City has obligation to pay for
officer’s private counsel

Your Oct. 23 article, "Council committee OKs paying officer's legal fees," totally missed the point. Council members would have preferred to deny Officer Modesto Ramos' request for a private attorney. However, our attorneys advised us that we had no discretion to do so. Your article made it appear that we believe Ramos is entitled to his choice of attorney when the exact opposite is true.

The decision whether to provide HPD personnel with private attorneys is made by the Honolulu Police Commission. Theoretically, this takes the politics out of such decisions.

Council members are required to abide by the decision of the commission and, in this case, it approved the expenditure of public funds for the purpose of defending Ramos.

Jon Yoshimura
Councilman
Honolulu City & County

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Police chief should quit since
crime has run amok

It is time for a new Honolulu chief of police. Under Michael Nakamura, crime has grown out of control.

Frank Fasi is right: We need a metro squad to show street gangs that the police control the streets of Honolulu.

We need a police force that can keep the parks open at night so that citizens can stroll safely on the water's edge and enjoy the romantic moonlight.

We need a police force that will aggressively take back the streets and clear them of racers. My wife and I were endangered twice by these racers on the freeway - once in broad daylight and the other at 8:30 p.m.

The police must treat these racers as if their cars were assault weapons. If, for any reason, there were to be an accident at high speed involving several cars, the carnage will be horrible.

These racers must have their cars confiscated and destroyed like guns are. The dealers who sell them these cars and who modify them for street racing must be held accountable, just as gun dealers are.

Vernon Okamura

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Leave ambergris on beach so
it can return to the sea

I read Susan Scott's Oct. 14 Ocean Watch column on ambergris with great interest. It was quite timely since the season premiere of "Nature" was about the sperm whale the night before.

While the article is most informative about a little known subject, the public must be reminded that the sperm whale is protected under federal law, namely the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It is the same law that protects the humpback whale, the Hawaiian nene goose, the Hawaiian monk seal and sea turtles.

Under this act, all parts and products of the sperm whale are protected and cannot be "collected" from the beach, except under specific circumstances with a permit (i.e. scientific research). This includes items such as ambergris.

Therefore, if you do find ambergris on the beach, leave it alone. Admire it for what it is - a product of nature best left to find its way back into the "circle of life."

Scot Yamashita
Assistant Special Agent in Charge
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

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Public will benefit most from
world-class aquarium

This is to correct misconceptions created by an Oct. 4 letter by John Weil, who wrote that the Bishop Estate owns "a big chunk of the Kakaako waterfront." He questioned whether there is "something fishy going on" in the state's interest to develop a world-class aquarium facility in Kaakako. He is misinformed on both counts.

The state owns and controls approximately 200 acres of land in Kakaako's waterfront or makai area. The Bishop Estate owns 11.8 acres on four blocks of land fronting Ala Moana Boulevard.

Governor Cayetano has an ambitious vision of using the valuable and strategically located makai area lands to create a world-class center of activities. As part of this vision, the state is considering the development of a world-class aquarium facility which would incorporate and expand upon the Waikiki Aquarium.

The foundation for this vision has already been laid. The Kakaako Waterfront and Kewalo Basin parks in the makai area provide 35 acres of recreation space. The Children's Discovery Center is under construction adjacent to the Kakaako Waterfront Park, and the state has set aside land next to the center for development of a children's theater and dramatic arts complex.

Collectively, these facilities will provide tremendous benefits to all the people of Hawaii. Given the state's ownership of most of the land in Kakaako, the majority of benefits will accrue to the public, not any particular private landowner.

Jan S. Yokota
Interim Executive Director
Hawaii Community
Development Authority

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Quality of UH is slipping while
caliber of HPU soars

Enrollment at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has dropped like a rock this year.

According to a retired businessman who has been volunteering his time and talents at the UH, many professors there have actually admitted to him that they have no interest in students, individually or collectively. Instead, they are focused on getting their own professional writings published in national/international journals. That's what they think will get them more pay and prestige, not nurturing excellence in students or graduates.

On the other hand, Hawaii Pacific University, a private enterprise headquartered in downtown Honolulu, has grown from about 1,000 students in 1975 to its present 8,000-plus student body. The tuition is higher than at the UH. Yet, HPU experienced almost 7 percent growth in enrollment this year.

The HPU's excellent athletic program is economically self-sustaining. The UH program is awash in red ink and finger-pointing.

What on earth is going on? Why such major discrepancies? And, the most telling question of all, why aren't the local newspapers looking into this?

I believe it's because these newspapers are so intertwined in the corrupt Hawaii political structure, that they cannot ask the key questions and publish answers without stomping on their own toes.

Richard O. Rowland

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BOE, DOE can’t approve
pay raise for teachers

Regarding the Oct. 17 letter from Kula School teachers asking for a pay raise: Thus far, I have received a school petition and about a dozen calls and letters asking for support of the Hawaii State Teachers Association raise. Hopefully, this relatively low number means the majority of citizens are aware that the authority to negotiate dollars lies with the Governor. People should call him or his chief of staff, Charles Toguchi, who is heading negotiations.

Neither the board nor the Department of Education has the fiscal authority to approve any such raise. That may not be what folks like to hear, but it is the way state government works.

For the record, the BOE supports the teacher pay raise and has passed a resolution to that effect. Most members have also stated publicly that teachers are underpaid.

While I have always made myself available for interaction with schools, I have never been asked to speak with Kula School faculty members. I also find their statement about "the lack of support from the BOE" to be arrogant and insulting, especially given the number of volunteer hours that we log in support of Hawaii's schools.

Kelly King
Maui District
Board of Education