There were two interesting columns in the Feb. 4 Star-Advertiser.

The ever-perceptive local columnist Lee Cataluna pointed out that people without some history of public service are not necessarily the best individuals to vote into positions of political leadership (“Leadership is more than a cute face and shakas”).

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman noted that it often is not beneficial when an individual without a background of public service is put into an elected office (“Trump administration reeks of dangerous incompetence”).

Such an individual, who ideologically deprives himself or herself from access to a network of valuable kumu, does society no good.

Denigrating educated economists, cultural practitioners, scientists, leaders of our nation’s faith communities and educators is emblematic of a destructive anti-intellectual mindset that has bedeviled a number of societies.

Let’s not allow it to happen here in Hawaii. Let us choose our legislators and community representatives carefully.

I have taken Cataluna’s advice to heart. I will not be pulling papers to run for any of the many offices for which I am profoundly unqualified to serve.

Henry Trapido-Rosenthal

Manoa

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Judiciary working to improve bail system

The Hawaii State Judiciary appreciates the concerns raised by the recent editorial regarding the release of accused individuals on money bail pending trial (“Bail system treats accused unfairly,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, Feb. 5).

In fact, the Hawaii State Judiciary is currently working with criminal justice stakeholders to address this very issue.

In 2017, the Legislature directed the Judiciary to convene a Criminal Pretrial Task Force, to review the criminal pretrial system and to develop appropriate strategies for safeguarding both the interests of individual liberties and that of public safety.

The Criminal Pretrial Task Force is chaired by Judge Rom Trader and comprised of 31 criminal justice stakeholders. This task force is actively engaged in fulfilling the directives of the Legislature.

While there are diverging perspectives as to how best to develop bail alternatives and reform measures, the task force continues to welcome input and recommendations so that procedures relating to pretrial release fully reflect the Judiciary’s commitment to its core mission of providing fair and equal access to justice.

Rodney Maile

Administrative director of the courts

Hawaii State Judiciary

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Brace yourselves for another task force

We have been through many state task forces that never produced anything helpful for the people of Hawaii.

Now state Rep. Kaniela Ing, who also happens to be a candidate for Congress, proposes a state task force to study the feasibility of providing a government job for anyone who needs one (“State official wants study of government ‘jobs for all’,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 5).

While Ing is on that line of thinking, he might as well add another group of people to oversee how the task force will be doing the study. The task force will also need an expert or a consultant.

Of course, we are not even talking about the subject of “jobs for all.” Oh, what a way to spread power and money.

Brace yourselves, Hawaii taxpayers.

Florencia Aczon Ranchez

Ewa Beach

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‘Death with dignity’ is a slippery slope

David Shapiro has no answer to the risk assisted suicide poses for the elderly and disabled (“Denying ‘death with dignity’ adds to patients’ suffering,” Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, Feb. 4).

Here are some developments:

>> In Oregon, a patient who chooses to discontinue treatment for diabetes (suspending insulin) could thereby qualify for doctor-assisted suicide;

>> A proposal in Delaware would allow a “social worker” to determine that an individual with intellectual disabilities wishes to ingest lethal drugs;

>> The Netherlands now offers doctor-assisted suicide to individuals suffering from depression.

There is also what psychiatrists call “suicide contagion” — vulnerable people (teenagers, the depressed) are more inclined to kill themselves when society accepts suicide as an option.

The trouble with starting down this slippery slope is that it’s slippery.

John P. Dellera

Kahala

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HI-EMA exercises appear inadequate

The “button pusher” said the level of training was inadequate (“I did what I was trained to do, and I feel very badly about what happened,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 3).

It’s not just the level of training, but maybe the exercise design itself. Standard U.S. military exercises use three teams or player types: Blue Team (friendly forces: here, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency staff being trained); Red Team (enemy forces: players who notify the state of an attack); and White Team (exercise referees).

It looks like the White Team, which can abort the exercise when something goes wrong, was AWOL.

Former HI-EMA administrators Vern Miyagi and Toby Clairmont should be familiar with these concepts, and also about the MESL (master exercise scenario list), which is developed to capture all exercise aspects: what is being trained and what is not; how to isolate the exercise from the real world; what to do if an exercise scenario inadvertently bleeds into the real world; and what to do if a real event happens during the exercise.

The training was inadequate, in many more ways than reported by the media to date.

Leslie Ozawa

Kaimuki