DECORATE YOUR CAR FOR HALLOWEEN?

Halloween in Lahaina the last few years has not been much fun. I resent being crowded onto the sidewalks, and I feel sorry for the police, who have to try to keep too large a group of people from stepping onto the street. It’s difficult to walk safely and hard to see the costumes.

I am dismayed that the street will not be closed this year. But I have realized that bicycles are allowed on the street, and there are a lot of costume ideas that can incorporate a bicycle. Pickups with open truck beds are allowed on the street, and adults in costumes could ride in the back. I could even decorate my car with a costume and drive down Front Street all evening.

We could turn Halloween into a vehicle costume parade instead of a pedestrian costume parade. I will be there, adding another body to the crowd to register my displeasure of the current policy. I’ll see you there!

MARY LYNNE BOLAND, Kahana

MOST PEOPLE SUPPORT HALLOWEEN IN LAHAINA

By putting a ban on the Halloween celebration in Lahaina, the Cultural Resources Commission has demonstrated that it does not care about the wishes of the huge majority, and instead is forcing its own personal agenda on the rest of us. 

There is nothing that can justify their action, other than they think it is bad for us and they know better than the thousands who enjoy this holiday only once a year. 

Halloween is celebrated in every major town in Hawaii, and Lahaina is the only one where it’s singled out as a “Culturally Inappropriate” event. 

New Year’s Eve is not part of this culture, nor is the Fourth of July, but we celebrate them in Maui on every public venue I know of. 

They cite that the drunkenness and rowdy behavior of the participants is too much. For whom I ask? Under that line of thinking, every major holiday on Maui would be banned. We will always have a segment of society that acts inappropriately on holidays, and that is why we have the police to keep things under control.

It is a shame that a handful of individuals can destroy something that is loved by so many. If there was a vote on this subject, I would not be surprised if 90 percent of the population would vote for having Halloween in Lahaina to be like it was for many years.

JOHN & SUSAN MILLER, Lahaina

LEGAL SYSTEM TOUGH ON LANDLORDS

I am very disappointed with the court system on Maui!

I was at the courthouse yesterday with my friend, who is trying to evict a tenant who does not pay rent!

Between the mortgage and the maintenance on the one-bedroom Kihei condo, he is losing $500 per month — even if the rent is paid.

The tenant knows how to work the system and told the judge that he contests the eviction (hasn’t paid rent for two months), so the judge sent it to mediation.

However, mediation cannot evict a tenant — only the court can.

My friend is meeting with a lawyer today. It’s going to be very expensive, and it will take time to get him out. What a screwed up system we have here on Maui!

DAN ZOFI, Kula

WMTA ANNOUNCES CANDIDATES’ FORUM

The West Maui Taxpayers Association (WMTA) thanks the Lahaina News for cosponsoring the West Maui Pre-Primary Candidates’ Debate last month. WMTA has a proud tradition of providing forums for voters to meet candidates, usually after the primary election. Given the large number of candidates for the West Maui County Council seat this year, and considering the number of new faces in the race, WMTA felt a pre-primary debate would help inform voters about the candidates. Again, a big thank you to the Lahaina News for their part in making this event a success.

Please mark your calendars for the traditional WMTA Candidates’ Night on Oct. 21, 2010 at the Lahaina Civic Center. This event is open to all West Maui voters and usually has candidates or representatives from most state and county races on the West Maui ballots. WMTA urges all voters to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the candidates and issues in this very important election.

WMTA also urges all West Maui voters to be informed voters. Come to the candidate forums and ask the candidates how they plan to provide taxpayers true value for their tax dollars. Taxpayers and voters should demand that elected officials provide necessary services efficiently and economically. The taxpayer is the one special interest that should have the loudest voice in determining what government does and how much it costs, yet it is the voice that is all too often not heard. WMTA asks for your support in suggesting ways government can better serve our community and promote economic growth in West Maui.

Please join us Oct. 21, 2010 and become an informed voter. Visit the WMTA website at www.WestMaui.org for more information and/or to join WMTA.

DON LEHMAN, WMTA President

DON’T RUIN MAUI FOR PROFIT

“The once pristine leeward coastline north of Lahaina has been eaten away at by condos and resorts over the last 40 years…”

This tells a history that we all must learn from or be forever doomed to repeat. The small pockets of family culture of the past that remain remind us all of what could have been.

Family culture — that hasn’t sold out. The developers can’t move in if the landowners do not sell the land. It is hard sometimes when there are opposing sides within the families, which is why it is crucial to start education about the importance of family, community, kuleana and stewardship from a young age.  

Money comes and goes. Maui is forever. Do not sell out.

