Make do with what government has

When will it be enough?

When will we have enough luxury condos, hotels, shopping centers, tourists, and tax increases? Enough bought-out government employees contracts, lawsuits settled at our expense, money for the rail, money for parking meters? When will the government raise our taxes and cost of living enough to fix the roads, sewers, stadiums, parks and everything else that they have promised for God only knows how many years?

Now there is more talk of more taxes on vehicle weight and gasoline (“Mayor plans tax, parking hikes to add to rail funds,” Star-Advertiser, Jan.  Opens in a new tab24) Opens in a new tab.

What have they done with the money we’ve given them? Wasted, misspent, reallocated, diverted to phony cost-of-living increases, more people hired to do less — this is all we seem to get for our hard-earned money.

Enough already. Do what the rest of us have to do: Do more with less and shut up about it.

John Waring

Kailua

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Trump shouldn’t censor agencies

President Donald Trump has issued a gag order for the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Parks Service, as well as other departments. He seems to be emulating his idol, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump should be reminded that he was elected to govern, not to rule.

Howard Char

Kaneohe

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U.S. should make peace with world

In stark contrast with the bipartisan call for a peaceful transition for the incoming Trump administration, there is an eerie silence from both Democrats and Republicans regarding a similar need for U.S. foreign policy change in 2017 and beyond.

It is an indisputable historical fact that the U.S. had been the main instigator of global hostilities since World War II — by any measure of bombings, invasions, overseas military bases or war budgets. Thus, isn’t it incumbent on the new administration to make a concerted peaceful transition to deal with the 21st-century reality of a multipolar world?

Sadly, President Donald Trump’s “America First” inaugural speech sent an ominous signal to the world that increasing tensions and confrontations will be the hallmarks of Washington’s reigning regime.

Danny H.C. Li

Keaau, Hawaii island

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Amendment would create slush fund

I’m visiting from Michigan but let me warn against a constitutional amendment to create a dedicated property tax surcharge (“Teachers pitch a tax for funding,” Star-Advertiser, Jan.  Opens in a new tab26) Opens in a new tab. Such special funding set-asides are never good ideas: bad in principle and bad in practice.

First, it would sidestep permanently the responsibilities of the Legislature and the will of the electorate in the future — exactly what the Hawaii State Teachers Association intends. Legislators might not want to be responsible for necessary tax increases, but cowardice is no excuse for bad policy. As you paraphrase state Rep. Roy Takumi, it is “allowing one public worker union to have a special pot of funds.”

Second, what will Hawaii’s funding needs be in 2025 or 2035? A constitutional amendment is fixed and inflexible. Guess what special interest will fight tooth and nail against even necessary change.

Bottom line: The proposal is a slush fund for union bosses.

Roger Leemis

Adjunct professor of law

Southfield, Mich.

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High time for DOE to change leadership

As a veteran Department of Education employee in the public schools, I won’t be shedding any tears for outgoing DOE Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. During her six-year tenure, how much progress has the public school system really experienced? Hawaii’s teachers remain at or near the bottom on virtually every national ranking, both in pay and in other areas. Consequently, the teacher turnover rate remains one of the highest in the country. Is this progress? Not in my textbook.

Matayoshi’s reign also has been characterized by an unprecedented number of top-down initiatives — everything from an incredibly burdensome teacher rating system, to “one size fits all” reading and math curricula, to high-stakes testing that effectively pressures teachers and principals to abandon innovation in favor of “teaching to the test.”

Combined with the embarrassingly low pay, it all adds up to all-time-low morale among the frontline teachers.

It’s time for a change indeed.

Matt Nakamura

Hawaii Kai

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Legalize recreational marijuana this year

The 2017 Legislature should finally legalize recreational marijuana. When they do, police resources can be focused on the scary crystal-meth problem, whereby “ice” users get violent and commit nefarious acts they would not commit while sober.

Absent intoxicated driving, I see no such problem with getting stoned on pot. When stoned, pot users get silly, sleepy and hungry. Legalization of recreational marijuana would result in a successful redeployment of our state government’s very finite resources.

Stuart N. Taba

Manoa

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Name airport after Daniel Inouye

I propose that we name Honolulu International Airport after the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, a great American who served valiantly in World War II and was a Medal of Honor recipient.

He served for decades as our senator and was responsible for millions of dollars that provided federal funding for our state. He well deserves our airport to be named after him — not President Barack Obama, who was born here but left Hawaii after he graduated from high school.

Lt. Col. Ken Zitz, USMC (Ret)

Waialua