Justice maintains tradition of conflict of interest

Hawaii's Supreme Court Justice Robert Klein does not see a strong conflict of interest in helping a Campbell Estate heir and hearing the estate's appeals. It is reminiscent of Henry Peters seeing nothing wrong in presiding over the state Senate and being a Bishop Estate trustee.

Through the years, public leaders such as Milton Holt, Joe Souki, Terrance Tom, ad infinitum could not see that being in an elected position that enabled them to aid land monopolies and working for those same monopolies were not in the best interest of the people.

Even with the severing of the governor-Legislature-Supreme Court-Bishop Estate trustee symbiosis and the freeing effect of the lease-to-fee conversion, land ownership in Hawaii has remained in the hands of a few land monopolies for more than a century.

As long as our state executives, legislators and judges refuse to see any conflicts of interest, land monopolies will remain intact and control the price of land, weighing down Hawaii's economy and people with artificial, manufactured and inflated land costs.

Richard Y. Will

Best person will be appointed to posts

Of the many, many appointments made by the governor, state Republican Party Chairwoman Donna Alcantara points to just a couple of previous legislators and says it is "standard operating procedure" for Democrats to give appointments to friends and supporters.

Certainly, the experience of having served in an elected government office should not disqualify a person from making further contributions in the public sector. One case in point: when Republican Pat Saiki lost a bid for office and was appointed to head the Small Business Administration by Republican President George Bush. She did a commendable job.

Alcantara says that Democrats have been reluctant to appoint anyone from outside their circle. Yet, just recently, Governor Cayetano named Republican Maui Mayor Linda Lingle's planning director to head the Office of State Planning, because he was the best person for the job.

Jackie Kido
Director of Communications
Office of the Governor

Calls for impeachment are insulting to voters

Your call for President Clinton's resignation in recent editorials is ridiculous. Kenneth Starr and hypocritical Republican congressional leaders are the ones who should resign for being such pawns of the ill-named Christian Coalition, and so indifferent to the will of the people who pay their salaries.

We knew who Clinton was when we elected him and returned him to office, just as we knew about the adultery and other frailties of Thomas Jefferson, FDR, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, JFK and so many of our great presidents.

Clinton's "lack of credibility" pales beside that of the typically hawkish Clinton haters who'd even undermine his efforts against Saddam Hussein if it meant slowing their desperate impeachment drive.

Faye Kennedy

GOP fanaticism may endanger party's future

Some House Republicans who voted to impeach President Clinton are now urging Senate Republicans to choose censure over impeachment. The extremist Republican leadership had persuaded them not to "vote one's conscience."

The impeachment vote only by House Republicans will leave a lifetime stain on the president and a permanent blot on the Republican Party.

The fanatic partisanship of Republicans alienated the vast majority of the American people. Will moderate Republicans and independent voters vote Republican in the future?

Jerome G. Manis

Building forfeiture looks like way to nab property

It should be noted that, in the Chinatown forfeiture case involving Anchor Ltd., that there is no mention of such drug "stings" going on in the businesses located directly across the street.

I have been doing business in the area from two different locations on either side of Hotel Street for approximately five years. Drug trafficking goes on almost immediately across the street from the downtown Honolulu police substation. There are always more drug users/sellers on the mauka side of hotel. Anchor's buildings are on the makai side.

It would appear that the increased rate of drug busts in the area indicates two possibilities: Either the police were doing very little for three years, as statistics show that drug usage was HIGHER in those three years than now, or the city has found a new way to acquire property in a cheap manner.

Gene Lancette
(Via the Internet)

Raise tilapia for sale in state Capitol pools

I urge the immediate reintroduction of tilapia into the Hawaii Capitol pools as a means of creating positive cash flow for state government. The Legislature can become an aquacultural enterprise and sell the tilapia for food.

What was once considered a "trash fish" now holds a prominent position in the fish cases of many supermarkets, especially on the mainland. Think export! No more throwing money down the sewer!

J. Kimo Ahia
Walla Walla, Wash.
(Via the Internet)

UH basketball team has improved greatly

I was disappointed by your Dec. 30 story on the UH men's basketball game against UNC-Charlotte, "Same old story for Rainbows." Nothing could be further from the truth.

This was by far the Rainbows' best played game. It was a hopeful demonstration of what could be the beginning of good things to come. To compare a game in which UH shot 53 percent from the field, 77 percent from the free throw line and 61 percent from three-point land to its prior losses is unfair.

While it is true that UH blew a half-time lead, and had a difficult seven minutes in the second half, the players did not collapse as your article suggested. The Rainbows fought back in the late second half and were very close to a win against a very tough opponent. Coach Riley Wallace and his players deserve better treatment for their valiant efforts.

Brian Kearns
(Via the Internet)

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