Posted on: Thursday, June 23, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Nonprofit may not be listed as a tax debtor

As the volunteer president-elect of Pacific Gateway Center (PGC), I am disappointed that PGC was listed as delinquent in its property taxes ("Top tax debtors owe $1.17M," June 20). PGC is a nonprofit with a mission to serve immigrants, refugees and low-income residents of Hawai'i. Per Revised Ordinances Chapter 8 Article 10, Section 10:6, nonprofits are exempt from property taxes.

The property associated with the tax bill is a certified kitchen facility that provides services to low-income individuals who wish to enter the food industry. Since opening, PGC has assisted over 70 people with business startup/expansion. PGC has never gained financial benefits from this facility.

The city generated a tax invoice during the construction phase in 2002-03 because the kitchen was not yet operating. We were informed that once the facility became operational, we could apply for a waiver, and the city has granted an exemption for 2005. We are appealing the back tax bill, and we hope the city will be sympathetic.

I applaud the Advertiser's investigative reporting. Bringing this matter to light might help PGC in a positive way.

Kamehameha parade has had to evolve

In response to the June 21 letter from Johnnie-Mae Perry, "Kamehameha Day parade was disappointing this year":

The word "Day" was removed in 1974; the official name is simply King Kamehameha Celebration. The holiday, June 11, was created on Dec. 22, 1871, by King Kamehameha V to honor the memory of his grandfather, Kamehameha the Great.

In the pa'u section, horses are renting upward of $700 for the day. The riders are responsible for their own expenses, none of which are reimbursed. To allow sufficient time for planning and fundraising, units are selected by the end of the year. Each island princess is asked to incorporate the assigned island flower with a few exceptions. Mokihana, 'ilima, lokelani and Ni'ihau shells are required to be incorporated by the princess, if at all possible.

As for floats, as mentioned by Will Hoover in his June 12 article, we no longer have access to locations used in prior years. Space is just not available anymore.

The state heavily promotes tourism; it is the backbone of our economy. However, has anyone researched the fact that due to this major historical and cultural event, revenues for Hawai'i have increased in June? How does this event not affect tourism or the local economy?

Appearances by local school bands have declined for the simple reason school is not in session.

The 90th celebration will go on, continuing to honor the life and accomplishments of King Kamehameha I with dignity and respect.

Even 'empty' buses serve purpose to some

I take issue with Marc Rubenstein's June 18 letter to the editor, "How many city buses go empty each day?" Within this letter, he proposes the axing of several "empty bus" routes for the sole purpose of saving money.

As a resident of Pacific Heights, one of the routes he proposes axing, I must say Mr. Rubenstein is wrong about the removal of these routes. As a student, I use the Pacific Heights bus every day to get home from school. Many elderly people also use this bus for transportation. Getting to the second-nearest bus from Pacific Heights requires a mile walk down the curvy, no-sidewalk road.

Addressing the overlying issue: Should ridership and cost be the only criteria for deciding whether or not to keep a route? Services like the HandiVan serve few in comparison to the bus and are quite costly. The government pays for these services because it recognizes that even if a service serves only a few, that service can still be quite valuable.

A service like TheBus is meant to provide basic, affordable transportation for everyone, regardless of the cost. If that means having a few low-ridership routes, then I'm willing to pay.

Fans should be used in all the classrooms

When I attended a Spanish religion class in one of the classrooms at St. John the Baptist parish just before the noon church service, I discovered that each classroom has three wall-mounted fans and even one floor fan. This economical means of cooling should provide minimum comfort up until the early afternoon, especially in Hawai'i's trade-wind-blessed climate.

Several months ago, I read that the PTA in a Wai'anae school provided fans for the classrooms. Certainly, places of learning as well as places of work should have climate control. But I don't understand why they have not made use of this inexpensive, traditional means of cooling.

Dr. Gise's contract should be renewed

When I first met Dr. Leslie Gise, I was just coming out of the Molokini ward, suicidal, my life a mess. She was the only one who was able to reach me. She never gave up on me. She made me believe that a better life was possible.

Now I am a full-time student at Maui Community College. I am politically and socially active, and I have a quality family life. My life and the lives of those around me have dramatically improved.

Dr. Gise is a lifeline to me and others. We need her. To lose her by not renewing her contract would be an absolute tragedy.

