HOTELS

TOURISTS CONTRIBUTE TO OUR PROPERTY TAXES

Lowell Kalapa didn't look closely enough behind the proverbial tree that he talked about ("Hawai'i's property tax burden," June 4) because there were two men there, not just the one he saw.

He says that in setting property tax rates, the City Council follows the saying, "Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax the man behind the tree." He believes that setting tax rates for the various types of nonresidential (business) properties higher than that of residential properties is deceptive. Since businesses pass on their costs to consumers, according to Kalapa, the "man behind the tree" is not the business owner but the resident.

Using the same rationale, however, the higher tax rate for properties on which hotels and resorts are located ultimately falls on the customers of these businesses. So it is the tourist who is the second "man behind the tree." In other words, the City Council is at least partially successful.

The contribution that tourists make toward property taxes means that the taxes paid by both residents and businesses are reduced. Except for tourists, who's not in favor of that?

MAMIYA PLAY

A PLEASURABLE STOP IN THE OLD WILD WEST

In his June 10 review of the play "Unlikely Lawman," your theater critic Joseph Rozmiarek says, "There's a great deal of James Arness and John Wayne in Joe Moore's performance as Clay Chandler, the loner with a tragic past who agrees to clean up the town of Topaz, Arizona."

Mr. Rozmiarek couldn't have paid me a higher compliment and I thank him for the kind words. It was a pleasure adapting Robert Broomall's novel and its compelling tale of the Wild West for the stage.

Our talented cast has received many compliments from our first four audiences and we're all looking forward to our remaining performances at Mamiya Theatre.

STAR GOLFER

WIE DESERVES PRAISE, NOT INSULTING HEADLINE

Shame on you folks at The Advertiser! On your front page, you wrote "Wie comes up short." And Ferd Lewis' column in the Sports section continues with that theme (though I stopped reading it after the first few insulting paragraphs.)

Let's see now. Michelle Wie placed fifth, only three strokes away from winning the LPGA Championship. And she beat Annika Sorenstam, ranked No. 1 and the best woman golfer in the world by far, who finished ninth.

Among other top-ranked women golfers, Natalie Gulbis finished 20th, Juli Inkster was 34th, Paula Creamer was 49th and Morgan Pressel was 69th. Grace Park and Aree Song didn't even make the cut, nor did 66 other professional women golfers.

And you have the nerve to make it sound like our 16-year-old high school girl Michelle did something wrong and somehow disappointed us? What utter nonsense. Shame on you.

WIE SUPPORTER

MICHELLE'S DOING FINE WITH PRO COMPETITORS

I just wanted to comment about Michelle Wie's performance at the McDonald's LPGA Championship.

I watched all four days, including the entire broadcast on Saturday and Sunday on the Golf Channel.

The point? I would not have watched any of it if she weren't participating in the tournament.

To anyone who would carp about her not having won yet, I would say "just look at the class of 2005" and the other two teens who turned pro last year and where they are in the final rankings in the LPGA Championship. Wie finished in the top five, again, and that's good enough for me.

If, in the future, she hasn't won a major by the time she's in her early 20s, then I too might begin to wonder. But right now, at her age, playing with the best women in the world on a part-time basis, I'd say that Michelle Wie is doing just fine.

KATRINA LESSON

DISASTER RESPONSE UNFAIR ALONG RACIAL LINES

Hurricane Katrina gave the United States a stark lesson in how a natural disaster can become an issue of social justice. Institutional, governmental preparedness and response in life-and-death emergencies were clearly unequal along lines of race and class.

The lack of a local air ambulance evacuation team in place months after the state was told the current system would sunset is completely unacceptable!

It may seem like a bureaucratic, contractual issue now, but in an instant it can become one of social justice.

AFTER AKAKA BILL

FINALLY, NEW IDEAS

"Inouye pitches new native bill" (June 14): It clearly took the defeat of the Akaka bill cloture vote to finally get our senior statesman to think "out of the box."

For the past several years, the Koani Foundation has offered to collaborate with Sen. Akaka on potential remedies, other than the Akaka bill, to no avail.

Perhaps we're witnessing a dawning of political creativity. Hulo.

SEWAGE DAMAGE

ALA WAI STILL REEKS OF POLITICIANS' FAILURE

The colorful fish of the Ala Wai Harbor have not returned. Pau hana time is too quiet and too empty without our paddlers.

With apologies to our friends who market "beach services" to tourists and who don't want us to mourn, or to talk about the losses, the injury done by the city's sewage dumping remains and nothing is back as it should be. No, the situation is not normal, even though those responsible have moved on to other issues and continue to collect their paychecks without reproach.

We used to joke about pollution in the Ala Wai Canal — now we long for the days when we could at least see the grocery carts and 'opala at the bottom! Now it's all a feathery, kukae-brown.

Where are the remediation efforts? Why aren't we restocking the fish with those raised by UH?

