Mahalo to Rachael Wong for having the courage to step forward to file an ethics complaint against former House Speaker Joe Souki (“Ex-House Speaker Souki accused of sexual harassment,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. Opens in a new tab1) Opens in a new tab.
She joins the women, brave young gymnasts and female actors who have found their voices to bring awareness to the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in our workplaces, schools and places of worship.
Their voices have become more powerful because so many of them have come forward.
It always has been difficult for women to bring complaints because of the power differential that defines sexual harassment — until now. It takes a leader to be the first to raise her voice. We feel certain that she will not be the last.
Thank you, Rachael, for saying “#MeToo.” Now it’s our turn to say “#timesup.”
Amy Monk and Jeanne Ohta
Hawaii State Democratic Women’s Caucus
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Churchgoers hit with jaywalking tickets
It is shameful how some Honolulu police officers think it is appropriate to wait in an unmarked car parked on Kaheka Street in front of St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church across from Don Quijote to target Catholics on their way to and from church for jaywalking.
Perhaps there needs to be a crosswalk there similar to the one connecting Don Quijote to its parking garage.
After my girlfriend and I each received $130 jaywalking citations on our way to 9 a.m. Mass on Feb. 11, I made a sign to warn other Catholics on their way to church. It was not soon enough. Several other parishioners came up to me sharing their fresh tickets.
I don’t think this is right.
Police could offer to address the congregation about the dangerous traffic in the area, or escort the elderly safely across the street.
It’s sad that the nearest crosswalks are nearly 100 yards away in either direction.
Matthew Ledet
McCully
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HI-EMA debacle doesn’t make sense
Nothing makes sense in this Hawaii Emergency Management Agency debacle. Why would any important agency have a drill between shifts? A drill should not have disruptions or interruptions like shift changes.
How can a supervisor deviate from a script on his own in a drill? A “drill” cannot be improvised during a real-time procedure.
No one in their right mind would have as the button-pusher a person who failed twice before and been a source of concern for 10 years.
How did five warning officers hear the word “exercise” but were not bothered that the words, “this is not a drill,” was contradictory?
If warning officers are not required to check with a colleague, how is the button pusher to blame if the script says, “This is not a drill”?
Nothing was in the script to deactivate the warning or send an all-clear message. They expected the button pusher to make a correction when even the governor couldn’t.
This guy is the only one who did his job. Everyone else failed.
Ken Chang
Kaneohe
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Trump elected only by Electoral College
Regarding Kenneth Ikenaga’s letter (“Trump deserves respect for his office,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. Opens in a new tab10) Opens in a new tab, let’s get something straight: Donald Trump was not “voted in by the people.”
Trump lost the popular vote by some 3 million people; he was voted in by the Electoral College, an anachronism that in this case demonstrates its irrelevance for our time by subverting the will of the majority in favor of what is becoming a tyranny of the minority.
If the agenda and priorities of rural, smaller states is so radically different from the rest of their countrymen as to require an amoral, aspiring autocrat to advance their interests, then maybe the idea of reconstituting the republic is not as preposterous and distasteful as previously imagined.
Doug Lamerson
Kailua
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Ala Wai Harbor can thrive without tower
As a Waikiki property owner, I am interested in the redevelopment plans for several parcels at the Ala Wai Harbor.
If a high-rise building is built on any of these parcels, many local people will suffer a financial disaster. Alternatively, an opportunity exists: Redevelop the area to include a village of businesses that would support the public and marina with restaurants, entertainment and harbor support using buildings no taller than 15 feet.
In past visits to Cabo San Lucas, my wife and I frequented the marina there, where small businesses attract many people who dine and enjoy the marina.
Multiple-story building are not needed to accomplish a marriage between the visitors and the people of the marina. I hope the people who decide what happens at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor will seize this opportunity.
Ron Derr
Waikiki
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Shapiro correct to support aid in dying
Mahalo to David Shapiro for his excellent column on the death-with-dignity bill (“Denying ‘death with dignity’ adds to patients’ suffering,” Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, Feb. Opens in a new tab4) Opens in a new tab.
He showed once again that opposition to this measure is indefensible: that states where it’s legal have not abused it; that it’s about compassion and humanity; and that in allowing patients and doctors to make their own informed decisions, it empowers and reassures.
I hope this Legislature will show more spine than last year’s House of Representatives, which abandoned a hearing at the last moment despite polls overwhelmingly in favor of a medical aid in dying bill.
Many of us have lost loved ones and witnessed the suffering of a prolonged, inevitable death. When all hope is gone, we need to free physicians to work with patients in choosing their own informed path to dying. As Shapiro noted, we can suffer as much or as little as we choose, but we don’t have the right to make that decision for others.
Jocelyn Fujii
Makiki
