A&B investment improved Maui

I would like to comment on the nature of Alexander & Baldwin Inc./Hawaii Commercial & Sugar Co.'s charitable giving, community involvement and accessibility, and the good will it has traditionally provided to the people of Maui.

The company has been a life partner and prime investor in the core and fabric of our entire island community. Along with the success of its business enterprises came a commitment to the creation and longevity of programs and services to help build a better, safer and more secure community.

Now, as in the past, A&B/HC&S has been a generous contributor to countless community programs and services encompassing a wide spectrum of activities including youth, seniors, sports and recreation, health and wellness, reintegration, cultural appreciation, environmentalism, and a myriad of other social and civic issues.

Over the course of its long history, A&B/HC&S's contributions have been felt in both good and bad economic times.

Be willing to pay to restore classes

I am a tax-paying Hawaii resident and have no children in school. I also am troubled over the loss of school time from the furlough plan being implemented by the state Department of Education and what harm it will do to our children's learning, but I am a realist about the financial plight of our state with the drop in tax revenues.

Schoolteachers are underpaid for their contribution to the society, and they will take another cut from the furlough. I am not a supporter of higher taxes, as ours are very high now. However, I read about the public's outcry that public schools must stay open for our children's education and I wonder how many of the public would be willing to pay extra taxes for this. Remember that it costs several million dollars daily to run the schools. I would be willing (to pay more taxes), if that's where the money would go. I don't know about the administrative costs of the DOE, but I doubt they are much more than in many private businesses. Just look at the huge bonuses and perks given out on Wall Street.

Save Kaneohe deserves praise

Congratulations to Grant Yoshimori and the Save Kaneohe group for their tremendous victory before the state Land Use Commission and getting the expansion of Hawaiian Memorial Park into conservation-zoned land stopped.

They were up against attorneys and high paid consultants for HMP in the intensive intervenors role of a contested case hearing. It was a daunting task for community volunteers, and they deserve our thanks and praise.

Protecting this lei of green for future generations will also protect the water quality of Kaneohe Bay. This property should be considered for future acquisition by the City & County of Honolulu as a nature preserve, much as it has done with other valuable lands on the Windward side threatened by inappropriate development. Kawaewae Heiau is on the property and has been lovingly protected by community groups for many years.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Save Kaneohe and their leaders for their hard work and to the state Land Use Commissioners for their vision.

Health reform financially risky

We all know that Social Security and Medicare are on the verge of going broke. None of our politicians seem anxious to fix either program but a lot of them want to start health reform. When health reform goes over budget, will our politicians have the guts to fix it?

Is it possible that there is $500 billion of waste and fraud in Medicare that we can use to pay for health reform? If that money is the tax we paid to Medicare, then it should stay in Medicare and not be used for anything else.