Ward Warehouse can continue in our lives

Some of us might miss the old place, Ward Warehouse, so I hope we can reuse the large timbers that nature worked so hard to make and humans spent so much energy to bring here.

I’m sure that the wood could be offered to a place such as Re-use Hawaii for people to pick over and use for a bench, some landscaping, or even another building.

Ward Warehouse should live on, here in Hawaii.

Nick Blank
Hawaii Kai

Land Use Commission should be eliminated

The article by David Kimo Frankel of the Sierra Club extolling the Land Use Commission was the best argument for its abolition ("Land Use Commission an agency that has worked," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Jan. 28).

The Sierra Club epitomizes the no-growth elements that have helped push up prices for Oahu real estate to astronomical levels, making home ownership unaffordable for too many of our people.

Gladys Quinto Marrone shows how the LUC has been used by environmental groups to block and delay housing development ("Land Use Commission is impediment to housing," Star-Advertiser, Feb. 4).

Those delays have pushed up home prices after approvals were eventually obtained years later.

The LUC was initially touted as a way for the state government to impose an overall plan for county development decisions.

It has never provided such a plan. It has been a bonanza for the Sierra Club and a disaster for the rest of us.

Carl H. Zimmerman
Salt Lake

Counties have done terribly with land use

The magnitude of housing development in Leeward and Central Oahu has created rush-hour traffic that is nearly unbearable.

Imagine, if you can, countless more houses in Leeward and Central Oahu, creating even more traffic. That’s what it would be like without the Land Use Commission.

Granted, the LUC hasn’t been working too well recently because Gov. Neil Abercrombie stuffed it with development interests. But when environmental, affordable housing and other broad community interests are represented, the LUC has been successful in balancing urban development, agriculture and environmental preservation.

Bills have been introduced to dissolve the LUC, which would leave the counties completely in control of deciding what projects get built and where. However, the counties have shown that they are not worthy of even their current limited responsibility in determining land uses.

The LUC should remain intact, and Gov. David Ige should make appointments that represent broad community interests.

John Kawamoto
Kaimuki

Don’t leave Oahu beholden to cars

Every day in these pages, I read about fellow residents bemoaning the escalating price tag of the Honolulu rail transit project, and rightly so.

The project is far from perfect and missteps have been made in its planning and implementation.

However, I also do not believe that the effort should be wholly discontinued or altered. To do so. in my opinion, would be myopic. Oahu is a small island with a growing population that is in dire need of a reliable transportation alternative.

Yes, the increasing costs are alarming and decision-makers must be held accountable for identifying solutions to control costs and complete the project in a timely manner. As a resident who once made the daily trek from West Oahu to downtown in traffic, I can attest to the sheer madness that is Oahu gridlock.

Leaving Oahu beholden to cars and buses as the only transportation option is not a solution.

David Lato
Makiki

Army downsizing would involve pain

Recently, some people have been asking for the Army to leave, talking about how we allegedly would be better off. Our civic and government leaders want the Army to stay.

Let’s consider what happened to Guam in the ’90s.Guam had folks with their various agendas who also wanted the military to leave. Unfortunately, these folks got their way.

The military downsizing hit Guamanian families hard. They suffered years of double-digit unemployment, and per capita income shrunk by a crippling 19 percent.

The official record said that "the cumulative number of jobs lost is equivalent to approximately 10 percent of Guam’s total workforce."

What future do we want for our families here in Hawaii?Continued steady economic growth — or loss of jobs, shrinking paychecks and hardship for our families?

That was Guam’s painful lesson; don’t make it ours.

Glenn Takemoto
Mililani

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.

“‘Without cause’ label for Arnold cost UH big bucks,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 2:

>> The University of Hawaii released Arnold without cause because the NCAA was only investigating UH basketball at the time of dismissal. There was no basis to release for cause. But UH apparently was aware of its exposure and acted expeditiously to preclude having to take action mid-season, putting the program into significant disarray. It was a smart move by the UH administration.

>> People are rarely fired “with cause” because of the legal expense involved and the difficulty of proving sufficient “cause.” Instead, there is a termination without cause and pay and package of benefits for the terminated employee who in turn waives any claims against the employer.

———

“Hawaii island group explores alternative for electrical utility,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 2:

>> Local ownership and control is the way to go. Each island has different sources of clean, natural energy. It may be solar, wind, tidal, hydro or geothermal, or even burning refuse. NextEra is just same old same old and worse than Hawaiian Electric Industries.  

>> Kauai Island Utility Cooperative completely blows away HECO’s endless money pits. Low cost of operation, money in the bank, no useless CEO and others leeching off ratepayers. It would be great if all the islands could do this.

———

“Majority backs bike lanes but few plan to pedal,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 3:

>> Oahu is not a place for bikeways. The mayor is trying to copy other places around the world that depend on biking as a real means of transportation, but it doesn’t work here. 

>> Why isn’t it a good place for bikeways? We have better weather than anywhere else in the world, like Amsterdam. Everyone cycles there. Only service vehicles are on the road.

>> Because 90 percent of the working population in Honolulu live out in Kapolei/Mililani/Makakilo and drive to work, whereas most Dutch in Amsterdam live in or in immediate surrounds and the whole country is flat?

>> The only people who should have been polled are those who drive their cars on King Street. Probably 90 percent would have disapproved.

>>  The cycle track is one of the positive things our mayor has done for the community. At virtually any given moment throughout the day, you can look down the track and see at least one cyclist using it.

———

“New business plan crucial, report says,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 3:

>> The University of Hawaii Cancer Center is running way over budget because they hired a ton of new folks, gave them terrific salaries and benefits and now expect the “folks” to pick up the tab. If they can’t get grant money, they should start culling the herd.

>> Share the building and costs with the Obama and Inouye museums — win, win, win?

———

“UH owes Arnold big, ex-coach contends,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 4:

>> Neither Coach Gib Arnold nor the University of Hawaii has solid ground to stand on. The contract stipulation is vague at best. If the university intended to mean “the remaining amount of compensation not yet earned as of the date of the termination,” contract scribes should have included that language. Obviously, they did not. Will UH call Arnold’s bluff and go to court? Or will they settle? Flip a coin.

>> It appears UH knew full well what it was doing. They do the same thing over and over. Next, they will ask the Legislature for financial help to pay their legal expenses and Coach Arnold.

———

“Ethics panel punishes 9 state officials over free golf,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 4:

>> This has been going on forever and Gov. David Ige said he was surprised? Come on.

>> All should be fired.

>> Fired? They are public employees. They never get fired.

———

“On housing, city thinks inside the container,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 5:

>> The concept of allowing property owners to put this “in their backyard” is horrific. I guess these guys don’t live in residential areas where the street parking is all taken up because single-family homes have multiple families living in them.

>> I’ll bet every Kailua property owner is planning on getting containers for their property already.

>> And the tourists are booking them now.

>> I agree backyards are not the place for these. They’re intended for new planned developments rather than as fill-ins to existing neighborhoods.