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Mansho shouldn't get preferred treatment

Since when does an elected official like Rene Mansho have the authority to try and even lease/rent an electric car at a below-market price ("Ethics panel puts skids on Mansho's electric car," Star-Bulletin, May 3)? All elected officials better be aware of the code of ethics in government and not misuse their positions of authority.

I thought we elected a Councilwoman. When did Mansho also become a city purchasing agent?

Dimetria Ventura
Wahiawa

East Oahu speed trap is obvious cash cow

The three-lane stretch of Kalanianaole Highway from the end of H-1 East to Koko Marina is a cash cow for government. The unreasonably slow 35 miles per hour speed limit is ridiculous and far too slow to be consistently maintained by the average driver.

I am absolutely convinced this is a deliberate ploy to issue summons for the purpose of raising income for the state, as evidenced by the myriads of police officers wielding radar guns around every bend and under every shade tree on that stretch of highway.

I demand the release of an accurate, verifiable accounting of the total amount of ticket fines brought in from the "Kalanianaole Cash Cow" for the past two months. Perhaps the surge in police presence has something to do with needed funding for the construction going on nearby.

Brian DeRiancho

Quotables "Tell my husband, Mike, I love him very much." Donna Kim Forsch Elk Grove, Calif., resident who was one of eight people killed a year ago in the rock slide at Sacred Falls State Park Her last words to a rescue worker during the Hawaii trip which was supposed to celebrate the couple's 10th wedding anniversary "The Board of Regents doesn't want me to leave. There was nothing forced about this, except me doing the John Wayne act." Kenneth Mortimer University of Hawaii president Announcing his planned resignation a year from now

Police must do more to solve car thefts

The Star-Bulletin's May 4 article, "Oahu auto thefts soar 37 percent in past 3 months," synchronizes with my own sad experience.

In fact, I'm surprised that half the cars on Oahu haven't been stolen.

In December, my vehicle was broken into and my checkbook stolen. The thieves forged and cashed two $500 checks, and altered a $100 check payable to me to $1,000 before submitting it under another person's name.

Since I filed a police report, I've received no news from the police despite learning that:

A security guard saw the suspects and noted a license number.
The security guard suspects an insider at the theft site.
One forged check has a clear fingerprint on it.
The altered check includes a traceable name and address on it.
The suspects were videotaped in two banks.

The crime has all the traits of professionals who do this routinely. I've called my HPD contact, a higher-up in the department, and have written a letter supplying the police with the security guard's name and number. Yet no one has contacted me, my bank or the security guard.

Howard C. Wiig

Public workers are demanding too much

As a resident of Hawaii for 28 years, I've primarily worked in the private sector. At no time did I ever receive benefits that came close to those demanded by the public worker unions.

My raises average just under 2 percent a year. There were no opportunities for any type of "friendly" arbitration.

From multiple conversations with friends and acquaintances (some union, some not), my benefits/raises are the norm in private industry, while those enjoyed by the public worker unions are the exception. I know many people like me are fed up with these inequities.

Until Hawaii becomes a total socialist state in which all citizens have the same benefits, the current situation is a breeding ground for disgruntlement between the haves and the have-nots.

Unless the labor unions accept some form of parity between the rank and file in all segments of the economy, we are setting ourselves up for huge problems in the future.

William M. Lane

How will estate reach more Hawaiian kids?

Calling it the biggest local story since Pearl Harbor, "60 Minutes" revealed to the country that the Bishop Estate has $10 billion in assets but only educates 6 percent of eligible children of Hawaiian ancestry.

We would all love to hear from Hamilton McCubbin, chief executive officer of Kamehameha Schools, on his plans to increase that 6 percent figure.

Henry Peters also said during the interview that the estate would have had better press if it had bought the Star-Bulletin when it was for sale in 1992, five years before the newspaper published the "Broken Trust" article. The interviewer Kroft asks, "That's the only thing you couldn't control?" Peters said, "Absolutely!"

This fact is the reason Hawaii residents worry about the pending Star-Bulletin shutdown. Liberty Newspapers is offering to sell the paper with insane terms that no buyer will ever agree to. The offer is comparable to selling a car without wheels or an engine. Without the joint operating agreement with Gannett (shared printing press, etc.), the paper is doomed. Liberty Newspapers can't wait to cash a $26 million check to end the agreement that was to run to 2013.

Joe Watanabe

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Bulletin closing archive

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High price of gas makes mainland look good

While mainland gas prices have fallen about 6 cents off their highs, the cost of gas in my neighborhood has stayed at its highest levels. Apparently, the price fixing continues in Hawaii.

This will be the last time I comment on the unlawful practice of gasoline price fixing, as I am moving to the mainland. This is a nice place, but the government and the big boys sleep in the same bed.

Luke Meyers

Ewa Beach

Judge should have decided Elian's fate

Many legal scholars insist that Attorney General Janet Reno's violent seizure of Elian Gonzalez was illegal and unconstitutional. There was a court injunction in place that was violated and the warrant was obtained obsequiously.

While most agree that a child belongs with a parent, this matter should have been decided by a family court. Only there could a judge determine the fitness of the father and an outcome in the best interest of the child.

Janice Pechauer

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