Maybe it's our public offices that need to be restocked. Incumbents repent! Elections anyone?

WATADA

APPLAUSE FOR LIEUTENANT WHO TOOK A HARD STAND

I applaud this young man (1st Lt. Ehren Watada) and his family for the courage to stand alone. The impact this has made on his life will not go away.

His family, too, will suffer for years to come. This is a sacrifice indeed.

Thank you, America, for allowing us to speak for and against your policies.

I do not believe this young man enlisted because he was timid. I do not believe he has made this decision out of cowardice.

I do not believe that he does not love his country. I do not believe that he is overjoyed about inflicting such consternation amongst his people.

I do believe he speaks of a truth that has become so muddled with layers of politics engineered by money.

How many families in Iraq and Afghanistan have been erased from the face of the Earth, not to mention the countless number of coalition men and women as a result of politics as usual?

I am a Vietnam veteran. My heart goes out to a brave warrior in Ehren Watada and to his family.

LEI OR LEIS

PLURALISTIC PROBLEM ASSAILS HAWAIIAN WORDS

We now have "lei" instead of "leis." Millions of English dictionaries are wrong.

What's going to happen to our pupus, lu'aus, imus, ho'olaule'as, hulas, kanes, wahines, keikis, kahilis, 'uli'ulis, tikis, etc., etc., etc. Why pick on leis?

AKAKA OPPONENTS UNFAIR

BILL COULD HAVE OPENED DOORS

I am amazed that the Honolulu Advertiser prints many letters bashing the Akaka bill. The Akaka bill is a door opening giving the Hawaiian people an opportunity to work for all, young and old.

Princess Pauahi Bishop, a Hawaiian, provided in her will to have a school to educate Hawaiian youths. It was done because the white oligarchy did not think that the Hawaiians required an education.

Hawaiian Homes provides lots on the rocky land of Keaukaha and Papakolea and other areas in our state. It was Prince Jonah Kalaniana'ole, our delegate to Congress, a Hawaiian with no vote, who got the bill through Congress in the 1920s.

And Sen. Daniel Akaka, a Hawaiian, and Sen. Daniel Inouye, raised by Hawaiians, undertook to do what more than 500 Indian tribes have accomplished. The bill was defeated 56-41, but it was on a vote on getting the bill on the floor. It was due to last-minute maneuvering by the Bush White House and the Republicans who stood against this bill. Individual senators who committed to the bill changed their vote from yes to no. Wonder why?

Most of the Democrats stood for this bill. I give credit and kudos to the two Republican U.S. senators from Alaska, Sen. Ted Stevens and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who had the courage to speak for the Akaka bill on the floor and vote for it. And, thank you, Sen. Barak Obama, for speaking in favor of the bill. All opposition was from the Republican side.

Those who speak unjustly of the bill, even here in Hawai'i, should read what the bill provides. It is no more than what was granted to the Indian tribes.

Why were the Republicans on the continental United States so against the bill? Are they afraid that other nationalities will lose their rights in the Islands? They say the bill is about race. Nothing is further from the truth. The so-called opposition in the islands gives a lot of manufactured half-truths about the bill.

And, to the young Hawaiian activists, complete sovereignty is not a reality. Let us sit down and all ho'oponopono and join to make the Akaka bill a reality.

To me, Sen. Daniel Akaka is a great man. He is deeply religious, a humble individual and has the courage of his conviction. We lost a battle, but not the war. In time, we shall prevail. Thank you and aloha pumehana,

HAWAIIAN ETHIC

SHARK INCIDENTS SHOW NEED TO CARE FOR OCEAN RESOURCES

When one speaks of hammerhead sharks, you are likely to get one of two reactions from people: fear is most common; but, for those who have spent much time on the sea, there is a feeling of amazement for such a powerful and beautiful creature.

That reaction must have been wiped away in recent days by folks who care. First, at least a dozen of this animal's young washed ashore two weeks ago in Kane'ohe. And this week, a pregnant hammerhead lay dead on the beach in Kailua. The wrongdoers in both cases were lay nets and the fishermen themselves, according to news reports.

I used to lay net many years ago. But, never to leave nets in the water for long hours in a place that entangles and kills other fish you won't eat.

As a former fisherman and a native Hawaiian, I'm saddened by this waste of our ocean resources. Hawai'i's ocean is one of the best on earth, but it has been in decline for many years. In my lifetime, I've seen the fish become fewer in number and smaller in size and the reefs become damaged and lose much of their vibrancy. Ask old-time fishermen and every one of them will tell you the same.

Hawaiians of old, who depended on the sea for their major source of protein, would not have allowed this to happen. Their system was based on "Ina malama 'oe i ke kai, malama no ke kai ia 'oe," or, "If you care for the ocean, the ocean will care for you."

Our fish and our reefs have declined to the point that we cannot be selfish by continuing to use lay nets. