FOOTBALL PROGRAM

UH SHOULD GO AFTER MONEY OWED BY JONES

It was reported that the University of Hawai'i will net about $2.2 million from the Sugar Bowl.

In comparison, the $400,008 owed by former UH football coach June Jones comes to 18.2 percent of that amount, which is significant.

It appears that UH is not aggressively pursuing collecting this amount under the contract that Jones signed.

Does Jones owe the amount or not?

A follow-up on this significant amount would be appropriate to help UH in the debts it has incurred in its athletic program.

ILH BASEBALL

KUDOS TO CRUSADERS FOR 2008 SEASON WIN

Kudos to the Saint Louis Crusaders baseball team coached by Duane Fraticelli and led by standout players Josh Saio, Lucas Gonsalves and Tamatoa Demello for winning the regular 2008 season ILH championship.

Back in 1959, I was the baseball manager handling equipment, retrieving foul balls at practice and the bats during the "real" games and we won the ILH baseball championship then.

The baseball team was coached by Francis Funai and Ed Hayashi; Mousey Murakami, Mike Yanagida, Joe Manaba, Tommy Lee, Mike Hong and Robert Herodias were some of the team players that year.

Go Crusaders in your upcoming ILH double elimination tournament and the state tournament!

TRAFFIC

CITY MUST TELL TRUTH ABOUT RAIL, ROADWORK

When is the city going to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when it comes to road repairs and the rail?

Lowell Kalapa of the Hawaii Tax Foundation spoke at a Hawaii Highway Users Association monthly meeting explaining why the state's highway fund is on its way to becoming insolvent.

It was interesting to find out that the City and County of Honolulu collects approximately $190 million in gasoline taxes and spends only 20 percent on road repair and upkeep. The other 80 percent is used to pay for administration expenses, supporting mass transit, etc.

A road-paving company representative said pothole repair is only a temporary solution because the infrastructure is already falling apart.

There is a life cycle for road surfacing, which may be extended by preventative maintenance. Hawai'i uses one of the best asphalts, contrary to what the city has been spinning, and it's not the rain that is causing all the potholes either.

When questioned whether the current half-percent general excise tax to be collected for 15 years was going to be enough to pay for the rail, Mr. Kalapa said collections were more than anticipated but will be way short because of the rising costs. So how is the system going to be paid for?

TRANSIT

MOVE UH TO KAPOLEI, NO NEED FOR RAIL SYSTEM

To date, we have not received the "total cost" to build the rail system, including the cost of terminals, the cost of buying the rights of way along the route including parking areas, and the annual net operating cost (the annual operating costs less the projected revenue including ridership estimates and fare rates). All these figures in a complete package are the true cost; not the $3 billion so far communicated.

If the true cost is shown to the public, I do not believe building this rail system would be justified.

As an alternative, why not move the University of Hawai'i-Manoa to Kapolei? Sell development rights to the present Manoa site, including lease rentals for the land. Issue bonds to build the Kapolei site and pay off the bonds with the development rights and lease rentals.

That way, the existing roadways should be able to comfortably handle traffic that would now be moving into and out of "town." This would also create more jobs for Leeward residents as well as encourage relocation of more of the population leeward, thereby permanently reducing current traffic to downtown Honolulu and UH-Manoa.

INTERISLAND TRAVEL

WE'LL ALL END UP PAYING COST OF CHEAP AIRFARES

The people of Hawai'i thought they were getting a good deal from go! Airlines.

So far, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority has spent money from its $5 million emergency fund to get stranded passengers home. There were thousands of hotel and tour cancellations, as much as $50 million may be spent from the unemployment fund and other programs to assist the displaced workers.

Mesa's headquarters are in Phoenix, Ariz. Mesa, its managers and the bulk of its employees pay taxes there. The next jobs that most Aloha Airlines employees take will probably pay less than they were making at Aloha, meaning they will pay less income tax to the state.

