Christian spirit about acceptance and love

I would like to comment on the article regarding Don Horner’s nomination for reappointment with the state Board of Education ("Horner’s school board nod OK’d amid attacks on his Christian faith," Star-Advertiser, April 10).

I fairly recently relocated to Honolulu from a religiously conservative region of the Midwest.

It saddens me that there is no longer tolerance for Christianity in our society, including here in Hawaii, among an ever-increasing segment of the population.

They associate Christianity with narrow-mindedness, and a lack of acceptance for people of different beliefs or lifestyles.

I believe that the Christian spirit is one of acceptance and love, and tolerance, above all things.

The people in the LGBT and atheistic communities need to see this spirit so we can live in harmony with one another.

I hope that there will be an effort on both sides to engender this kind of acceptance, for peace within the community and for the ultimate welfare of mankind.

Larry Mayer
Waikiki

Push for tolerance becoming intolerant

I attended the Senate confirmation hearing for state Board of Education Chairman Don Horner.

I was surprised and disheartened at the testimony opposing his reappointment to the BOE by members of the LGBT community.

I was at the Capitol last fall celebrating the passage of the marriage equality act ending discrimination and extending due civil rights to all couples in Hawaii.It was a great step forward for our community. Yet here were some of those same civil-rights advocates opposing Horner, discriminating against him based solely on the church he attends.

Horner has championed success for students all students in Hawaii.There was nothing in his record that said otherwise.

It was unfortunate and a step backward in the march for tolerance for everyone.

Kathy Bryant
Kailua

Banking executives don’t earn their pay

The fact that our localand federal governments are debating at great length raising the minimum wage is outlandish.

According to The , Wall Street handed out more than $26 billion in bonuses in 2013, a 15 percent increase from the previous year.

The low-wage workers produce or serve, while the top banking executives create nothing. They know the right angles, the right people, have the right education and take risks. That’s about it.

Both the low-wage workers and Wall Street workers receive government funding, through food stamps or bailouts and subsidies.

Hawaii lawmakers should considerthe "aloha spirit," which to me translates into being compassionate, patient and, above all, generous, when they debate and rationalize who they represent and who is benefitting from the decision-making process.

Mary Ellen Greenberg
Manoa

Coqui frogs are here to stay, so enjoy them

If you see or hear a harmless coqui frog on Oahu, do not fear or report it.

Just close your eyes and let it serenade you to sleep.

Like it or not, coqui frogs apparently are here to stay.

Tony Castanha
Palolo Valley

Start planning now for Phase II of rail

The city is now in the process of completing Phase I of the rail transit system from Kapolei to Ala Moana.

Now is the time to start planning for Phase II from Hawaii Kai to Ala Moana via the University of Hawaii.

With HART in place, planning for the next phase should be seamless with the experience gained from Phase I.

Beginning Phase II need not wait until Phase I is complete. Starting now would ensure an earlier completion date of rail from Hawaii Kai to Kapolei.

The City Council needs to extend the general excise tax surcharge to cover Phase II.

By doing so, the city and our congressional team can work to obtain federal participation in Phase II while President Barack Obama is still in office.

Discussion of extending the GET surcharge ad infinitum can wait until after the funding process of Phase II is complete.

Roy S. Tanouye
Waipahu

Articles on homeless should be combined

The Star-Advertiser writes articles like those listed below, but never combines the articles together to show the relentless impact the homeless are making.

Examples of recent articles include:

» A City Council committee removing $5 million from a fund helping the homeless;

» Homeless urinating on statutes in city parks;

» Homeless illegally taking cans and bottles out of garbage;

» Homeless found dead on a bus bench and in a park.

The newspaper needs to combine these types of stories every few weeks to show the black marks homelessness brings to this state.

The city and state are paying more every day for park employees to clean up after the homeless, paying more for emergency care for the homeless, paying more for police to monitor the homeless.

When will this issue be solved?

Ed Duba
El Mirage, Calif.

Upside of negatives is they inhibit growth

Like many other visitors, a visitor from Ohio complained about Waikiki’s bad appearance ("Waikiki has become big concrete jungle," Star-Advertiser, Letters, March 11).

He wrote that the International Marketplace is gone, King’s Village is next, and the homeless problem is a disgrace.

To me, Kalakaua Avenue is one of the most beautiful streets I have seen in my travels. The International Market Place consisted of ugly, old buildings that are now especially visible while they are being removed. There was nothing Hawaiian there, just a replica of an Asian bazaar. King’s Village is a beautiful place but business is extremely poor there. It’s the visitor who says, "We do not want it." The homeless problem is everywhere and there are no easy solutions.

It may just be a few negative features, like the homeless problem, traffic and cost of living that keeps our beautiful Hawaii from totally being invaded by mainlanders who want to move here.

