to the Editor
City Council redefines what's 'dysfunctional'
If the word "dysfunctional" does not describe the current City Council, then maybe we should use "Honolulu City Council" to describe dysfunctional. What are these people getting paid to do? Are we paying them to play musical chairs? Are we paying them to see who can criticize Mayor Harris the most? Or are we paying them to take care of city business?This fiasco with police pay raises brings to light the total incompetence of our city leaders. Their modus operandi seems to be "If we criticize the mayor enough, the police raises will appear out of thin air." Has anyone thought about having some sort of plan? If the mayor's proposal isn't good enough, then what is? Do something!
In the Hannemann-Yoshi-mura-DeSoto days, they at least got things done (without raising taxes, I might add). Now, it seems, our Council is spending way too much time in front of the copy machine and in the mail room. That's not what we are paying them to do.
Mark Middleton
Kapolei
U.S. doused Hawaii's Olympic flame
Just imagine you're at the first modern-day World Olympic Games in Greece, 1896. Everyone's standing. The kingdom's anthem starts playing as our nation's flag rises. One of our Olympians has won gold! Queen Liliuokalani and Princess Kaiulani are in attendance, caught up in the moment. What national pride! Proud to be Hawaiian among the world!This and many other Olympic moments could have been ours. Three years earlier, in 1893, America put out our Olympic flame! The illegal overthrow of our nation, imprisonment of our queen, occupation and annexation are just a few reasons why and how. Only through independence (freedom) can we achieve our Olympic moments, relight the flames of our ancestors and make Hawaii pono. Ea! Kue!
George Kahumoku Flores
Aliamanu
Each of us can help prevent sewage spills
To help prevent future sewage spills, everyone needs to do their part to minimize overloading of our sewer system with rainwater and clogging of sewer lines (Star- Bulletin, Jan. 4).While much of the high sewage flow during wet weather is from groundwater leaking into our aging sewer lines, a large amount is from rainwater entering the lines on private property. Homeowners with rain gutters, outdoor drains and pond or pool overflows hooked up to the sewer system need to have these illegal connections disconnected immediately. Keep outdoor sewer cleanouts properly capped to eliminate entry of rainwater; never open them to drain your yard. Pipelines, pumping stations and treatment plants are not designed to handle large amounts of rainwater.
Clogged sewer lines also cause sewage spills. Partially clogged lines may work fine during dry weather, but their reduced capacity can cause a spill during heavy rains. Keep fats, oils and grease out of your kitchen sink and do not throw any type of trash down the toilets.
The Hawaii Water Environment Association has an excellent informational Web site on preventing sewage spills at www.hwea.org.
Roy Abe
Public Education Committee
Hawaii Water Environment Association
More security would deter future brawls
Since the Hawaii Bowl football "brawl," many letters have condemned the after-game activities. No one has yet condoned them and I certainly won't now -- or ever.I have had season tickets for every year the University of Hawaii has played in Aloha Stadium and have always supported the team, but not necessarily the university or the stadium officials.
A number of years ago we had a game-ending brawl because the UH team was seated on the makai side of the field, but using the mauka locker room. The opposing teams had to weave through each other to get to their locker rooms and the testosterone just exploded. We never tried that again.
Other people I've talked to who attended the Christmas Day fiasco do not have a clue as to who started the fight. I certainly don't. Perhaps one of the cameras caught the major "perp" and the proper folks will confess and accept responsibility.
Love him or hate him, Coach June Jones needs security support from both our UH and the stadium in preventing any future occurrences.
Remember: "De bottleneck is most often found at de top of da bottle." Or is it Do Belle?
Don Neill
Kailua
Gays aren't the ones who changed the law
Two letters in the Jan. 4 Star-Bulletin express distress and indignation at the prospect of gays and lesbians having the temerity to "change the law" so as to "change the meaning of marriage" in some dangerous way.This is strange when one considers that the original lawsuit here in Hawaii (Baehr vs. Lewin) was to compel the Board of Health to issue marriage licenses as specified in the law -- no change needed, no change wanted. Immediately following these decisions the Legislature yielded to xenophobia and changed the law, and even changed the state Constitution to restrict the human rights of a minority here in Hawaii -- alarming indeed in a state where we are all members of one or another minority, all susceptible to one or another form of ugly and irrational xenophobia.
Ward Stewart George Vye
Honolulu
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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:
Or mail them to:
Brainstorm!
c/o Nancy Christenson
Star-Bulletin
500 Ala Moana
7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813Fax:
Brainstorm!
c/o Nancy Christenson
529-4750
