A recent editorial informs us how serious the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s managerial “lapses” have been and how the organization has been “fumbling” in handling the millions of dollars of taxpayer money it receives from the state Legislature annually (“Give reset HTA chance to succeed,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, April 7). Its failures to achieve marketing goals are mentioned. However, since tourism is “foundational to the economy,” the writers regard the Legislature’s threats to cut off funding unwise.

HTA supporters now claim that it has made a crucial change in its mission and is taking on the huge task of “preserving Hawaii’s most cherished assets; the islands’ natural and cultural resources.”

Can such a “broadened mission” be accomplished by an organization notorious for lack of both public transparency and experience in environmental work? Why at a time of financial shortfalls is an outfit devoted to increasing the profits of a highly profitable industry being financed by public tax monies?

Noel Kent

Manoa

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