Letters for Saturday — October 02, 2004

• Perry on Lum

• Honolulu Police Department

• Princeville project

• Freedom of religion

• Police chief

• Ohana Kaua‘i

Perry on Lum

The selection of a new police chief is an arduous task that requires due diligence on the part of the police commission. While I am admittedly disappointed with my non-selection, nevertheless I must commend the police commission for maintaining the highest ethical standards in doing “the right thing” by selecting whom they believed to be the right person for the job.

My congratulations goes out to Chief K.C. Lum and to all of the other candidates who had the courage to step forward to offer their services to the citizens of Kaua‘i.

To all of my friends, thank you for your kind words of support. And now I am asking that you stand behind your new chief and give him all the help and assistance he needs to be successful, because the Kaua‘i Police Department’s successes will be the community’s victories.

Darryl D. Perry

Retired Major

Honolulu Police Department Presidential debate

John Kerry showed up President Bush and the President’s disastrous policies during Thursday’s debate. I hope those voters who were undecided, now have enough information to vote for a change of leadership for the U.S. Yes, Bush is resolute and sticking to his guns, however, stubbornness may not be the quality that we need in a leader. Yes, Saddam is a very bad man, however, there are more terrorists now than ever. The world is not a safer place. We are not safer. We need a diplomatic leader, instead of a bull-headed Texas gunslinger who is only too willing to send our sons and daughters off to lose their lives in a war started under false pretenses. The U.S. has lost respect in the world community and four more years of Bush league leadership will damage our alliances irreparably, and create more terrorists. John Kerry is an intelligent, compassionate choice for new leadership. This is the most important election of our time. Please vote for change.

Barry Stephens

Kapa‘a

Princeville project

Your recent headline “Mixed response to proposed Princeville condo project” is misleading. In fact, as stated in your article, the only response by Kauaians without a vested interest in the proposed Princeville time-share project was emphatic rejection. Of course lawyers and P-R folk working for the developers will testify in favor of new time-share development. But the rest of us know that there is no need for development that only lines developers pockets, while bringing Kaua‘i traffic, higher land prices, and lousy minimum wage jobs. Perhaps the headline should have read “Proposed Princeville condo project: Developers say Yes, Kauaians say no.”

Jeff Brock

Kapa‘a

Freedom of religion

Because our Consitution was founded on the principle of religious freedom, the USA is the most religiously diverse nation in the world. We can be proud of this. All elected officials have the responsibility to represent all citizens equally. They must not favor one religion over any other.

We need to ask candidates where they stand on our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom and religious diversity; how they balance their beliefs with their duty to represent all citizens; and how they will maintain separation of church and state so that we can all, regardless of our beliefs, remain free.

I urge reporters, voters and the moderators of the upcoming presidential debates to ask the candidates the Five Questions of The Interfaith Alliance (www.interfaithalliance.org/fivequestions). With these questions, voters can get a better idea of where their candidates stand on our constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion and freedom from religion.

Lucy Miller

Lihu‘e

Police chief

Kudos to the Kaua‘i Police Commission for appointing K.C. Lum to the permanent position of Police Chief.

This man will lead the Kaua’i Police Department into the future with confidence and respect. It is easier to recruit qualified Police Officers when you have a competent and confidant leader.

Now it is up to Chief Lum to follow through with everything that he wants to do within the department.

Congratulations Chief Lum, you deserve this position.

Richard Swift

Princeville

Ohana Kaua‘i

I have been supporting the proposed Ohana Kauai Charter Amendment (O.K.C.A.) to roll back and freeze property taxes for resident homeowners of Kaua‘i.

Please allow me to share some thoughts and ask some questions on this subject as well as the County Task Force Proposal (TFP).

This charter amendment will be something that can be relied upon to remain in effect. If passed, it cannot be altered or repealed by politicians but only by the voters of Kaua‘i.

Our elected and appointed county officials are doing a wonderful job of researching the problems of our property tax system and finding ways to solve many property tax issues. However, any tax reform being pursued at the County-Council-level can very easily be amended, altered, repealed, or after much discussion, completely abandoned (I know this from personal experience).

I would like to thank our elected officials for extending the circuit breaker for an additional year. Is this being considered for permanent installation? If not, why not? A good point;

Many of the newest, largest, and most expensive (hotel-sized) homes being built are vacation getaway second homes owned by wealthy individuals. These owners will not be receiving tax breaks under O.K.C.A. unless they transfer their primary residence to Kaua‘i. This may be unlikely, however, should these very wealthy individuals do so (transfer), then they would be required to pay state of Hawai‘i income taxes as well as support the local economy in other ways. Either way, O.K.C.A. proves beneficial. Over the past few years Kaua‘i’s property tax revenues have increased tremendously. Whatever money has been taken in, ways have been found to spend, conversely, if there is a small percentage of temporary decline in revenue due to O.K.C.A., could it be possible for the county to temporarily manage with less?

John Wooten

Anahola