PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA

WRONG FOR LINGLE NOT TO ATTEND KEY MEETING

Gov. Linda Lingle's latest stunt of putting party politics ahead of our state's welfare is shameful.

She says that she is working on the budget and cannot get away to attend the National Governors Association meeting with President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden. Did they not tell her the topic of discussion was going to be the economy and it was not a party junket?

This tells me that when she was off-island, doing everything that she could to distance President-elect Obama from his home state of Hawai'i, she was not paying attention to her job as governor.

I hope everyone remembers this when she tries to run for the U.S. Senate or any other office. For we really do need people in any elected office that can multi-task, which Lingle now has proven that she is incapable of doing.

MOTIVES TRANSPARENT IN MEETING DECISION

What's up with Gov. Linda Lingle? Apparently traveling to the Mainland to campaign for the McCain/Palin ticket is far more urgent than attending the National Governors Association meeting. She stated that she is required to be here to focus on the economy, but wasn't the economy already in dire straits while she chose to be away campaigning? Wouldn't her attendance at the governors meeting be beneficial to our economy's recovery?

She says her reason not to attend was not political. Her motives are as transparent as glass; who does she think she's kidding? Consider this — if there was an assembly scheduled for all of the admirals at which our next commander-in-chief would be present (albeit briefly), do you really think that Adm. Keating's best judgment would be to blow it off because it conflicted with a meeting with Lingle?

Her priorities are in disarray and it doesn't augur well for the state of Hawai'i. And if Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona is hoping to reside at Washington Place after the 2010 election to become a carbon copy of the Lingle legacy, I pray he doesn't get elected. Hawai'i deserves much better.

SURELY GOV. LINGLE CAN REPRIORITIZE MEETINGS

Gov. Linda Lingle should reconsider her decision and meet with President-elect Obama to discuss Hawai'i's economic crisis and seek his assistance. All leaders face unexpected requests and meetings are re-prioritized when necessary.

The budgetary challenges facing our state will still be here when she returns and postponing meeting with the state economist will not improve economic conditions one bit.

Surely, Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona can conduct a press conference and host a dinner with local military leaders. I have no doubt that our military leaders understand the importance of meeting with our next president.

She made three trips to the Mainland spending three weeks campaigning for McCain/Palin during a time when layoffs, deficits and unemployment were hitting record levels, and she won't make the time to meet with our incoming president?

As governor, she spent 12 days in November meeting with Asia's government leaders and she won't spend a couple of hours with our own president-elect?

I'll put my money where my mouth is and pay for a round-trip ticket for her. I'll even throw in a case of Wahiawa pineapple for omiyage.

EDUCATION

CHARTER SCHOOLS CUTS WILL HURT COMMUNITY

Hawai'i charter schools would be devastated by funding cuts, according to administrators (Advertiser, Nov. 21). In reality, it's the children who attend charters and the entire community that would be devastated by further cuts.

Charter schools demonstrate success in helping "at promise" students jumpstart academic momentum. In Hawaiian-focus charter schools, for example, students are more likely to move out of "well-below" reading and math proficiency than their counterparts in other schools.

Charters also promote other important intangibles that sometimes get short shrift in conversations about scholastic success. Students in Hawaiian-focus charters are more likely to want to choose their current school if given the option of attending school than their counterparts in other schools.

When compared to a national benchmark, students in Hawai'i-focused charters are more likely to experience external assets such as a caring school climate and parent involvement in schooling. The charter students are engaged and so are their families.

Charter schools, all of which are public schools serving public school children, enhance the well-being of students and families and promote the economic sustainability of communities.

The Kamehameha Schools public education support division works with, funds and promotes the learning and development of children in Hawaiian-focus charter schools. We know that the long-term impact to Hawai'i's keiki will benefit us all.

KOKO HEAD PARK

OTHER TENNIS COURTS ALSO IN TERRIBLE SHAPE

In her Nov. 21 article in The Honolulu Advertiser ("Diamond Head courts need extreme makeover"), Ann Miller does an exceptional job describing the poor condition of O'ahu's public tennis courts.

With its storied history and legacy, the Diamond Head courts were rightfully the focus of the article. However, I would like to emphasize that a serious state of disrepair exists with a lot of the city's public tennis courts, most worse than the condition of the Diamond Head courts.

In particular, I would like to ask Ms. Miller to follow up her story by visiting the courts at the Koko Head District Park. Their decrepit condition is much more than aesthetics or utility.

In addition to the cracked surfaces, weeds growing in the cracks and dilapidated nets, she will find large chunks of surface that continue to pop off, rendering play on the courts difficult.

I realize we are in a terrible budget crisis, but the Koko Head courts are an example of courts islandwide that are heavily used by families, and they need to be properly maintained.

Ignoring their condition or delaying the repair work will hasten deterioration, and add considerably to the cost in the future.

RENEWABLE RESOURCES

OCEAN-ENERGY HUB WAVE OF THE FUTURE

There are many things in their infancy: cell phones, wireless communications, the Internet, wave energy systems and awareness of the potential of abrupt climate change.

Among all proposed renewable energy sources, ocean power provides an abundant source that can have less impact than fossil fuels and imported biofuels.

HECO convened a diverse group of ocean users in the summer of 2007 and no one objected to ocean energy.

There are three basic types of ocean power.