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Brochure wasn't unfair to Hemmings

In response to Shirley Hasenyager's Sept. 21 letter to the editor, "Whitney Anderson is trying to fool voters," I strongly disagree with several of her points.

I dispute her allegation that I reached "a low in campaign literature." Simply writing facts cannot be considered a low. A better example of low is the so-called Republican leaders of the party who encouraged and endorsed another Republican candidate to move into the district in order to unseat the Republican incumbent.

Voters need to be educated on the legislative budgetary process in line with Fred Hemmings' 1990 voting record.

When Hemmings was a legislator, he voted 90 percent of the time with Democrats on separate bills which required legislative appropriations.

Hemmings voted in favor of these separate funding bills to appease his constituents and other interest groups. He then voted against the overall budget bill -- knowing that the bill would pass and he could later take credit for projects funded in the budget that helped his district -- as a political grandstanding maneuver.

One final point about the budget voted on by the Legislature. At the end of the legislative process, it is not "the governor's budget" that passes as asserted by Hasenyager. Rather, the governor's budget is a starting point for the Legislature.

The governor sends his proposed budget to the Legislature 30 days before the start of the legislative session. Using the governor's proposed budget as a base, senators and representatives work to craft a budget for the state that reflects the Legislature's principles and priorities and accommodates the needs of their constituents.

My mailer was neither intended to fool voters, nor to imply total voter ignorance. It was intended to be meaningful, educational and helpful to the constituents of Kailua and Waimanalo when they went to the voting booth. Obviously, it did not serve its purpose.

Whitney T. Anderson
State Senator
R-25th District (Kailua-Waimanalo)

Waikiki shooting couldn't be avoided

It is a tragedy when anyone dies from gunfire. But the Honolulu police officer involved in the Waikiki shooting possibly did the only thing he could do in that situation (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 3). This guy had 20 prior arrests!

Nevertheless, I am sure that there will be a vocal, albeit small, minority who will protest and claim police brutality. Baloney. We need are more officers like this one, someone who made a decision in a nanosecond. He possibly saved children's lives in the process.

What we don't need is to make officers so afraid of doing their jobs that they think about the legal ramifications before thinking about doing what is right.

Dean Kim

Everyone acted stupidly in Moanalua incident

I am embarrassed and saddened by the attitude and behavior displayed last week by some of the parents of the Moanalua junior varsity football team (Star-Bulletin, Sept. 29). In an attempt to help their children, these parents forgot and thus hurt other people's children and, in essence, damaged a program that was once good.

The program's main goal has always been to educate and mold disciplined, fine, young men. But school administrators, coaches, parents and the media all handled this situation badly.

What was a silly and bad idea suggested by the coach turned into a dumb idea by a few players. That got parents acting stupidly, administrators mishandling the entire situation and the media confused by it all.

I am proud of the players left on the varsity team, who have held their heads high and tried to salvage a season that began with so much promise. They continue to try and represent their school as best as they can with dignity and pride.

Lynette T. George Rudolfo

Gabbard's positions are misrepresented

In one sense, I agree with the Oct. 2 letter to the editor from Matt Mitchell. I believe our children should be taught the truth about homosexuality.

Unfortunately, what the homosexual activists want the schools to teach is not the truth, but their big lie: that homosexual orientation is the same as race or ethnicity and that it is "normal" and acceptable behavior.

Do these activists really want the truth? Evidently not, as every statement that Mitchell makes concerning Board of Education candidate Carol Gabbard's stance on the way homosexuals should be treated in our public schools is a total fabrication.

Jeff Goodman

BOE must act quickly to protect all students

Shame, shame and more shame on the Board of Education for its embarrassing inability and continuing lack of leadership skills to make a speedy, clear-cut decision to protect all kids, period, from harassment.

The BOE bends to mostly religious forces, to groups who seem yet unable to understand the full weight of civil and human rights as clearly pointed out in the civil rights laws and Bill of Rights.

They dally with those who still do not understand why our mostly Christian founding fathers made separation of church and state an essential part of our Constitution.

