HOAX

DO HAWAI'I RESIDENTS MISTRUST ALERT SYSTEM?

Going to work, I stopped at 7-Eleven in Kapolei. I had to wait to get in the parking lot. Trucks were loaded with mattresses and camping gear. People were running out of the store with bags of ice. The cashier told me there was a tsunami but that it was a hoax.

At work (I work at HECO) I heard our call center was getting swamped by calls asking if the power was going to go out.

Co-workers were calling in saying neighbors were going up to them telling them to get to high ground and asking about the power. I don't think I've ever seen that kind of mass hysteria in my life.

Recently, we had one earthquake with no tsunami alert, and nobody panicked. We had a tsunami alert and no earthquake, and nobody panicked. Now we have no earthquake and no tsunami alert and people are heading for the hills.

Either there is a large amount of distrust of our alert systems, or people are just too gullible to know better. I don't know which is worse.

STREET CONDITIONS

HPD NEEDS TO BETTER TRAIN MOTOR OFFICERS

As a former federal law enforcement officer, it really hit home with me to learn that Ho-nolulu Police Department officer Steve Favela had passed away due to the accident he was involved in while escorting President Bush's motorcade. My heart and prayers go out to his family and the rest of the HPD 'ohana.

There was a report of two separate HPD motor officer crashes on two different days, all due to road conditions. This also happened in 1995 when President Clinton came to the Islands. People on the Mainland watch what we do here, and it's a little embarrassing that HPD training does not keep up with modern times.

It is time for the HPD administration to properly train motor officers on all street conditions. On the Mainland, we train our motor officers to navigate and negotiate all motorcycle turns, various types of accelerations, emergency stops, slides and ejections during emergencies in all types of road conditions.

One of our local news stations reported that HPD does not train its motor officers in adverse conditions due to safety reasons. Safety reasons? We are smack dab in the middle of the ocean where we all face constant rainy and wet road conditions.

It may or may not have made a difference in the case of Officer Favela. But with the lack of this type of training, how would one know if it would make a difference or not? Food for thought.

CAMPAIGN REFORM

IT'S TIME TO SUPPORT PUBLIC ELECTION FUNDING

Johnny Brannon's Nov. 29 article on campaign funding makes clear that partial public funding systems no longer work. The cost of an election campaign has far exceeded what these programs can provide, and candidates are still forced to take large contributions from favor-seeking special interests.

It is time for the state to enact a system of voluntary full public funding for campaigns that will keep participants competitive in their races. Such programs have been successful for several years in Maine and Arizona. Many more candidates get involved in races, so-called "fringe" candidates do not drain the funding pool and the states are not going broke.

Moreover, as Brannon's article makes clear, there is plenty of money in the current Hawai'i fund to support a public funding pilot program in 2008. Legislators should not try to use cost as an excuse to get out of enacting this badly needed legislation.

DEVELOPMENT

OWNERS OF 2ND HOMES SHOULD PAY HIGHER TAX

It seems like developers such as Oaktree at Turtle Bay and Hokuli'a on the Big Island are playing hardball. I think it's about time the people of Hawai'i played hardball, too.

I have had enough of developers and their friends in the Legislature running roughshod over local communities and local values.

In recent years, Hawai'i has rapidly developed into a second- home market, which has had overwhelmingly negative consequences for the people of this state. Many jobs are being lost as full-service hotels are converted to condominiums. The second-home market has inflated home prices and property taxes, displacing local residents in favor of second and third homes for Mainland millionaires. None of this benefits the people of this state.

The solution? Dramatically higher tax rates for nonresidents, say 10 times the kama'aina rate, coupled with a more graduated state income tax (or a resident homeowner's discount of 90 percent, similar to the homeowner's exemption that exists now). This would shut down the second-home market and give developers such as Oaktree and Hokuli'a a much-needed lesson in corporate social responsibility.

B&B ISSUE

NEIGHBORS WINNING BATTLE AGAINST RENTALS

Angie Larson's commentary (Nov. 21) supporting vacation rentals and blasting Keep It Kailua was a disappointment. Her characterization of this struggle as pitting "neighbor against neighbor" is actually "neighbor against illegal hotel operation next door." The neighbors are winning, due to the efforts of Keep It Kailua and similar groups in other areas.

Keep It Kailua is not "grossly exaggerating the detrimental effects." Five neighborhood boards in the most heavily affected areas (Waimanalo, Kahala, North Shore, Kailua and Wai'anae) plus the Lanikai Association have looked into this problem and taken strong positions against the spread of hotel operations into our residential neighborhoods — and have asked the city to step up enforcement efforts. The city's Department of Planning and Permitting has responded with dozens of citations and fines, and is working to improve its efforts.

A year ago, 12 illegal vacation rentals were identified in Ms. Larson's neighborhood. Eleven of them have either sold or converted to long-term rentals — all to become much-needed family housing. The 12th should become a real neighbor and follow the lead of the other eleven.

FOOD SECURITY

DECENTRALIZE CONTROL OF HAWAI'I'S AG LANDS

There is a great deal of value in David Cole's call for action (Focus, Nov. 26) to "ensure Hawai'i's best agricultural lands do not disappear."

