupied condos still haven't been converted under Chapter 38. These are the homes of more than 10,000 owners who desire the same right to convert as over 20,000 condos before them.

To repeal that right now is unconscionable. All that is asked is to have a reasonable period of time in which to do so. Why must leasehold conversion be repealed immediately without any reasonable extension of time to enable owners to qualify?

Such an extension could also benefit the small individual landowners of leasehold land in that it would afford them the eligibility to defer their capital gains under the involuntary conversion rules of the income tax code. This would provide an opportunity for them to reinvest their fair market value sale proceeds in other income-producing property without incurring income tax on their capital gains. This would be the only fair way to do it.

The City Council should consider the problems and consequences that Bill 04-53 would cause.

Very few benefit from the bottle law

The new bottle law actually hurts longtime recyclers. Here's how:

Before the bottle law, you could save your cans and turn them in for the going rate of recycled aluminum. So you actually made money by recycling.

With the bottle law, you have to pay 6 cents per can, and when you turn the cans in, you get 5 cents per can back. So for saving your cans, you are paying 1 cent per can to recycle. Not only has the law taken away the money you used to make on the aluminum, you pay to have the privilege of recycling.

The only people who make out in this program are recycling companies (which get free aluminum now), schools (which get cans donated to them) and the government (which gets a big fund to raid). Other than those, no one wins.

Here's hoping Lingle learned her lesson

The workability of the Legislature with the Lingle administration was clearly nonexistent in Gov. Lingle's first two years.

Lingle's direction, peppered with rhetoric and press statements, constantly conjured up complaints and disagreements. She rarely looked at differing views of the 76 legislators, many of whom have worked in and around government for 20 or more years. Her all-or-nothing approach and unwillingness to have honest, meaningful ears- and mind-opened dialog created two years of little accomplishment for the state.

If the Legislature had not overridden key pieces of legislation such as education reform and the ice drug problem, such problems would have languished years longer. Even so, she has thwarted those two successes by transferring responsibilities to the Department of Education before all the mechanisms were in place and delayed drug rehab funds.

After the dismal election for her anointed candidates demonstrated her administration and attack style were not the directions Hawai'i voters were looking for, she has emphasized a more workable relationship with the Legislature. I sincerely hope that is the case, but I see signs that again the press machine of her office is preparing us for another assault on good judgment and veracity.

Harris' legacy? It's the mess he left us

A singing mayor ... it'll cost us taxpayers a lot less than a book-writing mayor who did it on our tab.

Our former mayor (per Honolulu magazine, February 2005) purchased trams for Hanauma Bay ($124,000) that don't work and made signs that cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars (we know where we live). And a lot of them had to be redone due to poor construction — upward of $20,000 worth of repairs, since the city ignored offers from community members to fix the signs themselves.

He spent $1.3 million on sprinklers and vines along Salt Lake Boulevard that died and became graffiti heaven due to improper installation.

He installed surveillance cameras in Chinatown and Waikiki that are broken and will remain broken because the city's maintenance agreement doesn't cover the repairs.

Don't even start with the "beautification" of the Ala Wai and Kuhio that they were still working on despite lavish "opening ceremonies" two weeks prior to the end of the former mayor's term.

Mayor "Pothole" Harris' legacy that he claims in his book? He is just a legend in his own mind.

Good luck, Mayor Mufi — you've got a plateful to fix!

Hemmings to rescue

During the heavy rains on New Year's Day, a large tree fell across the road blocking the Pali Highway. KGMB News showed video of a man standing in the rain and using a chainsaw to cut the branches off the tree but did not identify him.

I thought the man looked familiar and my intuition was later confirmed when I found out that it was none other than Sen. Fred Hemmings, who just happened along with a chainsaw and was being a Good Samaritan by helping to clear the debris from the roadway. I would like to send out a big mahalo to the senator for helping out.

Green waste plague

Why do our roads flood during heavy rains?

Maybe it's because the grass and weeds that grow alongside our roadways are cut when they are 2 feet high but never gathered up and thrown away. The 'opala is left for the wind to blow it into our drains, clog them, and cause our roads to flood. What happened to the city's green waste collection service?

Character education also of importance in schools

Thank you for publishing the Jan. 6 commentary by Elliot Eisner about the inclusion of art in our schools' curriculum. I often quoted him when making a presentation about character education because of his insights into the qualities of an educated person. He makes an articulate appeal for a broader understanding of what needs to be taught in our schools.

Certainly, the basics of math, science, social studies and language/writing/literature must be included. However, because of the expansion of knowledge in these areas, it's impossible to teach everything about them. A good introduction that includes basic understanding and skills should be mandatory, but beyond that, it should be a combination of providing electives according to personal interest and instilling a love of learning that will continue throughout our students' lives.

In addition, we've learned about the importance of different intelligences; they include the above basics plus art, music, communication, athletics and the affective intelligences of social relationships, community service, moral development and spirituality. All people have a unique mixture of these intelligences; individually, one or more might dominate while others would be barely present. This creates an enormously critical challenge for those who design a curriculum for our schools.

I've always thought more attention should be paid to the end result of the educational process. That is, when people graduate from high school or college, what are the qualities we hope they will have?

My list would include the abilities of being a good citizen, maintaining good relationships, making good decisions, creating a good livelihood and being a kind, compassionate person. I suspect many people would have a similar list and might be surprised to note the absence of academic qualities. That knowledge is important but is not what we value in each other.

There needs to be a better balance between cognitive learning and affective learning.