COMMENT DID NOT REFLECT TRUE PERSON

I was saddened to learn of the comments issued by coach Greg McMackin at the WAC media day; not only for the content, but also because I know and believe that these comments are not reflective of the man, his person and what he has strived to stand for in this life.

I have known the coach since he first came to Hawai'i and really got to know him when he was asked to become the UH head football coach. During that time my son Chris and I served as his attorneys and counselors, worked with him and got to meet his wife, daughter and her children.

We have become family friends, and the more I spent time with him, the more I was impressed for his concern for his team, the players, the community and the people of Hawai'i.

I have never known him to issue any word or statement that reflected any prejudices for any group in the community, and, if anything, he was one to reach out and to help.

His comments, while clearly wrong, did not reflect the true nature of the man. Everyone makes mistakes and I would hope that he is forgiven for his.

Bert T. Kobayashi Jr. | Honolulu

CONSEQUENCE WON'T MATCH MISCONDUCT

Coach McMackin isn't sorry he insulted gay men by the use of his odious pejorative. He's sorry he got caught using it. That's obvious from the fact that he scrambled to have the news media cover it up, and only after his plea was refused did he rush into a panicked "apology."

If McMackin had used the "N" word instead of the "F" word, he'd be history by now. But because it is considered acceptable to vilify and persecute gay people with no substantive consequence in our society, and especially in the sports world, the usual "punishment" for homophobia is a wink and a slap on the wrist.

Paul C. Weidig | Kane'ohe

PUBLIC PARKS

HAWAI'I COULD LEARN FROM NEW YORK CITY

I recently returned from a family vacation to New York City, where we enjoyed a clean Central Park. As tourists, we felt safe and comfortable letting our 3 1/2-year-old play in the public playground and enjoyed the scenic beauty of the park.

The first week back in Honolulu, what we saw was a rather unkempt Thomas Square with homeless people camped here and there. It was no better in Ala Moana Park.

With a tourist economy, can we really afford to have vagrants take over our parks? If New Yorkers are able to rid their parks and bus stops of vagrants, why can't we?

Let's find the will to make Honolulu a first-class city again. Maybe our mayor would benefit from talking to New York Mayor Bloomberg.

JESSICA PEREZ-MESA | Kane'ohe

CAMPING PERMITS

HOMELESS HOGGING KAIAKA BEACH PARK

Trying to get a camping permit for Kaiaka Bay Beach Park in Hale'iwa is almost impossible. There are only seven permits for this park and even if you get to the satellite city hall by 5:30 a.m. there are homeless sleeping in the area who will insist they were there first (even though they are not in line) They are there every Friday!

Camping permits are free for city parks. Why? The city should charge a fee. These fees will help maintain the parks.

Charging a fee could also discourage the homeless from "camping" in these parks week after week.

Kaiaka Park is full of homeless who park their illegal vehicles overnight. Some of these vehicles have expired registration, expired safety checks, and a few don't even run (having been towed into the park).

The homeless enjoy their time in the park — water is free, there's a place to shower and there's always toilet paper.

The working, tax-paying public is paying for their comfort.The homeless make it difficult for the working public to take a few days off to go camping in a park that our taxes help to maintain. How unfair is that?

Marsha Nugal | Wahiawa

SEN. GABBARD

GILL, DEMOCRATS SHOWING NAIVETE

I'm totally blown away by the naivete of Tony Gill and the other O'ahu Democrats. Anyone who knows anything about the political process realizes that lawmakers always try to lobby their colleagues to vote a certain way on the issues.

What does Tony think, that they vote aye or nay on the bills and don't give a hoot how anybody else is going to vote? The fact is that it's a legislator's responsibility to work hard to get good legislation passed and to do the same to keep bad legislation from going forward.

This is what we elected them to do. You can't expect Sen. Mike Gabbard to support House Bill 444 when he and everybody else in the state knows that the public is against it.

KEVIN SIMMS | Kapolei

HAWAII FILM OFFICE

LEADERS BLIND TO YEARS OF WORK, VALUE

It's disturbing to hear our governor wants to basically shut down our state film office by laying off our film commissioner and her staff.

Outstanding numbers generated as well as a positive relationship between our state and the film industry abroad means nothing to her.

What Gov. Lingle forgot was the dark period in the film industry years ago and what it took to repair it. As for promoting our visitor industry, look what "Hawaii Five-O" and "Magnum, P.I." did. All we need is another winner like those and visitors will have that image in their heads again.

It takes a special person with a solid team to do what Donne Dawson has over the years. I'm sorry our leadership can't see that. This is a classic example of trying to cut the hand off to save a finger.

DAVID KOMINE | Kane'ohe