Homeless pay taxes, agencies try to help

Daci Armstrong asserted that parks and other amenities belong to people with homes who pay taxes (“Homeless wield the real power,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 10).

Well, no, actually. That is not true. Every time they make a purchase, homeless people are paying taxes. Moreover, contrary to her claim, policy makers and leaders of non-governmental organizations alike struggle every day to address issues raised by homelessness.

The solutions proposed by Armstrong, including “wheels” and “muzzles,” seem disingenuous at best and a cruel joke at worst.

Michael Kappos

Waikiki

—

Help ALICE residents before homeless

I read two cover-page articles with great sadness and chagrin (“Half of isle residents face financial hardship,” “Homeless shuffle to avoid Kakaako park closures,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 10).

Not enough attention and resources are given to our “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed” (ALICE) residents who hold down two or three jobs and still struggle to make ends meet.

We pay too much attention and resources to the homeless. With access to free food, housing and health care, why would they even bother to work?

These entitlements take away their incentives to work or better themselves.

Are our ALICE households ignored because they can get by on what little they have?

To add insult to injury, they are also paying taxes to support that ever-growing homeless population, too.

I’d rather see my tax dollars provide a temporary helping hand to those ALICE households and not as a lifetime handout to the chronically homeless.

Those homeless need to take ownership of their own problems and stop making their problems our problems.

Judy Lee

Ala Moana

—

Pedestrians should wear reflective items

For those who run or walk during the early morning pre-dawn hours, or after dusk each evening, wearing all black without so much as one tiny piece of reflective tape, flashlight, flasher or vest: You might not be letting yourself reach your fullest potential.

As I drive a very large Toyota Tundra in Kailua during the same hours, I can tell you from experience that at my ripe age of 66, I may not see you on the side of the road, or see you crossing the road illegally, until I am just a few feet from you.

Road conditions — their narrow width, along with the density of Kailua, thanks in part to accessory dwelling units — are leading drivers like me to fear for your lives.

Please be smart. Please wear reflective devices. It just might save your life.

Mike Gallagher

Kailua

—

Use Hawaiian names, not common ones

I’m not Chinese, and don’t know if any who are find the “Chinaman’s Hat” nickname offensive (“Stop calling island Chinaman’s Hat,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 6).

However, since Hawaiian is the first language of our island home and one of two official languages of the state of Hawaii, I think everyone should learn and use the real names — in this case Mokoli‘i, the correct name of that islet.

No one knows why many of the nicknames were introduced to replace Hawaiian names, or when. Maybe non-Hawaiians found the Hawaiian names too difficult for them to pronounce. Or maybe they just don’t care about being correct, or Hawaiian.

There are many other glaring examples and I wish everyone would learn how to pronounce the real names and use them. The real name for Diamond Head is Le‘ahi; Punchbowl is Puowaina; Coconut Island is Moku o Lo‘e; Enchanted Lake is Ka‘elepulu; Yokohama Bay is Keawa‘ula; and the list goes on.

Keith Haugen

Nuuanu

—

Special interests undermine voting

Thanks to Ed Case for his commentary on the corrosive effect of the vast sums of special-interest money on our American democracy (“Time to reform money in politics,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Jan 7). He said that it debased our “core principle of consent of the governed” and that it “subverts presidents and members of Congress and excludes the vast majority of us.”

He was right on target, but we have a more fundamental problem that special-interest money exacerbates. We have lost faith in the ballot box, the fundamental bedrock on which democracy rests.

If you can’t trust the process and the results of an election, then all is lost. That is exactly where we are right now. Elections, particularly the bigger ones, are becoming a futile charade. They can be “bought” by the special-interest money, manipulated by foreign powers disseminating fake news propa- ganda, and corrupted by blatant, flagrant gerrymandering and voter suppression.

This is a slippery and dangerous situation. The populace is complacent. Where is the outrage?

John Berestecky

Palolo

—

Even with surplus, government greedy

The Republican U.S. Congress passed a huge tax cut bill and our Republican President Donald Trump signed it. It was billed as a huge benefit for the middle class. Not one Democrat voted for this tax cut.

This big tax cut means many here in Hawaii will receive fatter paychecks because less money will be withheld by the federal government.

Here in Hawaii, the state has a $800 million surplus of our tax money (“Ige prudent about $893M state surplus,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 16). However, Democratic Gov. David Ige and the 2017 Democratic-controlled Legislature passed increases on some fees despite the surplus. I call this a form of greed.

Melvin Partido Sr.

Pearl City