Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
Ten years ago the state Land Use Commission (LUC) required the Department of Education (DOE) to build an overpass or underpass — not a roundabout — so students who live makai of Piilani Highway can safely walk to Kulanihako‘i High School. Sadly, 10 years later, nothing has been done to comply with that requirement.
Instead, at a Feb. 9 meeting of the LUC, Deputy Superintendent Curt Otaguro admitted that $16 million was spent to expedite the building of the roundabout. When Commissioner Lee Ohigashi asked him: “You fast-track the roundabout by using monies that could have been used to build an overpass?,” Otaguro said, “Yes.”
In all my life, I have never witnessed a more arrogant and disrespectful attitude displayed by one government agency toward another. Where’s the spirit of aloha? What is DOE teaching our children? To restore the public’s trust and confidence in DOE, a full investigation and report is necessary.
William T. Kinaka
Wailuku
EXPRESS YOURSELF
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser welcomes all opinions. Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor.
>> Write us: We welcome letters up to 150 words, and guest columns of 500-600 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Include your name, address and daytime phone number.
>> Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Advertiser 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 210 Honolulu, HI 96813
>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), 529-4750 (fax), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter