Letters To The Editor
February 24, 2010 - MidWeek
| Share
Del.icio.usBe like BART
The planned Honolulu mass transit system serves the area and people from Ewa to the university. While all of Honolulu county will pay, they will receive no benefit. By all accounts, the traffic lessening and shorter commute times will only affect the areas getting transit.
Other metropolitan areas in the country had the foresight to establish transit districts based on ZIP codes - such as the BART system in the San Francisco area. The transit districts were set up to assure that those within a county who would not be served by the transit system would not have to help pay for it. Anyone beyond 15 miles of a proposed station was excluded from the district. As BART grew and stations were added, the district grew to include some of these areas that were excluded earlier.
This would be particularly applicable for a large county such as Honolulu. Why should Kaneohe, Kailua, Hawaii Kai and other areas not served pay for a transit that only benefits others?
Paul Miller
Kaneohe
Poor city planning
In response to Bill Brennan’s letter, Mayor Mufi’s regime has lacked transparency from the very beginning, and he continues to stand on his soapbox proclaiming to know what is best for all people. The records show how much he has spent of the taxpayers’ money to push his propaganda to convince the FTA and Hawaii that we need, must have and should not wait to have this financial burden strapped on our shoulders forever.
Our governor is not anti-rail, Mr. Brennan, she is realistic about the conditions we are living in and is looking out for the welfare of the majority. I appreciate that and applaud her courage to speak out on our behalf. I’m sorry for the people who live in West Oahu, but the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of our city government for poor planning and uncontrolled over development. As the discussion on traffic continues, so does the development of more homes. It appears contradictory to talk about fixing a problem with one hand and feeding it with the other.
As the smoke screen clears, the truth is beginning to show. It is time we demand honest government free of self-serving individuals and special interest groups.
Leona Pereza, MSW
Kailua
Permit for bombs?
All the news we hear every day on the fireworks ban is all “baloney.” The majority of our so caring lawmakers do not have the guts or courage to ban this insanity, yet they come up with suggestions to raise the fees on permits. What a joke. And who needs permits to blow illegal concussion bombs or any other illegal fireworks? It’s free and unenforceable.
Oahu is the one island that needs a complete ban so badly. These lawmakers are the culprits responsible for all the injuries that happen every year, and they don’t seem to care. Yet these useless fireworks pollute our air and cause serious injuries, not to mention the danger our firefighters face when they have to put out brush fires and risk their lives.
To all you lawmakers: Wake up before it’s too late to say you’re sorry. You are responsible, so get your act together or get out of office.
Eugene Cordero
Pearl City
Sleep benefits
I’m no fan of Ariana Huffington - too liberal - but thank you for publishing her column on the importance of getting enough sleep on everything from health to job performance to emotional stability. In this case, I agree completely.
Just wondering: Now that Ms. Huffington is getting more sleep, might her thinking improve enough to come back to the conservative side?
Jason Davis
Makiki
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (1) | Archive | RSS Comments (1) |
Most Recent Comment(s):
For all comments click here.
Paul Miller, the whole island of Oahu is considered Honolulu County. Do you know that 100% of Honolulu garbage and trash ends up in the Leeward area? All the construction garbage the same. All the smelly trucks, hundreds of them, end up driving on this side of the island. What about Kahe Electric plant? Do you know that it burns fuel to provide you with electric for a/c ,internet, light etc..Do you smell the fuel burning. What about all the oil being processed at Campbell Industrial park?? Maybe a user fee should be charged to all areas that are free of these slights. Until you drive the H2/H1 freeway in the Kapolei to Honolulu area, you have no idea. So hows about being neighborly and pay your share. Otherwise keep your trash and make your own electric.
Posted by Waianae HI on 02/27 at 04:08 PM