It was with great interest that I saw that the state was getting into the subsidization of small business entrepreneurs.
I am referring to the news story regarding charter school ex-principal Jeffrey Piontek’s sentence to probation and restitution for a significant white-collar crime involving the theft of $136,099 in state monies to support a personal lavish lifestyle (“Ex-principal gets probation in theft case,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 26).
The Prosecutor’s Office was seeking a 10-year prison term and a $25,000 fine. Instead, Circuit Judge Glenn Kim gave Piontek probation and ordered him to make restitution at $200 per month (or $7 per day, the price of a coffee and muffin at Starbuck’s).
I am not a math wizard but my calculations of repayment for the 47-year-old ex-educator works out to $2,400 annually or 56-1/2 years of interest-free repayment.
Quoting Mr. Piontek, “I am fully committed to righting these wrongs … and I will work to pay back the restitution I owe.”
God bless him as he writes his last check to the state on his 103rd birthday.
Who says that Hawaii is not user-friendly to business?
Where do I sign up for my loan?
Stephen Arnold, M.D.
Hawaii Kai
Intersection needs diagonal crosswalk
As a kamaaina who has lived here since the tallest building in town was the Aloha Tower, I am appalled by the traffic situation.
The worst place to try to make a right turn is from Keeaumoku Street (heading makai) onto Kapiolani Boulevard, as the green light for drivers and pedestrians is at the same time.
Often, even the first car in line can’t make a turn because of slow-moving pedestrians.
And cars turning right onto Kapiolani from the Ala Moana Center face the same problem.
Why doesn’t the city change that intersection to allow diagonal crossing, as has been done at Lewers Street and Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki? That would be a win-win for everyone.
Sandra Conrad
Ala Moana
Have longer hours at downtown park
Once again the city wants to stop the neighbors of Smith-Beretania Park from using the facility in the early evenings.
At the February Downtown Neighborhood Board meeting, police Capt. Ben Mahi said the park is closed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily, contradicting signage stating closure is 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Mahi said the sign is wrong; the city is working to correct it.
Mahi is misinformed.
Opened in 2003, the park was closed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The neighborhood board objected. The hours were changed to 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The park is used by residents from eight neighboring high-rises. Children complete their homework and eat dinner before their parents take them to the park.
Earlier closure and later opening does not solve the homeless problem. It does deny its neighbors the use of this only nearby green space.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell must allow these people to use the park in the early evenings and mornings.
Lynne Matusow
Downtown Honolulu
Reject effort to ban feeding feral cats
Say “No” to Senate Bill 2450.
Cats are innocent.
We all know that the rats and the mongoose are the real culprits here: they execute baby birds and abort their eggs!
The other culprits here are the pet owners. Maybe by their misfortune or lack of knowledge, they do not understand that domesticated cats can’t learn to hunt on their own to survive. These owners just dump animals anywhere.
It’s a sad situation when people who claim to be educated blame these poor starving cats.
People who feed starving cats are not criminals.
People who don’t want their pets anymore should drop them off at their local animal shelter.
Helga Calendar
Makakilo
Tailgaters are rude and a traffic danger
I usually travel in the second to left lane, doing the speed limit or maybe just above.
Nine times out of 10, someone starts tailgating me, even though the left lane is open to pass.
On a recent trip to town, one person tailgated me from the H-2 freeway all the way to the Nimitz cutoff.
Why?
If I had needed to slam on my brakes suddenly, he would have caused a major accident.
Drivers should be courteous and get off my bumper — or as they say here, my okole.
Bernice Mattingly
Mililani
Car registration fee now quite a burden
Yet another straw has been added to the backs of Oahu taxpayers with the proposed increase in vehicle registration and gas taxes (“Senate panel votes to raise vehicle taxes,” Star-Advertiser, March 1).
I implore Star-Advertiser readers to visit the National Conference of State Legislatures website and compare state-by-state vehicle registration fees and be prepared to be shocked.
Right now the registration fee for my car is five to 10 or more times that of most, if not all, the other states.
And now $83 dollars more?
That increase alone is more than the majority of the other states’ fees.
Meanwhile, my property tax went up 26 percent to what is now a monthly tax burden that’s more than the mortgage payment my son pays for a three- bedroom, two-bath home on the mainland.
All of us kamaaina on fixed incomes are facing an Oahu that is increasingly unaffordable.
James McBride
Aina Haina
