Legalize existing vacation rentals

Rather than go backward and spend time and money pursuing the 22,000 people who have been bilking the system, do something that, instead, will ensure future tax revenue and discourage continued abuse of the system.

» Pass legislation to make illegal vacation rentals an egregious crime with heavy fines.

» Offer a one-time moratorium to all landlords with illegal rentals. Guarantee there will be no penalties or prosecution for past wrongdoings as long as they legally register their unit(s) within a four-week period.

» Create a new tax base, higher than what current legal renters are paying, for these now-legal rentals.

» Go after the stragglers with a vengeance.

Terry Joiner
Waialae-Kahala

Sue to stop rail transit project

Are we being duped?

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation says rail could be $700 million over budget. And nearly half of the bids are still unknown. Uh-oh.

Our highly paid "experts" miscalculated the tax revenue for rail by $40 million.

We recently paid $60 million for construction delays and changes.

A few months ago we gave Dan Grabauskas, executive director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, a big raise.

Oahu residents need to wake up and smell the coffee. We’re being duped.

Think what $40-$60 million could do for our schools or parks.

We need a smart lawyer with a strong will to file a class-action lawsuit on our behalf. Or next, our "experts" will be raising our property taxes.

Stop them now.

John Wong
Aiea

Can NextEra lower our costs?

The "paradise tax" of 35-40 percent we pay for the privilege of living in Hawaii really hit home in the Dec. 14 story ("Rising electric bills stun New Englanders," Star-Advertiser) in which the eight states that make up the region saw their electric bills climb to monstrous heights, the highest among the 48 contiguous states.

This is because they must import all their oil, gas and coal.

Sound familiar?

Then the article stated that residents there paid an average retail price of a whopping 17.67 cents per kilowatt hour, way above the national average of 12.94 cents.

And finally the kicker: Hawaiian Electric figures from 2013 showed that Oahu residents paid an average of 34.62 cents — double the New England average and almost triple the national 48-state average. Let’s hope that NextEra truly brings in a next and better era.

Chip Davey
Downtown Honolulu

UH can’t afford big-time football

James Cartwright was right on target regarding the Football Championship Series ("UH football joining FCS would be win-win for all," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Dec. 26).

It is time for the University of Hawaii to stop pretending to be a big time athletic powerhouse — we don’t have the money.

Most already know we can’t compete with the Big Five conferences with their recruitment, and more so with the pending stipends to be given to student-athletes. We can see the writing on the wall.

It is time to face a more realistic athletic future by applying for FCS and the Big Sky Conference.

Also related is the proposed new stadium. It’s no use pretending that we can fill up a 50,000-seat facility.

The length of travel won’t decrease, but we can hope to be a big player in a smaller pond — the Big Sky goes to the national playoffs, including the FCS football championships (formerly Division 1-AA).

Paul Mizue
Aiea

City misleading us on cycle track

Regarding Honolulu’s track record of transportation blunders:

First, a two-year "pilot program" for the King Street Cycle Track is like the 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge for rail transit.

It’s not really a pilot program if it takes two years to assess.

Call a spade a spade and let us know that it’s permanent, then have the guts to eliminate all parking on King Street so that it can handle the auto traffic.

Second, the traffic signals in the city need to be synchronized. You should be able to proceed at the speed limit on King, Beretania, Kalakaua, Ala Wai and similar one-way streets and make the signals. I hope the city spends the time to make this happen and create solutions to traffic congestion rather than creating bigger problems.

Last, rail is over budget, poorly planned and totally off the target it was supposed to serve — students and tourists. The only thing served is General Growth Properties’ Ala Moana Center. Go figure.

Bryan Wai
Kakaako