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LETTERS for August 5 issue

By Staff | Aug 5, 2010

KUDOS TO KBH

I would like to publicly thank Mr. Mike White, general manager of Kaanapali Beach Hotel, and his staff for the wonderful tribute they held on Saturday, July 24, in honor of the 11-year-old child, Ka‘ilila‘au Lindsey, who accidentally died six years ago in a remote part of West Maui.

In his memory, KBH recently took it upon themselves to build from scratch a 32-foot outrigger canoe and name it after the child, Ka‘ilila‘au.

The hand-carved canoe was christened and blessed on Saturday by Kapono‘ai Molitau, and the boy’s parents, Kimo and Leimaile, were given the first official voyage to scatter their child’s ashes.

Through the benevolence of Mr. White and his hotel, the memory of Ka‘ilila‘au will linger on.

I want to say thank you on behalf of his family and friends. You truly make a difference. May the Lord continue to bless you for the blessings you continuously give to others.

REV. BEVERLY POWERS, West Maui

AIRPORT BEACH LOOKS BEAUTIFUL

Thank you to the wonderful group of people who painted Airport Beach! Getting rid of that ugly orange and replacing it with a more traditional plantation green was a great idea. I thought it was beautiful to see a family business working together to get it done — and so friendly. That’s what it takes to survive living in these islands. 

Shame on an older lady who could only think of complaining to them, and then flipped them off after calling them liars about some spilled paint. I saw the tarps myself. I wish I would have spoken up for them then. 

You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking it was okay to treat people like that. It’s the old saying: “If you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t say anything at all!”

KATIE JOHNSON, Lahaina

SURFRIDER YO MEET

Aloha all! This is just a heads up that there will be a Surfrider Foundation meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 11, at the Whale Sanctuary building at 726 S. Kihei Road.

Meeting starts at 6 p.m. There are lots of things to discuss — water quality, injection wells, “Rise Above Plastic,” Honolua, Maalaea, etc.

A couple of committees are already up and running with lots of activity, but we need to get together and define who is gonna do what. Hope to see you there!  

LES POTTS, Napili

CLUTE CARES ABOUT MAUI

As a concerned citizen and advocate of the “Maui” way of life, I wish to strongly urge all the citizens of West Maui to elect Dr. Eve Clute (doctor of public health) for the West Maui Council seat in Sept. 18 primary election. To those of you who do not know Dr. Clute, I am sorry. You have missed an opportunity to meet someone who deeply cares about the islands and will work diligently to help improve life here. 

She has over three decades of experience in Maui’s sewage, water, solid waste and infrastructure systems. Her persistence in finding ways to help individuals become healthier and providing continuous service to solving the needs of the Maui community is admirable. Furthermore, her love of this paradise (Maui) is impossible to challenge. Once she arrived here 35 years ago, she knew she had found her home and has never stopped being involved in community health issues.

Her platform is simple — not easy, but simple. She wants to create an environment where the government cares about what is best for Maui, Lanai and Molokai, and recognizes that each island has different and distinct needs.

Dr. Clute’s philosophy is to include, not exclude, any and all interested parties. Her method may sound simplistic, but if you think about it… well, we all know how hard it is to get a group of individuals to all walk in the same direction.  The only words I have to explain are she encourages everyone to dance to the same song.

Since arriving on this island over 35 years ago, Dr. Clute has continuously worked to restore and improve the health of the island and its people. If one were to list her resume of the work and projects she has initiated and managed, this letter would become a novel.   

I believe Dr. Clute states her platform most eloquently: “I firmly believe that government should care about what is best for each island and recognize that their needs are different and distinct. My approach is to lead by positive example, as I did in 1989 to 1995, when spearheading the cleanup of the nuisance algae on West Maui beaches.  Working with the EPA, county, local resorts, businesses and concerned citizens, we solved the problem.

“Most of us appreciate a safe and prosperous future for their families, affordable housing with high-quality sewage treatment, and clean, affordable drinking water. In addition there needs to be work available for those who want it. These are my top priorities!

“As a doctor of public health, I am trained to protect the health of communities. My focus is on environmental sciences, (clean water, air and sewage technologies). As a university professor, I teach environmental sciences and biology. As a County Council executive assistant, I learned the inner workings of the Maui County Council. I want to put my knowledge and experience to work for our communities!”

As a person who also loves Maui, please vote for Dr. Eve Clute.

BARBARA REID, Oxnard, California

JOIN THE BATTLE TO PROTECT ANIMALS

Gandhi claimed we can judge a society by the way it treats its animals.

An attempt to prohibit sales in Hawaii of a food product, foie gras, which requires months of daily torture of geese — akin to our state bird, Nene — was defeated in this year’s Hawaii Legislature.

