Welcome to a new year and old complaints.

Honolulu needs money, lots of money. The cost of living is out of control with no real creative solutions in sight. Real estate taxes are increasing while homeowners’ rights are decreasing. Crime is up while vacancies of first responders are up. Teachers are leaving at an unprecedented rate. Kids are leaving home and not returning. Our world-class beaches are eroding. Our prisoners are being sent to the mainland and families stay broken.

And the solution to these and other problems is money, a whole bunch of money. New revenue streams are needed. A couple of suggestions for serious discussion are total legalization of marijuana, introduction of a lottery system, advertising throughout our transit system, and making Oahu a sports training mecca for Asian countries.

We need money. We need to make Honolulu more affordable. We need to think outside of old solutions.

Chuck Cohen

Kalama Valley

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