TRANSIT

CITY REACTION TO DJOU COLUMN 'VEHEMENT'

If you disagree with Mayor Mufi Hannemann, be prepared to face attack.

For Councilmember Charles Djou, the attack came from the mayor's press secretary.

I was surprised and put off by its virulence. I haven't seen anything similar in print in Hawai'i before. It looks like a "post-emptive" strike, an after-the-fact shot designed to silence further dissent.

I am no fan of rail transit, and I found Mr. Djou's comments on the project to be substantive and cogent.

I have long felt there is a touch of the "railroad" about the way the mayor has been driving this project.

The vehemence of Mr. Brennan's attack indicates that the mayor knows this, too.

The project has survived many hearings before official bodies. It has never been put to the public for a vote.

An undertaking of this magnitude and cost should, by rights, proceed in an open and above-board fashion. A notable number of Honolulu voters have the uncomfortable feeling that this is not happening. Recent events give credence to their view, and Mr. Brennan's attack does nothing to reassure them.

MAYOR'S OFFICE ATTACKS THOSE WHO DISAGREE

Bill Brennan's letter (March 21) attacking Charles Djou's stance on the transit issue continues to show the Office of the Mayor's ongoing policy of attacking anyone who disagrees with them on the transit plan.

I lived in the San Francisco Bay area when BART started. Many lessons were learned. Among them is that BART did not reduce the number of cars on the road. Many people who were taking buses moved to BART.

Also, BART was forced to greatly expand its parking facilities in order for commuters to consider using it. Most commuters were not willing to wait for a bus (and possibly get a seat), ride the bus to the BART station, then wait for a BART train (and possibly get a seat). There seems to be no plans for extensive parking lots near Honolulu's light-rail stations.

Finally, the mayor lied to us. In order to get our votes in the Kapolei/Makakilo area, he stressed the importance of getting transit to Kapolei, as well as improving our roads. Now, this transit will not even come to Kapolei. We should have voted for Duke!

PRESS SECRETARY'S CRITICISM WAS BIASED

Bill Brennan, the mayor's press secretary, accuses Councilman Charles Djou's diatribe in last Sunday's paper as unsubstantiated.

Yet all Brennan can utter are biased criticisms of the councilman.

Brennan, for example, says that Djou "will stop at nothing to be negative about giving O'ahu residents a choice on how they get around our island."

Apparently, Brennan is blind to the fact that the mayor's rail project is located only in the Leeward side of the island and means nothing, for example, to residents of the Windward side of the island, or even to 'Ewa Beach residents in the Leeward side of the island.

What Brennan ignored is Councilman Djou's accusation about the junkets made and still to be made by the mayor and various city officials to "inspect" various rail systems around the world and likely to be paid for by a special interest group or by the taxpayers.

CRITICISM OF DJOU WAS REALLY A COMPLIMENT

Re: Bill Brennan's diatribe about Charles Djou in his March 21 letter.

Typical Djou? What a compliment. Equates to common sense. Questioning taxes being collected for "the local funding mechanism" before the fact? Questioning the legality of consultant's contract?

Gosh, Bill, backroom deals? Payoffs? Obviously we taxpayers should know by now that there is every reason to blindly follow our non-corruptible politicians' judgment and never question monument-building opportunities.

If speaking out for common sense is being an "obstructionist" then more power to "obstructionist" Djou.

WAR

IT IS LONG PAST TIME TO BRING OUR TROOPS HOME

The right wing must be tired, but they continue the spin that progressives who want to bring the troops home with a set deadline are unsupportive.

We knew the war was built on misrepresentations and untruths.

It is long overdue to just say no. Bring our troops home, and let's invest in their physical and mental recovery from this utter mistake.

Does anyone remember Vietnam?

HOUSING BILL

ABERCROMBIE, HIRONO TRYING TO SHIFT BLAME

The article in the March 23 Honolulu Advertiser, "Hawaiian housing bill hit," demonstrates the inability of Hawai'i's congressional delegation to educate members of Congress on the need for reauthorizing the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act.

