Didn’t our Legislature learn anything from Aloha Stadium? The stadium of steel was supposed to form a protective “patina.” Instead it rusted and corroded. The state pumped tens of millions of dollars in repairs over many years. Now the stadium sits as an unusable unsafe monolith of legislative incompetence.

Will that be the fate of the Hawai‘i Convention Center (“Legislature denies Hawai‘i Convention Center $64 million needed for rooftop repairs,” Star-Advertiser, May 23)? Instead of giving the Hawaii Tourism Authority $54 million now and getting the job done right, lawmakers gave HTA a $15 million Band-Aid — penny wise and pound foolish.

You know the HTA is going to come back in years to come asking for more money. Materials and labor costs will have gone up. It will cost more in the long run. Didn’t Hawaii see a surge in tax revenue? Use some of it for the convention center.

A wise man learns from his mistakes. Our Legislature is not very smart.

Robert K. Soberano

Moiliili

Greed motivates those who sell firearms

On so many levels and for so many reasons, what happened in Texas should not have happened (“Gunman kills 19 children in Texas school rampage,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, May 24).

It did happen for only one reason — Greed.

Greed for money by selling guns.

Greed for power by selling guns.

Greed for control by selling guns.

“Guns don’t kill people.” They just make it easier — and profitable.

Thomas Luna

McCully

Celebrate the diversity of the lives we share

I wrote this shout-out for diversity as I monitored the daily news.

The shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., require a response and, here in Hawaii, we are (maybe) well-positioned to call out (“‘How dare you!’: Grief, anger from Buffalo victims’ kin,” Star-Advertiser, May 19).

My husband’s grandfather was converted to Christianity by a New England missionary in Japan and came with an early boatload of laborers to Hawaii (probably because he could read and write, and there were obvious opportunities for conversion).

My husband’s oldest sister, a dietician who first worked at Tripler Army Medical Center, married an African- American man from Mobile, Ala., whom she met working at a hospital in California.

The first marriage my husband officiated was of our brother-in-law’s sister (who had just left a Catholic nunnery) to a former priest (a Caucasian from Michigan). They met doing missionary work in South America.

My history reflects that of many on this island. And it is one I celebrate. We have so much to learn from one other. Let’s promote that education — without guns — and with aloha.

May Mamiya

Moiliili

Use election to set term limits for politicians

The only way to get elected in this state is if the incumbent gets sick; if the incumbent is found guilty of a crime; if the incumbent retires; or if the incumbent runs for a higher political office.

Due to lack of term limits of many of our elected officials, and being tired of the same old faces and of political shenanigans, I have decided to vote for nonincumbents this year as a way to try to generate new opinions and viewpoints in our Legislature.

Enough of the same names, faces and power-hungry individuals who haven’t held a nonpolitical job for decades. I will do my research and vote for new candidates this year as my way of term-limiting.

Kimberly Case

Manoa

Homeless presence overwhelms residents

I agree with Robert Ramsey’s letter regarding rousting the homeless (“Rousting the homeless an exercise in futility,” Star-Advertiser, May 23).

I have lived in Waikiki for 22 years. I am also aware of what is happening with the homeless.

I cannot drive more than a block without seeing homeless groups and their camps. The city will remove them and their belongings and within a day, they are back at their same location. It is an exercise in futility. The increasing numbers of homeless show this to be a fact.

People cannot sit on bus benches; they cannot walk down a sidewalk without having to endure this.

If this is not curbed, and quickly, Honolulu will be just like Los Angeles and other ruined cities.

Make the homeless accountable for their actions. Most important, take away all their privileges. Yes, privileges. A free phone, free health care, free laundry services, free shower facilities, free food, it goes on and on.

I am asking our elected officials to step up, now.

Diane Tippett

Waikiki

True indigenous people forced aside by others

Apparently, many white American immigrants now consider themselves to be indigenous, while authentic indigenous people, including Native Hawaiians, have been pawns on a political chessboard.

“They will not replace us” must have been the cry from all indigenous peoples who have now been replaced by those who now call themselves “we.”

“They” have won. They (we) have forcefully replaced indigenous people worldwide, if not numerically, then by political and military force. And we call our country a democracy? Who are “we”?

Jeff Bigler

Wailuku

Ala Moana bridge unnecessary for area

Regarding the pedestrian overpass that is going to be built across Ala Moana Boulevard (“Ala Moana Boulevard pedestrian bridge construction to begin,” Star-Advertiser, May 2): I agree with the other letter writers. I don’t think it is necessary. I live in the area and I don’t see many people crossing to and from the beach park. The stop lights are adequate. The funds could be better used to fix the roads around Kakaako.

Nieva Elizaga

Ala Moana

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