Draw the line against variances

Symphony Honolulu wants a variance so its residents can get a better view. Gov. Neil Abercrombie wants a variance so a developer can build the highest tower in the area. Why have rules if our elected officials and developers aren’t going to follow them?

The reason for the rules is to ensure that we don’t create another Waikiki, where overdevelopment is rampant and people can’t see the ocean through the high rises. The public doesn’t want Ward/Kakaako to end up like Waikiki.

Every developer after this will want a variance. Where do we draw the line?

The line should be drawn right now. No variances. Follow the rules to develop your buildings. Eventually developers will follow the rules to develop Kakaako.

The decisions we make now will affect Ward/Kakaako forever. Let’s develop Ward/Kakaako the right way.

Stan Sano
Honolulu

‘Old boys’ don’t want Cayetano

Ben Cayetano has the best grasp of the rail issue. He also represents the last best hope Honolulu has of overturning our city’s entrenched "old boy" network consisting of big business, developers, labor unions and embedded political interests. Nothing demonstrates this more clearly than the insulting "Be Nice Ben" smear campaign which was immediately implemented by that exact same unholy alliance which supports both Mayor Peter Carlisle and Kirk Caldwell.

Nor is Cayetano just a single issue candidate re: rail. As a former governor who ran a far bigger administration than either of his two rivals, Ben has the most experience on all aspects governing Honolulu’s shaky finances. Note that former Gov. Linda Lingle, who also ran large government budgets, has turned negative on rail, too.

Ben is a reluctant candidate who has nothing to prove or gain personally. Yet, he is being castigated by Hawaii’s entire entrenched "establishment" strictly because he wants to do the right thing for Honolulu. He deserves our respect and our votes.

Bradley A. Coates
Honolulu

Rail foes peddle misinformation

I see the anti-rail misinformation as a general insult to the engineering profession as a whole. When was the last time we questioned our doctor’s prescription of treatments, his or her integrity and required a full explanation of the chemistry before we are willing to take the drug?

If we agree that our transportation system is sick, screen out all the political noise and listen to qualified professional engineers. If the taxpayers have paid over and over again for the past 30 years for many studies that pointed to one single direction, perhaps it does mean something.

Will we fumble into a political pothole again this mayoral election? The politician has a bigger-than-life ego. The engineer has a traffic solution.

Shan Su
Honolulu

Writer wrong on Arizona law

Ann McFeatters apparently does not know the difference between immigrant an illegal immigrant ("Election shows Hawaii has become world’s melting pot," Star-Advertiser, May 5).

Of course immigration is not a bad word in Hawaii. It is not illegal immigration. McFeatters, in her usual style of leaving out important facts, would have you believe that other states and particularly Arizona are against legal immigration. Perhaps she needs a definition of the word illegal. Illegal: Contrary to official rules; unlawful.

She also states that Arizona’s immigration law "permits state authorities to stop and question people at random, searching for people here illegally."The Arizona law requires that state law enforcement officers attempt to determine an individual’s immigration status during a "lawful stop, detention or arrest" when there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is an illegal immigrant.There is nothing there about random questioning.

John Walker
Kaneohe