City watchdog being forced out?

I opened the front page to conflicting side-by-side headlines: “Isles at last ban new cesspool construction” and “City ethics director on leave after inquiry” (Star-Advertiser, March 12).

The same Honolulu Ethics Commission members who tried to muzzle their executive director last year hired an unnamed investigator to evaluate an unspecified complaint against him. Perhaps Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s staff and the Honolulu City Council will finally be rid of Chuck Totto, the pesky insubordinate who exposes their conflicts of interest to the electorate.

What appears to be a prelude to forcing out an individual who has shined a light onto murky areas of government goings-on may not alarm many. However, in the long run, clean government is every bit as important to public health as its drinking water.

Donna Ambrose

Kailua

Of the presidential candidates for whom I’ll be allowed to vote, I’ve chosen Donald Trump.

I remember how grandly and loudly the elite GOP political class demanded Trump pledge to support whoever became the GOP presidential candidate.

Given Trump’s victory in Hawaii, it seems more than fair today to demand that Pat Saiki and other GOP elites who hold the reins to Hawaii’s Republican Party, affirm they will honor this pledge if the candidate is Trump.

The same goes for the candidates who have withdrawn, including Jeb Bush, who piled on with great condescension and much energy when Trump was hounded to sign.

Honorably affirm they will keep that pledge, or by their silence acknowledge they lack the honor and honesty to do so.

George L. Berish

Kakaako

The Arc does not use Handi-Van

The article entitled, “Handi-Van service goes downhill” (Star-Advertiser, March 8) states that, “… agencies such as Easter Seals and the Arc in Hawaii rely heavily on the Handi-Van to help transport their clients.”

I would like to clarify that, since December 2014, The Arc in Hawaii has not used TheHandi-Van at all.

Instead, as of that date, The Arc in Hawaii moved all its clients to a new transportation service operated under contract to the city. This service frees 130 seats for other Handi-Van riders to use.

Goodwill Industries of Hawaii and Special Education Center of Hawaii operate similar services under contract to the city.

The city is proud of the success achieved by our agency partners, and we would like the public to know that The Arc in Hawaii is a valued supporter of the city’s continuing efforts to improve the service provided by TheHandi-Van.

Michael D. Formby

Director, Honolulu Department of Transportation Services

Cartoon unfair to Handi-Van staff

I found Dave Swann’s illustration of our service inappropriate (Star-Advertiser, March 13).

It is also disappointing that the Star-Advertiser lacked judgment in allowing a cartoon of poor taste to be published.

Our entire Handi-Van staff shares a common goal: to service our aging and disabled community as safely and efficiently as possible. Compassion and aloha are not something that can be taught. We all possess it. Operators often hear the elderly, as they help them up their vehicles stairs, say, “Don’t get old.”

Well, that is inevitable. We all, including Swann, may one day be in need of this vital service. No hard feelings here. We would be happy to extend our aloha to him or any other family member of his who may need us now or in the future. Thank you to all who support us.

Randall DeGuzman

Safety and training, The Handi-Van

Makaha

Any Marine here is ‘our’ Marine

The Star-Advertiser coverage of the tragic loss of “our” Marines showed the world that all of us in Hawaii suffered the loss as if they were our sons (“Remember the fallen,” Jan. 22).

We treat everyone living here as ohana and part of our island community.

National media coverage was minimal because the deaths did not occur on the battlefield. We in Hawaii will still honor them as heroes because of their dedicated service.

We are proud to have them as part of our community.

We thank all members of the armed forces and their families serving here in Hawaii and grieve because they were part of our ohana.

Alvin Wong

Manoa

Register, inspect cars at same time

Vehicle inspection should coincide with the registration to ensure that a vehicle is safe at that time.

It would replace the current two-step process, thus saving resources and mailing costs.

This could be accomplished by merely extending the inspection month to the registration.

Also, the purpose of inspections is safety. Senate Bill 2715 SD1, which would conduct safety checks every two years, would not improve public safety, particularly with all the junkers on the road.

Paul Miller

Kaneohe

Gun laws don’t burden criminals

Jonathan Starr’s assertion that pending firearms legislation would be positive is a joke (“Firearms proposals would be positive,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, March 10).

Starr claims these proposals would make it more difficult for criminals or would-be criminals to obtain firearms. Hawaii already has some of the strictest firearm laws in the nation.

I would argue many of these laws are unconstitutional and intended to discourage lawful firearm ownership. Mandated waiting periods, safety courses, and three trips and hours in line at police headquarters in Honolulu are hardly minor inconveniences.

The fact is criminals do not care what laws are passed. Once the decision is made to commit a crime, it will be committed with an illegally acquired firearm, a knife or other weapon.

Rather than further burden law-abiding gun owners with more ridiculous gun laws, I would prefer Hawaii legislators focus on more important problems, such as fixing our deplorable infrastructure and our shameful public education system.

Robert Thurston

Kahuku

Building freeze drives up prices

Recently the majority of Big Q respondents thought it was a good idea to halt development from Kalihi to Aiea over concerns of increased traffic (“Due to traffic concerns, should there be a temporary building moratorium from Aiea to Kalihi?,” Star-Advertiser, March 7).

Yet every year we have about 5,000 more births than deaths in Hawaii. More people means more of everything: traffic, homes, schools, food, jobs and taxes.

Stopping development serves only to drive the cost of housing up. It’s the law of supply and demand. You can’t get around this.

Maybe it is time to start thinking about a sustainable population.

No population growth means no need for more of everything else.

Richard Fucik

Aiea