AGRICULTURAL LANDS

STATE MUST ENCOURAGE AG, NOT DEVELOPMENT

Once agricultural land is gone, it's gone forever.

It's incomprehensible to me that our Legislature and governor would give away 15 percent of our agricultural lands to entities that will profit enormously from their sale.

Setting aside possible conflict of interest, such as campaign contributions, have you given any thought to the effect of this sale on posterity?

Looking ahead, every inch of agricultural land will be needed to feed our people. We should be encouraging agriculture, not so-called development. Where is your vision?

MENTAL HEALTHCARE

GOOD PLANNING NEEDED IN WAI'ANAE TRANSITION

Media coverage and public discussion about impending changes in services to mental-health consumers in Wai'anae have been emotional and reactive. Mental Health America of Hawai'i believes it is time for more objective, thoughtful and proactive planning to take place.

The Department of Health must assure that safe and effective treatments are delivered in a culturally sensitive manner, and their efforts should be supported and recognized.

For more than 20 years, Hale Na'au Pono has provided culturally focused human services that have assisted many Wai'anae individuals and families in living fulfilling lives in the community, and their track record must be recognized and respected.

Although much of the discussion in recent weeks has been on these two entities, it is time to shift attention to the consumers whose mental healthcare is being affected.

Rather than viewing consumers only as vulnerable people affected by this change, they will be better served if they are engaged as informed users of the services that are so vital to their well-being.

We encourage the Department of Health to develop individualized transition plans for each consumer in the Wai'anae community. Each consumer should receive contact information to facilitate access to services and support during this period.

We strongly believe that it is important that the delivery of mental-health services be accessible within familiar communities. We also believe that a significant aspect of safe and effective mental healthcare involves the trusting relationship that a consumer has with his/her provider and that these relationships need to be supported and be given time for consumers to transition and develop new relationships.

Lastly, it may be valuable to have the Department of Health and consumer representatives report how this transition process is managed over the coming months.

STATE HAS CUT TIES FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE

I attended the rally at the state Capitol to protest the Department of Health's decision to shut down Hale Na'au Pono.

I noticed several people I had seen many times before in Downtown Honolulu, near the bus transfer point on Bishop Street. Some of them were holding signs protesting the closure.

One man carried a handwritten sign, "Hale Na'au Pono save me all the time help save us."

I was struck by the sight because I realized that 1) this person probably wrote the sign himself, and 2) the most vulnerable in society were here, on this day and at this event, because of fear of further disruption in their already-fragile lives.

They are right, of course. Those who are hanging by a thread have almost zero stability.

I'm wondering how the state can mess with their lives by cutting those thin threads, by making decisions that will suddenly and abruptly cause even more personal havoc.

And when the threads are cut — the ones that connect them to the little bit of safety and reality they have now — will they continue to reach out, or will they fold inward? Will they get better? Will we, as a society, benefit from the state's decision?

Or have we, at last, discarded any notion that all members of our society, especially the mentally ill, deserve equal care and treatment?

TRIBUTE

SEKI BROUGHT INTEGRITY TO HIS JOB AND TO DOE

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Mel Seki. I landed my first teaching job upon returning to Hawai'i in 1979 at Moanalua Intermediate and was hired by Mr. Seki, who was then the principal.

He believed in me, and supported the band students.

That year, I took the band to Maui for performances and fun. Mr. Seki was at the airport shaking each student's hand as they boarded the plane.

I did not know at the time his passion for baseball, although he knew my passion for wrestling. All the teachers who worked under him and all the athletes that played for him truly understand the integrity Mel Seki brought to the Department of Education and to OIA baseball.

Thank you to Stacy Kaneshiro for the touching article in tribute to Mr. Seki.

FUEL

DON'T BLINK, PRICE OF GAS GOES UP SWIFTLY

The cost of a gallon of gas at my neighborhood gas station has been going up daily for a month now, increasing 32 cents this month alone. Now it's going up by the minute!

I went to get gas and groceries, deciding to get groceries first, then fill up with gas on the way home. I checked; gas was $4.29 a gallon at my neighborhood gas station upon entering the store.

Groceries in hand, I stopped for gas and proceeded to fill up my truck; noticing the price per gallon was now $4.35! Up 6 cents in 15 minutes!

QUEEN STREET

ROAD PAVING BRINGS ON SHOCK AND DISBELIEF

I'm in utter shock and disbelief. Queen Street (between Ward and Kamake'e) is being paved!

This stretch of asphalt has been one of the most pockmarked streets in Honolulu for years.

It's been ignored, passed by and shunned for decades, and now someone has taken action to pave it. Hallelujah! Now I know anything is possible.

Maybe the powers that be can finish the destruction and traffic snarl on Kapi'olani Boulevard sometime within the next eon. One can fantasize.