There is also a need for action that does not provide for a few large companies to have preferential access to those agricultural lands.

Mr. Cole, of Maui Land & Pineapple Co., proposes "funding for the acquisition of lands of sufficient scale" and state government policies with "incentives," the success of which would, in part, be measured by the "scale" of land dedicated for agricultural use. Such "funding" and "incentives" for "scale" could be interpreted as taxpayer-funded government subsidies for a few well-connected entities, such as Maui Land & Pineapple Co.

Cole's concept of "strategic agriculture" to "boost our food and energy security" has great appeal and may have merit. However, Cole follows this laudable concept with a contradiction: "lengthening key runways" to "access out-of-state markets." This archipelago's food and energy security is not dependent on greater air cargo capacity to serve distant markets.

The call to safeguard our agricultural lands needs to be the beginning of a constructive conversation about achieving food and energy security for all Hawai'i residents. With commodity agriculture in its final days, a strategic approach to benefit the wider community is needed, and this strategy must include decentralized control of agricultural land.

MEDICAL PROCEDURES

FUNDAMENTALISTS ARE BEHIND STEM CELL LAG

In his Nov. 24 letter, Hank McKeague asks a very important question. Mr. McKeague asks why the most technically advanced country on this planet is unable or unwilling to provide stem cell medical procedures for its own citizens.

The answer is quite simple: religious fundamentalists within, and their powerful influence upon, our government. The fanatics are recklessly wielding narrow-minded control over funding for scientific research, which could save millions of human lives. There you have it, Mr. McKeague, the answer to your question.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

EQUAL RESPONSIBILITY SHOULD BE ENFORCED

In the Nov. 27 article on unwed births, older single women with an unplanned pregnancy were neglected. Women in their late- 30s to mid-40s are caught in a double bind. First, pregnancy after 35 is "high risk." Termination means risking loss of fertility due to age. Accepting an unplanned pregnancy without partner support, family networks or financial stability can mean a loss of sustainable living. The consequence of "consensual sex," then, is solely a woman's burden.

Yes, women have the right to choose life or death for an unborn child, but the father is not held legally responsible for insemination in the first place. Petitions for child support after a live birth are hopeful at best. Further, women suffering miscarriage experience physical, emotional and financial harm without judicial protection. This means that women are still subordinated by men through reproductive ability regardless of age. Today, our laws sanction men's recreational sex without accountability. True reproductive rights enforce equal responsibility in birth control and conception.

TURTLE BAY

ADDED DEVELOPMENT HAS TO BE STOPPED

Turtle Bay development must be stopped. Gunstock Ranch, the unique horse and cattle ranch within miles of Turtle Bay, proud home of O'ahu's award-winning Hawai'i Keiki and High School Rodeo Organizations, has lost its site to housing developers.

Add this to Turtle Bay's threat. The increased traffic and pollution from these homes must be acknowledged by our City Council. Traffic backs up for miles on weekdays already just to get past Kahuku High School. Regardless of district, I think the whole City Council should be voted out if it doesn't protect its own island's remaining natural resources. See this area yourself before you shrug it off.

WAI'ANAE COAST

FORMER RESIDENT WANTS TO HELP ISLE HOMELESS

I was born and raised on the Wai'anae Coast. Although I graduated from Kamehameha, Wai'anae really shaped who I am because of the cultural meaning of the coast, the people, and my family's roots in the area. After reading The Advertiser's intense coverage of the homeless in Wai'anae, I have started a grassroots charity, Kokua Wai'anae.

I have begun to collect clothing donations from the hula halau I am a member of here in Alexandria. I plan also to hold a few fundraisers as well. My family and I will be home in February and March. My sister and I will visit our sisters and brothers on the beaches to give out the donations, and let them know that there are people out there who care.

My challenge is to anyone who wants to "Pay It Forward." Let's see this as a hand "up," not a handout.

ENERGY

OIL TO BE UNAFFORDABLE 5 TO 30 YEARS FROM NOW

I enjoyed reading Douglas Madden's thoughtful Nov. 27 commentary on my own Nov. 19 piece on oil depletion, but feel obliged to respond.

Oil has been running out since the day we started using it. The question is exactly when will we reach the point where its unaffordability wreaks havoc upon us? Pessimists claim we have passed peak production and demand is outstripping supply. Optimists claim we will reach that point shortly after 2030.

The latter camp makes very generous allowance for the additional reserves and improved recovery techniques mentioned by Mr. Madden. They also base their predictions on private data, which they refuse to divulge for public analysis, and some have a compelling corporate interest in maintaining the perception of ample reserves.

The fact that oil is cheaper now than post-Katrina proves nothing as prices always fluctuate due to localized events. But the trend is clearly upward. I would like to know where I can today purchase crude oil for "a couple of dollars per barrel," as I'm always on the lookout for an easy market killing.

I am not a peak oil catastrophist ... but neither am I willing to bet society's future on the rosiest of all scenarios. Neither Mr. Madden nor I know precisely when oil will become unaffordable, but it seems quite likely to do so between five and 30 years from now if present consumption rates continue. Energy from renewable sources today constitutes an insignificant fraction of global use and it will require a massive effort to ramp it up to meaningful levels even in 30 years, let alone five. We need to begin now.