This bill would have provided the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands with a $10 million federal block grant for housing assistance projects.

The Republicans, far from "demonizing Hawaiians" as Congressman Neil Abercrombie stated, led Congress in 2000 to amend the Native American Housing and Self Determination Act with a provision to include Native Hawaiians. This 2000 amendment expired in 2005, but was reauthorized in 2005 and 2006 by the Republican-led 109th Congress.

Congressman Abercrombie and Congresswoman Mazie Hirono simply have failed their constituency again, and are trying to shift the blame.

MEDICATION

PSYCHOLOGISTS SHOULD NOT PRESCRIBE DRUGS

I have wonderful friends and colleagues who I greatly respect and admire who are psychologists.

They are good diagnosticians and spend longer with patients than do most medical doctors. However, I do not agree with the legislation being proposed that would allow them to prescribe medication.

Even as a psychiatrist, with a B.S., M.S., four years of medical training (M.D.) and residency training in psychiatry, I have great concern when prescribing medication.

Because patients frequently have other medical conditions and take other medications, and because any medication can cause serious side effects and/or drug-drug interactions, a physician needs to be aware of the whole medicine in being responsible for and to their patients.

This is an enormous responsibility as medical knowledge and medication choices are rapidly increasing. As the number of people with obesity increases and the population ages, medical problems are much more complicated.

Even though there may be a shortage of psychiatrists in some areas, the answer is not to give psychologists with inadequate medical education the ability to possibly cause harm to patients.

Patients should have the highest level of competent care. Please support the defeat of this legislative bill.

SECOND HOSPITAL

ELECTED OFFICIALS FAIL TO SEE WHAT MAUI WANTS

I am appalled by the failure of our executive and legislative branches to resolve the state healthcare crisis, of which the citizens of Maui share an unequal burden.

Perhaps the first failure is the inability of elected leaders to understand how big a problem is in front of them.

How many people must die from inadequate medical service on Maui? How many talented physicians and healthcare providers will leave the Islands before those leaders respond? How many residents will leave the state, or how many prospective residents (read taxpayers) will decide that Hawai'i is not a good option for them because it cannot provide for their medical needs? Will it take a colossal natural disaster for the state to change the certificate of need process?

The people of Maui are speaking loud and clearly. We want a second hospital. We need a second hospital. We need a solution for West Maui healthcare emergencies and long-term care.

Please let us determine our own fate here on Maui. Government officials should be ashamed of their failure to respond to the people.

CRIME

COPPER-THEFT PENALTIES SHOULD BE INCREASED

A misdemeanor and $1,000 fine when thieves are caught stealing copper is just a slap on the wrist.

Copper theft has cost the state Department of Transportation more than $300,000 in just 18 months, and taxpayers have had to drive on the freeways in the dark.

I shudder to think of what might happen if I should be stranded with a flat tire or car trouble at night without any lights on the freeway.

Thieves will continue to steal copper because the penalty is lenient.

A mandatory five years in jail and $25,000 fine will deter others from stealing copper.

ELDERLY

SB 1184 WOULD PROTECT OUR VULNERABLE ADULTS

The University of Hawai'i Center on the Family reports that between 2000 and 2030, the number of adults in Hawai'i who are 60 years and older will increase by 93.8 percent and those 85 years and older will increase by 174 percent.

This will create an age distribution in which there will be a smaller proportion of children and younger adults in relation to those 60 and older.

We have seen over the past year numerous articles regarding the welfare of Hawai'i's elders. Abuse of this vulnerable population continues to rise to the surface, whether it be physical, emotional, or financial, and whether the perpetrators are family members, friends or advisors, etc.

It is clear that the elderly need more services and protection.

The Legislature would be wise to start planning now to put increased services and protections in place rather than wait for a crisis to occur. Senate Bill 1184 relating to Adult Protection is currently moving through the Legislature.

This bill will strengthen our current statute and protect more vulnerable adults, including the elderly. Furthermore, it will allow the Department of Human Services to begin planning for more community-based services and increase its capacity to investigate and provide services in reported abuse cases.