Kokua Line
Kokua Line
State vehicles should not
plug the dealershipQuestion: I was at Punchbowl Street and Vineyard Boulevard one morning when a state car drove by. I noticed the license holder had a Cutter Ford car dealer sign on it. Since Gov. Linda Lingle is related to the Cutter family, isn't this a conflict of interest?
Answer: You didn't have a license number or any other identification, but in a search for that car, officials found about a dozen state vehicles that had the license plate frame of various car dealers, although none was a Cutter.
The state doesn't have any law that precludes the use of dealer license plate frames on its vehicles.
"But we agree that that shouldn't be," said George Okano, acting chief of the Automotive Management Division for the state Department of Accounting & General Services.
The state agencies that are assigned vehicles that had dealer identification on the license plate frames were asked to remove them. A check with the executive branch showed neither the governor's nor lieutenant governor's vehicles had such identification, Okano said.
As such dealer frames are discovered, the appropriate agency will be contacted, he said. The same will hold true for bumper stickers or other decals.
DAGS oversees a motor pool of about 300 vehicles, and its policy is to remove any dealer license plate frames. However, another 1,100 or so passenger vehicles are assigned to other state agencies.
Okano's staff tried to track down the car you saw but could not immediately locate it. In fairness to Lingle, the car was probably purchased before she assumed office in January.
Q: Could you please find out if there are any plans to install a traffic signal at the entrance to Kaiser High School and, directly on the opposite side, the entry to the new "The Peninsula" housing development on Lunalilo Home Road? The development is not even finished, and daily I witness near-miss crashes from cars with students turning left into the school and workers turning left into the development and speeding cars in the through lanes. Not to mention the safety of students trying to cross the road from the bus stop, even in the crosswalk. I would think that to get a permit, the developer would have to be responsible for traffic signals, especially when the development will adversely affect a traffic situation that is already congested from the growing enrollment of the school.
A: The city Department of Planning & Permitting is requiring the developer of "The Peninsula" to make a number of off-site improvements. They include installing traffic signals at the intersection of Lunalilo Home Road and Kaiser High School and the project's driveways, according to city officials.
Mahalo
To the honest person who found and turned in my MasterCard to Ross Store in Kaneohe. I appreciate your kindness. -- B.F.
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