How to fund a fire sprinkler system quickly in an older condominium is the problem. A partial system is not a solution.
This is a major unplanned but needed expense that affects the safety of others. While some owners can afford it, many on fixed incomes cannot.
Since the city is considering mandating the implementation of retrofitted sprinklers, the city should offer a loan to those who need assistance. The loan will guarantee immediate funding.
Apartment owners using this loan ought to pay at least the interest on the loan amount.
The principal, then, could be in the form of a lien on that apartment that could only be cleared when the apartment ownership is transferred.
The apartment’s value, when sold, will only rise. The retrofit would be an asset.
As for the Marco Polo building, with many units being rebuilt or unoccupied, the time is now.
Gilman Hu
Manoa
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Trump’s Afghanistan plan follows McCain
I’m 87, but I’m not brain dead yet, and I’ve got a memory.
Early on in his run for the presidency, Donald Trump said that he didn’t have any respect for U.S. Sen. John McCain, saying that he was a loser because he got captured.
And now, he’s following McCain’s strategy in Afghanistan. So he’s now following the advice of a guy he termed a loser.
I found that ironic from this wild guy we got in the White House — not that I voted for him.
Richard Boyd
Manoa
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Delegation should demand resignation
In light of events in Charlottesville and President Donald Trump’s abhorrent response to these events, I join U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz in saying Trump is “not my president.”
I urge everyone to contact our four federal legislators (Schatz, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and U.S. Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Colleen Hanabusa) and tell them to stand up, denounce Trump, and call for his resignation effective immediately.
Trump must go. Now.
Anne Wheelock
Nuuanu
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Tearing down statues would erase history
The newspaper has been printing numerous hate letters against “white supremacists,” people who are actually laying down their lives to protect America’s history.
The real Nazis (and any other take-over groups that might apply) are those city mayors now tearing down historical monuments in the dead of night, as Mayor Catherine Pugh of Baltimore did in the wee hours of Aug. 15-16 after considering the strategy of Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans, who in April quietly and quickly removed all statues from the American Confederacy period.
This deed is being deceptively done to erase the issue of slavery, which history shows has been practiced worldwide to people of every color, including in America.
These two mayors must be arrested and jailed for this traitorous act.
Barbara Jessee
Ewa Beach
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Korean train line example to follow
In Daegu, South Korea, a 24-kilometer (14-mile) elevated rail system was built at a cost of approximately $800 million, within the initial projected budget and projected time — no doubling of costs and years of delays.
Daegu Urban Line 3, in service since April 2015, is a dual-track 30-station system with two car depots and two special bridges.
It is an automated (driverless) system with walk-through trains, 28 trains with three rail cars per train. Emergency features allow passengers to exit to a rescue train through the front or back of the train, or exit to the ground via emergency spiral chute. Rail cars are also equipped with sprinkler systems.
By comparison, costs for the 20-mile, 21-station Honolulu elevated rail system is approaching $500 million per mile (double the initial projected costs), with six more years beyond the initial projected time before operational service.
Dexter Harada
Kailua
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Finishing rail makes good fiscal sense
I find it strange that folks cannot compare their own financial situation to the rail funding.
If you buy a car, and decide a few months later that you don’t like it, do you just give it back and say, sorry? I think not.
This is the same thing. You cannot take federal funds, spend them and then say, “Never mind, we are only going this far.” That wasn’t the deal and won’t be.
If you do it personally, you won’t be able to buy another car for years. If you do it on a government level, you’ll not see another dime of federal money when you actually need it for something the public actually agrees on. They also have a funny way of wanting their money back.
There is no stopping at Middle Street — not for the feds, and not for the reputation and rating for Honolulu. To quit now would be disastrous.
Jacob Vinton
Foster Village
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Religions have no place in government
I am a strong creationist. I believe that all gods and religions were created by people.
If there was a god, she would have made herself very visible and evident, with no doubt of her existence, embracing love and compassion, not hate and wars.
Including the words, “In God We Trust,” in our pledge violates our laws of not incorporating religion into our government. But too many cave in to the demands of the religious, no matter how ridiculous and unjust they are.
All religions are only beliefs. Our government serves people of all, or no, beliefs. Same-sex couples until recently were denied “liberty and justice for all.”
David Cannon
Kalihi
