Letters for Sunday, June 7, 2009

• Question leadership

• Dangerous turn

• Spend money on schools

• Whale migration

• Stay vigilant

Question leadership

Regarding Chair Asing’s refusal to place requested items on the agenda (“Following the rules,” The Garden Island, June 4)… Perhaps he has good reason to not allow public discussion on a bill to put council minutes on the Internet or to hear a bill related to the county attorney opinions. 

Perhaps he has his own plan for a bill to fund an ocean study in Po‘ipu or will offer his resolution to clarify the process to release confidential documents. We may never know unless we the public inquire from him or other council members what is the reason not to move forward with the proposed items.

Certainly Chair Asing must have good reason to thwart the efforts of others on the council to move forward with legislation and improve Kaua‘i’s government ability to serve its citizens. The support by his colleagues must be questioned if we the public do not see Chair Asing’s action as serving Kaua‘i’s best interest.

A 5-2 vote for an executive session to discuss the matter privately behind closed doors does not seem to help foster an open forum for governance. Kaua‘i deserves more from its elected leaders and councilmembers Kawahara and Bynum deserve praise and credit for trying to push forward with an open and public process for improving Kaua‘i’s government.

Chair Asing has served his community well during his political career but if he can not help advance the work of others on the council and improve government functions perhaps we the public have to question his current efforts and leadership and seek out others who can work together to serve the public interest.

James Trujillo, Kapa‘a

Dangerous turn

Taking a left turn out of the Wailua Golf Course parking lot is scary and an accident waiting to happen every day.

Traffic is moving at 60 to 70 mph. Is there a brilliant road engineer out there who could design a solution to this problem?

Taking a right turn in order to turn around safely is quite far in the wrong direction. Please help.

LaVonne Dumas, Lihu‘e

Spend money on schools

Your most sensible editorial moves my keyboard to click (“Red light for Green Harvest,” Forum, May 31).

I’d like to see the memorably great herb of pakalolo on sale in cannabis cafes across this land.

And if it were legal, a lot of herbalists would not feel all that bad about dropping a dime on their butthead crankster neighbors. As it is now, they are all nominally comrades on the same, wrong side of the law — perverse, but that’s prohibition for you.

I say legalize ‘em all. Provide treatment on demand, honest education, regulate public use, quality and labeling — and who would omit tax the trade. Witness that honest education has significantly dropped tobacco use without the need to put anybody in a cage. 

The war on drugs has such inertia, built up over the past century, that change will be difficult. Thank you for helping to push the ball toward the goal of more freedom, more liberty. This is America after all.

I’d rather see the $27,000-plus spent on the libraries and schools. What a poor choice.

Jay Bergstrom, Forest Ranch, Calif.

Whale migration

I have always wondered why the humpback whales do their annual migration from Hawai‘i to Alaska. After some research, the answer turns out to be quite simple.

They migrate for tax reasons. There is no state income tax in Alaska. Most of us are completely unaware of it, but whales have very good accountants.

It is also rumored that they keep their money in “offshore” accounts.

Johnny Robish, Kapa‘a

Stay vigilant

I read Adam Paler’s letter and was dismayed that he condemned all of Kaua‘i because his personal effects were removed from his condo (“A safe place,” Letters, May 31).

I live in Po‘ipu and we have been warned to be careful and lock our doors even when we are in the rooms. It is unfortunate that this happened and I send him my condolences over the loss of his photo memories he saved on his hard drive.

However, Mr. Paler right away assumes that the deed was done by a Kaua‘i resident. There is a good chance that the miscreants are from here, but I have seen some rather seedy looking Mainland backpackers and homeless transients that could be up to committing this dastardly deed as well.

I have also traveled the world and have had a couple of wallets and a laptop stolen but I have always backed up my photos and sent them home knowing that these things can happen. By the way, as it turned out, these items were lifted by people other than natives of the host country.

Mr. Paler’s girlfriend’s loss is also disappointing. I would venture to guess that these things happen in her home country as well.

Hopefully his memories and goods will be returned to him in good time. Odder things have happened. In the meantime, we local residents must keep vigilant so this doesn’t become a way of life. If you see something suspicious, report it.

Ada Koene, Koloa