Letters to the Editor
MAKAPU'U TRAIL
IMPORTANT PRECEDENT SET FOR A PET-FRIENDLY ISLAND
On June 24, an important precedent was set for the future of O'ahu as a pet-friendly island as members of the community spoke up about the Department of Land and Natural Resources' ban on leashed dogs at Makapu'u trail and Ka 'Iwi coastline at the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board meeting.
DLNR, represented by Administrator Dan Quinn, listened to these concerns and agreed to partner with the community to reopen Makapu'u trail and the entire Ka 'Iwi coastline.
On behalf of the Hawaiian Humane Society, I would like to thank the community for shining a spotlight on this issue, and also Dan Quinn for his willingness to find a more innovative and sustainable path forward.
We are excited to work with both DLNR and the community to develop a program that will keep Ka 'Iwi pet-friendly, and will continue our ongoing efforts to promote responsible pet ownership on O'ahu.
I hope these efforts will help companion animals to become more fully integrated into our community. Three years ago, 40 percent of O'ahu households owned dogs and 56 percent owned pets — I would suspect that we follow the national trend and that those percentages have increased.
For the past 111 years, the Hawaiian Humane Society has played an ever-evolving role in the relationship between our community and its animals. The driving force behind our programs and services is the promotion of the human-animal bond and the humane treatment of all animals.
The issue of Makapu'u and the Ka 'Iwi coastline was not just about one trail but rather what can be achieved when we work together to create solutions that make sense, and decide to become the architects of progress in our own backyard.
Pamela BurnsPresident & CEO, Hawaiian Humane Society
TEACHERS
LINGLE BELIEVES TESTING WILL BE RESOLVED SOON
The Advertiser's editorial on teacher drug testing points to the common goal of implementing the provision that was agreed to a year ago by the HSTA, Department of Education, Board of Education and the state, and which was ratified by teachers.
To grant a 30-day extension beyond the June 30 deadline would only prolong the implementation.
The DOE and BOE have focused on an unrealistic $500,000 implementation price tag (not including the actual costs of the tests), which has since grown to include a bureaucracy of nine people.
The governor has asked BOE Chairwoman Donna Ikeda and DOE Superintendent Pat Hamamoto to look at implementation in a different context.
We know the majority of teachers are not using or selling drugs. That is why the random nature of drug testing is so important. The random component serves as a deterrent to let those who use or are tempted to use drugs know that on any given day, there's a possibility they can be tested.
Drug testing averages $35 per person. Randomly testing one out of every 100 teachers each year out of 12,000 statewide, comes to only 120 teachers per year. The costs obviously are significantly lower than the DOE's estimates.
By focusing on the random element, rather than testing large numbers of teachers, implementation becomes more manageable, affordable and effective.
The governor is encouraged that the BOE chairwoman and DOE superintendent agree with this narrower approach, and believes this matter will be resolved expeditiously.
The Advertiser was incorrect to say the governor used withholding teacher pay raises as a threat. In fact, she said, "I don't want to make any threats."
Her goal is to implement random drug testing to give parents, students and teachers a level of confidence that their school campus is safe, so everyone can focus on educating our keiki.
Barry FukunagaChief of staff, governor's office
ADMINISTRATION SHOULD PAY FOR DRUG PROGRAM
I am clean and sober. I am a teacher. Drugs are for sick people.
The Department of Education already has a law in place that states that if a teacher is suspected of taking drugs, she or he will have to be tested.
Although the majority of teachers voted to ratify the contract that included the governor's drug testing program, they did it, in my opinion, because it was tied to pay raises.
I did not succumb to what I saw as blatant extortion; I voted no on ratifying the new contract.
From the beginning, there appeared to be a problem regarding which entity was going to pay for this program.
Now we are down to crunch time, and nothing has been resolved.
Adding insult to injury, the governor has just taken $10 million from the DOE budget, yet has threatened to cancel the next pay increment for teachers if the DOE does not begin the drug tests.
The teachers were forced into agreeing to Lingle's demands because they could not afford to lose out on a pay raise.
Once again, it is the teachers who will pay personally for this bureaucratic impasse.
To me, it seems that those who impose a program should be the ones who have to pay for it. This strikes me as similar to the No Child Left Behind mandate, a terribly flawed program, which in no way provided enough funding to carry it out.
Perhaps the governor and her administration should first implement a similar drug-testing program for themselves, setting a good example for us all.
John C. NippoltKane'ohe
ENERGY SAVINGS
4-DAY WORKWEEK MUST BE CAREFULLY ASSESSED
The Advertiser's editorial supporting a four-day workweek for state employees is premature. Conversion to a four-day schedule is a major undertaking requiring a thorough assessment of benefits, ramifications and energy-savings estimates.
For instance:
We need to assess all of the merits and shortcomings of the plan beforehand, because it would be impossible to undo the change no matter how bad a decision it turns out to be.
Ron YodaHonolulu
MORNING COMMUTE
HORRIBLE TRAFFIC AFTER ZIPPER LANE CHANGE
July 8 was the first day the "three-person-rule" was enforced and traffic, of course, was horrible.
I've been using the Zipper Lane for a few weeks now and I would leave 'Ewa at 6 a.m. and would be downtown by 6:35 a.m. I didn't get to town until a few minutes after 7 a.m. on Tuesday because of the new rule.
What was even more disgusting was to sit in traffic on the H-1 and look to my left to see a Zipper Lane with far fewer vehicles than normal using it.
I'd like to know what the state's logic behind the madness is.
I'll give the state credit for one thing — all the Zipper Lane signs were updated.
Brandon K. Kahele'Ewa Beach
RAIL DEBATE
O'AHU CANNOT AFFORD NOT TO DO RAIL SYSTEM
I signed the Stop Rail Now petition, because Honolulu's citizenry needs to be heard.
But let's admit it, the Stop Rail Now initiative is to confirm or not what Victor Hanson said in his column recently that Americans are the "can't-do society" in the world.
In the past 40 years, there have been at least four attempts to get something done to our transportation infrastructure. Each attempt has taken about 10 years to play out. The result is that O'ahu's transportation system has essentially been frozen in time since the 1970s.
Rail is not the solution to our traffic problems, but it is one part of the solution. Let's do this part of the solution and then move on to the other parts of the solution. Or we can stop, go back to ground zero and look forward to another 10 years of arguments and confrontations about what not to do!
After 40 years of arguing, this is my last chance to help fix our transportation problems before they become my grandchildren's transportation problems.
Don't tell me we can't afford it, we can't afford not to do it.
Sam GillieHawai'i Kai
VOTERS, SAY 'NO MORE' TO SOME POLITICIANS
I take great offense to the July 3 letter by Emily Ashmore giving Mayor Mufi Hannemann so much credit for his "leadership" on the rail issue. Especially after reading former Gov. Ben Cayetano's July 2 Island Voices column, which revealed many questionable actions by the mayor and his "good 'ole boy" network.
How long before we finally wake up and and say "no more" to these politicians who would sell their souls to gain a higher standing in the political arena?
All this at the cost of our beautiful state and our hard-earned tax dollars.
Every person in this state needs to take a more active role in becoming a better steward of this land.
Come next election day, we need to remember all the politicians, from the drunken drivers to the rail-transit wheelers and dealers.
Get them all out of office, and let's start over again.
I can't imagine it could get any worse than it is right now.
Janet Lee MarletteHonolulu
