TRANSIT

TIME TO MOVE FORWARD ON GUIDEWAY SYSTEM

There have been lots of letters recently from people who want to stall mass-transit progress by exploring other alternatives.

Here is a news flash for them. Last year, the City Council thoroughly evaluated a series of transit alternatives and picked a fixed-guideway system as the most beneficial and cost effective. This came after lots of community meetings and council hearings, where we all had a chance to weigh in on the matter.

The train, folks, has left the station, and not a moment too soon.

I don't want to stay stuck in traffic. I don't want to go backwards. I don't want to become a joke in Washington, D.C., where our city is already known for walking away from hundreds of millions of dollars that could have gone to building a mass-transit system more than a decade ago.

It's time for the chronic complainers to stop, and for us to build the mass-transit system we so desperately need.

TOLL ROADS COST LESS AND WILL RELIEVE TRAFFIC

Now let me get this straight. We are about to let contracts that eventually will build a railroad that doesn't start where it needs to, go where it needs to or make stops where it needs to.

This railroad will require about 20 stops, which will have 40 escalators, 20 elevators, 40 parking lots and perhaps that many bathrooms.

It will not relieve any automotive traffic, nor will it provide relief in case of a freeway blockage.

It will take 10 years to build and will cost $5 billion.

Alternatively, we could build toll roads over our existing right of ways that serve roads starting where we live and end where we want to go.

Express buses could use the toll roads as well. This could be built in half the time, half the money, relieve the traffic and virtually pay for itself along with a fraction of the maintenance, security and manpower required to run the railroad.

Of course the railroad makes more sense. Ask your councilman.

COUNCIL OWES IT TO US TO EXAMINE ALL OPTIONS

City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi is wise in her contention that a fuller discussion is needed before selecting the transit technology.

And I agree with J. Carini's and R. Fong's comments that fixed rail may not be the best option (Letters, Aug. 10).

Kobayashi believes that a system modeled after the Netherlands' Phileas Advanced Public Transport System is a wise choice. It offers some flexibility that a fixed system would not.

Friends and family members who live in 'Ewa Beach and the Leeward Coast do not believe that fixed rail would work. As others have already said, commuters will have to get to a pickup point, endure the stops along the way, get off and then either wait for a bus or walk to work.

All that could take as much time as traveling through traffic.

It also doesn't help that the system will bypass workplaces near the airport and will not link to the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

The City Council owes it to the community to exercise wisdom, and examine what Kobayashi has seen in the Netherlands' system.

AUG. 11 EDITION

IRONY OR SILLINESS? OR BLAME GLOBAL WARMING

Raise your hand if you also saw the irony, humor, silliness or coincidence of seeing in the Aug. 11 Honolulu Advertiser's three separate articles about:

1) How many trees are sacrificed annually to provide wooden chopsticks.

2) How lava on the Big Island is flowing into forest land.

3) How forest fires are destroying our forests.

Pele, God or lovers of Chinese food? Maybe we should just blame global warming and be done with it.

KAU INOA

HAWAIIANS-ONLY VOTE IS DISENFRANCHISEMENT

In response to Lee Cataluna's recent column about the Kau Inoa kerfuffle: It's probably not the shirts William Burgess and his ilk want. The Burgess Five probably want what everyone wants: a say in the political process determining the future of their home.

Kau Inoa is a list of possible voters. If you aren't on there, that means you might not have the right to vote in elections that a reconstituted Hawaiian nation might hold. That sounds like disenfranchisement to me, and that's something more serious than a T-shirt.

Cataluna says: "When being Hawaiian has an appreciable advantage in day-to-day life, maybe Burgess and his lot will have a point."

Maybe Hawaiian-ness (whatever that means anymore) doesn't matter much right now. But if Burgess waits till it does matter, he might not be able to speak up anyway, since he might be considered a second-class citizen — or not a citizen at all.

SPENDING

GOV. LINGLE IS BEING FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE

Recent headlines focusing on funds being withheld from the Department of Education distracted readers from the real issue — that state tax revenues fell short of projections and this reality calls for increased fiscal discipline.

Instead, media reports focused solely on how this shortfall will affect renovation projects of one department, the DOE, which has been plagued by skepticism as to how it is spending the billions of dollars entrusted to it.

Let's put this into context. The Legislature set aside $235 million for the DOE, assuming that money from tax revenues and the general fund could absorb the cost.

Now there is a gap of $188 million between what the state was projected to receive and what was actually collected.

As a result, the Lingle-Aiona administration is releasing only first-quarter funds to all departments until it gains a clearer picture of the state's economy at the upcoming Council on Revenue meeting.

The administration has also directed the DOE to request from the Legislature $110 million in bond financing rather than using cash from the general fund.

I am thankful that the administration is being responsible with taxpayer money, and has decided to curb spending until we know what is coming in.

KARL ROVE

RESIGNATION GIVEN JUST A SMALL HEADLINE

In a Focus column on Aug. 19, a commentator writes about Karl Rove that "Only if the president himself had resigned would the headlines have been bigger."

When Rove resigned, The Advertiser in its great news judgment put the story on Page A3 with a small one-column headline with a story that ran a couple of paragraphs.

TRAFFIC

MORE ALOHA IN NEW MEXICO THAN WAIKIKI

We moved out of Waikiki last year. I love Waikiki, but it was becoming too crowded.

The traffic scared me. I use a wheelchair, and I have been "bumped" by passing cars three times. Each time, I was in a crosswalk with a green signal. The left side of my chair still shows damage from one of the "bumps."

Where we live now, drivers are much better. I walk the dogs every morning. When I come to the four-way stop at the corner, every driver — every single one — comes to a full stop, even when they are turning right.

Every driver is careful to make eye contact with me so I and the dogs can cross the corner safely. Every one here drives with aloha.

Where is this magical place? Pecos, N.M. So when all you locals wonder where da aloha went, we got it here.

MAHALO

KAPONO ON THE MEND AFTER SERIOUS INJURY

We would like to thank the caring people who assisted us during our harrowing experience this past Statehood Day.

While driving through the Queen's Gate neighborhood with our two Labrador retrievers, Kapono, the younger of the two dogs, either jumped or fell out of the passenger cabin of the truck and was seriously injured.

While we attempted to comfort Kapono, neighbors in the immediate area came to our aid. Some provided blankets to keep Kapono warm and comfortable, while others began calling nearby animal hospitals.

After what seemed to be an eternity, we finally located one that was open. A woman graciously offered to care for our other dog while we took Kapono to the hospital.

The next day, Kapono underwent a four-hour surgery to repair the fracture in his hind femur. Stainless steel rods and 14 screws now hold the bone together.

As we write this letter, Kapono is still in the hospital. According to the orthopedic surgeon, his prognosis looks good.

Only time will tell whether he will be back to his usual, active self and again take his place in our family.

We will always remember the people who helped that day. We are forever grateful to them.

TREES

ALBIZZIA ARE INVASIVE, SHOULD BE REMOVED

I am concerned about the Outdoor Circle's request to the Department of Transportation to delay the removal of albizzia trees on the H-2 Freeway.

We call them "garbage" trees here on Hawai'i Island because they are so invasive. When they bloom, they have millions of seeds that quickly spread and root in our forests and other unwanted places.

They grow to immense heights and cover large areas of land, blocking views and spreading more seeds each year. They may look nice along the freeway, but their seeds don't stay there.

I agree with the DOT that they be removed and replaced with native trees like the 'ohi'a lehua.