Restore beach access in Honokowai

This is my concern, my complaint. I hurt.

I reside on Lower Honoapiilani Road in my family’s home for 70 years. This is where I grew up. I walked across Honoapiilani Road (not a “lower” road back then, which had a “rural route” address) through the Fujiwara’s yard, through my Taniguchi grandparents’ yard, through a patch of kiawe trees to go swim, pick limu, pick opihi, pick pipi’i, catch sand crabs, look for shells, build sand castles, practice writing in the sand, daydream, ponder, watch spouting/splashing whales and spectacular sunsets.

This is where my dad went diving for fish and tako to put food in our opu along with the limu, the opihi, the pipi’i, the sand crabs that we all came home with. SO MUCH time spent at the beach and in the ocean, which was the very fabric of MY young life, my parents’ life, my siblings’ life, my neighbors’ life. This was our LIFE. Easy access to the beach and ocean for LIVING. FOR HEALTH OF MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT! GONE — gone for the last 52 years of my life.

NO ACCESS, NO TRESPASSING, STAY OUT, STAY AWAY, HURTFUL!

In 2020, a posted sign proclaimed: “Path closed – Work in progress.”

In December 2022, the Seawall Path next to Hale Mahina Resort at 3875 Lower Honoapiilani Road is FINALLY cleared and opened after YEARS and YEARS of promise. Only to be terribly disappointed, distressed, crushed, aghast to discover that this path ends with a railing that STOPS access to the beach, to the ocean. CAN only look, but NO CAN touch the beach, the ocean. AGAIN, NO ACCESS, NO TRESPASSING, STAY OUT, HURTFUL!

But now I am determined for my feet to feel the sand again, to swim in the ocean again. I squeeze between the railing and the wire fence (being respectful to not cause any damage) to get to the other side and lower myself with rope 10-12 feet.

My spirit is renewed to feel the sand, to immerse myself in the ocean water. I rejoice to be where I have not been for 52 years. I pull myself back up, squeeze between railing and wire fence, again acknowledging and accepting the disclaimer posted: “The Association of Apartment Owners of Hale Mahina Beach Resort… accepts no responsibility for use of the coastline area or ocean and accepts no responsibility by anyone whether an owner, tenant, invitee, licensee or the general public.”

What use is there, when there is no access to use the coastline area or ocean? I return eagerly for another swim a few days later and find the wire fence zip-tied to the railing, which does not allow me to squeeze through to the other side to lower myself to the beach below.

The only way now, as I see it, is to climb OVER the four-and-a-half-foot railing to get to the other side. This is an obstacle that makes it so difficult and dangerous for this 70-plus-year-old wahine.

I am dismayed, I am angry. But I WILL find a way! I am determined and will not be deterred.

Do I wait another 52 years for access to the beach? In this case, I will be dead! Do I get hurt, as my husband fears? Do I get too old to climb up and over and down and back up?

I HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH. I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY RIGHT TO ACCESS.

I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY RIGHT TO GOOD HEALTH, OF MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT, that this beach and ocean of my childhood provided then, and can provide now.

GIVE ME ACCESS!

DEBRA LEI TANIGUCHI ULI’I, Honokowai

Make sure officials take care of the West Side

(The following letter was sent to county and state officials.)

While I appreciate our new mayor visiting Haleakala to observe the fuel spill, I think the entire County Council and state representatives need to visit the mountainside of the highway between Mile Marker 13.5 and Cut Mountain/Lahaina Bypass and observe all of the abandoned vehicles leaking oil, fuel and battery acid, as well as the homeless creating health issues.

The Lahaina side generates over 50 percent of tax revenues collected, yet we are the last ones given any consideration to clean-ups and the potential building of shelters for the homeless. Neighbors, we must write our lawmakers and demand the Lahaina side is taken care of. You must use the power of letters/questions and hold their feet to the fire.

It is a new year — a new lawmaker session. Be the squeaky wheel. Please do what is right.

BUFF WEAVER, Napili

Tax credits are fine, but tax cuts are better

Gov. Josh Green’s big tax plan, the “Green Affordability Plan,” promises to put $300 million back into taxpayers’ pockets, making it one of the biggest tax reductions in Hawaii history.

But can the GAP live up to that promise?

For the past several years, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has urged Hawaii lawmakers to cut taxes. With a surplus of more than $10 billion expected over the next four years, Hawaii can afford it. Tax cuts would put money back in people’s wallets, reduce the cost of living and spur economic growth.

If the governor’s GAP plan were based around tax cuts, there wouldn’t be enough space on this page to contain all of my praise. But his plan is mostly about tax credits.

What’s wrong with tax credits? Politically, they are a gold mine. They can target specific groups, they sound great on paper, and they feel like a bargain for taxpayers. Who doesn’t like to get money back?

Gov. Green’s tax plan has tax credits galore — for food, low-income renters, child and dependent care, and teachers who buy supplies for their classrooms with their own money. It also would expand the earned income tax credit.

It all sounds wonderfully generous, but credits involve a lot of paperwork — something not everybody is good at — and just like that promise from your cousin to pay you back the $20 he owes you next month, $20 today won’t be the same as $20 up to a year from now when the next tax season rolls around.

Probably the worst part about tax credits is that lawmakers often like to offset them with tax increases. It is one thing to create tax cuts and credits as part of a broader plan that includes smart, responsible budgeting. It is another to offer tax breaks with one hand while increasing taxes with the other.

Fortunately, Gov. Green has not said anything about increasing taxes. Nevertheless, Hawaii taxpayers should remain alert to the possibility.

The only actual tax cuts in the governor’s plan, if you could call them that, would involve increasing the state’s income tax deductions and exemptions. Together, these two changes would save Hawaii taxpayers about $162 million in 2024. That is a welcome move.

Also welcome is the governor’s proposal to peg the standard deduction, personal exemption and the state’s many income tax brackets to inflation, which means lower-income earners won’t get pushed into higher tax brackets. This would save taxpayers about $26 million in 2024 and is a terrific idea.

So overall, there is a lot to like about Gov. Green’s GAP plan. Any tax plan that saves Hawaii residents money has to be a good thing — in fact, a great thing!

In the future, however, efforts to reduce Hawaii’s tax burden would have more impact if they focused less on tax credits and more on straight up tax cuts — either by eliminating certain taxes or through lower tax rates.

DR. KELI’I AKINA, President/CEO, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii