STUDENTS' LOSS

CUTTING FUNDS IS SAD WAY TO BETTER SCHOOLS

So the Legislature's Reinventing Education Act has cut millions of dollars from East Honolulu schools (Advertiser, June 30). For example, Kaiser High and Niu Valley Middle will each lose more than $700,000 a year. This amount, which represents 15 percent and 27 percent respectively of each school's entire operating budget, will be sent to other schools under the new "weighted student formula."

I find it outrageous that this new law strips millions of dollars from our schools. Thousands of East Honolulu public school students will now face larger classes and fewer extracurricular activities.

Only in Hawai'i would the Legislature's heralded attempt to "reinvent education" result in stripping money from our classrooms.

Nolan Y. Kido | 'Aina Haina

TURF WAR

GOV. LINGLE, JUST SIGN THE RAIL-ENABLING BILL

The state proposes a revenue increase, and mandates someone else administer the "cost" of collecting the bucks. Huh?

The likely beneficiaries of the increased revenues (the City & County's residents with their new souped-up railroad) claim the increase in revenue is too costly to administer and say the state should administer the cost of collecting more money. Double huh?

The most frightening issue here is this: When was the last time a bureaucracy ran away from a pot full of money? If rail is the Holy Grail, the state of Hawai'i and the City Council would be doing serious political battle over the control of the money instead of running for cover.

If one takes the time to think of some other large projects gone awry, he might think twice about tearing out some part of the core of this island to build a railroad "someone else should be using."

Gov. Lingle, just one signature is all it takes. I will provide the pen.

Mike Miller | Kailua

PETER BOY

SYSTEM HAS TO GET TOUGH WITH ABUSERS

I am appalled to see a system that failed to protect little Peter Boy Kema: how the Department of Human Services allowed Peter Boy's parents to miss meeting and counseling sessions and still let them keep their children; and how it knew of all the abuse Peter Boy was getting at the hands of his parents.

I thought the Department of Human Services' goal is to do what's best for the child. I believe that if a child is in danger, he or she should be removed from the environment.

And what angers me more is to see Peter Boy's parents being cowards and not being honest about what happened to their son. This system will only encourage parents to abuse their children and get away with it.

The Department of Human Services has to get tough with parents who play with the system. They have to take a child away from a bad situation and allow no excuses from the parents. This is to ensure that all children in Hawai'i are well taken care of.

Alan Kim | 'Aiea

NEIGHBORS

VACATION RENTALS HIKE PROPERTY TAXES

The discussion in Editorials and in Letters and Commentary on June 27 begins to hit on one of the best-kept secrets about vacation rentals: increased property taxes for all properties in or near the vacation rental areas.

I have seen blatant claims in real estate ads like "great vacation rental income." In our area, a significant number of the highest-priced houses can be found a few months later on the Internet advertised as vacation rentals. The exorbitant amounts paid for houses that soon become vacation rental properties are used in assessment of true residential properties. Is it fair to assess and tax properties of a family simply living in its home along with properties involved in commercial operations? It's a great way to squeeze extra taxes out of regular homeowners.

Let's face it, owners of vacation rentals are in it for the money, often paying higher prices for properties than a person looking for a place to live would. It's time for the city to make a distinction between the two, instead of laughing all the way to the bank.

Scot Suiso | Makaha

UNJUSTIFIED

VACATION RENTALS NOTHING BUT TROUBLE

B&Bs and transient vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods impact adversely on the quality of life and welfare of our community. They make a mockery of zoning and land-use laws, disrupt the cohesiveness of neighborhoods and reduce the inventory of long-term rentals. This loss of rental housing severely affects our local people.

The licensing of B&Bs and vacation rentals represents commercial and resort spot zoning without the due process required in a change of zoning. It lacks scrutiny, sufficient public input and consideration of the public interest. It is a betrayal of the trust of those who in good faith relied on zoning laws to protect their investment and their chosen lifestyle when they bought into residentially zoned neighborhoods.

