Letters to the Editor
STATE REIMBURSEMENTS
COMMENTS ON RELEASE OF FUNDS 'DISTURBING'
It is important that we work to together in dealing with the local and national challenge to provide medical care to all communities.
That is why the comments of Department of Human Services Director Lillian Koller in the Monday Honolulu Advertiser regarding not releasing state funds for needed medical services are disturbing.
Over the last two legislative sessions, we have heard from doctors and medical associations that the big issue for doctors and hospitals was the reimbursement rate for Medicaid patients. The low reimbursements are particularly harmful to the quality of healthcare in rural and underserved areas throughout the state.
We've taken a variety of actions at the state level to deal with the issue. This included an appropriation of $8 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, to reduce the huge gap between the cost of providing care and state and federal reimbursements.
Throughout this process, the state administration has been quick to criticize the Legislature for not doing enough. Now Director Koller, who has been holding back the $8 million in funds, is stating that the money "was intended to be paid on a real-time basis" and not "intended for bonuses." This is a twist of words. Clearly the reason the money wasn't spent in real time is because the administration refused to release it, even at a time when they were criticizing the Legislature, and at a time when doctors were telling us point-blank that reimbursement rates were too low.
There is no single way to solve the growing healthcare crisis here and on the Mainland. My colleagues and I remain eager to work with the administration to improve the situation.
State Rep. Marilyn LeeDistrict 38
RACIAL HERITAGE
WHY NOT JUST REFER TO SEN. OBAMA AS HAPA?
Regarding the June 9 letter from H. Omori, "Media must remember Obama is also white":
Why invent a new term? "Hapa" says it all. It is:
Kailua
ROD TAM
FORGIVENESS AND RAISED AWARENESS ARE NEEDED
City Councilman Rod Tam's use of a perceived racial slur was unfortunate, but I do not think it merits the level of outrage being generated by some.
Looking at the context of language in which he used the word, it was obviously not meant to insult an entire race of people.
This does not excuse his words, but I think a public apology and a letter of censure should be sufficient.
I would like to see the City Council work to heal any damage caused by Mr. Tam's verbal faux pas instead of inciting further division in the community.
Mr. Tam's comments were wrong, but he didn't go on a "Kramer" rant either. I think forgiveness and raised awareness are in order.
Josh RubinoKailua
TRASH
CITY HAS STRATEGY TO HANDLE SOLID WASTE
The Advertiser's June 4 editorial incorrectly asserted that "O'ahu still lacks broad strategy for handling trash."
Actually, the strategy has been detailed in your newspaper's pages and is already being implemented. It is to expand curbside residential recycling island-wide and create additional recycling opportunities; expand the H-Power garbage-to-energy plant; alleviate pressure on our landfill by temporarily shipping some waste to a Mainland facility; expand our landfill using available space that's farther from public areas; and seek a new landfill site away from the Leeward Coast.
The Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan incorporates these elements and has been submitted to the city's 20-member Solid Waste Advisory Committee for review. It is a huge mistake to assume that there is no strategy just because this detailed and complex technical document has not yet been published.
Eric TakamuraDirector, Department of Environmental Services
RAIL
OAHUANS ARE PAYING FOR A WHITE ELEPHANT
Each resident of the City and County of Honolulu is buying a white elephant on the installment plan, whether we want it or not.
Every time we pay general excise tax on food, clothing, DVDs, lipstick, tires or gas, etc., this white elephant is being paid for. I'm talking about steel wheels on rail that will cost taxpayers $3.7 billion or more.
According to an Advertiser article of May 30 — "State collects $211 million in rail taxes" — city officials and the Tax Foundation estimate the surcharge costs for each household to be about $365 per year, or approximately $1 per day for the next 15 years. That totals $5,475 per household.
If you are single, figure approximately $100 per year or $1,500 to buy something you may never use because it won't take you where you need to go.
The democratic way to have a voice in this matter is by signing a Stop Rail Now petition to place the transit issue on the ballot. Then you can exercise your right to vote for or against it.
Or we can vote Mayor Mufi Hanemann out of office to stop this costly project.
In the meantime, we are paying for a monstrous white elephant via the installment plan, an elephant most of us can ill afford.
Suzanne TellerHonolulu
LANDOWNERS
DRAFT EIS WILL BE MORE SPECIFIC ON RAIL IMPACTS
The city is being sensitive to the concerns of those who may be affected by the rail project, and is committed to meeting personally with property owners when a more precise analysis of potential impacts is compete.
Sean Hao's June 1 story about properties and the rail transit project was based on the two-year-old Alternatives Analysis (AA) study, which identified potential property impacts of all the transportation alternatives, so that one alternative could be selected. That was its purpose.
It was never meant to be the document used to identify the actual properties that might be acquired, since it was based on preliminary designs. The draft environmental impact study now underway will be more specific, and owners of property identified in that document as possibly impacted will be contacted when property evaluations are complete.
The article explained that the city is already notifying such landowners if they apply for building permits and concluded that this process "appears to have failed in at least one instance" because a lessee of one Waipahu property said he was not aware of the city's plans.
The process did not fail. That lessee did not and has not applied for a building permit.
DPP records indicate that the property owner has received notice of all meetings held to discuss the Waipahu Neighborhood Plan, which includes plans for rail. Our notification in Waipahu cast a wider net because we were interested in engaging property owners within a 1/4-mile radius of the proposed station there.
The city has worked very hard to involve the community in planning for the rail system and transit-oriented development, especially in Waipahu.
Henry EngDirector, City Department of Planning and Permitting
CONSERVE WATER
WEATHER CHANGES ARE DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING
Radical weather change due to global warming is here, and all we do is complain that gas is more than $4 a gallon.
Big deal — in Germany they pay $8 to $10 a gallon.
Twisters in Colorado, a huge Midwest flood, the world's biggest corn and soybean crop gone, homes wash away. Hong Kong flooding is not even reported by U.S. papers.
New York City and the rest of the East Coast are roasting in a heat wave. California declares a statewide drought. When will Hawai'i declare a statewide drought? Are we afraid to upset tourists?
Hawai'i's rainfall is 11 percent of normal levels, and 99 percent of the state is abnormally dry.
Daily, I see water wasted, with sprinklers going off all over to keep grass green.
Let's start conserving our Hawai'i water today by declaring a statewide drought, and bike or use the bus whenever possible.
Ingrid MolinaHonolulu
