Cleaning beach access might ease tension
In reference to the letter by Meredith Moncata (
"Locked gates don't belong in Kailua," Star-Bulletin, Sept. 14), may I suggest that perhaps she and other neighbors might consider solving their problem by cleaning up the nearby public access to Kailua Beach. It may just be that the residents on L'Orange Place have said, "We aren't going to take it anymore," and sought a desperate measure to restore their safety and privacy because their street has become a thoroughfare for the multitudes from the illegal vacations rentals in the area.
No matter what they say, these businesses in our residential neighborhoods are against the law. And so is trespassing over someone else's property.
Susan Cummings
Kailua
Drug education works; will BOE's new policy?
Your editorial (Sept. 14) rightly warns that tactics under consideration by the Board of Education to detect the presence of drugs on school campuses would cost students their expectation of privacy; "a cost that the board should avoid except under the most dire of circumstances."
We agree, however, what is lost in this discussion of legality and liability is whether what is under consideration is good public policy.
Legality should simply be the baseline of anything under consideration. Proposals should be evaluated on whether their implementation will achieve the stated goals; their economic and social costs; and whether they serve the best interests of the students, the school staff, the parents and the community. Or will they just be window dressing to demonstrate that the board is doing something to be tough on drugs?
We encourage the board to institute good public policy: drug education and prevention programs that have been evaluated and found effective.
Jeanne Y. Ohta
Executive Director
Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii
Rail transit system is best for Honolulu
As an interested mainlander, occasional visitor and frequent reader of the Star-Bulletin, I have noticed the vocal opposition to the rail transit system being proposed for your city.
Honolulu is perfectly laid out for a rail trunk system fed by bus-fed branches, and objections to such a system do not hold water. At minimum it will provide an alternative to driving for many people, and prevent the complete choking of your streets as population grows.
Rail transit is a mature technology and a wide variety of reliable and energy-efficient equipment is available "off the shelf." It is highly acceptable to riders, even those who will not ride buses. Initial cost per mile might be higher than a bus system, but this will be offset by lower maintenance costs of rolling stock, which has a much longer life than buses.
Rail will make your city a more livable place and more attractive to tourists like me. It is a real alternative, and a real solution, while busways are not.
Donald Rhoads
Bloomington, Ind.
Senators did well getting transit funds
Mahalo to Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka for securing funding for Oahu's mass transit system. It's nice to see our government leaders work together to help the people.
I know that there are those who are worried about the cost of a mass transit system, but we'd be fools to walk way from such generous amounts of federal funding -- $20 million is an awfully good down payment on something that will make life better for all of us.
John Nakagawa
Honolulu
Will masses be aboard mass transit system?
I am not for nor against the proposed fixed light rail system that will connect Leeward Oahu to Honolulu. I would just like to describe a situation I observed.
While waiting at the Kalihi Transit Bus Depot on a weekday at 7 a.m., I watched the buildup of cars flowing on the H-1 eastbound. As the vehicles crawled past me, several city express buses were also among the crowd. As I focused closer on the buses, I noticed that no one was standing up. In fact, most of the passing buses had vacant seats. Now imagine if we had this rail system in place with vacant seats. Would the flow of traffic improve?
Michael Nomura
Kailua