Everybody loves Mayor Billy Kenoi — he’s a local guy who gets things done. Unfortunately, he’s spending our money for these great projects, not his own.
Like the $100 million in bonds issued last June, and $235 million in February this year. Hey, that’s OK, though; he doesn’t have to pay it back. He will be out of office when the bills come due. It will be up to us, the taxpayers, to pay off that debt through increased taxes.
Future Hawaii Island mayors will not be able to fund important projects without raising taxes, hurting our bond rating and increasing our borrowing rates. Billy wins, we lose. Billy looks like a “can do” mayor, future mayors look like losers. How cool is that?
Sort of reminds me of the pCard scandal: irresponsible use of public funds.
Joel Aycock
Hawaiian Acres
Kenoi can be proud of his achievements
Five brand-new roads with two built during the lava flow that neared Pahoa.
Two new district parks and 12 new playgrounds built in Hawaii County as of late.
That’s a short list of the many accomplishments of Billy Kenoi during his tenure as mayor of Hawaii County. To name all of the good things Kenoi has achieved would require a book that is way too long for a letter to the editor.
People make mistakes; however, they should be forgiven. Even County Councilwoman Margaret Wille said Kenoi has done a lot during his tenure. Whoever follows Kenoi as mayor will have a hard record to duplicate as far as positives go. Kenoi has done a great job and people in all districts on Hawaii island know it.
Dean Nagasako
Honokaa
Hawaii could use some new leadership
It’s hard to say but frankly I am ashamed of my beautiful adopted home of Hawaii.
During the past several years, the state has managed to lose the Superferry, the Thirty Meter Telescope is on life support, the Honolulu Zoo has lost its accreditation, the rail is an ever-hungry monster destroying businesses and neighborhoods, the Honolulu police chief is less than forthcoming, and homelessness is a state embarrassment — all mostly due to political incompetence and the good old boy system that is alive and well here.
I’m not one of those “We did it this way on the mainland” kind of people. I live here, I pay taxes here, and I contribute here, but here is really not doing too well.
It’s time for new leadership all around.
Jacob Vinton
Foster Village
Real classrooms are better than the zoo
The Honolulu Zoo a classroom?
Standing 40 feet away, watching a confined gorilla playing with a blanket? Looking at penned birds is a learning experience?
Does a child going to a zoo “classroom” learn how or why Europeans killed off almost all of the bison, coyotes and people in North America or how bad it smells when someone scares a skunk?
Zoos don’t teach anything about nature other than that man can confine all of the other animals on this Earth.
To improve the education system in Hawaii, give every high school library $30,000 worth of new books or audio visual equipment, every year.
Regardless of how many helmsmen there are aboard ship, there is only one helm and one captain. Captain Honolulu must realize that his ship of “zoo,” which burns $6.8 million per year, has run aground and should be abandoned.
Carl L. Jacobs
Aiea
Revamp financial plan for Wahiawa hospital
After reading the articles about the plight of Wahiawa General Hospital, I would like to point out something that has been missed in the reasons to keep it open.
Wahiawa General is the only geriatric behavioral unit in the entire state to deal with acute emotional/psychological issues.
Where are people supposed to go if it’s closed?
As an advocate for caregivers and care recipients, I feel it is critical that the hospital remain open, and that a solid financial plan be developed to make it profitable by partnering with private industry and the city to provide additional services, such as creating an Aging Disabilities Resource Center with service providers renting space as well as the creation of a private-pay assisted living facility.
Ken Takeya
Kailua
If they build it, more homeless will come
I drive the roads on Oahu daily and I see the homeless. I don’t have a hard heart, but do I have pity on the homeless who come to Hawaii? No.
I feel sorry for the thousands of local people living paycheck to paycheck, working more than one job and trying to raise a family.
The minimum wage is only $8.50, and our children go to school and sit in classrooms with no air conditioning.
Our tax dollars pay to clean up after the homeless. Yet our government wants to spend millions so the homeless can take a shower. Really. Do our government officials realize the more comfortable they make it for the homeless, the more will come?
Tina Luke
Salt Lake
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.
“Native Hawaiian Chamber supports NextEra purchase of HEI” Star-Advertiser, March 28:
>> I am totally in support of NextEra and this endorsement is great. The Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce very rarely takes a position on anything. Imua, NextEra.
>> Sorry to say they missed it on this one.
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“Rail to open with 10-mile route” Star-Advertiser, March 28:
>> Who is going to ride the rail from “east Kapolei” to Aloha Stadium? The subsidized maintenance and operations boondoggle will just begin sooner.
>> More than half the population of Honolulu lives west of Aloha Stadium. There will be plenty of riders for the short route.
>> So what? Do all these people who live west of Aloha Stadium work at or near the stadium? I would not be willing to ride a bus to a rail station, ride the rail to the stadium and then catch another bus or two to get to my final destination, and then repeat on the way home. Driving, even in traffic, would be faster and more convenient.
>> Also, rail won’t be serving where many of those people live — past East Kapolei, in Nanakuli, Waianae, etc.
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“Kapolei skateboarders push for more elbow room at park” Star-Advertiser, March 29:
>> Parks are important assets. Let’s take care of them.
>> Don’t forget the skate parks in Kahuku or at Aala Park.
>> This is a good request. These parks keep these kids physically fit and out of trouble. They also keep them from riding in the street where they can get hurt.
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“Hawaii senators want an end to shrinking airplane seat sizes” Star-Advertiser, March 29:
>> Competition always improves products and services. We need to allow international carriers to fly from Honolulu to the continental U.S. and back. I know that we would have better options and quality of air service.
>> If you think dumping our entire U.S.-owned and operated aviation industry to benefit foreign companies and their employees is worth it, you are sadly mistaken. Americans need to stop stuffing food down their bloated bodies and solve that problem first. Then an economy seat wouldn’t seem so bad.
>> The airlines are selling you space on the plane. If you are large, then you need to pay for more space. Same with buying clothes. If you’re a large, you don’t buy a small shirt and small pants.
>> I hope they are successful in regulating seat sizes. I’m an average size person who recently sat next to a smaller person. While we both fit in our seats, our shoulders were touching. If seats get any narrower, yes, we would fit in the seat, but for most of us we wouldn’t be able to sit comfortably. I can imagine how uncomfortable it would be if I were sitting next to a bigger person. This sounds like another way to charge passengers more for what should be standard seats.
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“Officials look beyond Mauna Kea for place to mount telescope” Star-Advertiser, March 30:
>> TMT will not be built here. The builders will probably select Chile. The handwriting is on the wall and all can see. If this was a real priority, the governor would have pushed things along already, but clearly there has been no action or leadership from him. The TMT builders are on a tight schedule as the components of the telescope are nearing completion.
>> Who can blame them for looking for a better place than Hawaii? After the Superferry and now this, the world should know to stay the heck out of Hawaii. All we care about is the rail fiasco.
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“Vote put off on rules for ride-hailing companies like Uber” Star-Advertiser, March 31:
>> Why not force taxi companies to join the 21st century instead of allowing them to continue their campaign financing influence-peddling?
>> I’m sure that the taxi companies are spending a lot of money in their attempt to protect their monopoly. What I’ve observed is that the taxi companies, in an effort to compete, have instituted a lot of the technologies that transportation network companies have, so it shows that competition is good.
>> Let the free market work, just a little, in Hawaii … please.
