Chicago officer’s beating
qualifies as a hate crime

The beating of Officer Boreczky is simply one more in a long list of hate crimes against Caucasians that have been going on for all of the 35 years I have been in Hawaii. This crime should have been prosecuted under the hate crime provisions.

I regret this tragedy that happened to Officer Boreczky. The responsible people of Hawaii must start warning our visitors of the dangers in Hawaii. No amount of tourism money can justify a loss of ethics and morals.

Stephen Foster Williams
Waimanalo

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Graulty, Pepper deserved to be
cast out by voters

A.A. Smyser really missed it with his column on multiple-member election districts, Nov. 19. Both Rey Graulty and Len Pepper did silly things in the Legislature and later ran totally ineffective political campaigns.

Was Smyser aware of Pepper's remarks on the House floor during a debate on same-sex marriage? He said he didn't care about polls showing nearly 75 percent of Hawaii's citizens were opposed to same-sex marriage; he would lead his constituents to his point of view. I remember listening in disbelief and thinking Mr. Pepper was in for a very interesting meeting with the voters in November.

I wouldn't classify such comments as thoughtful. He was elected to represent the views of his district, not the other way around. He learned a lesson the hard way.

Regarding Graulty, the election clearly showed a politician cannot take positions in the legislative session and then run a campaign based on blue smoke. Newspapers are supposed to help inform the electorate on key legislative issues; one could argue the Star-Bulletin did an excellent job.

In addition, Graulty sent out a few silly mailings to his constituents, hardly the actions of a thoughtful campaigner. The bullet casings fiasco was one of the dumbest political moves in recent campaign history.

I understand Mr. Smyser's position on multiple-member districts, I just disagree with his choice of politically inept examples and hope he does a better background check in the future. Politics is about accountability, and certain politicians were held to account on Election Day.

That's democracy.

George Shea

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Defeated incumbents
served community well

While Rey Graulty and Len Pepper were defeated in their re-election bids, it cannot be attributed to their failure to "stay in touch with the grass-roots feelings," as was stated in Janice Pechauer's Dec. 2 letter.

As former neighborhood board members, both Rey and Len are keenly aware of "grass-roots feelings" and neighborhood concerns.

They regularly attended board meetings to brief us on legislative matters. They listened to community concerns and obtained funding for capital improvement projects, such as the Salt Lake Boulevard widening and the Puuloa Road widening.

Rey Graulty and Len Pepper served our community well. They will be missed.

Grant Tanimoto
Chairman
Neighborhood Board No. 18

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Ikeda campaign spending
raises obvious question

In your Dec. 6 issue, a small article appeared listing local candidates' expenses from the recent election. Defeated Sen. Donna Ikeda raised $300,000 against the winner, Sam Slom, who raised $55,905 but only spent $29,404.

A crucial question needs to be addressed by an investigation. Where did Ikeda get this kind of money? Since her constituents overwhelmingly voted her out, she obviously didn't get it from them.

If she got it from people in the insurance industry, why did they give it to her? One might speculate that it was payback for killing meaningful no-fault automobile insurance reform.

One wonders if the state elections commission will be asking the same question.

Garry Smith
Ewa Beach