Puppy peddlers must be stopped

I really think it's terrible that people sell puppies for profit when there are so many loving animals for adoption at the Humane Society. Plus, with the amount of ferals running around the island, this sort of irresponsible action contributes to overpopulation. It's disgusting and it should be stopped.

I often see one particular car parked on Kamehameha Highway across from Dole Plantation in Wahiawa with a sign on it advertising puppies for sale. It really bothers me that this sort of action is tolerated. What kind of person breeds puppies to sell them from their car? There should be serious repercussions for this selfish and irresponsible behavior.

It's time to draw the line with puppy peddlers and do something to give homes to animals that are not fortunate enough to have a good home.

Unlicensed B&Bs a source of fees

The latest concern expressed by bed-and-breakfast opponents is that B&B licensing will waste taxpayer dollars because permitting fees won't pay for a new enforcement division for the Department of Planning and Permitting.

It may be true that fees alone won't do it. It would require hundreds of homeowners to suddenly decide to open their homes to B&B visitors, which isn't going to happen. Most permit applications will come from people already operating unlicensed B&Bs.

In addition to paying permitting fees, newly licensed B&Bs will generate new revenue through the general excise tax on room rentals as well as state taxes on income. B&Bs will pay their own way.

One way tax dollars are being wasted is through the frivolous demands placed on the DPP by opponents who see unlicensed B&B operators behind every hedge. Once unlicensed B&Bs are brought into conformance with rules and regulations, this problem will disappear.

B&B customers boost economy

Bob Hampton's letter shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the B&B market (”;Mayor should veto expansion of B&Bs,”; Star-Bulletin, Letters, Nov. 14).

B&B patrons are a special niche market. They don't stay at hotels. They stay only at B&Bs. If a city doesn't have B&Bs they simply find a city that does.

B&Bs do not take business from hotels or take away hotel jobs. Honolulu does not save hotel jobs by banning B&Bs. It simply loses the B&B market and the $200 million dollars a year it brings into the community.

Money visitors spend at hotels gets sent off island to Westin, Hyatt, Hilton, etc. Money B&B visitors spend stay in the neighborhoods. Research shows B&B visitors patronize more cultural events, local craft fairs and farmers markets than hotel visitors.

Housing First has major pitfalls

Regarding your Dec. 5 editorial, “;Better homeless policy needed”; and the Dec. 15 “;Island Commentary: Housing First gets chronic homeless off the streets,”; your readers should know that “;housing first”; means there is no requirement for drug, alcohol or mental treatment. Regardless of what mainland media/communications specialists say, a “;housing first”; project in Chinatown aimed at the chronically homeless means the problematic people in our community would increase, not decrease. The chronically homeless, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are people who by their very definition are addicted to drugs or alcohol, or have severe mental illness or a developmental problem.