FAST transit plan far from half-baked

With a dismissive wave of the hand, the Star-Advertiser in effect pronounced our new transportation program, entitled FAST, dead on arrival ("Cayetano’s rail alternative doesn’t cut it," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Sept. 30).

I think you owe your readers a higher standard of due diligence.

Had you picked up a copy of the Sept. 27 issue of The Wall Street Journal, you would have noted an article titled, "The Commute of the Future." The article chronicles bus rapid transit’s success operating in a number of cities on the mainland and around the world.

Combined with high-tech highway improvements, Express BRT and common-sense policies such as telework, our plan will get traffic moving at a fraction of rail’s cost.

FAST is far from "half-baked."

Our truth squad, composed of former city executives, has vetted this project from financial, cultural and engineering aspects. It is solid.

During the Jeremy Harris administration, a $10 million study by none other than Parsons Brinckerhoff also came to the conclusion that BRT was superior both to heavy and light rail.

To ignore the Parsons Brinckerhoff report, and summarily reject the road-tested merits of FAST, defies credulity.

Ben Cayetano
Candidate for mayor of Honolulu

2012 has been unkind to land use in Hawaii

2012 has been a terrible year for land use in Hawaii.

» The state Land Use Commission betrays us by approving Ho‘opili and Koa Ridge.

» The Hawaii Community Development Authority moves ahead with a 650-foot tower in Kakaako, which will not be alone for long, as well as allowing theSymphony Honolulu development to block view planes.

» The city Department of Planning and Permitting is allowing a high-rise on themakai side of Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki.

None of this should be happening, and it should come as no surprise that people are totally against the Public Land Development Corp., as it lacks accountability.

Compared to the disastrous implications to ouraina brought about by these wrong-headed decisions, the single-minded focus on the rail is very unfortunate.

Everybody concerned, including the Sierra Club, Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. and all other environmental and grassroots organizations, need to focus on the reallyimportant issues and see what can be done to fight back against these governmental and quasi-governmental agencies.

It is all for the developers with nothing for us except for more environmental destruction.

Jack Arnest
Maunalani Heights

Vote for environment in any way you can

It’s wonderful to reduce our individual environmental impacts as much as possible. And it is possible.

But to make a real difference, everyone will have to change their behavior dramatically, and even this is only one part of the solution. Big corporations have a far greater environmental impact than any individual.

We need our politicians to create meaningful regional and national environmental regulations, as well as international agreements. We should show our politicians that we support pro-environmental actions and be ready to accept them.

We can consider candidates’ environmental records when voting. We can support environmentally friendly options, even if that means paying a little more in taxes. And we can donate time and money to environmental lobby groups.

Please consider the environment next time you’re about to print an email or throw away a soda can. But more important, consider the environment next time you’re at a voting booth.

Leah S. Horowitz
Makiki

UH in-house lawyers apparently redundant

Now we find that the University of Hawaii has 29 active contracts for local law firms for legal services, running into the millions of dollars per year.

Then why the need for eight attorneys plus support staff on the UH payroll?

If these in-house attorneys cannot do the job, then close down the general counsel office and at least save that money.

Then we find UH has its own public relations staff. These employees seem to be doing a much better job at hiding what’s really going on at UH than the UH lawyers are doing at spreading lucrative contracts among their local law firm buddies.

The Senate panel should demand to see exactly where all the millions have gone for legal services since 2006. And this should be just the starting point of its investigation.

James Robinson
Aiea

Apple’s statement about Donovan unfair

I watched the entire 131⁄2 hours of proceedings of the Senate Committee on Accountability on the University of Hawaii.

Iwas struck with disbelief by UH-Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple’s statement that 43 of 44 coaches sent him a letter thanking him for removing Jim Donovan. I just couldn’t believe that 43 coaches were dissatisfied with Donovan’s performance and leadership to the extent that they wanted him out.

As revealed by Ferd Lewis, it turns out that Apple construedthe letter sent by the coaches supporting Rockne Freitas to be the new athletic director to be a letter thanking him for removing Donovan ("Apple’s claim about Donovan disputed," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 4).

How low can a person get to justify his questionable actions? He even made his statement dramatic by saying he did not want to reveal this information.

His statement, I am sure, personally hit Donovan very hard. It made him look bad and further damaged his reputation.

James S. Nakasone
Mililani

Apo owes apology for genocide remark

Peter Apo, in his article "Hawaiians need to just connect the dots" (Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Sept. 30), has done a terrible disservice to the Hawaiian people and all residents of our great state of Hawaii.

I refer to his statement, " … the now well-documented history of the near genocidal colonization of the Hawaiian people."

Genocide is a program of action intended to destroy a whole national or ethnic group. Nowhere in the historical record is there any evidence to support such a monstrous allegation. Apo owes the public an apology for disseminating such hateful propaganda.

