Expedia, a national vacation rental business, pays for a study that concludes — no surprise here — that vacation rental houses are vital to our tourist industry.

How about a study to determine if housing is vital for the health and welfare of our residents?

Why do we have such a huge and growing homeless population? Might vacation rentals be part of the cause? Every house that is turned into a vacation rental removes a home from the pool of housing available for local residents and drives up the cost of both rents and real estate prices.

There is a domino effect that goes down the chain until the least affluent among us are forced out onto the street.

Should tourism be allowed to run roughshod over the very real needs of the people who live and work and contribute to Hawaii? Remember that much of the money from vacation rentals goes to out-of-state owners who do not contribute. We get the crumbs.

Mollie Foti

Kailua

—

Visitor units bring cash, but cost is high

Let’s make short work of the “study” supporting vacation rentals here (“Vacation rental homes are vital, study says,” Star-Advertiser, May 8). A good thing, says its hardly-unbiased author — look at all the resulting revenue from rentals and taxes.

So what? I can make much more for you planting pakalolo in your front yard. A fine drug emporium will result, with millions for taxes, tuition, rail and the mayor’s next campaign.

True, renting to people who live here brings less than short-term setups, but decide whether residential land is for homes and community, or just another money maker. We’ll watch the rampant decline of wonderful living places, while denying our fellow residents places to rent. Vacation rentals — many illegal — steal their opportunities away.

The present opportunistic direction means these islands will be divorced from the men and women who made Hawaii the beautiful place it still is, but just barely. Vacation rentals bring lots of money, but irredeemable costs as our homeland and its populace are consumed.

Albert Edward Fyffe Jr.

Lower Manoa

—

It’s Ala Moana, and beyond, for rail

Legislators and the Honolulu City Council seem to be shortsighted: They have the perfect opportunity to make a long-term impact to our transportation issues by funding the rail with long-term goals in mind.

Keep the rail tax in place permanently and use the funds to first complete the current phase to Ala Moana Center, and then to expand the rail to places that really need the additional transportation alternatives, like the Leeward Coast.

Michael Castro

Waianae

—

Liabilities, rail fiasco take us to debt brink

A recent Star-Advertiser editorial pointed out that the state’s Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) is underfunded by $12 billion. In addition, our city is on the hook to comply with an Environmental Protection Agency injunction to upgrade our obsolete sewer/water treatment system at an estimated cost of $5 billion.

These liabilities coupled with the taxpayer-funded $10 billion rail fiasco puts Hawaii’s current exposure at $27 billion.

Our state Legislature has made it abundantly clear that it is incapable of dealing with a mere $3 billion rail funding shortfall. And with about 1 million residents (half of whom pay no taxes at all), is it any wonder that Hawaii, on a per capita basis, is the most in-debt state in America? Can you spell Detroit?

State Sen. Jill Tokuda was one of the few Democrats who tried to slow this train down, but was removed as Ways and Means Committee chairperson by those more interested in the union vote than Hawaii’s future.

Peter Osborne

Kailua

—

Local vs. nonlocal rears divisive head

During the past couple of weeks, there has been some publicity about a haole playing the part of a Hawaiian as well as many complaints about two finalists for state Department of Education superintendent who are not from Hawaii.

Local people should step back and think about what has been written and said. They sound exactly like the people on the mainland who say the same things wrapped in all sorts of excuses. A significant problem in every phase of life in Hawaii is the lack of any new and/or original thought in business, politics and everyday life.

The first comment one hears is: “He/she is not from Hawaii; they don’t understand us.” The days when the local community was close-knit and joked back and forth are gone. Now those jokes are no longer said in a jocular tone. Many, if not most, mean to be hurtful.

Don Chambers

Mililani