CAMPAIGN SPENDING

POLITICIANS MUST BE PUBLIC SERVANTS AGAIN

HB 2455 and SB 3141 are a disgrace and an embarrassment to our state. There is no way we should pass bills that allow big corporations to give more than the $1,000 cap in place now to any politician.

A politician should not base a campaign on how much money there is at the bank, but how good his or her program is. People are getting sick and tired of corruption scandals, big bucks spent and candidates being the puppets of corporations, playing golf with each other and going on vacations to exotic resorts or lavish galas.

It is time for politicians to become public servants, not corporate servants.

House Speaker Calvin Say, Reps. Kirk Caldwell, Blake Oshiro and Sylvia Luke, and Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, think again of how much damage those bills would do in our political system. It's time to humble yourselves and to go back to basics.

MEDICAL TORT REFORM

SHAME ON LEGISLATORS FOR NOT FIXING PROBLEM

Fact: Hawai'i has an increasing shortage of physicians, especially surgical subspecialists on the Neighbor Islands.

Fact: High malpractice premiums are undeniably a factor in this shortage.

Fact: Capping non-economic damages — as proposed in HB 1992 — is being considered once more as a positive move to deal with this issue.

Fact: There will be the usual hue and cry from trial attorneys and their lobbyists that this bill will be of no help.

Our legislators should hang their heads in shame that they have allowed this nagging issue to persist. Once again, they have a chance to step up to the plate and help alleviate the problem.

Unfortunately, I'm not holding my breath. Many unfortunate patients and their doctors will be first in line with congratulations if you prove me wrong!

POLICE

IS SEATTLE'S WEATHER WORTH THE EXTRA PAY?

The Honolulu Police Department has a perpetual recruitment drive, always striving to get the best candidates to fill the vacancies brought on by retirements, etc.

With the recent substantial pay raises won through arbitration, along with a longevity step that would keep veteran personnel on board, there is not the mass exodus of officers to other departments on the Mainland as there was several years ago.

Sure, the Seattle police department may offer more pay (not much more) along with a signing or moving bonus. And they may boast that the cost of living in the Pacific Northwest is cheaper than Hawai'i.

What they don't mention are the adverse weather conditions. They have harsh winters, with rain, sleet and snow. The rest of the time there is constant rain.

For a few dollars more, who would subject themselves and their families to this environment, lose the rubber slippers, shorts and tank tops?

TIPPING

THOSE IN UNIFORM SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TIP

In regard to the complaint about the military being poor tippers, there is a reason for that.

So let's tip the scales the other way: Those in uniform leave no tip, and when leaving get a discount.

So that raises prices a wee little bit? I'll pay it. That would be our tip to them.

PAY WAIT STAFF DECENT WAGE, LET'S END TIPPING

I worked for tips a dozen years ago, and I remember the military were notorious for their meager tips.

Today I work with a lot of ex-military and so I asked them to explain this phenomenon. Their responses varied from personality to bad behavior and beyond. Some said that since they were not officers they were not paid well, but had the need to just get off the base for a while even if it meant going to a restaurant they could not afford. Some said it was cultural and that in some areas of this great land people just throw a couple of bucks down no matter what the tab. Of course, some said they always tipped well according to service and percentage.

In response to the people who have said that since they protect us they should be excused, let me say there is no excuse for bad behavior.

Secondly, a customer doesn't have to tip. If you don't want to tip, then please have the decency to get food where a gratuity is not expected.

Third, I will never eat at a restaurant where employers want customers who pay but are not concerned about a tip. How would you feel if customers skipped out on the tab? That's what poor tippers are doing to your wait staff.

However, I am a solutions kind of guy, and in my opinion nobody should get a tip. Everyone should do their job well, and be paid a decent wage for doing it.

PROPOSED BAN

STYROFOAM BILL WILL JUST RAISE COST OF LIVING

With all the problems our society is faced with, you'd think our state senators would be able to find something more important to debate than whether or not to ban Styrofoam food containers!

The only thing a law like this will accomplish is to raise the cost of living yet again.

We need our government to work on easing the financial burden of our residents, not find ways to increase the expense of living in Hawai'i.

This is another example of a knee-jerk reaction to some special interest group's pet project.

We'd be better off enforcing our existing laws against littering and holding our trash disposal companies accountable for spillage.

MAINTENANCE

SOME FREEWAY SPOTS BECOMING WEED JUNGLE

I couldn't agree more with Adam Burson's Feb. 13 letter, "Tall weeds, overgrown grass line H-1 freeway." Few of the landscapes on O'ahu's freeways are maintained.

Take a look around next time you exit H-2 at Mililani Town/Mauka interchange. It's quickly returning to jungle.

Are we trying to increase the habitat for endangered wildlife, or is this the state's plan to grow its own biofuel?

Why can't even the simple things get taken care of here?

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

EDUCATION SHOULDN'T BE TREATED AS A BUSINESS

The Feb. 1 editorial about the "unseemly fight between the BOE and Gov. Linda Lingle" is a perfect example of what is wrong with education policy: The belief that public education is a "business" and the misperception that "drug testing is needed in our classrooms."

Public education is not a business. The perception that public education is a business is ruining our schools because profit is not the goal of education. Profit is simply the remainder of expenses from income; education is the opportunity to become humble. And one who is "well educated" knows the difference between business and education.

The "sad commentary" concerning public education as business is compounded by the concocted notion that random drug testing is needed in our classrooms. What is needed in our classrooms are new notions of what a classroom is in 21st century society.

If classrooms become clinics for dispensing cures for what ails us, then teachers are simply social managers who call out the names for those — including themselves — who are to receive the latest panacea.

INVESTIGATIONS

HPD WORKING TO SHORTEN O'AHU ROADWAY CLOSURES

This is in response to concerns regarding road closures due to traffic investigations.

The Honolulu Police Department is keenly aware of the inconvenience caused when a major roadway is shut down for any reason, and we are continually examining ways to expedite police traffic investigations.

Since last August, we have purchased new equipment, conducted additional training and increased the number of officers available to assist with investigations. We conducted after-action reviews of each closure and have coordinated response times with other stakeholders, such as the medical examiner, tow companies, the Honolulu Fire Department, etc.

We no longer require traffic investigators to handle critical or fatal investigations involving a single driver and single vehicle.

The result has been a significant reduction in road closure times. Before August, the average road-closure time was almost four hours. Since August, this time has been reduced to just under three hours.

Although we have checked with traffic investigators on the Mainland and have been assured that our procedures are on par with Mainland agencies, we will bring in an outside expert to review our practices within the near future.

Unfortunately, I do not see the problem of road closures going away because of our laws and the increasing number of vehicles on O'ahu's limited roadways.

But I can promise that HPD will continue to do what we can to balance shorter road closures with complete and thorough traffic investigations.

I ask that we continue to support our hard-working officers, who put their lives on the line each day to ensure our safety.