• Affordable Housing Issue • Gabbard – Case • Princeville Iraq • Letter writers Affordable Housing Issue I wonder how many candidates running for office, who say they want to do something about providing affordable housing on Kaua‘i, have any
• Affordable Housing Issue
• Gabbard – Case
• Princeville Iraq
• Letter writers
Affordable Housing Issue
I wonder how many candidates running for office, who say they want to do something about providing affordable housing on Kaua‘i, have any idea that thousands of landowners are illegally denied access to their property on Kaua‘i by surrounding landowners, including the State of Hawai‘i?
Do they know that Hawaii Revised Statute Section 7-1 guarantees all landowners a “right of way” to their property, but that large corporations and other wealthy landowners routinely ignore the law and deny locals a “right of way” to their property.
Does anyone know that two years ago Ezra Kanaho tried to strengthen this law by amending it to include the words “motor vehicle and utility” to the “right of way” clause of the statute? He wanted to help a local boy gain access to his property in Hanalei valley so he could get electricity and be able to allow emergency vehicles access to his home. The surrounding landowners would only allow him to walk to his property. They later fenced him out all together.
Finally, does anyone know that Representative Hermina Morita killed Representative Kanoho’s amendment in committee before it even came up for a vote?
Does anyone really care?
John Wyatt
Kapa‘a
Gabbard – Case
I recently read an open letter from Ed Case that has a list of questions/accusations that are directed at Mike Gabbard. Some of the questions, which have to do with Mike’s accomplishments, seem to be valid. However, others are clearly part of an overall campaign to smear Mike Gabbard’s character.
I have a simple question for Ed Case. Why are you demanding that Mike Gabbard answer the following questions?
1. Who were your parents and where were they from?
2. How many children do you have?
3. What are their names and ages?
4. Where are they living and what are they doing?
When a candidate starts going after the family members, especially the children of his opponent, he’s lost not only my vote, but my respect.
Mike Hinchey
Honolulu
A letter writer states in the Sept. 16 Forum: “…putting a specific property tax law into our Charter is a grave mistake and one that Kaua‘i may regret for years to come (as California has).”
I am a native Californian, age 67, who manages to save for my annual 30-day visit to Kaua‘i each year, staying in a small, modest condo (which may be taxed into becoming a high-priced hotel room).
I presume the letter writer is speaking of California’s 1978 “Proposition 13,” which came about because many people, primarily seniors, were being taxed out of their homes by annually-imposed huge property tax assessments. With Prop 13 protection I can still afford to live in my home in California. Without it, I would probably be in a trailer park in the desert of Arizona by now.
The only people in California who don’t like Prop 13 are the tax-and-spend politicians and those recently buying property for the first time. But, even those recent buyers will come to realize they have Prop 13 protections, albeit not as good as those of us who stayed put and who cannot use unrealized gains to buy food and clothing.
If Prop 13 were merely statutory law, it would be long dead by an act of the tax-and-spend politicos.
Wally Roberts
San Clemente, CA
Princeville Iraq
On September 11, 2001 terrorists, mainly from Saudi Arabia, under the direction of Osama bin Laden, attacked the United States in New York City and Washington D.C. President George W. Bush retaliated by attacking known terrorist strongholds in Afghanistan and the United States declared war against Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization, Al Qaida. On March 20, 2003 President Bush led the United States in an attack on Iraq saying that Iraq had collaborated with Al Qaida and that Iraq had large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was a threat to the world. Now, more than a year after the initial U.S. attack on Iraq we know the following:
Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.
Iraq had no connection to Al Qaida.
Iraq had no involvement in the September 11 attack on the United States.
It is now clear beyond any doubt that the United States had no justifiable cause to attack Iraq. Furthermore it is very evident that the people of Iraq do not view the United States as their liberator and it is also clear that the war in Iraq has no impact on the war against terrorism. So far over 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq.
I wonder, what would President Eisenhower do? What would President Kennedy do? What should our President do?
It’s not a matter of politics. It’s not about Democrats versus Republicans. It’s not about the election. The United States of America needs to return to its original values of truth, justice, fairness, and liberty. America needs to redeem itself and reclaim its values. There is only one way to do this – admit our error and withdraw from Iraq. It’s time for the President to do the right thing and bring the troops home.
Rich McSheehy
Kalaheo
Letter writers
I got a feeling of deja vu when reading a recent letter to the Forum entitled “527 revelations.” That’s because I had already read it in the form of one of these many unsigned, unsubstantiated right-wing e-mails being circulated.
The Forum writer passed this on, word for word, in its entirety, as his own work.
Folks, this is called plagiarism and its wrong.
Another writer, who has lately been defending the National Guard’s past reputation did this with a paragraph about what John Kerry’s kids do when he tells war stories.
Again, plagiarized from one of those e-mails. Now I know the right wing must tune in daily to Revolting Rush, or download from the Not So Swifties Web site in order to know what to think about an issue; but, is it too much to ask for them to put it into their own words?
Pete Antonson
Lawa‘i