And sadly, they dally while thousands of Hawaii's kids go on being hurt, harassed and afraid to be themselves for fear of being hated, ostracized, misunderstood and brutalized by a hateful intolerance.

Vinnie Linares
Kula, Maui

Bonk's Web page shows why she is superior

While all three Big Island mayoral candidates have made new technology part of their platforms, Green Party candidate Keiko Bonk is the only one who truly practices what she talks about.

How can Democrat Dr. Fred Holschuh and Republican Harry Kim lead us into the 21st century and bring new industries to the county if they don't even know how to have a presence on the World Wide Web?

The three candidates' Web presence is an appropriate metaphor for their campaigns.

In searches, Kim turns up only as a celebrity, with not a bit of substance gracing any Web page. Meanwhile, Holschuh has a Web page with no depth; it is full of rhetoric and promises, but many links lead nowhere.

Bonk is the only candidate with a workable plan. If you want a quality life for yourself and your children, vote for the person who has tied herself steadfastly to both island culture and the future of economic prosperity. The Big Island's future lies with Keiko Bonk.

G.B. Hajim
Hakalau, Hawaii

Quotables "I haven't missed a single payment. Of course, it'd be better if I could wait until I make more money. (But) I don't complain when I write out that check." Heidie Abrazado 26-YEAR-OLD CHAMINADE GRADUATE, NEW TEACHER AT KAALA ELEMENTARY IN WAHIAWA AND MOM TO 8-YEAR-OLD ASHLEY OKINO Who faithfully repays $400 a month toward her $20,000 college student loan "If I had that kind of deal, I'd get a little upset myself." Governor Cayetano Who acknowledges the vocal protest by unhappy local golfers, but vows that their opposition won't change his plans to convert the popular city-run Ala Wai Golf Course into a city-defining urban park in Waikiki

Trask's protest sign shows she's losing it

For years, Haunani-Kay Trask has relied on outrageous behavior to get her way, and in the past it has worked like a charm.

At the University of Hawaii, all she had to do to get whatever she wanted was to call anyone who opposed her a racist. There was instant silence from the opposition.

With her latest outrage (picketing Washington Place with an obscene sign), however, you've got to wonder if she's missing a few marbles.

"F--- Ben"? Did Trask really think that she'd get anyone but fellow radicals to come rallying 'round such an idiotic placard?

Did she really suppose that Governor Cayetano would cave in under an obscenity that would have been embarrassing coming from a college freshman, let alone a UH professor like Trask?

I'm far from an expert but, from a layman's perspective, I'd say she's just plain nuts.

Greg Shepherd

All isle children are taught to embrace Hawaiianness

I may not be of Hawaiian descent, but I was taught to respect the Hawaiian culture and the values.

We take the values of the Hawaiian culture and try to instill them into all children. These values are what strengthens our families, because they are unconditional.

That's the aloha spirit.

Yet, I see a Hawaiian activist flashing obscenities to our governor and making disrespectful comments to other politicians. This conflicts with everything I was taught by our school kupuna in elementary school.

You hear about "e ola pono" or to live the proper way. How can we expect our children to live the proper way when their community leaders are promoting the opposite?

I admire Haunani Trask's passion for her cause, but she can get her point across and still be a positive role model. Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, it doesn't matter. all of our children are watching.

We must all take responsibility and lead by example. Otherwise, the values that we've learned as children will be lost in the next generation.

Cory Nicolas

Governor did what's best for OHA

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Office of Hawaiian Affairs elections are unconstitutional. The state Supreme Court hands down the opinion that trustees were seated illegally. Yet, former OHA trustee Mililani Trask says it's all a case of a governor who is "anti-Hawaiian." Huh?

Not only does this illustrate how out of touch Trask and her group are, but also how self-serving. The trustees put themselves first. They showed an inability to restrain their own personal feelings for the betterment of the Hawaiian people.

The governor had an obligation to implement the rulings of the courts. He rightfully took the opportunity to bring decent leadership of OHA, even if only for a few months.

David Silva

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