Posted on: Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Killings show need for gate at harbor

For many years, the Ala Wai Harbor boaters have wanted a gate at the entrance to monitor who comes and goes into the harbor. We were worried about the criminal types wandering through the harbor who steal what they can and scare the community.

The people who use the harbor for sleeping in their vehicles objected and signed a petition and had their friends sign a petition to stop any control of harbor access.

The state backed off, and control of the parking lot was killed by that petition.

Now do you see what we are scared of? This is not 1965. Drug users, drunk and high, roam at night willing to kill at the slightest provocation to their damaged brains. Please, state of Hawai'i, put up a parking gate before someone else gets killed. Free parking is not worth your life.

Evangelicals' push a chilling prospect

The news that leading business and religious figures and even high-profile public officials such as Hawai'i's Lt. Gov. Aiona are pushing an evangelical version of Christianity into all arenas of Island life is a chilling prospect (Shapiro "Volcanic Ash," May 18).

This is not a benign "values and stopping crime" issue, but a devastating attack on the notion of religious freedom and a democratic republic.

Many Americans who are uninformed and critical of Middle Eastern societies and Islam seem to have no trouble imitating and adopting the repressive extremism of state-sponsored religion. How is this interface of evangelical Christianity and public life any different from those regimes? Weren't America's founding principles based on separation of church and state? And for good reason!

How are Hawai'i citizens who are Buddhists, Jewish, Hindu or non-religious to be ranked? How are their varying interpretations of God to be tolerated and respected? Are those who hold other or no beliefs to be considered infidels?

Look around at today's national invasion of "born again" ideology and see how it evokes novelist Margaret Atwood's chilling book "The Handmaiden's Tale."

Sprint executive Daniel Kaneshiro — surely a decent and compassionate man — said, "You can't really separate church and state. Why not let God in?" That poses the same threat to an open society as any theocracy "over there."

Lt. Gov. Aiona stands on a solid foundation

Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona is not and should not be walking a tightrope with his public duties and religious beliefs. I don't think our public servants need to "balance their religious beliefs and activities with their duty to serve the broad community."

I don't want a circus act running the state of Hawai'i. It's good that Lt. Gov. Aiona stands on a solid foundation made up of a love for all people and a mission to serve all nations.

Praise God for Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona.

Aiona isn't forcing religion on others

Hawai'i needs men and women in service to our state who are striving to be an example of God's love.

Comments by Lt. Gov. Aiona don't seem to be trying to cram Christianity on the people of our state. The comments were made in the correct arena, among Christian followers — people who have the same beliefs as he does.

It will do no harm to others in the state who have other religious beliefs. Christianity as well as most other religions preach love of self and others. If our lieutenant governor strives to be an example of Christianity, that is a good thing for Hawai'i.

Designate areas for graffiti artists

Schools should have a certain place where professional taggers can draw graffiti on walls to show that they have art skills and to lighten up the schools' plain and boring white walls.

Some people think graffiti is a bad thing, but if they look closer, they can see it has artistic characteristics. The art has well-detailed and stylish letterings mixed with cartoons. Graffiti is like art because graffiti is unique. Each graffiti artist is different.

Also, if they do let people draw graffiti on selected walls, maybe these artists wouldn't draw on the walls of public schools, on park benches and on the freeway structures.

Do trial run of rail before committing

Before we finally and irrevocably commit to the rail concept, I believe it's not too late to conduct a trial of a mini version of the rail system in order to gauge the real-time effect down a core route, i.e. 'Ewa to downtown, which is basically the main traffic-congestion problem route.

Why not allocate some of our extended eco-buses to an exclusive freeway lane assignment from 'Ewa to downtown (maybe UH) for a three-month period? These would basically clone the existing Express A route but run down allocated freeway lanes for greater speed and efficiency. The city might have to buy (or borrow) a few more of these buses to make the trial realistic. Either way, we are going to need them in the future.

Fares could be reduced (or eliminated) for the trial. Passengers might be offered newspapers, maybe a TV news monitor, i.e. CNN on the left and Fox on the right (headphones provided) as an inducement to ride the system during the trial. Passengers could safely use their cell phones and laptops to make traveling time more efficient.

The real-time response to such a trial would give a fair indicator of interest (or lack of) in such a system before committing to a costly rail system. The trial may prove that all we really need is this kind of system utilizing existing extended eco-buses.

