Condo leaseholders are local folks, too
Those seeking to pass Bill 53 (which would kill lease-to-fee condominium conversion) accuse leaseholders of trying to steal their lands. They also paint many of us as greedy outsiders who will make a fast buck once we convert. That's not an accurate picture.Many leaseholders wanting to buy their fee are local residents who fought hard more than a decade ago for the same rights single-family homeowners achieved in the 1960s through the Land Reform Act.
Others purchased leasehold after 1991 knowing that the city's conversion law made it possible for them to purchase a chunk of concrete under their apartments. They could then avoid lease rent hikes and the possibility of eviction during renegotiation.
My children are part-Hawaiian, we are from Waianae, and we own a one-bedroom leasehold condo at Kuilima West. We would like to one day purchase the land and will the entire property to my son. Now, thanks to Bill 53, we may not be able to achieve that dream.
While I have the utmost respect and aloha for the work of the alii trusts and other landowners trying to pass Bill 53, I need to point out that there many local residents, Hawaiians included, who will be negatively affected by this legislation.
The right of home ownership should extend to everyone. The City Council should come to its senses and kill Bill 53.
Waianae
Bush's 'joke' about judges wasn't funny
During the presidential debate last Friday, did anyone else catch President Bush say that he didn't want to offend potential U.S. Supreme Court judges because "(I) want them voting for me?" Either he thinks it is funny that he became president because of the Supreme Court, or he expects that this year's election will again be decided by the court.In Florida, there are already reports of more than 20,000 minorities being removed from the voter list. Here in Hawaii there are concerns about the electronic voting machines.
Don't let George Bush "steal" another election with help from the Supreme Court. Vote for the Kerry-Edwards ticket by absentee, early walk-in voting, or vote in person on Nov. 2 at the polls.
Hawaii Kai
Liberating Iraqi people was right decision
The Sept. 24 letter from Alethea Lai lists her "facts" incorrectly. I will list them properly as follows:1. The most corrupt and secretive president that America has endured was William J. Clinton.
2. Fox News gives you both sides of issues and lets you decide. ABC, CNN, CBS, etc., gives you their version of the issues, always slanted to the left.
3. Iraq is not a massive failure. The slanted media never report on the good things happening there, including how 50 million people enjoy the freedom they never had, how schools and hospitals have been built for the people.
4. If Iraq was not associated with terrorism, why was it paying families of suicide killers $25,000, and also harboring injured terrorists with good hospital care and living quarters?
5. I think the biggest threat to world security is the Europeans themselves. Why were Russia, Germany and France buying oil illegally from Saddam Hussein? Who needs friends like that?
6. My grandson is in Afghanistan and reports people there are happy.
7. My other grandson will be leaving for Iraq soon. Do you think I would vote for John Kerry, who would stop at nothing to cut help for our troops overseas? No thanks!
Kailua
Americans need to hear the truth about Iraq
President Bush must tell the American people the truth about Iraq. The increasing deaths and injuries demand explanations and concrete plans, not more "pie-in-the-sky" statements from President Bush and Vice President Cheney.The U.S. occupation of their homeland has deeply angered the Iraqis. Our forces are seen as the enemy, and they are being attacked as many as 90 times each day, which is twice as many times as a year ago. We have seen quadrupling of insurgent forces in the past year.
Now, as it turned out, almost all Bush and Cheney told us about going to war was not true. We have been lied into a massacre reminiscent of Little Big Horn. The undeniable benefit of capturing Saddam Hussein has come at an unacceptable cost. The untruths of Bush and Cheney thrust our troops into a horrible meat grinder. The Iraq war was a blunder of the first order, and it leaves us more vulnerable to attack and less secure from global terrorism. These failures belong solely to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, and they owe us a clear and truthful explanation.
Wailuku, Maui
Our trash comes from mainland; send it back
I disagree with your editorial (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 11) that Hawaii's garbage does not belong on the mainland.More than 90 percent of the goods consumed in Hawaii are imported from off-island. A large portion of this garbage comes from the mainland.
Frank Harris, the city's director of environmental services, stated it would be morally wrong to send Hawaii's garbage to some else's backyard. But is this true when the garbage came from that backyard in the first place?
Yes, it is true that government in Hawaii should change its mindset of burning and burying garbage. Yes, other means of disposal, such as waste-to-energy and composting, should be developed. And yes, the people need to change their habit of throwing everything, including recyclables, into one trash can.
But it is not also true that Hawaii's government should provide incentives to create self-sufficient diversified agriculture and manufacturing in order to reduce our dependency on imports and tourism? Would this not free us from the worry and consequences of economic shocks such as 9/11 and shipping strikes?
Meanwhile, if companies and states on the mainland want to take money for our garbage, then let them have it. Isn't it better to give than to receive?
Captain Cook, Hawaii
|
