Brainstorm! Challenge

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Mayor did great job with Leeward growth

This is not a political letter but a short note to thank Honolulu Mayor Harris and his staff for a job well done during the last 10 years.

Having lived in the Leeward area for the last 27 years, the improvements he and his staff planned and implemented during their years in office have been phenomenal and unprecedented, coinciding with the tremendous growth in business establishments and population in Leeward and Central Oahu.

The mayor had vision and foresight to ensure that these new communities had ample space for development of parks and adequate infrastructure to coincide with the tremendous increase in population. He developed Honolulu as a model of sustainability, which prompted national magazines to name Honolulu as one of the best managed cities in the United States.

Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

Toshio Chinen
Pearl City

Campaign reform would hurt Lingle most

I am surprised at the lack of uproar over Gov. Linda Lingle's recent vetoes, particularly of Senate Bill 459, which concerned campaign spending.

SB 459 would have limited total campaign contributions by any individual or corporation to $25,000 per year, limited family and personal contributions to $25,000 per election period, banned contributions by government contractors who received contracts of more than $25,000, banned contributions by out-of-state corporations and unions, prohibited fundraising on government property and made falsification of spending reports a Class C felony.

All of this is common sense, but Lingle vetoed the bill due to "technical errors."

Lingle's fierce opposition to clean politics makes sense if you realize that $1 million of Lingle's campaign contributions in 2002 came from out-of-state sources. She collected much of this money on a 10-day trip to New York, Washington, Arizona and California. Lingle used $173,012 of her personal money to finance her campaign. Business interests composed an estimated 93.7 percent of Lingle's total funds.

Comparatively, only $361,997 of Mazie Hirono's funds came from out-of-state sources in the 2002 election. Hirono had just three mainland fundraisers, did not significantly self-finance her campaign and business interests, while still too much, only composed 80.4 percent of her total funds.

All numbers are from the Institute on Money in State Politics, which compiles data from the Hawaii Elections Project and the Campaign Spending Commission.

It's clear which party is interested in campaign finance reform and which is satisfied with just paying lip service to the problem. I'd like to remind the governor and the Republican Party that Hawaii is not for sale.

Janice Hahn
Moanalua

Paranoid letter writers are good for a laugh

I go to the Star-Bulletin's online edition almost daily to keep up with local news. If I want a good laugh, I know I can find it in the Letters section.

I am constantly amazed, but not surprised, at the letters I read from people who still believe that the last election was contrived, and that the presidency was stolen by George W. Bush. This was from the gentleman from Mililani. Thanks for that gem.

Also, the one from the gentleman from Honolulu who believes that the media can learn something from filmmaker Michael Moore.

Now, that's a good one! Come on now! Are you truly, a real person, or someone contrived by the media? Thank you gentlemen for entertaining me once again.

Michael Lindo
Vacaville, Calif.
Former Waianae resident

Moore manipulated the facts about 9/11

Your July 1 letters column included several letters defending Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11." One even stated that no one is trying to refute these so-called "facts." This is not the case. I have read various sources refuting Moore's points.

Moore accuses the Bush administration of being too cozy with the Saudi Arabian government because Saudi interests paid large amounts of money to American defense industry companies connected to President Bush's family.

In reality, most of this was from a deal with U.S. defense contractor BDM. BDM was owned by the Carlyle Group at the time, but Carlyle sold the company five months before George Bush Sr. joined its advisory board in April 1998.

Another accusation is that the Bush administration allowed Saudis to leave the United States without screening them soon after the 9/11 attacks. This was found to be untrue by the 9/11 Commission. Indeed, thorough screenings and questions were done. Ironically, Richard Clarke, now a Bush critic, was the official that authorized them to leave.

These are only a few examples of Moore manipulating loosely related facts, half-truths and untruths to suit his cause.

Dave Blanchard
Honolulu

Dobelle is selective about accessibility

Sometimes simple questions will reveal a basic truth. Evan Dobelle, president of the massive enterprise University of Hawaii, could not be contacted by the Board of Regents, his superiors, for days before and after its meeting at which the board voted to fire him. Dobelle was completely out of touch.

What person in such a position of responsibility would be completely unavailable for days?

If Hamilton Library had been destroyed, the president could not be contacted? Now, however, having been dismissed, Dobelle is actually more than accessible, especially to the media. They call; he is available, night and day.

Does that tell you something?

Dick Rowland
President
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

An honest candidate is the stuff of dreams

I have been having recurring nightmares about the two major presidential candidates, both of whom have much negative baggage. After accepting the presidential nominations and spending millions on negative campaigns, this left the electorate with selecting the lesser of the evils.

But recently, I dreamed that both candidates had a change of heart and donned the mantle of statesman and both declined the party nominations. They announced that the country was owed more and that by acclamation both major party nominations should be given to an honest political maverick. The names of John McCain, Joseph Lieberman and Colin Powell flashed on my dream screen.

If only dreams could come true.

Frank D. Slocum
Waianae

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] The city owns a large, underground facility at Fort Barrette in Kapolei that is sitting empty. What could it be used for? Some sort of archive? A place to stash gigantic holiday decorations? A temporary storage site for Evan Dobelle’s ego? Send your ideas -- include your name, address and phone number -- by July 16 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or by mail: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Or by fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750