A tale of two isle communities

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ..."

This is a tale of two communities with similar problems who sought help from their respective government officials. In one community, they asked for help from the state; in the other, they asked for the help from the county. The bureaucrats in each political subdivision thought they had the right solutions, yet their responses to the public were miles apart. In Kapolei, state officials determined that stop signs and signals were warranted and would be installed after residents raised fears about the safety of schoolchildren crossing multi-lane roads ("State OKs Kapolei stoplights and signs," Star-Bulletin, Aug. 24).

City officials in Kaneohe decided to do nothing despite pleas from police, students and administrators that signals be installed near King Intermediate School.

And so it came to pass that two communities with similar problems were treated differently by their governing officials. The desperate pleas in one community were met by government functionaries who thought that the safety of schoolchildren should be paramount; in the other, bureaucrats placed their faith instead on traffic-flow studies and eight-point criteria.

Roy Yanagihara
Chairman
Kaneohe Neighborhood Board

Unions are part of the 'old boy' network

I'm for the candidate who thinks independently of unions. I hope the voters get off their apathies and cast ballots for candidates who stand for real change. What makes unions think they're not part of the "old boy" network that needs reform?

Kate Paine

TRO program assumes men guilty of abuse

The latest development to surface under the disguise of "help for families" is a no-fuss, no-muss, one-stop temporary restraining order. In the legal bag of tricks, TROs are sometimes simply used as leverage for women to prevail in divorce court.

In the article "Program assists abused spouses" (Star-Bulletin, July 27), Judy Sobin, executive director of Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii, states, "We work with each victim individually. We will assess the situation individually and give her all the choices." Hmmm ... that's not really assessing the situation individually, is it? Particularly if the victim is a man.

Feminist conditioning assumes guilt on the part of men, but it is not uncommon for men to be victims of domestic violence. Usually, regardless of innocence, they are the ones who are arrested. This societal perception of men cultivates a bureaucratic environment that readily arms women with TROs and demands little in the way of evidence to justify issuance.

Here is the rub on Family Court, VLSH and AmeriCorp: These organizations receive federal and state funding based on the number of people processed through the system. In true Orwellian fashion, they benefit from and aggravate domestic turmoil.

Guy Monahan
Aiea

Officials hypocritical on cigarette taxes

I had to chuckle when I read the report of state administrators announcing with glee the collection of $22 million more in cigarette taxes this year than last year (Star-Bulletin, Aug. 15).

Chuckle because this is the same administration that vetoed the tax stamping measure two years in a row. While the first veto was partly predicated on the fact that the bill also would have delayed a second step increase in the tax -- a four-month delay to allow for the implementation of the tax stamping (1998) -- the second veto was of a bill nearly identical to what is now on the books.

Chuckle because the previous tax director argued that they had no evidence of contraband of product for which the tax had not been paid and who deferred to the Health Department even though it meant insuring the payment of taxes.

One can only wonder how much the state lost by not adopting such an enforcement tool back in 1998, when the bill was first approved by the Legislature. And just how many youths, whom anti-smoking advocates want to deter with the higher tax, gained access to cheap product for which the tax was not paid?

Now that lawmakers have set the course for Hawaii to have one of the highest tax rates in the nation, will sales migrate to tax-free sources like the Internet and Indian reservations, and will we lose even more tax revenue?

Lowell Kalapa
President
Tax Foundation of Hawaii

Mold also a problem in our public schools

I assume most people have read the recent news stories about mold. The first story concerned mold in the Hilton Hawaiian Village's new Kalia Tower (Star-Bulletin, July 25). Later, a front-page story mentioned mold found in the federal building (Star-Bulletin, Aug. 16). Suddenly, mold is a hot topic.

As a safety and health professional, I'm pleased that people are finally paying attention to mold. Mold problems are nothing new in Hawaii. If you look at the bottom of your shower curtain, you may find some mold there.

The mold problem in our public schools has been around for ages. Next time you hear about mold in the news, please think about our kids who attend mold-infested schools. Hilton can shut down a whole tower to investigate mold. How about our public schools?

Archie Yu
Certified industrial hygienist

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