DISRESPECT

HARBIN HURTING IMAGE OF SMALL BUSINESSES

How sad it is that we in the small-business community have to have our image tarnished as Rep. Bev Harbin thumbs her nose at her district, the political parties and the governor's office.

Gov. Lingle was definitely on the right track to appoint someone with a small-business perspective, a viewpoint that is sometimes overlooked at the Capitol. Unfortunately, the wrong person was chosen.

Small businesses are the backbone of Hawai'i's economy, and we pay our taxes and write checks that clear. It hurts all of us when someone doesn't because that lost income has to be made up by the rest of us.

If Harbin only respected those who she claims to represent (small business) she would resign, knowing that she can do us no good given the current misgivings. By remaining, she only further hurts the image and goals of the small-business community, the very sector for which she claims to be an advocate.

HAWAIIANS

HISTORY MISUNDERSTOOD REGARDING LOSS OF LAND

Being part-Hawaiian, I find it remarkable that most of the "Hawaiian activists" make statements that seem to show that they haven't even read a Hawaiian history book.

Hawaiians were not the first people to live here. When they first came, there were already people living here. These indigenous people could not coexist with the newcomers and so they left on a "floating island" called Kuaihelani.

Centuries later, Capt. Cook discovered Hawai'i. A lot of land was then sold or given away to non-Hawaiians by the monarchy. This land loss culminated with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands by the United States.

When the U.S. overthrew the monarchy, it at least didn't kill anybody or take any land that was already owned by "non-Americans."

Compare that to what Kamehameha did when he "united" these Islands. He not only killed thousands of Hawaiians, but he took all of the land for himself. How come nobody ever mentions this? If anyone should be compensated, it seems to me that the descendants of the reigning monarchy of Kaua'i, O'ahu and Maui, who were killed, should be first.

ROADS, PARKING

WE COULD PAVE UNTIL THERE'S SPACE FOR ALL

Perhaps I have been looking at O'ahu's traffic woes all wrong. Rail will not work.

We should knock down more buildings, widen Nimitz Highway and Ala Moana to 12 lanes and widen H-1 from the airport to the University of Hawai'i to 20 lanes each way. All these cars will need a place to park, so perhaps we should look at Ala Moana Park or maybe the golf course near Waikiki as prime locations for a new multistory garage. Since these commuters are mostly working lower-income-type jobs, they will not be able to afford the $500/month parking fees. I guess we will have to give them free parking passes.

Another solution: perhaps have hotels and other large employers located in other areas of the island. That way the workers can actually walk to work or catch a local shuttle. But that wouldn't be good either because then people wouldn't need to buy so much gas, which would in turn affect the amount of tax revenue collected. This would cause negative repercussions throughout our entire political process because there would no longer be a need for as many multimillion-dollar contracts.

NORTHWESTERN ISLANDS

THANK YOU HAWAI'I, FOR PROTECTING STATE WATERS

I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations to the people of Hawai'i, to Peter Young of the Department of Land and Natural Resources and to Gov. Linda Lingle for providing full protection to state waters surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Thanks to them, these waters, often compared to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, will forever be a refuge from fishing and a safe haven for corals, sharks, ulua, honu, albatrosses and endangered Hawaiian monk seals. And I especially commend the Lingle administration for throwing its support behind similar protections in the federal waters of this uniquely important marine area.

Starting with Teddy Roosevelt, who first protected this area in 1909, six U.S. presidents have had the vision to protect the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. I now hope that President Bush will follow the example of President Roosevelt, President Clinton, Gov. Lingle and other far-seeing leaders in protecting this world-class Hawaiian ocean ecosystem and its wild inhabitants.

DIRTY ROADS

WHAT TO DO WHEN STATE DOESN'T ACT OR LISTEN?

I am becoming more and more concerned about the amount of trash along our public roadways, especially along the freeway. It just keeps accumulating and does not appear to be picked up on a regular basis. Added to the fact that many of the weeds along the dividers are now so large that they trap flying rubbish, it appears that the system to maintain these areas is not working.

What to do? Hey, I'll ask the governor! The Hawai'i state Web site invites us to send her an e-mail with questions or comments and notes that e-mails will be personally reviewed and responded to as soon as possible.

So, I sent an e-mail noting my concern with the growing trash problem, asked whose responsibility it was to maintain the roads and how often it was supposed to be done. I was delighted to know someone would get back to me and answer my questions.

After not hearing anything for a week, I sent a second e-mail asking about the status of the first e-mail. Still nothing. It has been more than two months since I sent the first e-mail. Despite several calls, which only resulted in being directed to different departments, I have yet to get a response back from anyone.

The lack of maintenance alongside our roadways and public areas is bad enough. Offering an opportunity to submit concerns or questions then failing miserably to respond is about as bad. Where is the accountability here?

