‘Reunification’ plan works in Florida

I worked for a social service agency in Florida and witnessed its "reunification" program, which was instrumental in providing to homeless people one-way tickets for transportation from Florida.

The program has been in effect for many years and continues to be successful.The key to its success is in the guidelines that are set in stone and which must be met before a ticket is issued.

Here are the rules: The person must have been homeless for at least 30 days; must have a Social Security number and other identification; and must have a relative in the state to which they will travel who will agree to house them upon arrival.

Once that criteria is met, a non-refundable, non-negotiable ticket is purchased by the social service agency at point of departure, and the homeless person is actually seen to get on board.

This reunification offer is good only once in a lifetime and careful records are kept to ensure that the system is not abused.

Seems to me that it could work in Hawaii, too.

Joyce Curtis
Punchbowl

Labels secondary to solving problems

Every election, we hire politicians to do an important job.

It’s about finding a way to work with others and getting things done. It isn’t about drawing lines in the sand and not giving an inch. It isn’t about putting the politics of party before the greater good of the electorate that hired them.

Some 237 years ago, the original colonies found a way to work together. By putting aside political agendas and self-interest for the greater good, they crafted a government that still works today. If we had today’s politicians working for us then, our country would never have been born.

To get politicians working together, No Labels (www.NoLabels.org), is building the "Problem Solvers" coalition in Congress. The group has grown to 81 members since January and has unveiled a legislative package called "Make Government Work!" designed to make our government more efficient and effective.

Please encourage your local politicians to learn more so we can stop wasting time yelling at each other from across imaginary lines.

Dan Hartenstein
Kaneohe

‘Big tent’ must be within Constitution

Of course the Hawaii Democratic Party is a "big tent" that allows for a wide divergence of views among members within the Hawaii Constitution.

But if members of the party go against the state Constitution, then the party’s members must be held accountable.

Article 1, Section 8 of the Hawaii State Constitution reads: "No citizen shall be disfranchised, or deprived of any of the rights or privileges secured to other citizens, unless by the law of the land."

Jack Law
Kaimuki

Tolerance is about hearing all voices

A letter to the editor titled, "Sen. Gabbard still being intolerant" (Star-Advertiser, Letters, July 30), says, "Tolerance is a trademark of the Democratic Party."

We boast a party system that encourages participation in an association wherein one can identify common interests and yet be free to express his or her views, whether they are in sync or whether they differ in perspective. Any bar to such free association is undemocratic and intolerant.

Excluding expression of any views other than one’s own, whether in politics, religion or social culture, is misusing the concept of party for the promotion of a pre-determined agenda.

Does not equality permit two voices to be heard — or only the dictates of the loudest one?

Lamentably, tolerance may often seem to be in short supply, but it has never been limited to one party label.

Jane Hays
Hawaii Kai

Owners should pay for retrieval of dogs

The changes to the contract between the Hawaiian Humane Society and the city, resulting in the society no longer picking up stray animals, is ludicrous.

Someone’s dog escapes and is running in a neighborhood. Why would any good Samaritan now stop and save that animal from being hit by a car, if he or she cannot get the society to come get the animal and, it is hoped, return it safely to the owner?

What if we instituted a law that would levy a huge fine on the owner of a dog that gets picked up for running loose? The owner would pay the fine, the city and Hawaiian Humane Society would make money to reinstate services, and the dog owners would quickly fix their fences to avoid penalties.

Judy Mick
Kailua

Burden of safety falls on pedestrians

As a commercial driver who regularly logs about 200 miles a day throughout Oahu, I see pedestrians frequently place themselves in danger and impede traffic.

This behavior and the resulting increase in pedestrian accidents and fatalities here in Hawaii is due mainly to an inappropriate shift of responsibility for pedestrian safety onto drivers rather than pedestrians.

Crosswalks are not an extension of a sidewalk — they are safety zones where pedestrians can cross an area designated for vehicular use. Therefore, pedestrians do not have a "right" to enter a crosswalk area anytime, especially without checking for approaching vehicles.

My parents taught me this as a child, and the pedestrian law makes this quite clear.

Rather than redesigning roadways and installing advanced pedestrian-safety systems, a much more effective solution would be to educate pedestrians on pedestrian law and signals, and to more adamantly enforce pedestrian law and ticket those who break it.

Kai Parker
Waikiki