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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, May 2, 2008

Letters to the Editor

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Renewable energy systems can reduce oil dependence.

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ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

NET-METERING LIMITS MUST BE ELIMINATED

Your April 25 editorial, "Pursue solar energy solutions ambitiously," got it exactly right. With utility bills up 50 percent over the past two years and likely to go higher, Hawai'i's need for large-scale solar energy development is clear.

Raising or eliminating the present limits on net metering — limits that discriminate against and discourage large-scale solar energy self-generation — is essential if Hawai'i wants to reduce its 79 percent dependence on imported oil for utility generation.

Creating a "feed-in tariff" that obliges the utilities to purchase solar and other forms of renewable energy from independent producers at long-term fixed rates is needed to attract the global investors who want to invest in large-scale renewable energy development in Hawai'i.

Such investment in Hawai'i is now discouraged by a state policy structure that promotes only investment in small-scale renewable energy generation by people with Hawai'i tax liabilities.

Erik Kvam
Chief executive officer, Zero Emissions Leasing

GOOD SAMARITANS

TWO UNSUNG HEROES COME TO MAN'S AID

I would like to express my gratitude to two real heroes. I am partially disabled due to traumatic Parkinson's disease caused by an accident at work and have trouble walking. So I have to get around with a walker.

This past Saturday two unsung heroes came to my assistance when my walker caused me to fall. They offered to take me to the hospital. I told them I would have my wife take me if I needed to go.

They then lifted me up and carried me into my apartment building and carried me to my apartment.

They stayed there until they were sure I was doing better. Regretfully, I only got the first name of one of them. His name is Rudy and I thank him and the other gentleman from the bottom of my heart.

I took their advice and had my wife take me to the hospital and everything was OK. Just some minor cuts on my face. It looked worse than it was.

This reinforces my belief that down deep most people are genuinely good.

Again, thank you, Rudy and the other gentleman.

Larry Symons
Honolulu

TRIBUTE

NAOMI CORREA TRULY LIVED HER CULTURE, FAITH

Our state lost another irreplaceable treasure recently,

Naomi Correa, known to most as Aunty Sister, passed from life to death surrounded by her large and loving family.

The matriarch of this family was also a great community leader. She was once the head of the Democratic Party. You never knew, sitting in her humble kitchen, who would call or stop by to chat, or who would ask for help and guidance.

I would be awed as she talked with senators, bankers, kupuna, political hopefuls, famous comedians, priests and the lowly and desperate. They were all welcomed and found care, comfort, love and guidance or a shoulder to cry on.

Every Tuesday, she would host a rosary group where we would share with each other our trials and triumphs, and she always encouraged forgiveness.

No matter how heavy your heart was when you came, you were filled with love when you left.

Every year, she would have a Christmas party for the whole valley of Kuli'ou'ou. Every summer, she and her family would have a keiki Olympics, and everybody would win and feel good about themselves.

She was instrumental in getting help for the kids at HYCF. The list of her accomplishments is endless. She was a true example of what it means to live your culture and faith.

No one can fill her shoes. Maybe we can follow her example and make a positive difference in the lives we touch — as she did for us.

Pauline Arellano
Mililani

ARTS

PUBLIC MUST RISE UP TO SAVE OUR SYMPHONY

Your April 25 editorial regarding the plight of the Honolulu Symphony was a welcome but too-limited comment on the problem.

The symphony is a world-class orchestra, headed by a world-class director, Andreas Delfs. It represents a Hawaiian treasure second to none, and has a unique power to project a proud and potent Hawaiian image to the country and to the world.

Instead, a perfect storm of apathy, ignorance and bureaucratic chicanery combine to threaten the orchestra's very existence.

The pathetic details are clearly noted in your editorial, and earlier in an April 15 letter from Robert Levy, former chairman of the Honolulu Symphony Society.

Money provided two years ago was blocked — without public approval — by arcane requirements and legislative gobbledygook. The public voted with its purse to contribute enough emergency funding to keep things going until bureaucrats could resolve the mess.

But creative obstructionists arbitrarily imposed additional absurd barriers. Enough!

