Bishop Estate doesn’t deserve
leadership role

A.A. Smyser's Jan. 9 column, "Bishop trustees should be more active," hit some raw nerves among our 6,000 members. Smyser thinks that the trustees "just aren't making themselves available for community leadership in the way other big local entities have done."

We contend that the estate is at the very core of most of this state's problems, and has truly earned its reputation as the Charles Manson of the Hawaiian community.

By denying condominium and commercial lessees fair lease rents and lease-to-fee interest prices, and displaying a thoroughly unChristian "take it or leave it" attitude during negotiations in all types of ventures statewide, the Bishop Estate has forfeited any role it could have played in Hawaii's educational, financial or spiritual plans for the coming century.

We certainly have no need for additional community leadership from this corrupt foundation!

Bob Voege
President, Hale Coalition

Economy won’t improve
by protecting union jobs

Despite our state financial crisis, members of the House are placing priority on secondary issues such as same-sex marriage, auto-insurance reform and high three.

Ignorance? Nope. They're avoiding the crux of our problems - the excessive pro-labor measures that are worsening our fiscal and economic situation.

The irony of cradle-to-grave social policies is the fact that they eventually hurt the very constituents they intend to serve.

Private-sector unions already see how a shrinking economy is reducing their ranks. The iron laws of economics also will shrink public labor's ranks because of the lack of money.

Whereas, if this pro-labor bias were reversed, a robust economy would more than offset the short-term pain of state worker dislocation and loss of labor benefits.

Gene Dumaran

Murdock should help win raises
for state teachers

On Dec. 28, David Murdock came to Lanai and gave a generous $140,000 check to Lanai High School. He has kept his word to help Lanai students get a better education - only because he knows that this could be the one thing on which all the people of Lanai will not tolerate him going back on his promise.

But if Murdock really wants to help not only the students of Lanai but all the students of this state, then he needs to use his obvious close relationship with the governor to see that our public-school teachers get the raises they so desperately need and deserve.

How can we expect our teachers to teach if they are not paid enough to feel that they are wanted?

Ron McOmber
Lanai

Why are we honoring
Deviants of the Month?

As the mother of a 7-year-old boy, I am appalled by Governor Cayetano's proclamation that January is Michael Jackson Month. Since when is an alleged pedophile honored with his own month? While the King of Pop is a sensational musician and showman, that alone does not make him qualified to receive such an honor.

It is bad enough that child molesters and abusers do not receive adequate punishment. Does the state have to further insult children by publicly honoring an accused child molester?

If the state continues in this vein, who will we honor next? How about Jeffrey Dahmer in February, O.J. Simpson in March, the Menendez brothers in April, etc.

Hey, the state could even put out a pin-up calendar of social reprobates to try and raise money for all of the children whose needs the state has not met.

Pat Omura
Lahaina, Maui

Paranoia seems pervasive
over topic of gay marriage

Janice Judd's Jan. 10 letter may lead some to believe that homosexuality is not only the bedrock of all satanic forces, but must be blamed for everything from the hole in the ozone to the demise of the tilapia.

This level of fear is beyond the beyond. Although I would like to think that such letters are being submitted for our amusement, they apparently represent a significant, albeit tragic, percentage of the island population.

As we head into the new legislative session, may we as a society keep our childish obsessions above the waistline for a mere five minutes, and get on with business.

Jim Grise
Kailua

---

Same-sex archive