Nearly 80 percent of the animals going into our Humane Society are killed. Illegal animal torture, euphemistically called sport, occurs every weekend accompanied by other illegal activities like narcotic sales and gambling. State legislators unsuccessfully introduced a resolution in support of this torture.

Since its inception, our whale sanctuary offers no protection to the humpbacks that they don’t enjoy outside it, although hopefully that will change next year.

Horses viewed along our roads suffer for months with no shelter, as required by law, in spite of the required reports made to animal control.

Huge numbers of reef fish are captured and shipped across the world to be held captive in small tanks, but this, too, may change soon.

There are obviously thousands of animal caretakers on Maui doing all they can to care for their animal companions, offering aloha and care. Others in informal groups or small organizations work diligently to help animals in need in various ways.

So the battle continues for animal welfare. Whose side are you on?

MIKE MORAN, Kihei

GOVERNMENT WON’T IMPROVE UNTIL SYSTEMS CHANGE

The headline on the front page of a recent edition of our daily newspaper read “Thirteen Maui schools hit marks.” Sounds good until one realizes with over 30 public schools, more than half actually failed to meet the minimum requirements!

Reminded me of a story my father related while attending a meeting of upper level management of the Veterans Administration, prior to it becoming the Cabinet level Department of Veterans Affairs. The director was boasting that 95 percent of their checks reach their clients on time. My father reminded them that there were 50 million checks mailed each month, and thus 2.5 million wives, widows, children and dependents were NOT receiving their needed checks on time! He was reprimanded for being insubordinate and was more “diplomatic” in the future when pointing something out!

At a recent Maui County Council Committee of the Whole meeting, during a presentation of results from a professional research project relating to the community’s support of a district voting system, three members of the council fell over themselves criticizing the methodology of the research.

Anybody with basic knowledge of statistics knows that a professional firm would employ accepted methodology when hired to perform research. It was shocking to watch these council members — rather than admit they do not support a district system over the current outdated and archaic at-large system — hide behind questioning the validity of the research itself.

If anyone thinks we can improve our current Oahu-centralized state educational system or the composition of our Maui County Council with the current structures in place, they could remember what Albert Einstein said: “The height of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.”

NIKHILANANDA, Huelo

 

COMING TO AMERICA AN EASY DECISION

Our Mexican neighbors have got it tough. Their government isn’t doing what it should for them. Not on the local level, or the state level or the federal level.

They are getting chewed alive in a system that is set up to benefit the wealthy and squeeze the poor, not only into poverty but ultimately to death.

Because there is no change on the horizon, and the rich and lazy have no intention of making those needed changes, they have come up with a way to solve the problem.

They are reducing the numbers of the poor by telling them to go to the United States.

In some cases, these people are being forced through poverty, hardship, disease and hunger to cross the border to find any kind of work to keep themselves and their families alive.

What would you do in desperate times?

I tell you that if this government kept food, medicine, money and land from me; I could not fight them effectively; and there was a country right next door I could walk into and be free and strong and save my family, I would do it.

So millions of our neighbors have come to our land.

If you want to stop the illegal immigration problem, you have two choices: Regime change in Mexico, or open the border and let people come and go as they please.

We will eventually be one country. The choice is, will tyranny spread north, or will freedom spread south?

ALFRED BROCK, Via E-mail

BILL PROTECTS CITIZENS FROM ECONOMIC DISASTER

With today’s historic passage of Wall Street Reform, the U.S. Senate and congressional Democrats voted to put Main Street before Wall Street and ensured that Americans will be protected from future economic disasters similar to the one that nearly saw the collapse of our economy less than two years ago.

Thanks to the vision and courage of President Obama and congressional Democrats, Wall Street will now be held accountable for their actions and there will be greater protections for American families, small businesses, community banks and shareholders.

The passage of Wall Street reform means that another essential element of America’s economic recovery is now in place. President Obama and congressional Democrats vowed to protect the interest of the American people, and with this bill, they have done just that. By overcoming the opposition of the big banks and their Republican allies, congressional Democrats have stood up and said unequivocally that the status quo is no longer acceptable.

The significance of this bill cannot be understated. President Obama and congressional Democrats have not only passed the most significant and meaningful Wall Street Reform since the 1930s, but they have ushered in a new era of accountability and responsibility that will protect American families from Wall Street’s risky and irresponsible practices.

While there is still more work to do to ensure our country’s recovery is sustained, I am proud to join the people of Hawaii in applauding President Obama and congressional Democrats for passing such an important and momentous bill.

RIA BALDEVIA, State Director, Organizing for America-Hawaii