Leaders should be accountable

What happened to the spirits of aloha and ohana? As an isolated island the unique quality of a caring attitude seems to be fading in our representatives. Much talk about the concern for the keiki, but when it matters we give them a shortened education time.

Where was the elected school board in this situation? Apparently, there were no public hearings before the agreement on the effect of furlough days on the children and community. The result was a public protest by the parents who were denied a forum to express opinions.

It is the responsibility of the parties to rectify a poor agreement and arrive at an equitable conclusion placing a quality education of children as a top priority.

The governor is on a trip to China to promote tourism instead of being involved in the current discussions. Which issue is more important to her?

Time to step up for isle schools

As another Friday Furlough day ticks by and Hawaii schoolchildren and their parents brace for a December with a grand total of 11 school days, one has to scream out: Where is our leadership?

According to the Nov. 1 Star-Bulletin, two of our leaders, Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona and Mayor Mufi Hannemann, “;declined requests to be interviewed on teacher furloughs.”; Now Hannemann and Aiona's boss, Gov. Linda Lingle, are out of town. Aiona is out promoting literacy tours at neighbor island schools; hope his schedulers make sure they are not on Fridays. Lawmakers, the state Department of Education and the teachers union are running in circles.

This as The New York Times condemns Furlough Fridays and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls it a mistake. Come on, all you so-called leaders. You want our vote in 2010. It's time to step up and fix this mess, and do it now.

Get rail going to help workers

Mayor Mufi Hannemann's recent state-of-the-rail speech provided us with lots of timely and important information. It was good to learn that rail would create up to 10,000 jobs a year during the construction phase, jobs that we need right now. But what hit me the most is that if we delay this project, it would only increase the cost, or worse, jeopardize over a billion dollars of federal money that could help us out of this recession.

The mayor said, “;The longer we delay, the more we're going to have to pay and the money could go away.”; We need these jobs and we need rail to move forward now.

Transit project a bottomless pit

Do we really need the rail system in Honolulu? Many say yes, but I say no. Us residents are just fine with TheBus and TheCab in Honolulu. The rail will cost approximately $4 billion to $7 billion. Those dollars could end the Furlough Fridays and give Hawaii's students the education they deserve. Those dollars can repair potholes on our main thoroughfares and can add police patrols in our neighborhoods and highways.

Our property taxes are on a constant rise; billions less being used may drop our tax rates. Why should we have increased tax rates when we have basically no say on this matter?

I encourage people to write Mayor Hannemann and/or their district representative with their opinion on the matter at hand.