Harris should resign now as mayor

Jeremy Harris has been a fine mayor and may make a good governor. However, his announcement to run for governor four months into a four-year term as mayor shortchanges Honolulu and burdens the community with the cost of electing a new mayor. Harris has no value to city business while running a campaign for governor. Honolulu needs a real mayor now.

The election to replace Harris should not be delayed to late 2002 as proposed. It should be held immediately and all of the expenses related to such election should be paid for by Harris. He should also take himself off the county payroll as of Wednesday, the date of his announcement.

How he handles this matter, will set the stage for qualifying him to run for governor in the eyes of all voters.

John Michael White

Harris' announcement was no surprise

It was hardly news that Jeremy Harris announced that he was going to quit his job in mid-term to run for governor. Everyone knew that, even though he would not admit it when he was running for the four-year term as mayor.

His lack of candor when asked about his plans to serve a four-year term was only exceeded by his lack of honesty.

Perhaps he should be asked to pay for the special election to choose his successor? Or maybe the cost of that election could be divided up among those who voted for him?

I suppose we can all hope that the GOP voters will join the Hirono Democrats and oust him in the open primary.

Keith Haugen

[Quotables] "Your assessment is correct." Sen. Daniel Inouye, After meeting with Gov. Ben Cayetano, telling a reporter that reaching a settlement in the public school teachers' strike will be more difficult than he previously thought. "I hope I give birth before my insurance runs out." Renee Wesly, A Maunawili Elementary School teacher who is due to give birth in two weeks. Health fund benefits for the striking public school teachers run out on April 19.

[ TEACHER STRIKE ]

Effects of strike ripple through economy

No action is without a reaction. I wonder if Governor Cayetano has considered all the waves and ripples resulting from the big rock he has dropped in our little pond.

It isn't just the teachers and the professors who can't pay their bills and decide not to make the purchases that churn our local economy. It is the family where one of the wage earners has to stay home to take care of school-age children that may mean the rent or the mortgage doesn't get paid. This ripples to the banking industry, which recently has had a lower number of walkaways from mortgage payments, and will now see the number go back up again. The travel company won't get the commission for the summer trip. Liberty House won't sell jeans and running shoes. The computer store won't sell the computer the family was saving for. The new weed wacker has to wait. Nothing goes into savings.

The state saves lots of money every day it doesn't pay the teachers. But if teachers' money isn't circulating in the community, the state will collect a lot less tax money.

World-wide perception will grow that we are a shaky place to visit or do business.

The six years the governor has worked to improve our economy may result in zero because of the damage of a strike in our education business. What an old-fashioned, win-lose way to handle public services.

Marilyn Bornhorst

Teachers may lose public support

Teachers' union beware. There is a large silent majority out here that does not support your position of across-the-board pay raises. Consider:

>> Nearly all professions in Hawaii are paid less than mainland counterparts, which is the price you pay for not having to live in Rockford, Ill.

>> Teacher's compensation when measured against number of days worked and benefits like accumulated sick days and life-time health insurance is not that bad.

>> Not all teachers deserve a raise. Why won't the union push for merit pay and accountability? If they're doing such a good job, what are they scared of?

>> Not all teachers are in shortage. Give the pay increase to math, science and special education teachers.

It may not be politically correct to say it (yet), but we are all thinking it. And we don't like being held hostage. Better make some concessions along these lines or the public will turn on you.

Cy Watase

>> HSTA Web site
>> UHPA Web site
>> State Web site
>> Governor's strike Web site
>> DOE Web site

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Budget info ought to be available online

I agree with Wednesday's Star-Bulletin editorial on legislative budget worksheets, and wanted to confirm your statement about how simple it is to put the worksheets on the Internet. In fact, the "CD1," or conference draft worksheets for budget bills in 1999 and 2000 were placed on the Internet by the Ways and Means Committee (and I assume they will be done again this year). They can be found in the archives at the Legislature's Web site.

While the Legislature is exempted from the open meetings law (Sunshine Law), it is required to comply with the open records law, which does exempt inchoate budget worksheets (worksheets still in development, prior to adoption). This year's budget bill is HB 200, and it now has three versions: the original submitted by the governor, HD1 (House draft 1) adopted by the House, and SD1 (Senate draft 1) adopted by the Senate.

The budget worksheets at issue are those that provide the underlying budget data for the HD1 and SD1 versions of the budget, which already have been adopted in final form by the respective chambers.

Sen. Les Ihara Jr.

Energy bills blocked by one senator

Global warming is real. When we continue to turn to fossil fuel for our power, and ignore alternatives, we are contributing to this worldwide problem.

Some important bills on alternative energy are languishing in committee in the Legislature.

These bills concern net metering (allowing solar and other producers to sell back the power they create to the general pool of energy) and the renewable portfolio that would force utilities to begin utilizing these sources which we have in abundance.

Decision-making on the bills has been deferred indefinitely by the chairman, Sen. Ron Menor, D-18th District (Mililani-Waipio Gentry). It is obscene that one man has the power to hold back progress on the energy issue for an entire state!

If you care about freeing Hawaii economically from the pollution and wasteful expense of foreign oil, please call Senator Menor or e-mail him at senmenor@capitol.hawaii.gov and urge him to stop bottling up this bill in committee.

Liz Randol
Kilauea, Kauai

Liberals must accept that Bush won

Regarding Nancy Bey Little's April 5 letter ("Bush suffers from insufferability, too").

Please dry those liberal Democrat tears. It's time for Bey to move on. So, here's some advice: Get over it already! Your guy lost the election. Yes, George W. Bush won it fair and square.

I know it's hard to swallow, but guess what? That means America didn't want Al Gore, his liberal policies and his inability to tell the truth.

C. T. Marshall

Kailua

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