The gutless management abilities of top officials of this state certainly leave a lot to desire.
I refer to the article about homeless people occupying the triangle at the Ala Moana/ Atkinson intersection for “the better part of a year” and other earlier articles on homelessness (“Homeless blocked from traffic triangle,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 21).
Where is the common sense in officials allowing this to continue that long? We live far from there and never go to Waikiki anymore, but reading the Star-Advertiser about what’s happening throughout the metropolitan area of Waikiki and surrounding areas keeps us from visiting.
As 50-plus-year-old adult working residents of Oahu, we find it disgusting and disappointing to see what has happened to the Hawaii we fell in love with many years ago.
I hope Gov. David Ige, Mayor Kirk Caldwell and other government officials wake up soon or they may find themselves unemployed after November’s election. It can’t happen soon enough.
Joanne Fong
Ewa Beach
What does Caldwell do to earn $200,000?
We do not yet have the full story on Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s dealings with Territorial Savings Bank (“Caldwell’s 6-figure bank job should raise more alarms,” Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, Aug. 21).
He has reported that he was paid more than $200,000 a year as an outside director.
But the parent company, Territorial Bancorp Inc., is required to file Form DEF 14A with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which contains the Notice of the 2016 Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement. This statement reports that Caldwell’s compensation as director for 2015 totaled $47,890, including $40,216 in cash and $7,674 in cash dividends on shares of unvested restricted stock.
Caldwell served not only as a director at monthly meetings, but also was chairman of the bank’s Compensation Committee and attended executive sessions of the independent directors as needed. It’s hard to see how this could all be done in two hours a month.
Compensation of just under $50,000 appears to be typical for an outside director. What is the explanation for the additional $150,000?
Edward Conklin
Waikiki
DOE bureaucracy needs to be trimmed
Roberta Mayor is justifiably appalled that the bureaucracy of the state Department of Education (DOE) has only recently recognized what all classroom teachers know: Effective education means that caring teachers employ a well-rounded curriculum, addressing the social, emotional and physical dimensions of students in addition to promoting cognitive development (“Decision-making in schools should be made by those closest to students,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Aug. 21).
Insensitive to core education principles, the DOE bureaucracy has been a barrier to education rather than a force that advances it. Some have suggested new policies that the bureaucracy should adopt, but that is a short-term solution. In the long run, the bureaucracy will make other systemic decisions in order to justify its existence, just as it is doing now.
Reforming Hawaii’s public education system must begin by reducing the size of the large DOE bureaucracy to reduce its power and ensure that educators at the school level make the decisions that affect the education of their students.
John Kawamoto
Kaimuki
Choosing LNG respects economics
A letter writer asked, why liquefied natural gas and not the sun (“Why use LNG when we have the sun?” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 22)?
It’s because choosing LNG honors the unalterable laws of economics. Laws honestly applied have always produced the best outcome for all, but when overridden by people who “just know” what’s right — central planners, from communists to environmentalists — they have led to poverty, tyranny and war.
That’s why high schools should teach reason and formal logic rather than creative thinking. And then, how to apply logically economic laws, starting with three definitions:
>> “Profit” means most people believe the value of the thing produced is greater than the value of labor, natural resources and capital used to make it: More from less.
>> “Loss” means the value of what’s produced is less than the value of what’s used up: Less from more. “Subsidized” means sold at a loss.
Solar requires a subsidy. Less from more. LNG does not. More from less. For now that means LNG.
George L. Berish
Kakaako
Kudos for reporting on pipeline protest
Mahalo for the article about the Standing Rock Sioux protest against Dakota Access Pipeline (“Protesters vow to stop pipeline construction,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 14).
Though thousands of miles away, this $38 billion project would impact Hawaii by transporting up to 570,000 barrels of oil per day and keeping the United States addicted to fossil fuels. In so doing, it would exacerbate climate change and its impacts to our islands.
Thousands of members from other tribes throughout the U.S. and even Native Hawaiians are gathered at Standing Rock, where construction has halted pending an Aug. 24 injunction hearing in Washington, D.C.
Also protesting the construction are Iowa landowners, including our family. Iowa landowners have had their farmland and forests seized and are in the courts protesting the use of eminent domain to benefit a for-profit oil company.
The pipeline would cross four states and endanger the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and all 17 major rivers in Iowa, including the South Skunk River, where our family’s floodplain forest reserve is located 100 feet from the pipeline route.
Sylvia Spalding
Palolo Valley
