Mahalo for mentoring Lahainaluna seniors

Lahainaluna High School held its annual Senior Project Presentation Day on March 7, showcasing the experiences and achievements of the 2023 senior class. The event was a success, with students presenting a variety of projects that reflected their interests, skills and creativity. These presentations also included the Health Services Performance-Based Assessments.

Students presented their projects to a panel of judges, mentors, teachers and community members, demonstrating their ability to communicate their experiences with clarity and confidence. The projects covered a diverse range of topics, including community service, self-development, career exploration and internships.

The Senior Project Presentation Day was made possible through the support and mentorship of numerous individuals and organizations, including community members, nonprofit organizations and local businesses who volunteered their time and resources to support our students.

We extend our deepest gratitude to those in our community who mentored one of our students. Your expertise and guidance were instrumental in helping our students develop their projects and present their experiences with confidence and professionalism.

We would like to thank the staff from Lahaina Intermediate School, Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary School and King Kamehameha III Elementary School, and community volunteers who evaluated the presentations. A special mahalo to Starbucks Lahaina for the coffee donation and Lahaina Grill for the Dole Whip cards for our students.

Senior Project Presentation Day was a testament to the strength and dedication of our students. We are proud of their achievements and excited to see what the future holds for them. Imua Lahainaluna.

TARA NAKATA, Librarian, Lahainaluna High School

Future projects for elected officials to consider

(The following suggestions were submitted in a letter addressed to Mayor Richard Bissen, Councilmember Tamara Paltin, Sen. Angus McKelvey, and Rep. Elle Cochran.)

1) Update existing infrastructure at the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility. Pump treated water up to the higher reservoir connected to the sugar cane ditch system. Put irrigation pipe in the former ditches. Allocate water taken from Lahaina back to it for irrigation. Irrigate public use facilities and parks along with agriculture and forestry.

2) When a reliable source of irrigation is established, incentivize agriculture and forestry. Sandalwood is extremely valuable worldwide and potential for future taxable revenue. State-controlled property north of Lahainaluna High School is an ideal place for reforestation, benefiting education and tourism, and environmentally prudent.

3) Encourage Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate to develop agriculture, forestry and a cultural historical park on their property south of Lahainaluna High School. Wildfires continue to be problematic and dangerous in this area. Irrigation and natural development of this area is for public safety and environmental protection.

4) Clean up Cut Mountain near Olowalu and create a safe space for the homeless community to park and sleep. They are already living there. It is far away from businesses, schools and residential areas, so complaints would be minimized. Landscaping could provide a barrier adjacent to the adjoining highways for privacy and beautiful aesthetics. Set up rubbish bins, portable toilets and picnic tables with routine police patrols for safety. Hotels and businesses could maybe partner with the county and state to help do cleanups, landscaping and maintenance like the “Adopt-a-Highway” program.

Thanks for your service and consideration of these future projects.

MICHELE LINCOLN, Lahaina

The honeymoon is over; what about our tax cuts?

Gov. Josh Green recently reached his 100th day in office, and I think it’s safe to say his honeymoon period with voters and the Legislature has come to an end.

When he took office in January, the state was looking at a budget surplus of about $2.6 billion, and there was a lot of excitement about his proposal to hand Hawaii taxpayers what his administration said would be “the largest tax reduction in the history of the state.”

But now, with a recession looming, the job market flattening and inflation continuing to eat away at our purchasing power, the initial flurry of excitement for the governor’s bold “Green Affordability Plan” has faded and some politicians are even suggesting that Hawaii cannot afford tax cuts right now. The implication is that the state will need its surplus cash more than Hawaii taxpayers, who are so strapped by Hawaii’s high cost of living that they have been leaving the state in droves over the past six years.

The result is that Green’s GAP plan is in danger of being watered down as legislators narrow their focus to just a few of the governor’s proposed tax credits.

Meanwhile, the governor and mayors have not been shy about bigger budgets and spending requests. Green recently rolled out a plan that involves more than $1 billion in additional spending, Honolulu’s budget is up by 6.3 percent and Kauai is contemplating a 20 percent budget increase.

No doubt these ballooning budgets are being justified by the fact that tax revenues are still healthy. But the fact is, even with the reduced revenue projections, the state is still expected to have a surplus.

In addition, this year’s higher real estate assessments guarantee more tax revenues for the counties, and the tax relief proposed thus far would be either only temporary or still less than the expected increase.

In other words, our lawmakers have money to play with, and they don’t want to give it up.

But a look at the economic forecast makes it clear that playtime is over. If Hawaii lawmakers really want to help residents weather the coming economic storm, they need to provide relief to their constituents now — and not through new “free” programs or massive government housing or entertainment projects.

A recession is exactly the time to cut taxes and regulations. Not only do tax cuts help people directly by letting them keep more of their money when they really need it, they also send the signal that Hawaii is open for business.

Given that we have been experiencing an exodus of entrepreneurs and professionals for more than half a decade now, that’s a signal that is long overdue.

I often say that there is never a good time to raise taxes, and that’s true. But the inverse is also true: there’s never a bad time to cut taxes. When the state is facing economic uncertainty, a tax cut is one of the wisest moves that our leaders can make. Unfortunately, the governor’s campaign proposal to exempt food and medicine from the state general excise died a long time ago. And his “Green Affordability Plan” has now been split into several bills, so who knows which — if any — of them will survive.

If I had to pick just one of the bills to succeed, it would be HB954 HD2, which would increase the personal and standard deductions for the state income tax and index both of them to inflation.

The rest would create or increase a litany of targeted tax credits, and as I’ve said before, tax cuts are much better than tax credits, which do not provide immediate relief, require a lot of paperwork and often go unclaimed.

Without vocal support for real tax cuts, the most important part of the governor’s “affordability” plan will be lost. His tax reform proposals, which he described as “audacious,” were supposed to help everyone. But now, maybe not so much.

That’s why it falls on us to demand good fiscal leadership from our elected officials. We must reach out to those who make the decisions about budgets and tax cuts and let them know that a possible recession calls for restraint.

With sound budgeting, reduced regulations and a few good tax cuts, Hawaii could come through a recession with flying colors and easily find itself on the road to prosperity.

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