Ige right to maintain cautious approach

I’m glad Gov. David Ige is not up for reelection; otherwise, he might be pandering to public opinion rather than doing what’s needed to survive a continuing health crisis.

Thanks to his cautious approach, we now can start welcoming visitors back and moving toward normalcy. But he knows, and everyone else should too, that it isn’t over. We really won’t know where we stand until after the holidays.

Viruses mutate. Defenses can fail. Without continued precautions we could very well end up right where we started. Now is not the time for politicians to seek attention by stirring up opposition and playing the people’s hero.

Our overworked doctors, nurses and first responders deserve our continued kokua until this crisis is under control.

James Young

St. Louis Heights

New large-venue stadium needed

I totally disagree with our three former governors’ opinions that the new Aloha Stadium shouldn’t be built, and instead use all of land to build 20,000 affordable housing (no to little Kakaako).

First of all, their opinion that a stadium on campus can sell out 15,000 or 20,000 seats is a dream. I was a season ticket holder for four years and was offered to purchase tickets for this season, but I will never attend a game on campus due to traffic congestion and having to sit on bleachers without actual seats in the Manoa rain. No thanks.

Entertainment options may no longer be important to them, but they are important to our quality of life. Not having a large-capacity venue will doom us to never hosting large concerts or other big-name events — 8,000 or 10,000 seats will not cut it.

Judy Park

Aiea

Change election rules for Hawaii

It’s time to change Hawaii’s elections rules. Under the current closed primary system, voters can only vote for candidates of one party of their choice.

For most statewide offices, this means that the Democratic Party primary is the real election; the primary winner will also win the general election. This system deprives voters of other parties the opportunity to vote in the primary election race that determines the winner.

It even affects Democrats when there are at least three strong candidates and the primary winner only gets a minority of the votes.

There likely will be three main candidates in the next election for governor: Lt. Gov. Josh Green, former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Vicky Cayetano. This primary race will determine the next governor.

There is a solution to this problem that has been adopted in California: The top two candidates advance to the general election regardless of party. This system in Hawaii would usually mean that the top two Democratic candidates appear in the general election. Then all voters, regardless of party, would have the ability to vote for the winner.

Brice Conquest

Waialae-Kahala

Install more cheaper, slower EV chargers

It is good news that Hawaiian Electric plans to install a total of 450 rapid charging ports at 75 locations by 2030 (“Hawaiian Electric proposes more EV public charging stations, lower charging rates,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 2). As the owner of a middle-aged Leaf, I occasionally need to recharge after several trips in a day away from home. However, at $79 million, those are expensive charging ports costing about $175,000 each.

What many of us really need are $1,500-class, slow-charging connections at our daytime work places. (The cost is similar to an electrician running wiring for a new air conditioning system.)

We can bring our slow chargers and buy electricity from our employers’ solar systems, some of which we can sell to Hawaiian Electric in the evening at home.

Newer vehicles have plenty of battery capacity to allow selling some power during the peak demand evening time and still have plenty to get back to work in the morning.

Kits are available to tap into EV vehicle batteries.

Quick, inexpensive and effective. A resource in phasing out coal.

Daniel C. Smith

Pearl City

EXPRESS YOUR THANKS THIS THANKSGIVING

It’s been a year of uncertainty, adaptation and recovery — and now it’s time to reflect on things with hope and gratitude.

Today through Nov. 23, send in your thoughts about the things you’re thankful for (letters at 150 words max, or essays at 500-600 words). A collection of these “Be thankful” submissions will run on Nov. 28, Thanksgiving weekend.

Email to letters@staradvertiser.com; or send to 7-500 Ala Moana Blvd. #7-210, Honolulu 96813, care of Letters.

EXPRESS YOURSELF

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser welcomes all opinions. Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor.

>> Write us: We welcome letters up to 150 words, and guest columns of 500-600 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Include your name, address and daytime phone number.

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