Brainstorm! Challenge

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Hawaii is enriched by its people, aloha

Aloha! We would like to take this special occasion, on behalf of the state of Hawaii, to wish all our residents and visitors a happy, safe and healthy holiday season.

The year that is rapidly drawing to a close has been a time of tremendous challenge and opportunity for the Aloha State. We had our share of challenges, including effects of the SARS crisis in Asia and Canada and terrorist threats around the world.

We saw families that didn't get enough to eat or didn't have a place to sleep. We saw young lives tragically lost through car accidents and drug abuse. But we also saw our economy strengthen and businesses prosper. We saw citizens joining with elected leaders to help solve problems in their communities. We saw Hawaii reaching out to its Asia-Pacific neighbors to help make our region of the world more prosperous and secure. We saw our men and women in uniform fighting for freedom in distant lands. And we saw the courage of a 13-year-old surfer who lost an arm, but gained a nation of admirers.

We have much to be thankful for this year, and much to look forward to in 2004.

Hawaii is a wonderful state enriched by many cultures and traditions. The aloha spirit is alive and well, as it has been for centuries. We believe in our ohana, which obviously means more than a family related by birth. It means a much more inclusive family joined by bonds of love, support and caring.

So from our ohana to yours, we wish you the very best during this joyous time of year.

Happy holidays to you all. Malama pono.

Gov. Linda Lingle Lt. Gov. James R. "Duke" Aiona

Airport officials learn at taxpayers' expense

We're getting new signs at the Honolulu International Airport! For almost a year, confusion, frustration and accidents have resulted when drivers have had to make a quick decision between "Bag Claim" and "Ticketing" when dropping off or picking up passengers.

The sad part is that good old "Arrivals" and "Departures" served generations of air travelers until our state Department of Transportation's Airports Division commissioned an expensive Roadway Signage Study in 2000. The study stated that "Arrivals" and "Departures" do not send a "clear message" and urged that they be replaced by the less equivocal "Bag Claim" and "Ticketing." Huh?

Even more disappointing is that DOT officials, ignoring conventional wisdom regarding things that "ain't broke," actually accepted this nonsense and commissioned the expensive and confusing new signs, again at our expense.

Happily, common sense and grumbling have prevailed, and taxpayers have now purchased even newer signs that officials expect "will be more helpful to travelers." These more communicative new signs will indicate "Arrivals" and "Departures." And we pay these people?

John M. Corboy
Mililani

Culture, some parents encourage speeding

Why do we have a speeding and racing problem?

>> It is glamorized by movies and television.

>> Some parents support the behavior by speeding and racing themselves, not to mention financial support to help Junior "soup up" his/her car.

>> People believe it is their right to drive as fast as they want.

>> Enforcement of speed limits is virtually nonexistent.

>> Penalties for speeders are a slap on the wrist.

Bottom line: Public awareness campaigns such as sign-waving are good PR for the 5 o'clock news, but if you are going to stop the senseless deaths resulting from speeding and racing, the laws must be enforced and the judicial system must hit people where they feel it the most -- in the pocketbook.

The only thing most people understand today is the almighty dollar. Take a lot of them away from speeders and they may get the hint to slow down.

James Roller
Mililani

There is no way Saddam will survive

A cruel dictator for decades, Saddam Hussein killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Now the chickens have come home to roost: His two adult sons were killed by the coalition. Saddam lived in splendid palaces; now he has been captured in a hole in the ground.

He should receive the death penalty. If he doesn't he will die anyway; he will be killed by Iraqis who have suffered during his regime.

How Tim Chang
Honolulu

Jitneys would help lower bus fares

In July, bus fares were increased. In September, bus fares were increased again. Now we are told that ridership is off. Perhaps high bus fares are the problem?

If the money is not enough to keep buses running, perhaps the taxpayers will be socked with a higher bill.

Let's use good sense and identify the problem. Money for the buses is never "enough," so let us identify the costs and start cutting those. It's time for the City Council to do this.

And the public can lower bus costs by putting the pressure on. Honolulu needs a jitney system -- operated by independent owner-operators. With a jitney system, commuters would have competition and alternatives.

Mark Terry
Honolulu

It's foolish to cling to ideas of the past

In his Dec. 1 letter, Steve Klein was understandably concerned about altering the traditional definition of marriage. He believes we should tread cautiously before we establish a new precedent.

