Powerful people still control the land

The approval of the Koa Ridge development should not be a surprise to anyone.

The state Land Use Committee, as always, goes through the motions of giving the voting public a voice when, in fact, its members, as political appointees, serve special interest groups like these land developers, who are about to create another mess like the overdeveloped Ewa plain.

Now is the time for Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who ran on the issue of preserving agricultural lands, to step in and show leadership and stop this.

These developments will destroy our quality of life and the fragile environment of this island, not just Central Oahu.

Like plantation days, a few powerful people are controlling land use, only to leave once they make a profit, leaving us with traffic gridlock, unsustainable water use and an already overburdened infrastructure.

Kathleen Kaiser
Waipio Gentry

Placement of rail stations suspicious

Why did the state Land Use Commission approve the Ho‘opili project in Kapolei with more than 11,000 houses that can only worsen the already abominable rush hour traffic from Leeward and Central Oahu to urban Hono-lulu? Why didn’t the LUC instead direct growth to condo- miniums in urban Honolulu?

Why did planners of the rail project include two rail stations where no people were living on land designated for agricultural use? Did the rail planners know long in advance that the LUC would eventually re-designate the use of this land for a housing project, now called Ho‘opili?

John Kawamoto
Kaimuki

Historic homes need to be kept up

I’m glad to see the city is finally going to start enforcing some of the requirements for the historic home tax break, at least requiring visual access ("Fewer to get old-home tax break," Star-Advertiser, June 7).

Not a word, though, about the intent of these tax breaks — to compensate owners for investments to maintain the historic character of the homes.

It would be simple enough to enforce. If owners can produce valid receipts for appropriate work done in the previous tax period, they get the break. If not, no exemption.

The next step is to go after the tax-exempt $2.5 billion worth of property owned by nonprofit organizations, but which actually is used for profit-making purposes unrelated to the "nonprofit" nature of thebody.

Still wondering why the city is in financial trouble?

Tom Tizard
Kailua

Maunawili voters will get some choice

Ron Weinberg from Maunawili is probably under the impression that he is still in Senate District 24 ("No competition for Mauna-wili seats," Star-Advertiser, Letters, June 11). However, the recent reapportionment put Maunawili in Senate District 25. He is still in House District 49.

At any rate, he does have plenty of choices for state Senate in the primary. Currently, there are three candidates running as Democrats and one Republican, former Sen. Fred Hemmings.

Shirley Hasenyager
Kailua

Cayetano plan for transit lacks details

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano reminds me of the many IT (information technology) vendors I encountered over the years.

They say how great their package is but do not provide any details on what the package actually does.

I see the same with the Cayetano transportation plan. Cayetano claims to miraculously remove major bottlenecks like the Middle Street merge but doesn’t adequately explain how it would be done.

He wants to put more buses on Beretania and King streets, which already face gridlock during the day.A 23 percent increase in traffic would certainly bring those streets to a standstill. We cannot even think about dedicated bus lanes on those streets, even today.

In the IT business we call Ben’s plans "dreamware" — packages that have little substance and make unrealistic claims to con you into purchasing the product.

Stan Sano
Makiki

How will we pay for rail operations?

Mayor Peter Carlisle attempts to make his best case for rail, but I’m just not buying it ("Among options, rail will be catalyst for change," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, June 3).

I am particularly concerned that he does not say where the operation and maintenance costs will come from. He says, "All debt is paid off when the GET surcharge ends at the end of 2022." But as soon as the first train moves out of its station, city taxpayers will be totally responsible for its costs. The general excise tax cannot be used for operations.

Right now the city is cutting back on TheBus routes because there is a $3 million shortfall caused by increased gas prices. That is chump change compared to the $100 million or more that will be required to maintain and operate TheTrain. Where will that come from?

Michael Ostendorp
Lower Makiki

Yes, our kupuna are being shortchanged

I am writing in response to Penelope Burniske’s letter ("City treats our seniors poorly," Star-Advertiser, Letters, June 6). She has certainly brought an excellent observation to our attention.

I am a volunteer with several senior boards and organizations. This has given me the opportunity to see just how underserved our kupuna are. Our kupuna, who are desperately in need of services, found that they are very short-changed.

We are all aware of the growing population of seniors. What can be done?

Eudie Schick
Moiliili