Controls on pCards seem awfully lax

I am a U.S. government employee.I travel a lot for business so I have a government credit card.

Prior to any travel or use of my card, I must submit documents in advance,showing what I will be using the card for, itemize each purchase (hotel, car, etc.) and receive prior approval from at least three individuals.

I must prove why I am using any airline not on its preferred list, and am allowed only certain expenditures.Hotels and car rentals must be on a pre-approved list.

The card is in my name and I am responsible to pay all charges on time.

There are times I get a bill before I have even traveled and if I don’t pay, it is against my credit report.

Where are the checks and balances in Hawaii state govern- ment?A charge to a strip club, non-sanctioned companies or anything not pre-approved (unless an emergency)would be consideredjust cause for immediate dismissal.

Lizette Haneberg
Hawaii Kai

Rail should reduce number of cars

With all the cars on the freeway today, everybody suffers in the gridlock.

The state needs to regulate the amount of cars each household can have. We just have too many cars, and no end in sight.

Second, we need the rail system as the alternative to Oahu’s traffic congestion on the freeway. When the rail system starts up, who would want to drive when the rail can get you there faster, better and more efficiently?

No need to be stuck in the morning and night traffic — just relax and enjoy the ride. The rail will bypass the freeway gridlocks and get us to our destinations on time.

We should understand that this rail project needs all of our support, especially in paying for it. It will benefit all of us in its use when it’s done, whether we live in Hawaii Kai or on the Windward side.

Keola Akana
Punchbowl

Access to top execs much appreciated

Hawaiian Electric Industries and NextEra Energy held meetings with the community across the state over the last two weeks.

I attended the meeting at Ward Center recently and was impressed to see the CEOs of both companies answering questions and speaking with attendees. Only in Hawaii does the community have such access to top executives.

As a busy professional, I appreciated the format of the gathering, which encouraged one-on-one conversations and allowed me to get my questions answered without spending all evening sitting through an hours-long meeting.

I found the staff from HEI and NextEra friendly and willing to answer my questions.

Hopefully, they will continue to reach out to the community in this way and keep us involved as the discussion of the deal progresses.

Reiko Suzuki
Aiea

HECO definitely profits from solar

In an April 11 letter to the editor, a Hawaiian Electric employee made an amazing statement: "Hawaiian Electric does not profit from NEM credits."

NEM, or net energy metering, is the excess produced from roof-top photovoltaic systems. After crediting the homeowner for almost all of his or her electricity costs, the surplus is kept by HECO, marked up to full price, then sold to other customers.

This is a gift of finished product. Because it has virtually no production or other expenses, the net profit to HECO is almost the same as the gross profit.

With no capital cost or petroleum acquisition expense, this must be one of the best profit centers in the company.

Requests to determine how much of this excess is gifted each reporting period have been ignored.

Perhaps they do not count this as profit because the funds are used to pay an egregious level of salary and benefits.

Dick Morris
Hawaii Kai

Don’t extend rail tax without more facts

Our only hope as taxpayers is that Gov. David Ige will veto the Legislature’s attempts to give a five-year extension to the rail general excise tax surcharge, which covers up why rail needs the additional $910 million it is currently over cost.

House Bill 134, which recently passed, ignores the fact that the city wanted a 25-yearextension, in order to extend an overbudget rail to Manoa and West Kapolei.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell has stated that he cannot give us the final cost of the system because they are still negotiating the contracts and to disclose that information would increase costs.

So based solely on faith, we taxpayers are supposed to believe that a five-year extension will result in rail on time and on budget (the new budget of $6 billion).

Instead, I hesitatingly prefer to put my faith in Ige to veto this blank-check legislation — and also to demand that the public be given the details on the price overruns and final cost.

Joseph Gibbs
Kaneohe

Have students adopt Stairway to Heaven

Can the University of Hawaii engineering college adopt the Stairway to Heaven as a semester project to seek ways and means to preserve it so that it can be enjoyed by all of us, including kupuna and keiki?

Can more than one entry be designed so that intrusions onto private property be avoided?

Parking areas for admission booths, souvenir stands, security, etc., should be included.

Areas for picnics, cameras and mini hiking trails on the ground level with guides could be educational.

As for funding: A recent Star-Advertiser article noted that 2014 was the third straight year of record visitor arrivals, with 8.28 million coming to the state.

Of special note is that China has a growing middle class that travels extensively, especially to the Pacific Rim areas.

Mary Horie
Kuliouou