Take pride in public parks

Patterning Ala Moana Beach Park after Bryant Park in New York City would be a wise choice, but the bigger goal should be in renewing our sense of pride in our parks and in our community as a whole ("Mayor urges public to weigh in on future of Ala Moana Park," Star-Advertiser, March 7).

Our family makes it a point to visit Bryant Park whenever we are in New York. This mid-city jewel is safe, clean and free of graffiti. The public restrooms are impeccably maintained by the proud, full-time staff. The park grounds and public restrooms are used by thousands of residents, visitors and yes, homeless people daily. Because the park is so well maintained, people take pride and respect it and thus don’t trash and vandalize it.

We need to renew that sense of pride in our home. Although it’s the duty of the city to properly maintain our parks, the responsibility to take care of them rests with all of us.

Dana Edmunds
Kailua

Don’t redo park, just maintain it

No, no, no. Mayor Kirk Caldwell now wants to redo Ala Moana Park. We cannot afford to keep all the parks, boat harbors, zoo and roads in good repair now, plus a rail transit system that is far over budget.

When the city closes a park to fix a swimming pool, tennis courts, lights at a baseball field or a bathroom in the park, simple repairs take many, many years to finish.

Why not keep what we have in the best working order that we can afford? That would be a full-time job. Our city and state are in disrepair and no one seems to be accountable for the cost, or how long it takes for repairs.

Is Caldwell’s new plan for Ala Moana Park meant to benefit the developers of the many not-affordable condos being built in the area?

Barbara Wilcox
Makiki

Rail costs will keep going up

I am deeply disappointed in the appeasement offered by the Star-Advertiser for the rail project ("Extend GET rail surcharge to complete 20-mile plan," Our View, March 8).

First of all, a five-year extension of the general excise tax surcharge won’t be enough to finish the project. It’s only enough to cover the currently known $910 million projected shortfall. It won’t cover the to-be-expected cost overruns that inevitably come up.

Will the Star-Advertiser give in to those, too? At what cost will anyone finally say the amount of skin in the game is too much for a small island?

Mayor Kirk Caldwell has stonewalled the public, refusing to release information regarding future costs.

Shouldn’t the people paying for the system know what to expect?

Joseph Gibbs
Kaneohe

Black men face huge barriers

How ironic that Cal Thomas wrote a whole column about how African-American men need fewer marches and more models of success, when the march in question featured the first African-American president of the United States ("Focus less on marches, more on modeling success," Star-Advertiser, March 10). Not once does he mention that the president is just such a role model.

The commentary is a case in point that even when extremely successful by standards white Americans hold dear, African-American men face huge barriers to respect and recognition. The unemployment and incarceration rates of African-American men are not necessarily of their own choosing. It is not that they lack respect for themselves; it is that society lacks respect for them.

As for his recommendation to focus less on marches, why shouldn’t milestones be remembered and celebrated? They take nothing away from the story of our nation’s progress and perhaps inspire a few to aim for greater things.

Amanda Allison
Punchbowl

Gabbard excels at House politics

The cartoon showing knives in President Barack Obama’s back from Senate Republicans was a fitting juxtaposition to the letter writer defending U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard ("Shapiro ‘knifes’ Gabbard’s views," Star-Advertiser, March 10).

The quote from Michael W. Perry comes out in that letter — "now the knives are out." That KSSK commentator should know, since he has been cutting down Obama for the last six years.

Gabbard went on Fox News and questioned the president’s judgment when he refused to use the word Islam while describing the ISIS terrorists.

Whatever her motives, the decision to speak on Fox News did gain her Republican support here in the islands, and even more important, gave her bipartisan credentials in the House of Representatives in Congress.

I would say that Gabbard is a sharp politician.

Jim Wolfe
Nuuanu