The resignation of Dan Grabauskas, the CEO of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, is about as effective as closing the barn door after the cow escapes (“HART chief resigns,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 19).
Nothing will change anytime soon, even with someone as competent as city Transportation Services Director Mike Formby taking over temporarily. The rail project is billions over budget and years behind schedule, and Grabauskas did not do all of this on his own. Many of the HART managers and pro-rail politicians who contributed to his downfall still will be employed.
It is painfully clear that the only reason for Grabauskas to resign at this particular time is to give politicians someone to shift the blame to, not to make the significant changes necessary to put rail back on track.
For a severance of $282,250, I am sure Grabauskas will keep his mouth shut.
Mary Monohon
Kailua
With Grabauskas gone, now what?
Hallelujah (“HART chief resigns, Star-Advertiser, Aug. 19).
Good riddance. Highly overdue. Should have resigned years ago. All of us would be in much better shape.
We could have saved ourselves billions of dollars not having to tear down that miscon- ceived, misdesigned, mismanaged godforsaken monstrosity, for which our wise city leaders never provided the necessary funding.
Now what?
Gerhard C. Hamm
Waialae Iki
Takai represented Hawaii’s people well
In the wake of laying Mark Takai to rest, I want to express our sincere condolences to his family (“Colleagues, dignitaries honor late lawmaker,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 19).
Someone from Mark’s camp came to my mom’s house and hung his campaign banner on her fence without permission. Somehow Mark found out and he and Aaron Ling Johanson came to apologize for the mishap. My mom was surprised that he came and by how thoughtful he was in apologizing. She said he was so nice and down-to-earth.
My experience with Mark was back in the day when our soccer team needed donations for our trip to Wyoming for the nationals. Mark was there for us with his generous donation.
Even after his passing, my mom received a thank-you bag of rice, which was totally unexpected.
My mom and I can’t say enough about his generosity, and more so for being such a wonderful and admirable person representing Aiea. I am grateful to Mark for what he did, not only for the community but for representing Hawaii in the best possible way.
Aloha Oe.
Emily Skedeleski
Waipahu
DOE teachers don’t get paid enough
Mark Murakami is 100 percent on it (“Good teachers not in it for pay,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 17).
Our teachers sacrifice lots of their own time on and off their school campuses. They need to be compensated more than the state Department of Education executives and staff.
At times they spend their own money for what is needed in their classrooms. Having to wait forever for reimbursement, they just forget it.
I say the first step is to get rid of the state Board of Education. The Department of Education should clean house.
Ethel Lundberg
Kaneohe
Gabbard reckless to endorse Sanders
How reckless of U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to so publicly endorse U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders by first quitting her position as vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and then going on the campaign trail to campaign for him.
She should have been 100 percent sure he would get the nomination, because she not only alienated herself from Hillary Clinton but also from many of her backers in Congress.
What if one day we need a favor from Clinton? Will she forget this huge slight that Gabbard carried all the way to the Democratic National Convention floor?
Gregory Hino
Palolo Valley
Spearfishing at night should be banned
I agree with Jessica Wooley’s article supporting expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (“No-take areas must be expanded,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Aug. 18).
I, too, believe that with the expansion of the reserve, there’s a greater chance of fish populations trickling down and populating the main Hawaiian islands.
And while Hawaii might be a global model for the issue of shark finning, it would be a good idea to adopt policies from other areas of the world to assist in increasing its own marine resources.
For instance, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have recognized how spearfishing at night and using SCUBA can severely impact fish populations in a negative way, and thus have banned these practices for quite some time now. These methods of harvesting are banned in some areas of Hawaii.
It would serve Hawaii well if these methods are banned in not just some, but in all Hawaiian waters.
John Barclay
Kahului, Maui
Why use LNG when we have the sun?
Thanks to Gov. David Ige for opposing liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Using LNG would be like jumping from the frying pan into a gas fire. It seems like a no-brainer to utilize our God-given natural resource: the sun.
Ramona Chiya
Waikiki