Those 2,000 people will buy fewer goods in Hawai'i, perhaps sell their houses or, worse, have them foreclosed, causing the housing market to slow even more. They may have to declare bankruptcy, and in the end they may have to leave the state altogether.

Next, the price of interisland tickets will go up, probably to the $200/round-trip range.

Enjoy those cheap tickets, folks. You will be paying for them soon enough. In fact, we all will.

UH-WEST O'AHU

CITY HOPED CAMPUS WOULD EMBRACE TRANSIT

In response to Sen. Will Espero's April 13 letter, we, too, think it's common sense to have a transit station on the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu campus. But the funny thing about common sense is, unfortunately, that it's not so common.

For nearly two years, our department has been working with the UHWO team on planning its new community, including how transit will relate to the campus itself, as well as lands they intend to sell to a private developer.

We had hoped that UHWO and the developer would fully embrace rapid transit in their master planning. Instead, they have consistently opposed our efforts to place a transit station on the UHWO campus, or even adjacent to it.

For the record, UHWO's preferred route does not include a station on or adjacent to the actual school campus, but would locate one at UHWO's own commercial development near North-South Road.

As the former community relations manager for DR Horton Schuler, the developer of the adjacent Ho'opili project, Sen. Espero should be aware of the significant planning effort that has been ongoing for some time.

We would welcome the good senator's efforts to encourage UHWO to take full advantage of this tremendous opportunity with rail.

SECRET BALLOT

GOVERNOR RIGHT TO VETO 'FREE CHOICE' MEASURE

Gov. Linda Lingle has once again demonstrated her concern for the people of Hawai'i by vetoing the Employee Free Choice Act (HB 2974).

Small businesses are the backbone of Hawai'i's economy. Had this bill become law, it would have particularly undermined small-business owners' ability to participate effectively in the collective bargaining process, and would have proven costly in other ways.

For employees, without the protection provided by the secret ballot process, they could easily be subjected to peer or other pressure to vote a certain way rather than their expressing their free choice.

We need our legislators to work on behalf of all of us and not pass bills that would negatively impact so many of us.

GOVERNMENT

STATE SHOULD MOVE TO A CONSUMPTION TAX

The state should strongly consider doing away with state income taxes and instead do a consumption tax at the retail level.

Such a tax would scale nicely. The more one buys or uses, the more one pays. The less one uses or buys, the less one pays. Elimating the state income tax substantially reduces the burden on hundreds of thousands of Hawai'i residents.

It would also help to reduce the size of government. Eliminating the general excise tax in favor of a consumption tax ensures a much cleaner, simpler tax structure for the entire state.

While the thought of perhaps an 8 percent sales tax is daunting to some, not having to pay a state income tax should more than offset any consternation on anyone's part.

ARTISTIC SHOWCASE

TATTOO ARTISTS WANTED OK FOR TRADE SHOWS

Your April 8 article regarding the deregulation of the tattoo industry has been taken out of context. To clarify the intentions of House Bill 2283, the language in the original bill allows tattoo artists a chance to demonstrate their artistic practices in a trade show or expo-style setting.

State law only allows tattooing to be done in a permitted tattoo shop. Through this bill, the intent was to issue temporary certificates to only licensed tattoo artists, for the duration of the event and only at an approved venue. It was to showcase the talents of the artist both artistically and culturally.

As the original bill moved forward in the legislative committees, the Department of Health decided to revise its licensing procedures through this bill and thus revised language calling for licensing deregulation, a procedure that we did not propose nor did we ask for nor do we support. In fact, it has nothing to do with the intent of the bill as originally called for.

We totally agree with the tattoo industry: Regulations and strict licensing procedures are needed to protect everyone from infectious diseases and other liabilities. The revised bill, therefore, caused a controversy in the tattoo industry.

We have tried our best to get the original bill passed, perhaps then someday the people of Hawai'i will be able to experience a true tattoo convention showcasing both artistic and cultural talents.