A Makiki resident wondered if she’ll ever see a road on Oahu that’s pothole-free (“City administration neglecting potholes,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Dec. 8).

While keeping any road free of pukas is challenging, especially with El Niño-driven moisture, the city is up to the task.

I urge residents to check out Makiki Street the next time they’re out on the road. After a repaving project in 2013, the results are truly impressive.

As part of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s aggressive repaving program, the city has set a five-year goal of refurbishing 1,500 lane miles deemed unsatisfactory in the 2012 Road Condition Survey. So far, the city has completed 930 lane miles in less than three years.

Looking ahead, 2016 looks to be a banner year for repaving, with 275 lane miles already under contract.

The areas of concentration next year are Kaneohe, the Waianae Coast, Punchbowl and several main arterials: Beretania Street, Kapahulu Avenue, Ward Avenue and Date Street.

Robert Kroning

Director, Department of Design and Construction

Tax policy not for unions to determine

Who do the officers of the Hawaii State Teachers Association think they are (“HSTA urges tax increase to help fund education,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 9)?

HSTA is a union. Nothing more, nothing less. It has no business recommending tax increases.

Its officers are not elected. They should stick to the business of employees, not taxpayers. We elect representatives to figure that out. They foul things up enough without help from the unions.

Bob Dukat

Pahoa, Hawaii island

Fight against ISIS ignoring key players

In the rush to fight ISIS, we should pause and consider who are our real enemies.

The San Bernardino woman shooter, who lived much of her life in Saudi Arabia, was trained at a Quran school in Pakistan. Most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis.

Another way is to “follow the money.” These insurgencies need money. The startup money for ISIS reputedly came from wealthy Saudis. The Saudis, with a fine air force and army, are doing little to stop ISIS.

The madrassas schools in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia keep turning out U.S.-hating terrorists by the thousands.

These people and their funding keep ISIS, the Taliban and al-Qaida going.

Victory over ISIS will not stop the terrorist threat. The U.S.-hating mullahs and power brokers will continue to furnish terrorist recruits and funding that will surface in an insurgent group under another name. We must find a way to stop the hate at the source.

Paul Tyksinski

Kailua

Music is a means to bring us together

I am sorry that Hawaii may receive few, if any, Syrian refugees.

This is because my life has been enriched beyond measure by my Muslim West African friends living in Honolulu. They have created a community by sharing their culture with us through music and dance.

If Syrians came, the same might happen. What is their music like? How do they dance? What world views inform their stories and art forms? I would be eager to know.

When peaceful people from different cultures meet, and there are language barriers, and customs seem strange, we can remember that exploring each other’s music can open our minds.

Kay Lynch

Kaneohe

Housing shouldn’t be built in ‘country’

Bob Nakata and Catherine Graham don’t want the City Council to cap rail spending because they want “the opportunity for development of more affordable rental housing along the rail line” (“City Council should reject measure to cap GET surcharge meant for rail,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 6).

But that’s the wrong strategy for building affordable housing — or any other kind of housing.

Housing shouldn’t be built in the country (keep the country country) on productive agricultural land, but that’s exactly where rail is going.

Instead, density should be increased in areas that are already urbanized.

Unfortunately, Oahu’s deteriorating sewers already are at capacity, preventing substantially more development in urbanized areas. The billions of dollars for rail should have instead been used to upgrade sewers. That would have allowed all types of housing to be built from Hawaii Kai to Waipahu.

It’s not too late. All surplus funding for rail should be directed to upgrading Oahu’s sewers in order to create more housing for all.

John Kawamoto

Kaimuki

Will layoffs fund NextEra’s savings?

NextEra commits to gradually reducing our electrical rates in four years and won’t lay off workers for at least two years.

Are the ratepayer reductions coming from massive layoffs after two years of a no-layoff commitment made by NextEra?

We should demand savings from transitioning to renewable energy and its reduced maintenance costs (away from handling fossil fuels), not layoffs.

If NextEra wants the people’s trust, it needs to put something on the table that we can measure, not just promises and commitments.

Brad Baang

Waianae

Hee’s defenders hard to comprehend

I was flabbergasted to read the names of people who think Albert Hee should be given leniency by Judge Susan Oki Mollway for being a tax cheat (“Politicians, kin and pals of tax cheat push judge for lenience,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 3).

They portrayed him as generous and sharing.

They don’t seem to care he used millions of stolen dollars.

I don’t think he’ s so wonderful and I’m wondering about the ethics of those writing in his favor.

Pat Paterson

Moiliili