Soon the chance for a solution may be entirely lost. The public must demand that our city and state governments remove the phony barriers and find a lasting solution.

We have demeaned some of Hawai'i's most talented, selfless and luminous citizens and turned them into beggars. Where is the hue and cry of our outraged citizens?

We must move beyond belated and limited editorial awareness. Our media needs to generate serious public protest. The time for action is long past. Save our symphony!

Louis E. Polichetti
Honolulu

SOVEREIGNTY GROUP

DOUBLE STANDARD IN 'IOLANI PALACE TAKEOVER

I hope that the members of the group calling itself the Hawaiian Kingdom Government truly relish the double standard they have been afforded through their intimidation tactics and guilt-trip politics.

I'm sure they'll be right back at the palace championing the right of the Native Hawaiian people to sovereignty on a scale not consistent with the reality in which most regular people live.

If people within the Native Hawaiian sovereignty movement wish to further their cause, they should (ultimately must) do so within the bounds of the law and system to which they have been subjugated.

When a group is allowed to literally take over a state landmark and no one is arrested or even charged, something is rotten in Denmark.

If any other group had tried this stunt, they'd have been arrested on the spot. You're doing a heck of a job, DLNR!

P. George
Pearl City

TRANSIT

ALLOW VOTERS TO HAVE VOTE ON RAIL 'FOLLY'

When I consider the level of outrage over the Superferry and an environmental assessment, may I ask what and where is the demand for an environmental assessment of the rail-transit folly?

Why is there no expressed concern over its impact on lives, homes and businesses in the immediate vicinity, nor its visual impact on the city, our harbors, our view plane from the sea to the mountains?

This is a planned nightmare on a grandiose scale by the mayor and City Council.

Aside from the horrendous environmental aspects, this fiasco will be a financial burden for my grandchildren, great-grandchildren and probably beyond.

The construction jobs it will "create" will be paid for by each of us for many years. They are not being financed by some outside entity, but by our tax dollars. Make that our continually increased tax dollars. And all of this for something that will not really solve the traffic problem.

There are alternatives that are so much more appropriate for our small island.

Please sign a Stop Rail Now petition, and get this on our ballot in November.

Allow the voters to have a voice, and not just have this foisted upon us by the mayor and City Council.

Shirley Hasenyager
Kailua

NO WONDER PUBLIC HAS ITS DOUBTS ABOUT RAIL

With a new survey estimating the cost of backlogged maintenance of buildings at the University of Hawai'i around $351 million, it's easy to understand the public's reluctance to support any type of rail effort. Education is the key of any society, and if we can't maintain our universities how can we maintain a massive rail system?

One needs to look no further than the Department of Education to understand the quagmire of policies, boards and unions that have resulted in poor academic performance.

Is this the same outcome that will happen once the rail is in place? Should I mention sewers, jails, landfills, roads and parks as portraits of poor planning and maintenance?

Very few people would argue against a mass-transportation system of some sort, but time and time again our state and municipal governments have failed us.

Although I feel Mayor Mufi Hannemann is more fiscally responsible than previous administrations, there is always room for doubt with a development of this size. Until legislative reforms negate developer and labor donations to candidates, the public will always perceive an uneasy alliance between developers and politicians.

So if the Stop Rail Now movement begins to gather momentum, it is only because of the political history and landscape that has been laid before the public.

Pat Kelly
Honolulu

DEVELOP BUS LANES AS SUPPLEMENT TO RAIL

Modern, smooth, quiet steel-on-steel rail needs to happen for our economy.

But it will take time, and the problem is severe and it is now. To fill the gap for the next few years with a very practical stop-gap solution that can happen very quickly, here is a modest proposal as a temporary supplement to rail.

Designate transit lanes throughout O'ahu in the areas of greatest need. Clearly define them with a heavy-duty white coating. Immediately acquire an additional 100 of Mayor Mufi Hannemann's beautiful new articulated transit buses. These lanes will be for TheBus only, but may be crossed by general vehicular traffic in a reasonable manner.

Could the City Council handle this decision?

Bill Miller
Pearl City