On the other hand, unbending allegiance to the past can be problematic, especially with regard to correcting the unequal treatment of unpopular minorities.

As Thomas Jefferson observed, "laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat that fitted him as a boy, as a civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

Jefferson was seconded by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., who stated that "it is mere childishness to expect men to believe as their fathers did; that is, if they have any minds of their own. The world is a whole generation older and wiser than when the father was his son's age."

Kent Hirata
Honolulu

What do those trucks dump at Maili Point?

I have been wondering why we see so many commercial tanker trucks stopping over one sewer hole at Maili Point and dumping their cargo into it. Is this the only sewer access they can use?

If it is not, why are companies coming from industrial areas and dumping here?

Does the Department of Health monitor what goes in there? Has any testing been done to see if illegal substances have been dumped?

It is especially worrisome because this hole is in front of a beach park used by children on school field trips to the tidal zone, and families with small children use this park often.

I have to believe something is wrong if these trucks cannot drive into a wastewater treatment plant to dump these foul cargoes. I have never seen a public official or monitoring agency on hand at this location.

We do not need this type of thing to be happening on the Leeward side. If a giant semi-truck with a tanker pulled up in Kahala and started dumping who knows what in front of Kahala Beach Park, you can bet it would stop in a hurry!

Douglas Schott
Maili

Regents should leave UH president alone

The time has come for common voices to be heard about the controversy over University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle's job evaluation by the Board of Regents.

The Board of Regents has its opinion and so do we, but we don't get heard. Yet we know in our hearts what President Dobelle is all about. He is nice, courteous and responsive to the common people. We don't need to know what the Board of Regents thinks about Dobelle. The regents are just an ink spot in the entire population of Hawaii.

Stop pushing for public disclosure of Dobelle's evaluation.

So what if Dobelle is a public figure. We are all public figures, walking the same streets, talking the same language, riding the same buses, shopping at the same stores, and staying alive to survive among the nitpicking rhetoric that goes on and on with no real substance except to ruin a person's reputation.

So 'nuff already.

Jane Watanabe
Pearl City

Police pay-hike fiasco shows need for reform

Although the neighbor islands' counties are ready to give their police officers a much-needed pay raise, neighbor island officers must wait for Honolulu to resolve its fiscal problems before any officer sees even a penny added to his or her pay. This illogical result is the product of Hawaii's archaic civil service system.

During his final years in office, Gov. Ben Cayetano made a valiant effort to enact sweeping civil service reform in Hawaii. Unfortunately, last summer, over Gov. Linda Lingle's veto, the Legislature reversed the few meager reforms that had been previously enacted. One of the reforms was separating the counties and the state from each other's collective bargaining.

Requiring all counties and the state to have the same collective bargaining agreement is one of the most antiquated features of Hawaii's civil service law. It ignores the fact that the counties and the state have different fiscal outlooks. Today's police pay raise situation is a perfect example of why this system does not work. The neighbor island county police must wait for their raises, not because of what is happening in their counties, but because of politics in Honolulu that has nothing to do with their job.

This absurd linking of all counties and the state to common collective bargaining also leads to absurd arbitration decisions. The reality is that when a labor arbitrator is deciding how much of a pay increase should be awarded, he or she cannot distinguish between the often very different financial condition of each county.

The best solution is to allow the state and each county to negotiate its own collective bargaining agreement with its employees. Furthermore, binding arbitration should be eliminated in favor of allowing each county and its employees to negotiate their own bargain.

Civil service reform is the right idea. The Legislature should re-examine this issue next session and end the irrational and broken civil service system we now have.

Charles K. Djou
Councilman, District 4 (Waikiki-Hawaii Kai)

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] What should the city do with the elegant old sewage pump station? It's empty and fading, and now it's taking a beating from all the construction going on around it. The O.G. Traphagen-designed sewage pump station on Ala Moana Boulevard, more than a century old, is a monument to the glory days of municipal architecture, when city fathers took such pride in their community that even a humble sewage station became a landmark structure. Millions of tourists drive by it every year, and it's an embarrassing reminder of how poorly Honolulu treats its historic landmarks. Over the years, dozens of uses and excuses and blue-sky speculations have been suggested for the striking structure. Now we're asking you, Mr. and Mrs. Kimo Q. Publique, what should the city do with the elegant old pump building? Send your ideas and solutions by Jan. 15 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or mail them to: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750