Make bus riders pay same fare

This is in response to the story, “;Bus fare rise voted down”; (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 2):

For Department of Education officials to even consider raising the bus fare, which I promise you they will some day, shows how inept they are. According to their own math, the 36,000 daily riders are only paying around 15 cents per ride if you average out the $2 million in revenue they collect. The same reason TheBus has horrific-sized subsidies as the school bus contracts do, is one simple reason: Not everyone pays.

I say stop the entitlements and make everyone pay. Making every ride cost 50 cents would generate an additional $4.3 million in revenue. It's amazing how easy it is to lower the cost by 50 percent yet increase the revenue threefold by making it fair.

Anonymous vote was cowardly, shameful

Since we voters pay the salary of our overpaid and underperforming lawmakers, we have a right to know how they vote. The cowardly and shameful action on the vote of House Bill 444 was an absolute disgrace.

The Aloha State of shame—a pathetic education system that has not given our students top priority, and a total disregard of civil rights. Should be an interesting election year.

Where are homeless supposed to move to?

The city is up to it again: wanting to push homeless folks from one place to the next. It offers little alternative, except overflowing shelters. It offers no sites to set up tent camps, with health and safety in mind, with proper restrooms, showers, trash pickup, security, social help, etc. Where are these poor folks suppose to live? Last I heard, we all need to sleep. Sleep is vital to our survival.

Principals in unions is not the problem

As a former public school principal, I strongly disagree with your editorial (”;Don't further centralize Hawaii schools,”; Star-Bulletin, Jan. 27) in which you state that the “;problem continues to be that the principals are members of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, protected from being held accountable.”;

This statement couldn't be further from the truth.

It's not surprising that people don't understand why principals need a union; after all, I'm sure many assume that a principal is the school's chief executive. However, if the state Department of Education were a company, principals would be considered as “;middle management.”;

A principal has a number of bosses—including immediate supervisors at the Department of Education district offices, the Board of Education, the school superintendent, as well as parents and the community.

During my years as a principal, I appreciated having the support of my union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association. Like other employees, principals need representation and workplace protections, and the union helps ensure that their rights are protected.

Moreover, the union is the only one that advocates for principals, represents their interests, and makes sure their voices are heard.

You suggest that a problem in the school system is lack of “;accountability”; for principals. However, in reality, principals cannot be held accountable unless they have the necessary and appropriate authority. Principals instead need to be empowered—a position that HGEA has strongly supported on their behalf.

Mayor Fasi did it his way, like it or not

The best thing that anyone in Hawaii can ever say about our late Mayor Frank Fasi is that he was one of a kind. Frank Fasi did it his way, like it or not. He will be remembered by the people for years to come. We will all miss him.