ALONZO RIVERA, Lahaina

TIRED OF RIGHT WING SHOWS BASHING OBAMA

I’ve been wanting to write this for some time, but held off until I heard the gingerbread man just now on the TV news blaming our president for the jobs situation we have. Now, as I’ve said before, guess what political party he comes from? The same as the last president was? You’re right again! Boy you’re good!

They’re blaming President Obama for our jobless situation, so many people on food stamps and just about anything you might think of if you were on their side.

But let’s just stop and think for a minute… just a second or two longer than they usually do.

Who sent the jobs off to China and Mexico and Timbuktu? Hey, you’re right again. Those bleeping CEOs of the very large corporations taking down millions in salary, bonuses, perks and what have you. Do you think these “extremely nice, considerate and thoughtful” CEOs come from the same party as this gingerbread man and our last president? Hey, you’re right again. I just don’t understand how you can be right all the time.    

These TV speakers must think all of us are dumb. That we can’t figure out that this blasphemy is just the prelude, building up to the next election where they want us to again put one of them back into the presidency. Don’t be fooled by this tactic! Let’s show them we’re not so dumb after all.

Just one more question: just whose side are our media stations on anyway?  

GORDON C. COCKETT, Lahaina

HAWAII NEEDS LEADERS

As the political season headed toward the primary election, a recognizable silliness purveyed the commentaries and news coverage. Nonsense from the right, such as Maui News letter writers accusing Democrats of being socialists who want to take your land away, or the egregious Alaskan Tea Party Republican Joe Miller’s suggestion that we must do away with Social Security, Medicare and the Department of Education. As well as the Republicans’ idea that we must privatize Social Security and invest the funds into the stock market — can you imagine if those radical Republicans had got their way with your Social Security pension funds prior to the Great Recession and stock market crash of 2008! 

However, the most deplorable words I have heard in a long time were those that came recently from Hawaii Republican State Chair Jonah Ka‘auwai. In his “Be Not Deceived” letter sent to Hawaii’s Christian church pastors, he said that neither of the Democratic candidates for Hawaii governor were righteous, and that a vote for either is succumbing to fear and advancing unrighteousness. Ka‘auwai goes on to say that only their Republican gubernatorial candidate operates with the authority of Jesus, only he is righteous, and that “we need to fearlessly, like David did Goliath, run towards the unrighteous enemy.”  Or that their candidate “… will win, because the Church has been behind him the entire time operating in the POWER and the AUTHORITY of the NAME OF JESUS!”

This idea that Jonah’s Republicans have cornered the market on God and Righteousness strikes me as absurd, but the problem is Chairman Jonah completely believes it! This all came home to me when, during a luncheon discussion about the letter today, a Hawaiian pastor expressed her sincere disappointment and embarrassment that the Christian church would be used to divide and separate the people of Hawaii, Republicans and Democrats alike, from resolving their differences civilly, working together to find solutions to the state’s economic woes and resolving the deep issues confronting us in energy independence, food security, environmental degradation and providing educational opportunities for our youth, in that they would and could imagine themselves remaining in Hawaii and having hope for a future that included opportunities for the new jobs that could come about and be encouraged by a faith and hope in our society’s ability to create the educational renaissance necessary to accomplish this. 

I have raised, and am raising, children who have lived their entire lives in Hawaii. One daughter went to the Mainland, acquired a quality university education, returned home to Hawaii and luckily found a job on Maui. I know what the kids are talking about, and it’s the same thing that made them come out by the millions all over the nation to vote for our native son President Obama — it’s Hope and Change. The challenge will be to keep their hopes alive by increasing their opportunities to live and work in Hawaii. This challenge can be met with reexamining the present economic models that are not providing positive change and solutions and new quality jobs. This will require all of us working together for solutions, rather than increasing the chasm of differences being exploited by the politics of fear, identity, race or religion.

I watched the debate and heard Congressman Neil Abercrombie had returned to Hawaii after 20 years in Congress because he saw a leaderless state in crisis. All of his efforts in congress were not being followed up at the highest places of government. A state that, on the backs of the keiki, sought to balance the budget with furloughs. A state that lost $22 million in Medicare money because they didn’t complete the paperwork and applications properly. Why not — the defenseless such as the young and old are the easiest to take advantage of right?

Wrong. This is not how you inspire the young to vote, nor how you inspire the community to have faith in your government or to solve problems together. Hawaii needs leaders that inspire our youth, and leaders that bring everyone together to find real solutions using the wisdom of our kupuna and those intrinsic values of aloha.

LANCE HOLTER, Chairman, Maui County Democratic Party