No need to study vacation rentals

A city official said about illegal short-term rentals: “I don’t think that our enforcement is very effective, so we are looking at other strategies.” That is right up there with, “The rail will be done on time, and on budget, with good quality.”

The city has shut down effective enforcement in the past because the people who are making big money complained to their politicians.

Politicians are ignoring the issue. The original version of Senate Bill 704 said: “The purpose of this Act is to establish an online vacation rental working group to develop effective data collection methods. …”

If you look at the website “Air DNA,” it shows all the places being rented out short-term in all our neighborhoods. We don’t need another study. There is a problem, which is being ignored at our peril.

This issue is affecting all of us, because Oahu is one housing market. Demand that your politician take action — not waste money on another study.

Bruce Fink

Makiki

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Blame social media for vacation rentals

Hawaii has had boarding houses and rooming houses since the whaling days.

One could argue those became hotels, but one could also argue they still exist in the form of home sharing. It was a way to make money then and now.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the “changing complexion” of neighborhoods in Kailua specifically has not to do with home sharing but with social media. Blame that!

If you build it they will come, and once the word got out en masse about the beauty of this state, the cat was out of the bag, never to be re-bagged, and new cats being released second by second in the form of Tweets, photos, stories and the like.

If you pick the most beautiful and desirable place in the world to live, it will attract visitors. It attracted you, didn’t it?

Faith Burns

Aina Haina

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Pontoon bridge once crossed the Ala Wai

Here is the non-essential fact of the day.

In 1955, the Episcopal Church held its triennial convention in Hawaii. It was the largest convention held in Honolulu up to that time. Iolani School, the old Civic Auditorium, and Waikiki hotels were all involved hosting various convention events. There was no convention center at that time.

In order to enable quicker movement between Iolani and Waikiki, then-Hawaii Episcopal Bishop Harry S. Kennedy, a WW II Army veteran, asked the local Army leadership for help. That resulted in the Army building a pontoon footbridge from Iolani, across the Ala Wai, to Waikiki. The Army dismantled it after the convention. Another example of how the military in Hawaii is continually seeking ways to be a positive force in our Hawaii.

David K. Kennedy

Hawaii Kai

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Trump leading U.S. to nuclear war

President Donald Trump has managed in his short time in office to do an incredible amount of damage, not the least of which is to bring the U.S. steps closer to a nuclear war.

It’s not difficult to imagine the scenario of North Korea attempting another nuclear missile test, the U.S. responding with another “mother-of-all-bombs,” this time dropped on North Korea, then North Korea bombing South Korea, and the U.S. sending a nuclear weapon to North Korea. Then, watch the nuclear weapons fly!

Hawaii is a pretty good target with our resident military. Our state government is already pretending to get ready for a possible nuclear attack.

Yes, pretending. We will never be “ready.”

We must not let a nuclear war occur. We cannot be silent on this issue. Each one of us needs to send a clear message to our county, state and federal government officials that this is unacceptable and we will not stand for it.

Anne Wheelock

Nuuanu

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Military prepared to defend Hawaii

The experts say North Korea may already have, or will soon have, the ability to attack Hawaii. Are they also insinuating that North Korea has the ability to penetrate our military’s missile defense system?

I believe our military is prepared. For example, there is a huge golf ball-looking object docked at Pearl Harbor. It’s called a Sea-Based X-Band (SBX) floating radar. It has been deployed since 2006 and has the capability to track a baseball-sized object from 1,200 miles away. The SBX then coordinates the intercepting missiles toward the target.

Plus, our military has many tracking devices in the Korean arena that will issue alerts the instant an ICBM leaves the ground. North Korea is a threat, but trust in our military to protect us.

Clarence Chun

Kalihi

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Red-light cams cause more accidents

If red-light cameras are installed, watch out for an increase in rear-end accidents.

We moved from an area of the mainland that had red-light cameras. People afraid to get ticketed will slam on their brakes when the light turns yellow and if someone is following too close, they will get rear-ended.

The cameras were taken out after several years because they caused more accidents and weren’t the moneymaker it was thought they would be. They were too expensive to operate.

They also do not slow speeders unless there is a red-light intersection on every corner.

Chuck Dozier

Kailua

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No more flying the ‘Friendly Skies’

The Friendly Skies?

I was absolutely appalled and shocked at that “passenger removal incident” aboard a United Airlines flight.

I will sprout wings before ever flying United Airlines again.

Mackie Pratt

Kaneohe