ID rules for driver’s license are too much

According to Kokua Line, starting May 1 people will need three items to obtain a driver’s license: a state ID card and two proofs of residency, such as a utility bill ("Additional documents soon needed for driver’s license," Star-Advertiser, April 24).

There will be problems. Wives who have all bills in their husband’s name, grown kids living at home with no bills, teens who have no bills or own no property or do not rent, homeless people, individuals who just move here the list goes on and on.

Now comes the state ID card. Hilarious. We must pay $5 for one of these. It’s interesting that the federal government argues against state IDs for voting, claiming it is a hardship due to the cost, but Hawaii will demand it by May. Is this another form of revenue for the state?

There are so many major problems with Hawaii’s people obtaining or renewing a driver’s license. Help!

Teresa Mary Tugadi
Mililani

Hotel-condo bill needs analysis

I can understand and sympathize with those who might think that my committee’s deferral of Bill 16 signals the bill’s demise. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There are many of us on the City Council who support some regulation on the amount of hotel rooms that can be converted. We understand the economic impact that these conversions have on our city, mainly in the form of lost employment and the hardships they impose on working families.

However, we are duty bound to adopt laws that will withstand legal tests and do not conflict with existing laws that protect the rights of property owners and businesses. The deferral allows us to conduct the analysis needed to assure that we can proceed with a law that is within the scope of the city’s authority, including examining other U.S. municipalities that have addressed this issue.

We must not subject the city to a protracted court battle that consumes large amounts of time and legal fees by passing a defective law.

Carol Fukunaga
Chairwoman, Committee on Public Safety and Economic Development
Honolulu City Council, District 6

Target the buyers of stolen copper

Enough already! It’s time to put a stop to the repurchasing of stolen copper.

These thefts, which happen over and over, put our citizens at risk and cause the inconvenience of disruption of services. The cost of repeated replacement is passed on to the public.

Thefts wouldn’t be occurring if someone wasn’t buying stolen copper. Those in the scrap metal buying business are known or should be known to authorities in Hawaii. A moratorium must be placed on the purchase of scrap copper.

With no sale of the stolen material possible, no thefts will occur. A sting operation could be set up initially to make sure no such transactions are occurring.

We cannot just keep shrugging and replacing the copper wiring for repeated theft.

Jane Wylie
Makiki

Public input limited at BOE meetings

I commend Carol Kong ("Other issues with Horner," Star-Advertiser, Letters, April 25) for having the courage to reveal that dirty little secret called the Board of Education "public meetings." I’ve testified at those meetings, or tried to, and have watched as BOE members roll their eyes, play with computers or cell phones or stare at the wall as testifiers attempt to relay detailed accounts of abuse or other concerns within a strict two-minute time limit. Meetings have been purposely scheduled for afternoons during work hours when working parents can’t attend. They were formerly held during early evening before Horner’s tenure.

Reading Kong’s mention of her special-needs child, I was reminded of a meeting I attended where another special-needs mother testified that she had been threatened with a trespassing charge at a public school for attempting to retrieve help in getting her child from the car into the classroom. That mother was cut off at the two-minute bell, with no other comment from Horner than, "Thank you for your testimony."

Kong’s assertions of BOE’s issues with transparency and pubic access warrant an independent investigation of this multimillion-dollar bureaucracy, the Department of Education.

I know, I work for the DOE.

Cinde Fisher
Makiki

Plants and humans altered by GMOs

Monsanto says it alters the gene structure of food plants. Then we hit those plants with huge amounts of toxic chemicals (pesticides and herbicides) and the plants will still grow.

Big pharmaceutical corporations say they will do this with humans, altering their gene structure so the cancer-causing chemicals in the environment won’t have any effect. It’s godlike and brilliant!

Gary Pardy
Haleiwa

FROM THE FORUM

Readers of the Star-Advertiser’s online edition can respond to stories posted there. The following are some of those. Instead of names, pseudonyms are generally used online. They have been removed.

"Down & out in Waikiki," Star-Advertiser, April 20:
>> Spending more money on housing the homeless is a bad idea. If the homeless aren’t already taking advantage of the many existing outreach programs, it’s because they don’t want it.
>> This has to be Issue No. 1 for everyone in Hawaii, during election time and any other time. As a weekly visitor to Waikiki Beach, I can practically see the obnoxious homeless chasing away the tourists and tens of millions of dollars.
>> Bring back work farms for the substance abusers and the ability to commit dangerous mentally ill to mental hospitals. Our very society depends on it!
>> What we really need is a bill of rights for the children of homeless parents. If a homeless adult refuses to enter a shelter, CPS should take away their kids. Period.
——
"Legislators hold hope for hemp bill," Star-Advertiser, April 20:
>> My main concern here is that a plant which is so vigorous that it can grow in contaminated soil where others may not, that it can become an invasive species.
>> Thank you, Rep. (Cynthia) Thielen, for your long-term, steady and rational support for hemp production.
——
"Teenage stowaway arrives on Maui in wheel well of jet," Star-Advertiser,
April 21:
>> He is lucky to be alive. Thank goodness no damage was done to the plane and the people on board are okay.
>> We’re all paying billions of dollars for security measures so that a 15-year-old can do THIS? Where’s the outrage?
>> Pretty soon the airlines will offer wheel well seats at a discount. And make you buy tokens to use the restroom.
——
"850 isle educators to receive pay raises," Star-Advertiser, April 22:
>> The problem is they give raises to ALL public school principals regardless of competence, lack of performance or corruption.
>> How much more proof do taxpayers need to see unions have one and only one agenda, taking care of union members. Being accountable to taxpayers is not in their agenda.
>> I believe private sector unions serve the same purpose for their members. How much is a longshoreman worth? Why does their union defend the Jones Act?
——
"Council panel approves ban on sweepstakes machines," Star-Advertiser, April 23:
>> If this is the case, then they should ban all arcade machines at Fun Factory, Dave & Busters, and EK Fernandez carnivals. Seems like all these places cross the line when it comes to the definition of gambling in this state.
>> Why does government preach morality? Gambling is self-inflicted. Let people make their own decisions.
——
"Isle Dems yield to Ige’s request for speaking time at convention," Star-Advertiser, April 23:
>> Glad that we’ll be able to hear both leading candidates for governor at the Democratic convention.
>> Better to let Abercrombie do all the talking; he will keep putting his foot in his mouth!
>> Good for David Ige. He deserves this opportunity to address this convention.
——
"Ex-church official is accused of sex abuse 3 decades ago," Star-Advertiser, April 24:
>> What worries me is that people can make stuff up that happened decades ago. Even if there’s no evidence except the victim’s memory, the accused stands to have his reputation ruined.
>> People are quick to condemn the accusers, but they have no idea what these kids have gone through before finding the courage to come forward.
——
"Council panel revisits bus ads," Star-Advertiser, April 24:
>> The Outdoor Circle is fighting a losing battle on buses. Most large moving vehicles already have huge images on the buses, and are not nondescript solid colors that the Outdoor Circle would like.
>> These ads are intended mainly for political candidates. Do we want more of these clowns? And anyone that thinks it will slow tax gouging is dreaming.
——
"Delay proposed to Turtle Bay deal," Star-Advertiser, April 25:
>> Wise move by a prudent-minded official not motivated by positive PR and a need to get votes.
>> This bill is a major victory to help Keep the Country Country. It will protect Kawela Bay from development forever. I find it amazing that the Legislature would pass up this opportunity to preserve the land.