Beachwalk project is being done first-rate

I would like to commend the excellent job that Outrigger Enterprises has done thus far in regard to the Waikiki Beachwalk Improvement Project.

As a resident of Waikiki for over 13 years now, I've noticed that three hotels have been demolished with very little dust. With my residence only feet away from the three hotels being taken down, I find it is amazing how well they have done everything from traffic control to noise to dust.

It's really unbelievable how well they have organized this whole task to minimize inconvenience to us residents.

From Outrigger management down to the construction workers, all have been so polite and accommodating to our needs. Hawai'i will be so proud to see the immaculate reconstruction that will occur over the next few years. My hat's off to you all! Great job!

Neighborhood 'residential,' so B&B's are out of place

Here's another perspective to Kerry L. Gellert's recent letter to The Advertiser covering the illegal B&B and vacation rental issue: I've lived in Kailua for 58 years and am watching this special place morph into a tourist destination. Auwe!

The starting premise is, my neighborhood is "residential" — not hotel/resort or commercial or industrial; it's residential. Check out what the zoning definition is.

The purpose of zoning, by the way, is to provide some logical sense of orderly land use. It brings businesses, for instance, together in generally the same location with a goal to provide unity of use and to avoid conflicting/obnoxious activity with other zoned lands. And the lands in different zoned areas are taxed at different rates. Oh, there's a thought for Mufi Hannemann and the City Council to consider.

By the way, there is zoning in place to accommodate tourists, and appropriate real-property taxes are applied for that use.

Allowing any business in a residential area most certainly has value consequences for that land and those lands surrounding it. Moreover, infrastructure (crowded roads, parking, sewer, etc.) is impacted.

To make a case that taxes and license fees collected would offset these impacts would be a tough task. Property values in Kailua have soared beyond belief. Homes with income-producing value (legal or not) influence what buyers will pay. My real-property tax assessment has gone up 40 percent. My children must be millionaires now to live in the town where they grew up.

Mr. Gellert complains that "The bigger problem (with the city) is that there is no licensing system in place for B&B or vacation rentals." Another entrepreneur of a different sort could also make that same argument when faced with obtaining a license for, say, prostitution in the neighborhood. Both illegal activities occur in residential areas. My sense is that most neighbors don't wish either to be legitimized, except those in the business, of course.

Mentoring students is critical

On June 12, the Advertiser's Community Editorial Board had the opportunity to express their ideas on how to improve our public schools. Community board member Meheroo Jussawalla posed the following questions at the end of the article: "Is there private-public cooperation being devised to improve the school system and to make its benefits more equitably distributed? What is the role of parents in meeting these challenges?"

In partial answer to the questions, I pose the reported results of the recently celebrated Bank of Hawaii's Second Century Scholars' program ("Investing in successful students," Loren Moreno, June 17).

In 1997, I had the opportunity to be one of the judges responsible for selecting the 100 Second Century Scholars. As stated in the article, the program was to " 'adopt' 100 Hawai'i high school freshmen from low- to moderate- income backgrounds (and) prepare them for college." The overwhelming majority of these students were from public schools. While the ultimate payoff that these students appeared to receive was the up to $40,000 to attend the college of their choice, the mentoring provided for the eight years may have been even more significant.

Trained by Big Brothers Big Sisters, concerned and caring volunteers provided the mentoring. Almost all of these volunteers came from the ranks of Bank of Hawaii's employees. The results to date are that 70 of these students will graduate from college. This is a notable achievement since only half of the students who enroll in college will ever complete a degree.

This is where a public-private partnership that goes beyond contributing money can increase the success of our public school students and perhaps become a catalyst for the improvement of the entire public education system.

It would be very difficult for another company to match or better the dollar investment that Bank of Hawaii committed to its program. Still other companies could replicate the mentoring and college prep parts of the program without incurring significant financial obligations. All it would take is the commitment of the employees and the support of the employer.

The new private partners need not take on 100 students, though it would be nice; smaller programs sponsored by more local companies will provide tremendous benefits to our community. Additionally, as seen in the Second Century program, the increased focus on student success stimulated greater parent involvement and families got more involved in the academic lives of their children.

Finally, while scholarships to attend the college of a student's choice would be ideal, the opportunity for a much greater number of local students are our own community colleges. Once there, students can prepare for a four-year college and beyond or gain valuable career skills that will help them to get better jobs. All this would take is the commitment of more businesses to get themselves and their employees involved.

In the words of Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."