A sense of estrangement, displacement and loss of control over one's destiny takes place when houses next door suddenly turn into mini-hotels with strangers moving in and out every few days. Affinity with the neighbors, trust in and concern for one another, a sense of security, commitment to the community, even hopes that one's children will have long-term playmates in the neighborhood, all of this, and much more, is adversely impacted.

No arguments brought forth so far in favor of licensing still more B&Bs and transient vacation rentals in residentially zoned neighborhoods justify the selling-out of the public interest for the financial benefit of special-interest groups.

Ursula Retherford | Kailua

TRAFFIC

CLICK IT CHECKPOINTS AT FREEWAYS UNWISE

I would like to reply to Mr. Carlino Giampolo's June 28 letter, "Federal funds: Click It campaign is not just about safety."

Mr. Giampolo is concerned because most serious accidents occur on the freeway, yet the HPD set up Click It or Ticket checkpoints in areas where the posted speed limit is 35 mph. He suggests that officers should be set up at the entrances and exits to the freeways.

I offer the fact that people who drive in these areas also drive on the freeways. It is all about education. Checkpoints near the freeways would also add to traffic congestion. In addition, it is safer for officers to perform traffic stops in these areas versus on the freeway where vehicles are traveling at a higher rate of speed.

Finally, Mr. Giampolo remarks that the police are breaking a promise to the people they serve and are not putting into action their motto: integrity, respect and fairness. How's that again? Sir, you have one of the finest police departments in the nation. Be proud and support their efforts.

Robert Cravalho | Honolulu

STRANGLEHOLD

ACT ON EMINENT DOMAIN BEFORE 'SOVEREIGNTY'

How about exercising the new eminent domain ruling as espoused by the Supreme Court ?

If we act fast, before the nation of Hawai'i comes into existence, the former Nanaikapono Elementary School on the beach here in Nanakuli could be seized from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and be upgraded as a five-star luxury beach resort, a time-share condominium, elegant home lots or any of dozens of other uses.

The west coast really needs upscale employment opportunities, and the charter school presently occupying the school couldn't compete with the economics of tourism as we have come to expect.

The key to the success of this endeavor is beating the enactment of the Akaka bill because then an independent Hawaiian nation and its laws would have to be litigated in the world court or the United Nations.

This is just one of the possibilities if we act fast. You can bet the Hawaiian nation is going to do just exactly that when it gets a stranglehold on the state of Hawai'i.

Bud Ebel | Makaha

SMOKE, LITTER

CRACKDOWN NEEDED ON FIREWORKS DANGER

On Monday night, we gathered on the 'ewa side of the aquarium for dinner and fireworks. First, mahalo to the park staff for the cleanliness of the park and for the cleaning of bathrooms and emptying of trash cans throughout the evening.

The problem was the massive use of personal fireworks in the park. The smoke was overwhelming, and to watch some of the parents light fireworks for their 2-year-olds and then just stand back as they threw them at each other was unbelievable.

Similarly, it took a Japanese visitor to tell a Hawai'i resident to stop throwing fireworks into the water. And after the public fireworks, many people just left their spent fireworks on the ground, including lots of wire sparkler handles, as if it were just natural to live in a pigsty.

Why is it legal to litter? Fireworks are a personal freedom, and with freedoms come individual responsibilities. Let's add an additional $20 litter/air pollution/water pollution/cleanup tax on every fireworks sale. Purchasers should also have to sign a legal statement (written in 20 languages) acknowledging their responsibilities to the environment, their neighbors and the proper handling of fireworks around children.

Jim Hollyer | Manoa

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUND ABOUT MOANALUA GARDENS

I read with great interest Mr. Harold Iwamoto's June 28 letter recommending that Moanalua Gardens and the conservation lands in Moanalua Valley be returned to the Hawaiian people. It so happens that Dwight Damon, a direct Samuel Mills Damon descendant, has long proposed this same thing.

However, here are a few historical facts that may clear some commonly held misconceptions: