Hawaiians should choose Bishop Estate trustees
I am so happy to hear that the Supreme Court will not be appointing the Bishop Estate trustees anymore.The Kamehameha Schools alumnae and the Hawaiian community are the rightful beneficiaries. They should select the trustees.
As an alumnus of Kamehameha and a kanaka maoli (indigenous Hawaiian) my selection for trustees would be: Rubellite Kawena Johnson, Kekuni Blaisdell, John Lake, Don Lewis and Eric Po'ohina.
Eric Po'ohina
Kailua
(Via the Internet)
Justices must reverse decision to abandon trust
The Hawaiian community should be up in arms about the Hawaii Supreme Court justices' decision to stop choosing Bishop Estate trustees. By succumbing to public pressure, the justices are abandoning the privilege of honoring Princess Pauahi's final request.If they are concerned about promoting distrust and cynicism and underming public trust in the judiciary, what does their solution say to the public about them as individuals who make up the highest court and who must decide critical legal issues facing our community? If the pressure is too great, we will abandon our obligations and leave them to others to sort out?
The individuals who select Pauahi's trustees must have the courage to be independent, the courage to admit when they have erred, the courage to stand fast under public criticism and the courage to say we will not abandon the trust placed in us. They must say we will not be part of any attack on the will. Therefore, the justices, as individuals, must say, "We reverse our decision to end our involvement in the selection of Bishop Estate trustees and will challenge any attempts to destroy or erode the will by seeking a change in the selection process."
Dennis Fern
Trustees should have met with people in first place
Has it occurred to any of the Bishop Estate trustees that if they had agreed to meet with Hawaiian leaders when it was requested early on, they wouldn't have had to hang their laundry out in public?After all, they finally ended up meeting anyway. I hope some good will come out of it.
Lokelani Lindsey's "he said" and "he did" reminded me of a teen-ager rather than an adult in a position of authority and leadership.
The trustees need to remember that they are representatives of all Hawaiians, not just those attending Kamehameha Schools, and that what they do should be open to inspection.
I hope that the next time we read or hear about Bishop Estate, it will be in a positive manner.
Annette K. Mahikoa Spinaio
(Via the Internet)
Why are three trustees being picked on by press?
Wow! Your Dec. 13 headline read, in big bold letters, "Unfit to serve." All of a sudden, Gerard Jervis and Os wald Stender are the good guys. Why are both newspapers making the other three trustees the bad guys?The newspapers are having a field day with Lokelani Lindsey. The Star-Bulletin even had a cartoon on the front page.
Is it really about Lindsey or is it about Bishop Estate's land holdings? Does lease-to-fee sound familiar?
The Hawaiian community, especially that very vocal group Na Pua, had better wake up before all the land is lost to non-Hawaiian leaseholders.
To Lokelani Lindsey, Dickie Wong and Henry Peters: Hang in there!
Edwin Chang
(Via the Internet)
Bishop Estate Archive
Lower insurance rates at a very steep price
Claims made that car insurance rates are tumbling in Hawaii appear to be absolute shibai.A recent questionnaire mailed to me by my auto insurance company and discussions with agents for other insurers confirms that any consumer cost reductions will be due to reduced coverage now being offered by the insurers, or the requirement that any injuries due to auto accidents be treated by a "managed health-care" provider chosen by the insurance company.
The result: Any reductions in cost will reflect either less protection to the insured or an inability to receive medical care from physicians of one's choice because a "provider of choice" is limited to one or two "managed health-care" providers designated by the insurance company.
My chosen health-care provider of many years is Kaiser Permanente. But to avail myself of a reduced rate, I would not be able to use its doctors, staff and program that have served me well for many years.
The fact is that we will not see a reduction in rates. We will just pay less to get less.
George M. Hudes
Sexual minorities display is defaced by detractors
Currently there is a display at Hamilton Library on the UH-Manoa campus set up by the Queer Student Union with pictures and information about sexual minorities.On at least two separate occasions, apparent religious fundamentalists have defaced this display. These people seem to feel that seeing this information offends their sense of morality, yet all sense of propriety flies out the window when these people, so concerned about morality, turn around and deface private property because they don't like what they see.
It is perfectly fine if these anti-gay folks don't like us. We don't need their approval; neither do we need, or deserve, their discriminatory attitudes.
I, personally, don't like people who ascribe such hateful attitudes to a God that I know to be loving and caring. But you won't see me defacing their churches or leaving nasty messages in the hymnals.
America is a place that promises equality and the right to the pursuit of happiness for all of its citizens. It's too bad that a few feel, in the name of their religion, that their pursuit of happiness depends so much on the need to discriminate against others.
Ken Scott
(Via the Internet)
Please say it ain't so: Fasi's name on ballot!
Frank Fasi for governor -- again?!Some people never learn.
Carol Banks Weber
(Via the Internet)
Bishop Estate Archive
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