THANKS, HECO

ISLE BLACKOUT NO CAUSE FOR STORM OF CRITICISM

Earlier this year I read an article regarding the summer heat wave on the Mainland and its effects, causing several blackouts from overwhelming use of electricity.

There were thousands without power in California, more than 200,000 in St. Louis and Kansas City, and about 50,000 in New York City. Their blackouts extended beyond 24 hours, and in New York some were out for more than a week.

With that said, I just want to thank Hawaiian Electric for restoring power within 24 hours to almost everyone. We were affected not by a heat wave but by one of the most destructive forces of nature — an earthquake.

And although we didn't experience damage here on O'ahu like that on the Big Island, I can understand the need for the systems to shut off before real damage could have occurred.

For those who are being highly critical of HECO — aren't we just being a bit unreasonable?

FINGER-POINTING

HECO NEEDED MORE CAPACITY FOR CUSTOMERS

I see finger-pointing and some strange reasons for the Great Blackout.

If you trace cause and effect step by step, all the way back, you get to the NIMBYs. They have prevented HECO's attempts to build new generating capacity, spare capacity to keep online to prevent outages caused by generator problems.

Going part way back you get to the guy who panicked at the shaking and flashing lights and alarms and took two generators off the line.

He's the "goat." Without the spare capacity needed, the rest of the generators in the system were overloaded, so before enough loads could be shed to keep them on line, they went down, one by one. So he is the goat, triggering the blackout because he "thought" unloading those generators would protect them from damage. What kind of damage?

There were no faults anywhere in the system to cause even local outages. If those generators had not been taken off the line, the system would have continued to operate like nothing had happened, and there would have been no blackout.

On the Big Island, where the quake must have been 10 times as powerful, the generators kept running. Local outages there and on the other islands were caused by faults, like from falling trees or poles, and power was restored as soon as linemen cleared the faults.

HECO must be allowed to build new plants and transmission lines wherever their engineers determine they are necessary for improved reliability. The growing population will require it in any case, whether the NIMBYs like it or not.

An entirely duplicate system, a HECO II built by HECO and paid for by us, is not at all necessary. However, it would be a good thing if a rival company built it, at their cost. We would then have competition for improved efficiency, bringing rates down! But where would all those plants and transmission lines go?

GRAFFITI

NEWSPAPER SHOULD NOT DISPLAY TAGGERS' WORK

Why is that whenever The Advertiser does a story on taggers, it does a full color shot of the taggers' work?

You are doing exactly what these taggers are looking for, promoting their art on the front page. In the future, do the story without the photo.

We all know what taggers do, but let's not give them the opportunity to show off their work to the thousands of people who read your paper.

OHA RACE

KANAHELE WOULD WORK FOR BETTERMENT OF ISLES

I have not been so excited about an OHA election as I am about the fact that Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele is running.

He has been gifted with much wisdom as a seeker of truth and knowledge as well as guidance from Ke Akua. Bumpy is one who is determined to stand for what is right and what is just, with the best interest of everyone in mind, from kupuna to keiki.

He has a plan to affect the political, economic, social and cultural arenas for the betterment of Hawai'i. More importantly, he has the determination to see this great vision through and a heart full of aloha, which energizes and compels him.

This capacity to dream big dreams is what has brought him where he is today and will continue to carry him into the future. I encourage you all, Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian, to vote for a man we can trust — a man who truly cares — Bumpy!

UNFAIR TAXES

AKAKA WOULD COUNTER CONSERVATIVE CRISIS

It's the economy, stupid! Dan Akaka understands the economic crisis Americans are facing. Conservatives claim Americans are better off today than before George Bush took office. If that's true, why do people need to work two or three jobs to make ends meet?

Republicans want you to believe it is fine that a single mother rarely sees her children because she is working or commuting for 16 or more hours a day.

They also want you to believe that wages are up. In fact, when adjusted for inflation, middle -class citizens make $2,000 less than they did before George Bush and the Conservative Congress made reforms that gave the richest 2 percent exclusive tax breaks, and was, in effect, a tax hike on everyone else.

Dan Akaka has voted against these gifts to the super-rich. Akaka's opponent is a Republican who counts as friends the same conservatives who pushed these unfair billionaire's benefits through.

Hawai'i and the whole country needs a man like Dan Akaka who understands that working class citizens need to come first.

LINGLE PROMISES

WHAT NEW BEGINNING?

A new beginning? It's been 4 years and I don't see Linda Lingle's "new beginning" beginning! Everywhere you look it is just more of the same.

The Lingle administration hasn't done a thing, except ride the economic rebound they didn't have anything to do with. And what economic rebound? My friends are still working two or three jobs just to stay afloat.

"New beginning?" It seems like just the same old rat race, and I am losing out.

I've had enough of the "new beginning" experiment. I will be voting for Randy Iwase.

DECORATIONS

NEHOA FAMILY BRINGS SMILES TO PASSERS-BY

A big mahalo to the family living on Nehoa Street, just 'ewa of Ke'eaumoku, for uplifting our spirits as we drive by.

They have a wonderful display of inflatables above their garage for almost every occasion. In October, a very whimsical Halloween scene, and we're looking forward to all the others for the upcoming seasons.

They seem to update the inflatables, too, because this Halloween's is different from last year's. They even include Valentine's Day and graduation for May/June. Thank you for putting smiles on our faces.

'YES' ON AMENDMENT 3

WITH AGE COMES WISDOM IN JUDICIARY

It's appalling that in accusing the Advertiser editorial board of making a false statement ("Island Voices," Oct. 24), Attorney General Mark Bennett and City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle should create the false impression that there is no effective control over the reappointment of state judges.

The fact is that Hawai'i state judges serve fixed terms — 10 years, except for district court judges, who serve six — and, at the end of those terms, must be passed upon by the Judicial Selection Commission to be reappointed to office.

The Advertiser's editorial said: "At the end of each 10-year term, the governor, Senate and Judicial Selection Committee can elect not to reappoint that judge or justice."

Bennett and Carlisle said: "The governor and the Senate play no role of any kind in judicial reappointments. This accurate and truthful fact is a major reason why citizens should vote 'no' on amendment 3."

However, in order not to create a false impression, they, as our state's and county's top lawyers, should first have made clear that the Judicial Selection Commission must approve judicial reappointments.

Sadly, they also failed to make their statement "accurate and truthful" by failing to note that the governor and the leaders of the Senate and House play a critical role in appointing members to the Judicial Selection Commission. Article VI, Section 4 of the Constitution provides that the governor appoints two and the Senate president appoints two of the nine members of the commission.

Being very intelligent and savvy lawyers, they should certainly have known that they were leaving the incorrect impression for the average reader that there were no formal controls over the reappointment of over-70 judges and that the governor and the Senate played no role at all.

In fact, the Judicial Selection Commission is a very effective body for reviewing judicial reappointments and for protecting against the reappointment of any judges who by virtue of age may not be capable of fulfilling judicial responsibilities intelligently and honestly.

Forcing judges to resign at age 70 is pure age discrimination and, because the Judicial Selection Commission must approve reappointments, unnecessary to protect the judicial process from age incompetence. Age discrimination is inconsistent with sound public policy, and seeking to eliminate it is not just a power play, as Dave Shapiro suggested, even though it may have political consequences. As with our federal system, which has no such age limit, judges over 70 years of age often bring enormous experience and wisdom to bear on the judicial task, and thus advance the pursuit of justice.

For example, one of our greatest justices, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., served on the U.S. Supreme Court for more than 30 years, until he was over age 90.

For these reasons, I agree with The Advertiser and urge you to vote "yes" on constitutional amendment 3.