Tax break for care of trees is desirable

The state tax break for up to $3,000 per tree as a personal income tax deduction once every three years, for expenses to maintain exceptional trees, may be in the eyes of some the wackiest in the nation, but it’s well worth the cost, if any, to the state.

Private citizens who are preserving the trees should be commended for their efforts. As far as the cost to the state is concerned, with the top tax rate for the state at 11 percent, a $3,000 deduction once every three years means a tax benefit to the taxpayer of $330 or $110 per year per tree. I suspect that a lot of private property owners who have such trees care for them and forego the tax deduction because of the hassle of producing a notarized affidavit signed by a certified arborist.

By the way, how much does it cost to prune a monkeypod tree over a three-year period?

Dennis Kohara
Kaimuki

Small boat harbors should be privatized

The small boat harbors are still a disgrace after some 30 years. Take a look at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, for example, then look at Keehi Lagoon. The state needs toput these harbors and others all out to bid, and let private management run them.

If for 30 years the state could not maintain them, why not try privatization? The state needs to make these small boat harbors private and profitable.

Bill Littell
Waikiki

Loud motorcycles, mo-peds a nuisance

I have lived at the corner of Hobron Lane and Ala Moana Boulevard for more than a year now. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard motorcycles rev up their engines to ear-splitting levels, either while at a dead stop waiting for the lights to change by the Ilikai and Hilton Hawaiian hotels or as they accelerate when the light turns green. The same goes for cars and mo-peds with noisy mufflers that seem to use this small portion of Ala Moana as a drag strip.

This revving of engines happens not only during day but at night as well, as it echoes between hotels.

Why can’t these noisy vehicles be banned from taking Ala Moana between Atkinson and Kalakaua, where their muffler noise echoes between buildings?

Long Beach prohibits all noisy motorcycles from driving down East Ocean Boulevard, which is lined with apartments. Why can’t we do the same?

Paul Amog
Waikiki

Goal of donation is to put halt to rail

My family has worked for more than 50 years to protect Oahu’s beauty and charm. One of our early efforts was to stop high-rise developments in the Diamond Head lowlands during the 1950s.

More recently, we helped prevent Hawaiian Electric Co. from erecting high-voltage power lines on Waahila Ridge above Manoa Valley.

There have been many other such efforts over the years.

Now we find ourselves deeply troubled by the thought of elevated heavy rail on Oahu: a concrete labyrinth that would carve a hideous scar across the island’s face and compromise its architectural integrity.

With a goal of stopping rail, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation has made a $25,000 matching grant to The Outdoor Circle. Together we can preserve an environmental and cultural legacy for future generations.

Maryanna Gerbode Stockholm
San Francisco, Calif.

Use hybrid buses for UH football fans

While taking an energy sustainability class through Penn State World Campus, the final project involved lowering the carbon footprint of Penn State’s community.As an Oahu resident, I thought the idea could be implemented locally.

The main concept is to leverage support from the football program by asking the University of Hawaii to donate money from the first game of the season to help acquire hybrid buses that would not only help lower the community’s carbon footprint but also provide a means to lower the potential for drinking and driving.

The buses would have designated stops around the island, with a $2 passenger fee, transporting fans to and from UH football games. This plan would lower our carbon footprint and keep fans who choose to drink off the roads.During the off season, the buses could be allocated to various schools and programs, providing an environmentally responsible mode of transportation.

Alexis Hileman
Ewa Beach

Evicted homeless got no compassion

Now that all of the Dalai Lama hoopla is over, let’s get back to reality.

The Star-Advertiser showed "the prince of compassion" at Kualoa Regional Park, with Hawaiian leaders and government officials present, to bless the sailing canoe Hokulea, before its four-year world voyage to promote aloha ("Future is in your hands, Dalai Lama tells students," Star-Advertiser, April 17).

What irony, as right below it was pictured people on the Leeward side at the same time getting kicked out from Keaau Beach Park with threats of arrest. Talk about compassion!

So, how much of the $1 million spent on the Dalai Lama’s visit to promote peace and tolerance went to helping them or for other humanitarian causes, when people are starving, in need of clean water, medicine, food or shelter?

At least there are various organizations out there showing the true love and compassion of Jesus by helping those less fortunate. Now that’s aloha!

Mark "Strider" Thomas
Bikers for Christ Motorcycle Ministry

Subsidized entities should open books

The editorial about access to credit union executives’ pay got me to wondering whether any other publicly subsidized institutions keep their executive pay secret ("Reveal credit union executives’ pay," Star-Advertiser, Our View, April 20). Do churches refuse to release figures on their executive payrolls, too?

To my way of thinking, any institution that benefits from a taxpayer subsidy in any form, whether it be a government grant or a tax break, needs to be willing to open its books to public scrutiny or lose those benefits.

James B. Young
St. Louis Heights