More pressing matters besides ferry at hand

Is the ferry really necessary? We all know that this ferry will cost a lot of money. Sure, this will bring Hawai'i to a more up-to-date image and is an interesting idea. But that is worrying about image at a time when we face issues of war, unsafe communities, the conflict with UARC, and even over-the-roof gas prices.

Have the consequences been thought out thoroughly, both good and bad? Besides the fact that it would cost less for tickets, will it affect the island financially? Will our taxes go down? Will our gas prices decrease? Will our communities be safe enough for children to play outside? Will this help with bettering education?

There are more pressing matters at hand that we should find solutions to. The ferry can wait; problems that affect our communities can't.

Greed is manifesting itself throughout the economy

In an article about Tesoro Corp. in the May 10 Business section, two phrases almost escaped my attention because I couldn't believe I was reading them correctly. They read, "Earnings in April were triple what the company reported for the entire first quarter as profit margins widened" and "Per-share profit was about $1.20 last month as the gap between crude-oil costs and prices for gasoline and diesel widened."

If it's true that our price at the pump is increasing more than the cost of crude oil, there are some new laws of economics at work.

Someone needs to protect the financial interests of the consumer and businesses that are being directly impacted by these inflated prices. We all want to support the free-enterprise system and a healthy economy, but where are the checks and balances?

Obviously, the problem goes far beyond gas prices and is easily seen in the various manifestations of greed: orthopedic surgeons leaving their practice because of the rising costs of malpractice insurance; senior citizens being forced to choose between food and medicine because of the rising cost of pharmaceutical drugs; families being forced to live in their cars or in a park because of the rising cost of rent; food pantries that have difficulty keeping their shelves stocked because more and more people can't afford to buy food; people making a minimum wage who need to sacrifice time with their family to work 90 hours per week in order to survive.

And on and on.

On the affluent side, greed is manifested in the ridiculously high salaries of corporate executives, entertainers and some professional athletes.

We all need to wrestle with the moral questions of "how much is enough?" and "how can we equitably share the Earth's resources?"

It does matter who runs Senate

Does it matter who heads the state Senate? To answer The Advertiser's David Shapiro, yes, it does matter.

Contrary to what some may believe, leadership "style" can and often does influence substance. It can be the difference between bringing people together or setting them against each other. It can be the difference between getting things done and getting nothing done.

I have been accused of not providing direction and leadership to counter Gov. Lingle and the Republicans. This came from those members of the Senate who enlisted the help of Republicans to pass a divisive resolution on the last day of the 2005 session.

I have been a Democrat for all of my adult life. Along with other Democrats, I fought hard to get a Democratic governor into office in the last gubernatorial election. After Gov. Linda Lingle was elected, I debated the issues and held my ground when I felt that the administration's positions or actions went counter to Democratic goals and principles — just as I've always done with our Republican counterparts in the Senate and the House of Representatives. But I've tried to do so with honesty and a healthy respect for the other side.

During the legislative session following the gubernatorial election, we got a sample of how contentious things could get between local Democrats and Republicans. Frankly, the session could have been more productive than it was. But it required all of us, including the governor, to better understand the role of compromise and cooperation between the two parties — clearly something that was relatively new to all of us.

I am a Democrat, but I'm also an elected official for my district and representative for all of the people of Hawai'i. Despite the very political nature of the environment, issues are not just pawns in a battle for political power. You do not go after power for its own sake — the issues be damned. Or worse, use issues of major consequence to the people we serve to further one's own personal agenda.

Rather, political power allows you to deal with issues and resolve problems. And that is the only legitimate value of political power. A good solution is a good solution, no matter whose idea it is. A fair compromise is better than no solution at all.

My critics want me to provide a "formed response" to the administration and Republicans. In short, to be more partisan and counter what the Republicans are saying or offering. I believe that it's more important to deal with issues and find solutions rather than attack or subvert your opponent's actions. It means showing leadership by bringing people together — even from differing political persuasions.

It is easy to be divisive and to blame the other party for all the ills of society. It makes for great headlines. It is hard to work with others with whom you strongly disagree for the sake of a greater good. It is harder to share the credit with your opponents and believe that voters will see the value of that kind of leadership.

That, however, is exactly the kind of leadership that the people of Hawai'i have a right to expect. But it takes a willingness to risk the very thing we are discussing — power — to achieve goals that are much more important.

At this point in time, I believe the majority of the Senate agrees with me.