Leonhard Nicolai
Waikiki

Kudos to guards who show up for their jobs

So two-thirds of the 214 adult correctional officers scheduled to work on Super Bowl Sunday actually showed up for work as they were scheduled, causing the state to pay them overtime.

Thank God for those dependable, hard-working ACOs.

Why doesn’t the Public Safety Department have blackout days when no vacation or sick leave can be taken?

If you don’t show up for work on these days, you don’t get paid, period. No excuses.

There are a fair number of ACOs who are dependable and trustworthy. They show up for work and end up carrying the workload of the undependable ACOs.

Those ACOs are hardworking individuals who actually care about the inmates and are doing the job they were hired to do.

Lynn K. Mattson
Waimanalo

FROM THE FORUM

Readers of the Star-Advertiser’s online edition can respond to stories posted there. The following are some of those. Instead of names, pseudonyms are generally used online. They have been removed.

"Food vendors cut out foam at UH-Manoa," Star-Advertiser, April 7:
>> This is a great start. It should have been done years ago.
>> Just cup your hands and pour in the hot coffee. Owwee!
——
"Private schools cite increased costs for higher prices," Star-Advertiser, April 7:
>> When I hear people say, "Even if I had the money I wouldn’t pay that much to send my kids to Punahou," I think, "That’s why you don’t have the money, because you don’t understand the value of an education as good as Punahou and ‘Iolani can provide."
>> The bottom line is that our public school system stinks. Parents have to sacrifice, but it is like night and day when a child attends a private school. You want to give your kid the best chance to learn. There’s no guarantee, but take a look at the results.
>> What people seem to forget: Education starts at home. That begins with teaching the Little Johnnies and Suzies the proper social and moral values so they are not disruptive in school (private or public) and are willing to learn from both teachers and peers. Parents need to stop using schools —  private or public — as daytime babysitters, or quit having kids until they are financially able to support them.
——
"Evaluation system unclear to isle teachers, survey finds," Star-Advertiser, April 8:
>> The state Department of Education will just have to hire more bureaucrats to explain the evaluation system to the teachers. Are we surprised? That’s what DOE does best: Hire more bureaucrats.
>> Teachers are saying that the evaluation system is overkill. No teacher that I know objects to being evaluated. The evaluation system has a component for data teaming and data analysis that produces so much data that the entire DOE needs to be replicated just to read the data.
>> Here is an idea: How about the Hawaii State Teachers Association do something other than being an impediment to progress and teach its members about the teacher evaluation system?
>> It’s the state’s responsibility to implement this evaluation system. It is supposed to educate the teachers on this process.
——
"State falters in review of elections," Star-Advertiser, April 8:
>> Fire the chief elections officer. He’s a dud. He’s more interested in covering up his mistakes than improving the electoral process.
>> Ordinary voters do not feel engaged and responsible for our distant, murky and bungling government. Increasingly, we feel our votes mean nothing.
——
"Feds praise city’s homeless plan," Star-Advertiser, April 9:
>> I like this. Let’s see what happens. After all the homeless "sweeping" Caldwell does, it’s about time we tried to help.
>> If the big problem is the folks who are mentally ill and unable to help themselves, how does Mayor Kirk Caldwell expect them to cope with the realities of everyday life in an apartment? This is doomed to failure.
——
"Pollution in Ala Wai Canal makes it no place to swim," Star-Advertiser, April 9:
>> Anyone who has watched "The Simpsons" and seen the three-eyed fish around the nuclear reactor can expect similar finds in the Ala Wai Canal.
>> It was once safe to fish there. I’ve seen photos of fishing stands along the makai wall of the canal.
>> Yes, there used to be a lot of fishing in the canal but it was primarily for mullet, and that’s why there were so many wooden chairs along the shoreline from the time it was built in the ’20s up to the late ’70s. The increasingly bad water quality didn’t help but the real decline in mullet was from the loss of mullet spawning grounds to development of the vast Kuapa Pond in east Oahu and other fish ponds in the early ’60s.
——
"Horner’s school board nod OK’d amid attacks on his Christian faith," Star-Advertiser, April 10:
>> The headline reinforces a false view of Christian oppression in a vastly Christian dominant culture. More important, it is completely inaccurate. Many Christians criticize this guy for the same reason. Are they criticizing their faith? No. Merely the fact that bigots have no role in running a school system.
>> Oh, I see. Not his faith, but … having an opinion that differs from the orthodoxy rules one out for public service, or running a corporation or public life in general, probably. Tell me, when exactly did you people go for your brownshirt fittings? Did you get group rates?
>> Don Horner is the best thing that happened to the state Board of Education.
>> Amen to that!