Where's procurement czar
now that we need one?

So what's the story with the "procurement czar" authorized by the Legislature a few years ago? Seems we have as many or more procurement problems in the state government as ever before.

Looks like taxpayers only got the privilege of paying one more political camp-follower's salary. I'm just thrilled! How 'bout you?

Stuart Sumner
Waipahu
(Via the Internet)

Tourists feel ripped off
by captains who keep fish

My husband and I came to Oahu on a week's vacation in March, and wanted to go deep sea fishing. We found an ad, went down to see the boat, and paid our money for the next day (not cheap; over $100 per person). Four other men also signed on. In the ad it said, "Catch marlin, tuna," etc.

Well, we caught tuna -- big, nice ones. But the captain wouldn't let us have our own fish.

First, he said, "You can't eat the tuna, the meat is red." Then he said, "You all agreed to give it me," which was a lie. When we pushed him, he said, "The captains all keep the tuna to sell because what you people pay is just not enough."

I was shocked. I can't believe this goes on and no one cares. Captains should inform people what fish they can keep and what the captains keep. They should not advertise "catch marlin, tuna" unless you can keep them.

I hope you will have someone look into this poor practice. I know sashimi is red tuna and goes for $14 and more per pound. Please help the tourists.

Marion Westrum
Weldon Spring, Mo.

GTE HawTel is 'busy'
trying to pass the buck

Both Governor Cayetano and the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism see a bright future for Hawaii as a computer and cyberspace center for the Pacific Rim countries. Lots of jobs, boost to the economy, etc.

That can't happen currently without the cooperation of GTE Hawaiian Tel, and it is neatly passing the buck.

Snail mail (Postal Service) is fast becoming anachronistic for those of us with customers all over the world. I need to respond to our membership and potential members quickly. Commercial businesses downtown and all over Oahu need to answer customers ASAP or lose them, and lose income.

So what happened in March and early April? "All circuits busy" for hours on end. GTE tried to pass the buck of blame to our Internet providers. Not so, and we know it.

Looks like Hawaii's economic future as a communications center is being held prisoner by a public utility that is supposed to be responsible for protecting the public's interest. It's hard to convince the world that Hawaii is on line for the 21st century when the phone company that controls our modem access is still conducting its internal operations at a snail's pace.

Maybe we need a private phone utility to come in here and create some healthy competition.

Marjorie J. Scott
Hawaii Steel Guitar Association

Stop building prisons;
focus on more 'healing'

In a recent View Point column, Judge Marie Milks expressed confidence that Hawaii was well on its way to restructuring its priorities for criminal justice, and that many new programs measured positive results by how much an offender did to restore the victim instead of how much punishment he or she received.

Accordingly, victim and offender worked out a plan where the offender was held directly accountable to the victim. The offender atoned for the harm caused, took responsibility and made restitution.

This humane and rational approach to criminal justice is, however, an exception to the rule in Hawaii. It is in contrast to general current practices and recent legislative proposals by a coalition of law-enforcement officials.

These proposals would result in longer sentences and more severe punishment in order to qualify for federal dollars to build new prison space. The trend is toward more punishment. Little attention is on addressing the causes of these troubles.

I agree with Judge Milks that fundamental change must be made to the way our society thinks about criminal justice. Perhaps a good first step would be an equal focus on healing. In fact, healing, instead of federal dollars to build more prisons, should be the other half of the equation.

Euel-Ray Kaleihau Kamauu

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Same-sex archive

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