BEACH ACCESS

NEIGHBORS LOCKING OUT NEIGHBORS, CHILDREN

The new locked gate at L'Orange Place creates an opportunity for Kailua.

As a community, including those on gated lanes, we can decide how we want to live and what kind of legacy we leave. I challenge our neighbors on the makai side of Kalaheo Avenue to remove each and every beach access gate.

Consider those who you lock out: We are your neighbors, teachers, nurses, clerks, firefighters, first-responders, tutus, surfers, artists, chefs, construction workers, professors, families and children.

There are no data showing you are safer from crime with locked gates. First-responders say that these locked gates prevent them from reaching someone on the beach who needs help. The life they are saving could be a friend, loved one or maybe even your own.

Removing the gates benefits the entire community. Neighborhood watches will reduce crime and vandalism. Foot traffic will be distributed more evenly with additional beach access. More access points encourage walking instead of driving to the main beach parks, reducing greenhouse gases.

People often talk about the "good old days" in Hawai'i. Removing the gates is a step toward reclaiming what we've lost. The choice is up to you.

SUPERFERRY

FERRIES CONNECT PEOPLE AND ALSO COMMUNITIES

It's amazing to me how much a very vocal minority can affect our society.

Ferries operate in every corner of the globe, and not only do they transport people and material, they connect communities. Imagine not being able to drive from Nanakuli to Kane'ohe, Pa'ia to Kihei, Po'ipu to Hanalei, but instead you would have to catch a plane or canoe to get there. Makes no sense, not only would the physical divide seem further, it would "disconnect" these communities and families from one another.

Watching the evening newscasts and seeing all of the experts and ferry pundits complain about people abusing "their land" or "their island" seems comical to me.

I'd say that very few of them, if any, can trace their lineage to these islands.

Maybe it's a case of them knowing better and protecting us poor, ignorant locals from things we don't understand.

Auwe. Are we not one community in this aloha state?

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

EDUCATION PLAN MUST SPECIFIY AN ACTION LIST

Mahalo to the Voices of Educators coalition for articulating a plan of action for education in Hawai'i ("Time for commitment to public schools is now," Oct. 7).

I believe that a great majority of Hawai'i's citizens would agree with the plan.

However, the plan must go further because it is written in generalities, and at its core it is only a wish list of objectives.

For the sake of accountability, the plan must take the next step of specifying actions to be performed by specific individuals and organizations that would lead to the desired objectives.

The coalition includes many of Hawai'i's education leaders. Perhaps the members of the coalition already intend to detail their future actions because they state: "We fervently believe that the educational opportunities we must create for every child in Hawai'i depends entirely on the courage and conviction and commitments that will be made this year by those already engaged in the reinvention of public education."

I look forward to a follow-up column by the coalition setting forth its commitments to action.

VACATION RENTALS

MAUI SENDING WRONG MESSAGE TO TOURISTS

Economists have predicted a downturn for Maui.

If tourism takes a major nosedive, that will create a recession. The thing about tourists is that they read newspapers, online blogs and travel magazines before they choose their destination. They look for a place that appears welcoming. Maui is rapidly gaining a reputation as an unfriendly, anti-tourist island.

The County Council and the administration may be attempting to guide the tourists away from alternative accommodations into the declining hotels, yet the tourist isn't getting this message. They only see two things when they read their local papers in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Des Moines, Winston-Salem, etc: "Maui", and "Tourists are bothering our local residents."

They fail to get the intended message, which is: "You may be bothering people on the north shore, but we still really want your money on the south and west sides." They are funny that way, supersensitive to rejection.

So Maui County administration and council, if you don't want to be known as the crew that created the 2007 recession, I would suggest that you wake up and do the right thing for vacation rentals, and begin to repair Maui's already-damaged reputation before it's too late.

VACATION RENTALS CRITICAL TO SURF EVENT

Since 1984 the Aloha Classic Wave World Championships has been the final event on the Pro Windsurfing Tour, attracting more than 200 competitors and 5,000 spectators each year to Ho'okipa.

Most of the spectators and competitors, if not all, stayed in north shore/upcountry vacation rentals for three weeks or more during the event. Competitors would also bring their family members to Maui for extended periods while they trained for the event. This boost to the north shore economy was one of the reasons the event is so welcomed and supported by the community on Maui.

The event brought worldwide attention and exposure to Maui as a premier windsurfing destination through television, print, Internet, video and radio.

Without accommodations for competitors, sponsors and spectators, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to run a world-class event on the north shore. Accommodations on other parts of the island are not feasible for competitors and would add to the already over-burdened roads with the added traffic congestion.

We were unable to surmount these challenges this year, and for that we are greatly disappointed. However, we are optimistic for 2008 and hope this vacation-rental issue will be a thing of the past.