Ethnicity irrelevant to Harbin's tax lien

So Linda Lingle's appointed state representative, Beverly Harbin, says that as "a third-generation Portuguese person ... I don't sit down and take crap from anybody" ("Lingle appointee will not heed calls to step down," Star-Bulletin, Sept. 23).

Who cares if she's Portuguese? What does that have to do with anything in this issue? People have a big problem with her for several reasons, one of which she and her husband somehow didn't pay $125,000 in taxes. Isn't that called "tax evasion" and isn't that illegal? I am tired of people in public service and in positions of power who don't seem to think they have to obey the law like the rest of us. If I owed that kind of money in taxes, you can bet I'd lose everything I had and might even serve jail time.

This woman needs to clean her record before she ever serves in politics -- and a little humility might not hurt, either. Shame on Governor Lingle, too, for not doing her homework a bit more thoroughly.

Will tourists crowd out residents at shelters?

I've been organizing our home for any hurricane that might come our way. Part of that was to review the evacuation plan. I took a look at the locations and occupancies for all the Oahu shelters. On the Windward side, from Makapuu Lighthouse to Laie, there are shelters to accommodate 24,286 people. It's short more than 25,000 places for Windward residents to evacuate.

With all the 1,000-plus illegal vacation rentals on the Windward side and the thousands of tourists staying in them, do my children and grandchildren get denied shelter in place of visitors who should be at hotels that have accommodations for them? My blood pressure is rising! The city and state should be aware of this when considering putting more tourists in our residential communities. The City Council must vote NO to permitting more vacation rentals and B&Bs in our residential communities. We can't even protect all the local residents we have.

Someone is benefiting from this legislation

First there was the bottle bill and now the gas cap (range) law. And the winners are the gas producers, recycling companies and our very own government. What they get is a windfall of cash from the higher price of gas, savings from not paying out scrap value to consumers and increased tax revenue. And the losers are the people of Hawaii. We pay 6 cents per container and get 5 cents back and we don't get the scrap value the recycling companies used to pay out. In addition to this, we are paying big time at the pumps.

I don't know if you see anything wrong with this picture, but I do! What is needed is the voices of many, not just one. Call or write your local government official and be heard.

Who can survive madness of Waikiki?

On a recent visit to the concrete jungle of Waikiki, I have serious cause to wonder which department of authority never says "no" to anything, but "yes" to everything. Whether it's increased water demand, sewage, traffic, electricity, or gas and air circulation, the density is beyond comprehension now, let alone what is in the course of construction on Lewers Street and beyond.

Who is in charge? Who grants the permits? Who studies the effect? Who would want to live there? The mayor? Anyone on the City Council? Anyone on the Planning Commission? A developer? I don't think so. It's asphyxiating, overwhelming, a saturated mass of inconceivable lengths that defies common sense and logic, if not limits, again and again.

Major cities on this planet -- Paris, London, Rome, Buenos Aires, Manchester, Monaco -- are proportionately less dense, yet within a block or two there's a park to sit in, loaded with trees and benches. Waikiki, a supposed resort, is nothing more than a pile-driver heap of mismanagement at its worst. I was glad to get out.

If boys are failing, why focus on girls?

The article "Isle girls outpace boys in many school subjects" (Star-Bulletin, Sept. 19) truly reflects how well girls are doing and how boys need help. I've always thought that girls were smarter in school, and that's why they get all the scholarships to go to college. Girls were always the valedictorians, getting more encouragement, and better grades, when I was in school, while lots of guys dropped out.

What I don't understand is why when girls weren't doing so well, everyone came to help them, but now that boys are proved to be failing, being less involved in academic groups and dropping out of school in greater numbers, how come no one is helping them? That article was refreshing, but did more to encourage girls and paid no notice to how boys need encouragement.

City should follow its own advice on water

Rather than spending money on television and radio commercials telling the public not to waste water, the city should make better use of its limited resources by checking the automatic sprinkler systems watering the medians, embankments and parks.

One of the first commercials I remember tells the public to be aware of the time of day they decide to water their yards, but it is impossible to count the number of times I have driven by a park and seen the sprinklers going full strength at noon. Rather than being concerned with the paltry amount of water the average household uses to water their lawns, the city should follow its own advice. Maybe if it spent the money on an automatic sprinkler system instead of commercials aimed at the consumer, the city could help save water and, more important, money.

Although I am not a fan of the "improvements" the city has made on Kuhio Avenue, the Pali Highway and Lunalilo Home Road, I know that to keep it looking good water is needed, but I do not think the city needs to be telling the individual consumer how to conserve water when it is incapable of practicing what it preaches.

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