Civil unions vote broke the rules

Am I wrong for expecting Hawaii's politicians to be men and women of integrity? Am I wrong for expecting Hawaii's politicians to uphold our state's motto, “;The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness”;? Am I wrong for feeling deeply troubled about what happened on the last day in the last hour of this year's legislative session? When those in power chose to suspend the rules requiring a two-thirds majority to reconsider a tabled bill and instead voted to do so by a simple majority? Why did they wait until the last minute? Why did they suspend the rules?

Because of the way this bill was handled, I feel troubled. It appears that House Bill 444 (legislation to allow civil unions), which dramatically affects Hawaii's people and its future, was slipped in under the radar, through political maneuvering. It makes me suspicious of the democratic process.

Hawaii, beware! It happened once, it will happen again. Soon your voices won't matter at all—for those in power can and may do whatever they wish. Elect men and women of integrity, who will listen to the voice of the people and will follow proper political process.

Cars pass cyclists way too closely

As reported, a woman was arrested for attempted murder for directing her car at a police officer and coming within 3 feet of him during her attempt to escape (”;Multiple offender charged,”; Star-Bulletin, May 13). She was held on $100,000 bail.

As a frequent commuting cyclist, I would love for cars to pass me with a 3-foot buffer. I am passed numerous times by cars well within 3 feet and traveling much faster than this woman. And at times this passing is done in an aggressive manner.

During two public hearings on bills concerning safe motor vehicle passing zones for cyclists, the Honolulu Police Department as well as the city prosecutor saw fit to testify against the laws, citing difficulty in enforcement and the inability of officers to judge the distance between a motor vehicle and a cyclist. These were both soundly vetted bits of legislation based on other states' similar laws. But based primarily on the negative HPD testimony, and despite numerous positive public written and oral testimonies, both bills were shelved.

The irony is not lost on me. And please do not accuse me of making light of the safety of our police. I just don't feel it is any more important than mine.

Strike balance on ag, development

As someone involved in agriculture, I can understand the concern that many have for preserving agricultural land in Hawaii. Producing more food locally would benefit all.

What a lot of people don't realize, however, is that farming is not an easy venture. Like any other business, there are a lot of costs associated with operating a farm: maintaining the land, Mother Nature, developing infrastructure, purchasing equipment, hiring workers, marketing and world competition—the list goes on.

Farmers work extremely hard to sustain themselves, which is exceptionally challenging in these economic times. Although there is still a lot of available, high-grade agricultural land in Hawaii, it is very difficult to find people who are willing to and can adequately sustain the costs and commitment required.

I am a firm believer in achieving a balance between agriculture and development. We need to sustain our economy, maintain jobs and provide housing that is sorely needed for our future generations.

Looking at the bigger picture, we have no pool of residential or commercial land to pull from; therefore any development will come from conversion of agricultural land. To have the least negative impact, we need to look at isolated pockets of agricultural land surrounded by existing development—like Koa Ridge, rather than creating developments surrounded by agricultural land.

Akaka Bill poses ethics conflicts

Should a judge preside over a lawsuit where his family stands to gain megabucks? Should a governor, mayor or senator decide to route a new highway to a family-owned shopping center, or award construction contracts to his family's business?

The Akaka Bill recognizes ethnic Hawaiians as a tribe. State and county officials then negotiate how much of our land, money and jurisdictional authority to give that tribe. Government officials who are ethnic Hawaiian have a huge conflict of interest deciding how much of our stuff to give to their own blood brotherhood.

Executives, legislators and judges must recuse themselves and not participate in decisions where they have conflict of interest. Normally recusal is rare. But if the Akaka Bill passes, most government decision-making will focus on how much to give the tribe. Someone should not hold a job where ethics rules demand recusal from most of his work.

Oil drilling must be curtailed

Please don't turn a blind eye to the reality of this oil disaster and the potential for many more. I am not a millennialist, but I have no trouble foreseeing a catastrophic change in our planet if we don't curtail further drilling. There are plenty of alternatives that the oil industry doesn't want us to develop.