'OPALA

WHY ARE THREE TRASH CONTAINERS NECESSARY?

Our mayor proposes to issue each household three trash containers. Where are we supposed to store these containers?

Why purchase different colored containers? Why not use the one we have now and designate certain days for each type of pickup? I think we are smart enough to follow those simple instructions.

Most of us are not as young as we used to be, so this new system will cause us undue physical problems pushing and shoving three trash cans around.

Besides, by using one container, the city will save money big time and each household will only have to worry about one.

WHY IS RECYCLING PLAN ONLY A PILOT PROGRAM?

Why is the recycling in Hawai'i Kai and Mililani a "pilot" program?

It makes me think the mayor is not serious about recycling. Why does the city not have a plan for what to do with the collected material?

I love living in Hawai'i, but at times it is embarrassing.

PUBLIC USE

ACCESS AT IROQUOIS PT. WILL BE BIG MISTAKE

Public access to Iroquois Point would be a very big mistake.

When the public was allowed access to Barbers Point, it wasn't long before it was trashed.

We moved here because of the security and privacy. We pay a high price for both.

SUPERFERRY

LET KAUAIANS DECIDE HOW THEY WANT TO LIVE

It's hard to understand why you people on O'ahu hate us here on Kaua'i so much.

We here enjoy the company of our statewide and worldwide neighbors.

The ferry issues have nothing to do with visitors; it's a shame that ferry executives have perpetuated this lie.

You sold your beaches to build your hotels, and now we should continue with the same?

Many thousands of us Kaua'i citizens love our home the way it is. And I think most of you came back again because you also like Kaua'i the way it is.

Many of us do not want another way for you to come, that's all. Shoots, come stay at my house. Fridge get and futon stay.

But, please let us decide how we want to live. It got you here in the first place.

There is nothing the ferry offers us; but if this toxic waste comes, our lives will be changed forever. And Kaua'i's landscape with it. Will you even want to come over then?

MANDATORY SERVICE

ALL SHOULD SHARE IN NATIONAL DEFENSE NEEDS

It's about time this nation gave serious thought to mandatory national military service.

We have done the draft and we hated it, for good reason.

We have done the all-volunteer Army, and it is not sufficient. Now we need to prepare ourselves for both peace and war in a way that works.

Sometime between the ages of 18 and 30, everybody puts in two years in either the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps. Go between high school and college. Go after college. Want to be a doctor or lawyer? Go to medical school or law school, then get in one of the services before your 30th birthday.

Everyone would have the same experience regardless of socio-economic circumstances, making the services representative of the nation.

The sons and daughters of presidents, members of Congress and other policymakers would be at the same risk as anyone else's child.

The bottom line is that we all need to share in the national defense and the potential benefits are huge.

EYESORE

TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES CLUTTERING DRIVEWAYS

This letter is written as a reminder and a request to anyone who has not bothered to pick up their telephone directories from their driveways.

As I drove on Kamehemeha Highway the past few weekends, particularly on the North Shore, there were several yellow bags of phone books sitting along the side of the road at the edge of many residential driveways.

This is not only an eyesore, but a terrible waste of both paper and plastic.

Perhaps the telephone company should only deliver directories to residents who request them.

It is apparent from the length of time these directories have been in the driveways that many residents do not care whether or not they receive them.

CITY ADMINISTRATION

MANY QUESTIONS STILL UNANSWERED IN TRANSIT

It seems that whenever a program or activity of the city administration is publicly questioned, a knee-jerk rebuttal from the administration is forthcoming.

With respect to David Johnson's commentary in The Advertiser (Island Voices, Aug. 28) urging caution on the mass-transit project based on the historical experience of many mega-projects, Mary Pat Waterhouse, director, Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, dismisses the valid concerns of Professor Johnson, not with facts, but with the platitude that we should move quickly on the project simply because it is long overdue.

Still, many questions remain unanswered about the financial uncertainty and risk of the project and the liability it poses to every taxpayer on O'ahu.

Now that the project is better defined than when the Alternatives Analysis Report was prepared, it is time for reassessment with respect to route, updated capital costs (including project escalation), infrastructure costs, environmental impact, realistic revenues (at various ridership levels), project timing and overall economics so that we have a clear picture of the risks/liabilities and benefits involved.

The mayor and council owe this to the public before forging ahead.