Governor signs up for union support

With all eyes focused on the gay marriage debate, Gov. Neil Abercrombie last week quietly signed a sweetheart deal giving two bargaining groups a $684 million pay raise. 

Ignoring the precedent this sets for negotiations with the remaining 12 bargaining groups, the question must be asked: Was the governor’s real reason for calling the legislative special session to address marriage equality, or instead to solidify union support in advance of next year’s elections?

Perhaps it is understandable that after 20 years in Washington (where government spends $140 for every $100 of taxes collected), public employee wage increases are a higher priority for the governor than reducing Hawaii’s underfunded public pension liabilities.  

By putting his own political ambitions ahead of the need to address this looming problem, however, it would appear the governor has decided his re-election is more important than bequeathing a fiscally stable Hawaii to our children and grandchildren.

David L. Mulliken
Diamond Head

Law enforcement failed Rory Wick

Rory Wick was stabbed and murdered here on the Big Island. He was a great guy and a good father to his three children.

I cannot understand how his alleged killer, David True Seal, was able to evade capture. 

Seal escaped from the State Hospital in Kaneohe in December 2009. Seal had been committed to the facility in 2002 after he was acquitted by reason of insanity of the kidnapping and sexual assault of a girl under 10 years old.

Seal is a dangerous criminal and was a wanted man, but no one paid attention. 

He must have flown to Hawaii island. Is there no follow-up, no list of criminals that is checked for flights?

Incompetent bureaucrats and sloppy police work killed Rory Thompson Wick. Rest in peace, Rory.

Patrick Easterling
Hilo

Koa Ridge shows conflicting values

The Koa Ridge development is another example of decisions based on the values of greed and unrestricted growth.

In 1976, while doing research for a graduate dissertation, I produced a documentary film on land development on Oahu and experienced identical concerns.

Entitled, “A Question of Values,” it explored how the value of making money conflicts with the value of malama aina; the former being held by decision makers and developers and the latter by local residents and conservationists.

So, still today, even though loss of agricultural land, diminishing water supply, increasing traffic and lack of affordable housing provide ample warning, we find it difficult to restrain the allure of big profits.

There is hope that reason will prevail, that growth can be balanced with economic stability, that the value of caring for the land and each other will become more important.

There is always hope.

John Heidel
Kailua

Too many police at Honolulu Marathon

Ten years ago, it cost $40 to enter the Honolulu Marathon readiness series. Today, it costs $45 to enter one of them. One of the reasons race directors cite is the increased police force required as of a few years ago. 

Runners don’t need a uniformed officer at every quiet corner of Kahala at 6 a.m. in the morning to avoid getting run over.

There are better uses of an officer’s time than standing around watching 1,400 runners pass him by.

Races encourage intensity and physical activity not just for the day but for life. And the high cost of races abetted by excessive police force requirements deters participation in races. 

The City and County could help promote physical activity by eliminating at least half of the police force currently required at these races.

Jacquelyn Chappel
Kaimuki

Ban GMOs on Hawaii island

Can you name birds, insects, wild plants and food crops that do well near your home? Many of us can’t, partly because genetically modified organisms (GMOs) slowly destroy our connections to the land, water and sky, and damage the foundations of life.

Troubling studies show GMOs impact the health of humans, animals, and even vital organisms in the soil. GMO pollen drift can contaminate neighbors’ crops and shut down organic, sustainable farming. 

GMOs can spread until they are unstoppable, like albezias, mongoose and coqui frogs. 

Seed-sharing builds connections, but if you share GMO seeds, you can be sued by multi-million-dollar corporations.

If banning GMOs is a mistake, it’s easy to undo. But if allowing GMOs is a mistake, that may be impossible to undo.

Please support a partial ban on GMOs on Hawaii island by supporting Bill 113, coming before the County Council today.

Cory Harden
Hilo

Don’t give to those with nets in traffic

I am so sick and tired of all of these people who stand on median strips along the road, with their nets in hand, asking for donations. I saw four girls in Waipahu with nets, tags still on, asking for donations for the survivors of the Philippine typhoon.

First of all, I don’t just give to anyone standing with a net.  When there are only four of them, it looks suspicious. When the Food Bank asks for donations, it has many more than four people on the sidewalks, and it is advertised.

As I sat there waiting for the light to change, these girls talked smack when no one would give them any money.

I think a legitimate charity would raise funds in some other way, maybe washing cars or selling baked good or chili tickets. Don’t think that I am ever going to give you any money if you stick a net in front of my face.

Yoshiko Sunaida
Palolo Valley