Letters: Higher property tax bills hit kamaaina homeowners hard; Ads from outside PACs undermine fair elections; COVID-19 data should not be based on speculation

Higher property tax bills hit kamaaina homeowners hard

Recently I had a rude awakening. I went to my mailbox and found my real property tax bill. To my dismay I came to the realization that the property I had purchased many years ago, had made mortgage payments on for what seemed like an eternity until the loan was finally paid off, was no longer my own. I was now paying rent to the city in the form of an exorbitant tax bill.

I can’t help but think of my many neighbors on fixed incomes who face this dilemma, taxed to the point of needing to sell their houses and move elsewhere, taking in boarders or, as in many cases, adding a second story for children who can no longer afford to own a home in their home state.

Why do homeowners in Hawaii have to suffer the consequences of wealthy individuals purchasing property here — many of which are second homes — raising property values and thereby raising our real property taxes?

Perhaps we need a grassroots initiative similar to what was done in California with Proposition 13 to mitigate this horrendous situation.

Louis A. Carnazzo

Kailua

COVID-19 data should not be based on speculation

Why is it that there must be a caveat to each week’s reported COVID-19 cases, which have been in a steady decline for weeks now, that the actual numbers are five to six times higher, given that people use home tests? What scientific evidence is this based on?

I have heard numbers in the media reporting anywhere from four to eight times higher due to home tests. Wouldn’t it mean that with these overall inflated numbers of approximately 20,000 per week in Hawaii that our COVID-19 numbers would be going up? Something doesn’t wash and I wish our health officials would stick to actual verified test facts instead of guesses.

Craig Meyers

Aiea

Social media speeds up damaging smear campaigns

Political smear campaigns are nothing new to Hawaii. Years ago, a particularly vicious anonymous mailing may have cost media mogul and former U.S. Rep. Cec Heftel the 1986 Democratic gubernatorial primary. While the mailing was not published nor broadcast, it did make the rounds by the coconut wireless — essentially person to person.

The difference is that today, in part thanks to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, attack ads can be spread at the speed of light, leaving the maligned candidate to play defense instead of engaging in a nuanced, reasonable discussion of the issues.

All that is needed is a kernel of truth taken out of context and a lot of political action committee money and you can damage any candidate’s reputation and campaign.

It will get worse for any future candidates as anything they ever posted on social media will live forever.

For who is without sin and could cast the first stone?

John Priolo

Pearl City

Ads from outside PACs undermine fair elections

A recent front-page ad for Ikaika Anderson, paid for by the Carpenters Union’s Be Change Now Committee, takes the cake for hypocrisy and dishonesty (Star-Advertiser, Aug. 1).

While it claims that their candidate will stand up to corruption and end pay-to-play politics, they are fully engaged in the very practice that keeps that game going. Money spent on dishonest and smear campaigns is not charity money; it expects a return, perpetuates corruption and undermines the public interest in fair elections.

Let’s restore public trust by electing candidates with proven records of opposition to and disassociation from the financial interests underlying this kind of pay-to-play politics. That is the true “Change Now” we need.

Ursula Retherford

Kailua

Purchase foreign-made ships to bolster domestic fleet

The Jones Act began in 1920 shortly after World War I. It incorporates the complicated issue of shipping regulations, requiring transportation of goods between U.S. ports via U.S.-flagged and -built merchant ships. U.S. merchant ships cost four times more to build than those in foreign countries.

Cheaper foreign ships bought by the U.S could result in cheaper shipping and product costs to Hawaii, Alaska, and up and down the West and East coasts, in addition to increasing our declining U.S. merchant ship number capabilities to a higher level if needed during future wartime scenarios.

A repeal of the Jones Act to allow the U.S. to purchase less-expensive foreign-made ships could help reduce shipping costs for Hawaii and other states, and result in a lower cost of living and better quality of life for future generations, while also increasing our U.S.-flagged merchant ship fleet to an acceptable strategic level.

John Burns

Wahiawa

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