State DOT seems to have
lots of money to operate

Recently, here on Kauai, it has become obvious that the state Department of Transportation (DOT) is sitting on a huge amount of surplus cash in its Airport Revenue Fund or Capital Improvement Fund. Why the state is always crying broke when it is looking for places to waste these funds is beyond me.

A good example of the waste is the proposed state acquisition of the Princeville Airport, and improvements to it in the amount of $9-25 million, depending on if the DOT can convince the FAA to bend the safety design rules.

Interestingly enough, the state and Princeville Corp. have been claiming that the airport improvements are needed for safety, yet the very first thing they do is ask the FAA for deviations from the requirements they are claiming are necessary.

Even though there is no demand (Island Air discontinued flights to Princeville in January 1997) and the communities around the airport oppose the acquisition and expansion, the state barges forward with its master plan, noise compatibility program, a complete joke and waste of taxpayer money.

It is ludicrous during these times for the state DOT to be sitting on these secret stashes of funds while every other state agency is crying broke.

Dan Shook
Kalihiwai, Kauai

Bill would make it easier
to foreclose on mortgages

I would like to bring to your attention SB 1113, HD 1, regarding a revised method of mortgage foreclosure. The essence of this proposed bill is to make foreclosure easier and non-judicial. If such a bill becomes law, the people who are going to suffer the most are those who are on the low end of the economic pile.

When it comes to your home, we need to provide all the protection possible to avoid any loss until a neutral party like a judge has been involved. This bill eliminates any neutral body and simply makes it cheaper and easier to foreclose in less time.

Financial institutions traditionally have a buffer between them and disaster. Low-income homeowners are not so fortunate and, at times, need special assistance or consideration.

Ray Jeffs

Don't dare compare
Freemen to Hawaiians

Regarding your attempt to compare the activities of the Freemen with efforts of native Hawaiian sovereignty groups (March 29): Logically, in any struggle for the return of rights to indigenous peoples, there exists the necessity to question the authority of the colonizer and demand reparations for past wrongs.

Granted, both the Freemen and native Hawaiian activists charged that their rights have been violated by an oppressive government. But there the similarity ends.

Native Hawaiians have a justified claim under international law governing indigenous peoples' human rights. To equate a radical right-wing fringe group with any sovereignty organization is to insult native Hawaiians.

As a purveyor of truth, your newspaper should be giving residents of Hawaii like myself an unbiased education on Hawaiian history, so that we may better understand the "why" of sovereignty. How about a regular column along these lines, instead of injecting unnecessary fear into an intelligent arena of discourse?

Charles H. Meyer Jr.
(Via the Internet)

Feds are spouting off
over whale sanctuary

I am writing to challenge the need for a humpback whale sanctuary in Hawaii. The federal proposal is based on the false premise that the humpback whale is in decline.

By admission of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (page 40), "The stock has been increasing for the past 12 years." Yet with the use of federally funded lobbyists, the feds continue to push for another layer of government regulation over Hawaii waters while disregarding the needs of the disadvantaged.

The Chamber of Commerce and the local media, both print and electronic, while conducting a public hate campaign against the size of government, see no contradiction in advocating an expansive government effort in Hawaii state waters.

This federal intrusion in the form of a humpback whale sanctuary is unwarranted and unjustified.

William J. King
(Via the Internet)

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Same-sex archive

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