GAS CAP

ONLY PREDICTABLE THING IS PRICE — UP AND UP

" 'We expected gas prices to rise next week due to the effects of Hurricane Rita,' said House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa). 'It's positive that consumers are now shopping around for the best prices and timing their purchases now that we can anticipate trends.' " ("Monday's gas likely up 27¢," Sept. 28)

I find this quote from Majority Leader Oshiro quite indicative of some local politicians' attitude toward the obvious negative impact of the gas cap. Oshiro is either deluding himself or insulting the intelligence of his constituency.

Consumers on O'ahu have always shopped for the best gasoline prices; witness the lines to purchase gas from Costco even before the gas cap went into effect. Apparently, Oshiro would have us believe that the gas cap has given birth to the very concept of shopping for lower gas prices.

Also, since when is having to time your purchase of gasoline a positive development? It is ridiculous to imply that the consumer can effectively "hedge" against the impact of the rising (gas cap) prices with a 20-gallon tank. Oshiro reveals the callousness of his position when he (mis)characterizes the burden of "timing purchases" as somehow positive.

Meanwhile, professor Jack Suyderhoud in the same article explains why the consumer is not able to effectively anticipate any reduction in the price of gasoline: "Jack Suyderhoud, a business economics professor at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, said Hawai'i gas stations may keep prices high for the rest of this week to offset the potential loss in sales next week when the cap goes higher."

It would seem the only reliably predictable price movement under the provisions of the gas cap is higher! Oshiro may be fooling himself, but I doubt he's fooling anybody else.

COMMUNITIES ARE CLEAR: WE DON'T WANT VACATION RENTALS

Your Sept. 27 editorial regarding vacation rentals accurately describes the City Council's confusion regarding this issue. Nothing new there. What is confusing to the public is why the City Council would consider legalizing what up to now has been an illegal operation that has coincidentally removed thousands of rental units from the county's rental inventory.

Your editorial also suggests our leaders do not know what they want for our neighborhoods. I would suggest the more appropriate phrase should be "what residents want for their neighborhoods."

Typically the first litmus test a politician uses is to see which way the wind is blowing in a community regarding an issue. I firmly believe that if they applied this test in the discussion of vacation rentals they would find out that the communities overwhelmingly reject vacation rentals. This is truly a "NIMBY" issue.

Allowing the industry to write its own rules is akin to having the fox guard the chicken coop.

Finally, we arrive at the issue of the illegal operations that have gone on for years. Instead of waving a magic wand and making them all legal, the city should go after these illegal operations with all the vigor it can muster. If those on the front lines need more laws or tougher penalties to bring the violators into compliance, then we should reopen the discussion.

The legalizing of the current group of illegal rentals will only encourage a new wave of illegals. The idea of taxing at a higher rate or expensive registration fees will not deter these operations. These rates will hardly put a dent in the income stream of these illegal operations. Even if it should, they can easily pass it on to their clients.

The City Council may be sending mixed messages to the public but the public's message to the City Council is that we don't want these aberrations in our neighborhoods.

WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT

CONDOS WRONG FOR KAKA'AKO

The plan to place 200-foot-high luxury condos on state-owned land in Kaka'ako is embarrassing.

The luxury condos will be makai of Ilalo Street on land previously set aside to benefit the entire Honolulu community.

Besides this misuse of valuable land, I am concerned about the traffic and overcrowding such a development would bring to an already congested neighborhood filled with new condo buildings.

It took three separate state actions to end the area's future as a community asset:

1) The decision to permit 200-foot towers on state land makai of Ilalo Street;

2) The decision to allow the 200-foot buildings to become luxury condos rather than office towers supporting Hawai'i's biomedical industry; and

3) The decision to permit the luxury condos to be sold to private individuals fee-simple. While a lucky few will "win the lottery" and purchase one of the luxury towers' 180 affordable units, many of the remaining 770 luxury units will go to speculators, including those living outside Hawai'i.

Former Gov. John Waihee envisioned Kaka'ako Makai as an upscale public recreation area that was far more than Ala Moana Park, and surpassed what even Sydney did for its waterfront.

Former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano worked for a combination public park/museum center with a world-class aquarium, with buildings supporting a biotech park.

The current Kaka'ako Makai plan lacks either of these publicly supported visions.

The Honolulu Advertiser noted that "the land ... is one of the few remaining under-developed jewels of urban Honolulu," and "once it is built up, that will be it" (Editorial, Sept. 12). The Advertiser concluded, "the best use of this property ... will be to keep it largely open and focused on public use."

House Speaker Calvin Say, who called the luxury condos "simply incongruous" with our past visions, correctly asked, "Wouldn't it make more sense to build (the condos) in Kaka'ako mauka?"