Oahu Transit doing fine job with TheBus

City Councilman Breene Harimoto thinks it makes sense to let the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation rail agency take over operation of TheBus.

With all due respect to Harimoto, I would like to point out that Oahu Transit Services, a private nonprofit corporation, has successfully operated TheBus for 21 years, and has been recognized for operating the best bus system in the entire nation.

HART has not yet demonstrated that it can successfully complete, operate and maintain a rail system.

In any case, it’s only common sense to let Oahu Transit Services continue to manage TheBus since it has clearly demonstrated excellence in its 21-year history of performance.

Gary F. Anderson
Waimanalo

Driver’s license renewal still awful

Don’t give pay raises to top city officials.

I just spent three hours in the driver’s license renewal line that Mayor Kirk Caldwell promised —and failed — to fix.

Instead of rewarding these big shots for doing nothing, use that money to hire a few more clerks at the Motor Vehicles, Licensing and Permits Division.

John Sender
Punchbowl

Expand care for mentally ill patients

Don’t blame care home operators ("Families struggle to find help for mentally ill loved one," Star-Advertiser, April 7).

Regardless of whether a person is mentally ill, a caregiver providing 24-hour care and room and board is paid about $1,100 a month to care for a care-home-level resident and about $1,700 for a nursing-home-level resident in a care home or foster home setting.

For residents who don’t have families to provide the extras for them, it is the caregivers who provide clothing, medications and uncovered incidentals. These caregivers take residents into their homes. How many of us would be willing to do this for the reimbursement provided?

Currently, state-run hospitals compete with private nursing homes for the same residents. State-run hospitals should take the more difficult-to-place residents.

The state Adult Mental Health Division is taking a step in the right direction by providing care homes with specialized training and support to house these more-difficult residents. This program needs to be expanded because the need goes beyond those at Hawaii State Hospital.

Lynn Muramaru
Kapolei

Torontonians now OK with bag fee

I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and visited your paradise the week of Jan. 28.

The previous Toronto mayor, David Miller, imposed a 5-cent bag charge a few years ago. Torontonians were not happy but we did take our own bags. This has cut the amount of trash enormously. Our current mayor overturned the 5-cent bag charge, but we still take our own bags. It’s a habit, a good habit.Some retailers still charge, some do not.

I urge the residents of Hawaii to consider this proposal for the future of your beautiful state.

Deborah Kehoe
Toronto

Solar tax credits have many benefits

John-David Nako’s commentary is the latest to demonize solar tax credits, calling them "corporate welfare" ("Solar tax credits a form of corporate welfare," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, April 7).

I disagree.

According to a 2012 series, "The United States of Subsidies," Hawaii spends $262 million per year on incentive programs, including the film industry, tech businesses, and of course, the tourist industry.

What is wrong with solar tax credits finally making it possible for middle-income homeowners to reduce their exorbitant electric bills? Our rates are the highest in the nation.

Without the credit, many residents would find the systems way out of their budget ("Loss of tax credits would hurt demand for PV, survey shows," Star-Advertiser, April 5).

And solar energy use is not just an economic issue. For those who believe in science, the tax credits also reduce levels of carbon dioxide, which is spewing into the atmosphere, creating climate catastrophes as you read this letter.

Nako did not mention the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. This initiative aims to get 70 percent of Hawaii’s energy needs to come from clean energy sources by 2030. The tax credits not only help PV users ease the high price of living here, they reduce carbon emissions and help the community as a whole reach the initiative goals.

That does not seem like corporate welfare to me.

Kim Osborn Mullen
Kailua

Article on N. Korea was constructive

Cheers for Ben Barber’s commentary, "Taming North Korea" (Star-Advertiser, April 10).

It is the most constructive contribution to understanding the legacy of the Korean War and American capabilities for bringing it to an end to appear in local and national media in decades.

He rightly calls for responding to the North’s longstanding desire for a peace treaty with the United States. But ending the Korean War is not just a bilateral matter. It can best be pursued by engaging South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and all former combatants who are now U.N. members in a U.N. Korean Peace Settlement Conference as envisaged by the 1953 Armistice.

If the United States will support but not take leadership to initiate it, it can be done by the U.N. secretary-general in consultation with member states North and South Korea.

Glenn D. Paige, Professor emeritus of political science, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Tantalus