House Bill 2511, which proposes to expend $600 million for much-deserved and needed housing for Native Hawaiians, is a bamboozle (“Lawmakers tout ‘historic’ $1 billion in state funds benefiting Native Hawaiians,” Star-Advertiser, May 5).
The land was stolen. The bill proposes to lease it back to Native Hawaiians temporarily for $1 on a 100-year lease. The money is for developing the land and for home-loan financing.
Important questions to ask are: Who will own the land after 100 years? Who will develop the land and build the housing? Who will guarantee the quality of the land development and housing? Who will get richer from the HB 2511 scheme? Certainly not Native Hawaiians.
A better plan would be to permit interested Native Hawaiians to develop the land and build housing for themselves, own the land and housing outright, and keep as much of the $600 million in their pockets as possible.
Brooks B. Robinson
Ala Moana
No Roe would expand government powers
A government with the power to say you cannot have an abortion is a government with the power to say you must have an abortion.
Leigh Prentiss
Kailua
Banning flavored vapes will boost black market
I hate smoking and vaping, but also understand that historically, prohibition has never worked and only serves to create lucrative black markets for the prohibited items.
It’s far too late now to ban flavored vaping cartridges. House Bill 1570 is not only doomed to failure, it will make flavored vaping even more popular with our youth as a “forbidden fruit.” Our state will lose tax revenue from legal sales while enriching the purveyors of illegal activity.
What is desperately needed is a bill requiring cognitive screening and IQ tests for the foolish legislators who wrote this bill. There must be other ways to deal with this important health issue.
Donald Wyand
Makiki
One Red Hill officer takes fall for others
It is unfortunate that the fuel leak at Red Hill is old news for so many. That is not the case for Capt. Albert Hornyak, who was relieved as head of the Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor because of the fuel leak.
This is reminiscent of Fleet Adm. Ernest J. King’s (1942-45) belief that someone had to be held responsible when something went wrong.
Hornyak was relieved of command, but scapegoating would be a more realistic description of his punishment. Considering all the officers who were mentioned in the unending media coverage, it is noteworthy that only one officer would be held responsible.
When the whole story of the leakage is told, it may well reveal that more naval officers were involved than just Hornyak. What this has done not only to him but his family as well, will not represent the United States Navy’s finest hour.
Gabriel M. Brady
Kapolei
Military promotes wrong type of leader
The Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy can’t resolve the issues of a toxic working environment because of leadership issues (“Document shows sailor found dead last year at Pearl Harbor served aboard troubled submarine,” Star-Advertiser, May 11).
The military is not able to properly identify and promote good leadership in middle management. It promotes the loud and aggressive people, the “charismatic” member who is actually the class bully. The “brash” sailor moves up the chain of command because this is the military’s definition of a good leader.
So where are the military leaders who were less than honest about the Red Hill fuel spill? Where is the supervisor of the Pearl Harbor shooter? They all transferred out. The military can’t keep trying to resolve the problems with reassignments and transfers.
Benjamin Toyama
Ewa Beach
UH men’s team showed respect and composure
I watched with pride as the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team won back-to-back national championships. And my pride swelled as the players kept their composure even when the calls didn’t go their way.
That was not true of at least two Long Beach State players, who were caught on national television mouthing profanities. When the first player saw that he was on camera, instead of looking embarrassed and apologizing, he actually smiled. Auwe!
Coach Charlie Wade is to be commended not only for training champions, but instilling respect and composure in our Warriors. They are the finest young men both on and off the court.
Leslie A. Hayashi
Kahala
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