Voters, beware of false promises

Candidates for lieutenant governor are out trying to get your vote and claim they will get more jobs for local people, lower our taxes, improve education and many other things to make life better in Hawaii, if elected. One candidate has already claimed he has the most experience for the job.

Akamai voters will ignore these false promises because they know the Hawaii Constitution assigns no duties to the lieutenant governor. They just sit back for four years and collect their pay and benefits from our tax money. What a great job! What experience do you need for doing nothing? Just say “;no”; to paid holidays for elected officials. Haven't we been ripped off enough already?

Lingle has been doing her job well

Our household does not believe that Gov. Linda Lingle sought to serve in public office to win popularity contests.

We believe she felt she could contribute to the well-being of Hawaii—a job we feel she has done well.

If she and her administration had not been doing a good job, the recent sale of bonds that were critical to the finances of Hawaii would not have been so successful.

Shame on the street cleaners who billed thousands of dollars of unearned time spent on the job. Shame on the city councilman who misused city funds. Shame on the agency responsible for looking after the preservation of Hawaiian history for its mismanagement.

These people should be removed from their positions of trust, not accepted as a way of doing business in Hawaii.

It's time to eject career politicians

We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice and ensure a truly democratic way of life devoid of corruption and inefficiency, must band together to rid ourselves of those nonproductive career politicians, some of whom are too old to cut the mustard and yet not wise enough to step down.

They frequently dabble in self-interest and agendas that go against the aims of the people they were elected to serve.

We the voting public are chiefly to blame for placing these no-accounts back in office, even after their failure to provide the kind of services promised. Our concerns parallel theirs only during election year. They make it a habit to say what we want to hear, replete with promises they never keep.

In this year of 2010, we'll have the opportunity to vent our displeasure by getting rid of all the deadwood now in office. We deserve better service than what we've been getting. It's time for an overhaul.

Divert rail funds to treating water

Water is one of man's greatest needs for survival. Both clean drinking water and treated wastewater are important to our environment.

Our state legislators should use the $1 billion-plus reserved for the fixed-rail system toward the construction of secondary treatment plants as required by federal law, for it benefits all our residents and tourists. The rail system will benefit only a small number of residents on the Leeward side who would actually get out of their cars and use the rail system to get to and from work.

The treated water can be used for agriculture, parks, school lawns, golf courses, etc.—the way many cities on the mainland use their secondary treated water.

Kudos to Hee for reviving shark bill

Aloha and mahalo to Sen. Clayton Hee for introducing and defending a shark fin bill. Detractors who demur that “;sharks are not endangered in Hawaii”; fail to note that by the time a category of animals is considered endangered, it often is too late to save them.

Sharks promote healthy fish populations by culling infected fish, and they limit the large fishes that prey on small fish important to the health of reefs.

I also applaud Sen. Hee for pointing out that we are in Hawaii, not China. Hawaii should lead the world in matters concerning the health of the ocean, and a ban on shark fins is a good place to start.