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Kauai mayor is effective tourism lobbyist

I read with great interest your June 27 article, "Mayors log 22 trips overseas."

It has been a privilege to work closely with Kauai Mayor Mary-anne Kusaka over the past two years. As I have never traveled with her, I cannot say exactly what she does during her trips.

However, I have rarely seen her take personal time for anything while on Kauai. I truly believe she works as hard, if not harder, while traveling to promote the island.

While your reporter painstakingly researched the numbers involved, he failed to delve into the results. For example:

When Mayor Kusaka took office in January 1995, Kauai's unemployment rate was 12.7 percent. This May, Kauai's unemployment rate registered at 6 percent.

Kauai's visitor industry is thriving. For the past 18 months, visitor arrivals have consistently shown significant monthly growth over the previous year. In May, the county led the state in occupancy with 79.4 percent overall. Many properties are expecting to be 98-99 percent full over the summer.

These results are the products of hard work and an integrated, strategic approach to sales and marketing. Mayor Kusaka has been an essential part of our effort. Aside from the beauty of Kauai, she is, perhaps, our greatest asset.

The sidebar article, "Tracking the elusive files," was humorous. Your writer's point in his main story appeared to be fiscal responsibility, but then he challenged the county for having charged him for services provided.

Isn't this what we want government to do -- recoup the time and services of public workers? I hope the county charged him enough.

Barry Hubbard
Kalaheo, Kauai

Don't compare British to Hawaiians

In his July 4 letter, Ralph Peck of Del Mar, Calif., asked, "Are British descendants now going to bring action to secede the original 13 colonies from the United States of America and demand reparations for the illegal occupation of British lands?" What a joke!

First, the British stole the land from the native Americans, so there were no "British lands," just British claims of ownership. Second, the 13 colonies went to war with the British and won. The Brits lost and the Yanks took over.

No war was ever declared in Hawaii. Its illegal occupation was by American citizens supported by U.S. troops and traitorous citizens of the Hawaiian kingdom. The actions initiated by those traitors and American citizens led to the illegal annexation of Hawaii by the American government.

In short, the American government stole the Kingdom of Hawaii. The descendants of those citizens loyal to the kingdom seek the return of the stolen nation.

Sharon Pomroy
Anahola, Kauai

Press secretary wrong about immersion veto

There were gross inaccuracies in Kathleen Racuya-Markrich's July 4 letter regarding the governor's veto of the Hawaiian immersion bill:

Although she is correct in acknowledging that Ikaika Anderson worked on the bill that I introduced, Ikaika is my son, not my daughter.

While she was correct in stating that there is already a law in place for an immersion program, it has never been a priority for the Board of Education and was basically placed on the back burner for years.

She was also correct in stating that there was no appropriation in the bill passed by the Legislature. However, there was an appropriation in the budget for the program. As drafted, it provided funding for the program, but the appropriation was removed and put into the budget during joint conference negotiations.

Most significantly, the governor signed the budget into law without line-item vetoing the appropriation. Specifically, the sums for fiscal year 2000-01 appropriated funding for the Hawaiian language immersion program to include $58,010 for one education specialist position, $94,209 for three resource teacher positions, and $83,572 for student transportation in the Hawaiian studies program.

Whitney T. Anderson
Senate Minority Leader

Quotables "I'm not saying it was false. I'm saying she (my wife) didn't have a partnership interest, but it was something pled as part of a strategy her attorney concocted." David L. Fong HAWAII DISTRICT JUDGE Trying to clarify some of his wife's business ties, which weren't included in his annual filing of financial statements "I cannot believe who would do such a thing. She drinks, she sleeps, she don't bother nobody." Ruth Milliora MAKAHA RESIDENT Lamenting the death of her neighbor, a 67-year-old woman who lived in a house on Makaha Valley Road. Police are investigating the incident as a homicide.

Why isn't prosecutor pursuing Curry killing?

Now that Damian Serrano has been sentenced in the Sequoyah Vargas murder case (Star-Bulletin, June 20), there are still many questions about the possible connection between the murder of Vargas and the murder of my son, Joshua Curry.

In the weeks prior to my son's murder, he became extremely distressed about Sequoyah's murder, which had happened a year before.

The last day I saw Josh, he said that he was going to be a witness at Sequoyah's trial, which he had been told was scheduled for November 1994. Josh was going to be a witness for the prosecution, because he had seen Sequoyah the night she was murdered.

In December 1994, Sequoyah's mother called our home and told me that she feared Josh had been murdered because he was going to be a witness at Sequoyah's trial.

What is the truth about the murder of my son? There is as much evidence available in Josh's case as was used to prosecute both the Sequoyah Vargas and Dana Ireland cases.

When is Prosecutor Jay Kimura going to present the evidence in my son's murder to an investigative grand jury? What is the reason for the delay: procrastination or denial?

Terri Scott
Hilo

Legislature is stalling over correcting error

Why are the House and Senate dragging their heels about calling a special session of the Legislature to correct the mistake in the Constitution? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that giving an incumbent a longer term of office than that of a winning challenger in the same district is outrageous.

We would be the laughingstock of the nation. No other jurisdiction gives an incumbent a longer term than a newcomer.

Granted, the mistake in the Constitution was not intended. But one starts to wonder at the reluctance of incumbents to correct it.

The answer is easy -- give both affected senators the same terms of office if they win. Let's get on with it! The correction must be on the ballot for the 2000 elections.

Grace Furukawa

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