Letters
to the Editor

Write a Letter to the Editor

Saturday, September 11, 1999

Keep boaters out of Kuhio Beach area

I was surfing recently at Canoes in Waikiki. It was crowded, as usual, but there were plenty of waves for all.

As I marvelled at the beautiful sunset, a turtle surfaced near my board, looked around then swam away. A young girl caught a nice wave and was yelling happily.

Just as I thought how great it was to out there, a huge boat filled with tourists came crashing over the waves. Swimmers scrambled to get out of the way as the people running this "motorized sailboat" yelled, "Move!"

This is like driving a car through a playground filled with families and young children.

If people want to ride a boat, go to the harbor. They are risking our safety, as well as the turtles and fragile reef below.

Ken Ashburn

Appointees punishing flea market operator

It's not surprising that the Aloha Stadium Authority has voted to deny Ed Medeiros a two-year extension of his Aloha Flea Market contract with the state.

At the authority's Thursday meeting, vendors spoke on behalf of Medeiros and the economic sense it made to keep the current contract, which represents employment of over 900 small businesses at the flea market.

No one spoke against Medeiros. But, as expected, the authority members -- all appointed by Governor Cayetano -- voted unanimously not to extend his contract after Sept. 30. This was all done to retaliate against Medeiros for supporting Linda Lingle for governor.

The attorney general, another Cayetano appointee, has ruled that all of this is perfectly legal, but he avoids the question of whether it is ethical.

Another blow to freedom of speech has been made.

Tish Acido-Mercado
Ewa Beach

Parking tickets added to the frustration

I am a life-long resident of Hawaii who now lives on Maui. I support the University of Hawaii football team.

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to get tickets for the USC game. I bought an interisland ticket to Oahu, rented a car and secured a hotel for Saturday night. I left for the game two and a half hours before kickoff -- and ended up in unbelievable gridlock.

After finding it impossible to get into the Aloha Stadium parking lot, I came upon a small triangle-shaped property with about 30-40 cars parked on it, some having tailgate parties.

So I left my car there and walked two blocks to the stadium to become part of the festivities. I felt good knowing the whole event was good for our economy.

After the game, I walked back to my car to find a $35 parking ticket on my windshield.

Mayor Harris, it's not the $35. It's the idea that your police officers went out to write citations to everybody under these particular circumstances.

I will send the mayor his $35. He knows what he can do with it.

Tom Hundhammer
Makawao, Maui

Flea market delayed opening of lot

If the governor truly supports University of Hawaii football, he should remedy the parking/gridlock problems that occur whenever there is a big game.

Aloha Stadium has room for 50,000 people, but its parking lot is completely filled whenever the crowd exceeds 30,000, often resulting in chaotic traffic delays and gridlock.

Delaying the opening of the parking lot gates for Rainbow games because of the flea market compresses and compounds the congestion. Preference should NOT be given to the flea market, unless it is the engine that drives Hawaii's economy.

Richard Y. Will

Quotables "President Mortimer made a huge mistake. Now we're going to ask for his resignation." Mamo Kim PRESIDENT OF THE UH-MANOA GRADUATE STUDENTS ORGANIZATION After the University of Hawaii Board of Regents followed the recommendation of UH President Kenneth Mortimer and voted to fold the School of Public Health into the John A. Burns School of Medicine "If they clear the red tape, we don't have to break through the yellow tape." Robert Cole Graham RESIDENT OF CANOGA PARK, CALIF. Who defied a state ban on entering Sacred Falls Park because he wanted to "say goodbye" to his fiancee, Jennifer Johnson, who was killed in the Mother's Day rock slide

Trustees did not take 'reasonable' fees

Eric Poohina's Sept. 2 letter was wrong about how the former Bishop Estate trustees were compensated. According to its author, a statutory formula established a level of reasonable compensation based upon trustee performance.

But Hawaii's recently repealed statutory formula did not by its terms establish what was reasonable. It simply set a ceiling. No matter how high the ceiling, the trustees always had a fiduciary duty to take no more than a reasonable amount.

The statute did not define the term "profit." As a result, it was not clear in what circumstances net income as opposed to gross income was to be used, or to what extent capital losses should be offset against capital gains.

According to court-appointed accountants, the former trustees had losses in 1992 ($107 million), 1993 ($44 million), 1994 ($136 million), 1995 ($52 million) and 1996 ($55 million).

Even taking into account income from lease rents, leasehold conversion sales and Goldman Sachs, the overall return for 1994-96 was minus 1 percent.

Yet the trustees paid themselves an average of $900,000 per year during this period. This suggests that compensation was neither reasonable under the circumstances, nor based on performance.

Walter Heen,
Samuel P. King,
Gladys Brandt and
Randall Roth

Editor's note: The authors co-wrote "Broken Trust," an essay published in August 1997 that criticized Bishop Estate management and prompted the state investigation of the estate.

Bishop Estate Archive

State workers are generous in their giving

Kudos to state employees who continue to prove that compassion is alive and well in Hawaii. In April, they contributed more than 200,000 pounds of food and more than $70,000 to the 1999 Hawaii Food Drive, making them the biggest contributor to the annual Hawaii Food Drive.

Then last month, they donated the most combined school supplies and cash for the Ready To Learn drive for Hawaii's needy children -- 380 boxes of supplies and $13,896.98.

The outpouring of aloha from our state employees came as a surprise for many, given the gloomy fiscal state of government. In spite of prevailing negative stereotypes about state employees, they have shown a lot of heart.

Arnel Espiritu

Children deserve licensed counselors

I agree with letter writers that counselors in Hawaii should be licensed to help ensure their professional conduct and skills. There should be some regulation to help protect the safety of the consumer.

This is very important, especially since more and more children are receiving some type of counseling service. As a parent, wouldn't you feel better knowing that the counselor helping your children is not going to harm them in any way?

Chris Catron
Children's Domestic Violence Counselor
Via the Internet

Legislature Directory
Hawaii Revised Statutes
Ka Leo O Hawaii

---

Write a
Letter to the Editor

Want to write a letter to the editor? Let all Star-Bulletin readers know what you think. Please keep your letter to about 200 words. You can send it by e-mail to letters@starbulletin.com or you can fill in the online form for a faster response. Or print it and mail it to: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or fax it to: 523-8509. Always be sure to include your daytime phone number.