Joseph Gish
Honolulu

Medicare will fail without some reform

Without entitlement reform, Medicare will fail quicker than already projected.

My mother is an example of how the middle class will bear a greater burden.

She resided in a long-term care (LTC) facility for three years. Medicare does not cover LTC. In 2009, she paid $280 per day; in 2011, $300 per day. This increase raises the question, "What is her fair share?"

I knew 70-80 percent of those in the facility were Medicaid patients.What did Medicaid reimburse the hospital? After no response from the facility, I asked my congressmen. Eventually, the hospital CEO responded that "the Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate in Hawaii is $223.02."

My mother paid a staggering $28,000 more per year than Medicaid reimbursed for the same room and services. Was my mother paying her fair share? I think not.

Hospitals can’t survive on the Medicaid reimbursements they must accept, so Medicare and others subsidize the difference.

Nancy Harrison
Mililani

FROM THE FORUM

"Stadium staff overzealous in searching patrons at gate," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 2:

» Aloha Stadium has no aloha. I notice that all these places that provide entertainment for the public serve high-priced junk or bland food. There are no fair-priced items, and that’s because of the prices the food and beverage concessionaire have to pay the stadium for lease rent. Policies need to change.

» Who are the security guards protecting anyway, the public or the food vendors? It seems they have their priorities wrong. Focus on the security of the public, not a piece of candy. Geez.

» Poorly managed Aloha Stadium is a cherished tradition.

» That no-outside-food policy also happens at the Blaisdell Center. We are getting ripped off just to buy a bottle of water. Who can enjoy themselves at any event when you have to spend and arm and a leg to get a snack and a drink.

———

"Unoccupied UH mansion getting $680K in repairs," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 2:

» Maybe it’s time to cut our losses and do away with this house. How much can we afford to keep it as it was?

» No, this house really is historic and if used correctly could be the centerpiece of our University of Hawaii.

» The fact that the UH president is not living in it makes this even worse. The over $2 million in renovations alone could have been put to better use improving classrooms. Then again, the UH administration probably would have blown it on some other frivolous expenditure.

———

"Lanai’s new owner sees isle as model for sustainability," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 3:

» Love it! Awesome to see that he is really going to make a difference as the new owner of the island. Good for him. Wish him the best and the best for Lanai!!

———

"Senate panel rebukes board for inaction," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 3:

» Sen. Donna Mercado Kim really laid into the regents during the meeting. Many of them were stuttering and on their heels the whole time. I guess that’s what happens when you know you screwed up big time.

» Get rid of all these jokers on the Board of Regents and have the state Legislature create a committee and replace them with elected, paid state senators and representatives.

» Unfortunately, the Board of Regents members are volunteers. Most have full-time executive-level positions with their firms and do not have the time to spend getting first-hand information themselves. They are relying on the UH administration to provide them with information. The power is with whoever controls the information.

———

"Drug, liquor violations rise sharply at UH-Manoa," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 5:

» Drinking, drug use and sex on a college campus. Shocking!

» Has there been increased enrollment? Any serious story should include those numbers.

» If you had that administration team, you’d be drinking and toking, too.

———

"Maui County spends $37,500 for hunters to kill axis deer," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 4:

» I will never understand the morons who introduce these kinds of species to non-native areas. Someone decided they needed some type of hunting in the 1950s for bored folks. I know they didn’t have our knowledge back then, but even then it couldn’t have been that hard to figure out how destructive something like this could be. Honestly, I can’t believe the islands aren’t crawling with snakes with so many idiots trying to bring them in.

» The deer and pigs are a huge problem. If done properly this program could be a no-loser by feeding a lot of people.

———

"Transit’s tax take to be 19% of city’s collection," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 5:

» If transit was historically absorbing 10 percent of the city budget but it will now climb to 19 percent, then it’s clear that rail will cost us more than the Hono-lulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is claiming. But be it 17 percent or 19 percent, that’s too much of our budget going into the transit pot. Now matter how HART tries to spin it, this will turn even more voters away from rail support. They’re smart enough to know that this spells more property tax increases because politicians won’t be able to cut costs in other areas.

» HART is not claiming anything. That was said by Porter & Associates, the independent project management oversight consultant hired by the FTA to stress-test the financial plan. Bottom line: HART passed the test.

» One way to cut city spending is to reduce the salary of the mayor and his executives, the City Council and city counsel and pay them what they’re worth — minimum wage.

» The bus system will be much better when it works in combination with rail. Buses now serving the east-west routes on the H-1 corridor will be redeployed, increasing frequency of arrivals and adding service to currently underserved communities. Bus-rail will much less expensive to operate than a bus-only system.