I was impressed with the progress Bumpy Kanahele has made helping so many Hawaiians live with pride and dignity (“Seeking refuge,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 18). He did that without a lot of costs to the taxpayer. I agree a model like his could be successful at the homeless encampment near the Waianae Small Boat Harbor.

Furthermore, why not expand this concept to the thousands of homeless non-Hawaiians and low-income families that are being crushed financially by the high rents in Hawaii?

Why not offer long-term leases on very small lots on state land near public transportation? I recall a December 2016 article about First Assembly of God’s plan to house some homeless in dome units costing about $15,000 installed. Those units, along with common cooking, laundry, shower and bathroom facilities, would drop the cost per unit of occupancy to a small fraction of what our elected officials are currently trying to do.

Ron Miller

Waimanalo

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‘Sweeps’ anything but compassionate

As a Kamehameha Schools alumnus, I was taught that it is my kuleana to give back to the people. As a man who moved from Kailua to Waianae, I understand the frustration of being unable to afford to live in an area where I grew up. As a person who used to look out for houseless children in Waimanalo, I am aware of the illegal sweeps that are not compassionate. As a teacher at Waianae High School, a school next to the houseless village Pu‘uhonua O Waianae, I am shocked and disappointed at the duplicitous tactics the state uses in painting a picture of a dangerous area for children.

The people in the village have aided law enforcement officials in tracking down items stolen by non-residents, conducted educational tours, and raised children who respect and participate in the educational system we offer at the school. The people in the village clean up after themselves and share resources, such as food and clothing, with all.

The state’s plan to develop a marine science research center featuring the ‘opae‘ula would be both unreasonable and harmful to the very marine population it intends to protect. You sweep trash, not people.

Christopher Akana

Waianae

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Despite article, ERS investments sound

A recent Wall Street Journal article was hugely misleading, implying that Hawaii’s Employees’ Retirement System was “gambling” with VIX (Volatility Index measuring S&P 500 expected swings) exposure strategies similar to Harvard’s. Such an implication could not be further from the truth.

The unlevered fully-collateralized options overlay strategies applied within ERS’s portfolio actually results in significantly less risk than a traditional equity portfolio or index fund, particularly during a significant drawdown like we recently experienced. In fact, there was no surprise how ERS’s strategy performed: As expected, it outperformed more traditional equity portfolios.

The rationale for our “putwrite” strategy is to mitigate the equity risk that too many pension funds have experienced over the last two major bear markets and in early February.

The VIX-selling strategy referenced in the article, which we do not employ, performed materially worse. The ERS has kept its distance from such aggressive investments.

Thomas Williams

Executive director, state Employees’ Retirement System

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Fix dangerous H-1 ramp by university

In 1996, I saw 29 bodies laid out on the ground in the hot May sun after the worst school bus accident in U.S. history at Martinez, Calif. A school bus packed with students from Yuba City failed to negotiate the sharp freeway exit, flipped over and landed on its roof.

The eastbound H-1 freeway exit near University Avenue has an even sharper turn than the Martinez exit. That H-1 exit is a tragedy waiting to happen.

Also, during 30 years of commuting on the bus from Hawaii Kai to downtown, the only significant improvement has been the widening of Kalanianaole Highway in the 1990s.

The Moiliili area is currently under development. Before it is too late, now is the time to finally rebuild the H-1 University interchange by adding additional lanes in both directions to the H-1 overpass, and fixing on- and off-ramps to allow proper exiting and merging for drivers.

Sam Gillie

Hawaii Kai

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Law enforcers must investigate all leads

In light of the Florida school shooting, we keep hearing from politicians to students to parents that gun laws need to change. We see the blame game every time there’s a mass shooting.

Yet where the focus of whom to really blame should be on local law enforcement on all levels that were given vast amounts of leads or solid tip of a possible shooter, yet they did not investigate properly; doing so could have prevented the shooting. The FBI admitted to having been tipped off on the unstable behavior of Nikolas Cruz yet did not investigate.

Ideas of metal detectors at schools, to teachers armed with guns, are costly possibilities, and come with heavy political red tape.

We need local law enforcement to take actual action in “prevention,” by investigating any leads of a possible shooter. The FBI failed the Florida students and parents, just as the local sheriffs’ department of Colorado failed the families of the Columbine School shooting victims.

Han Song

Kaneohe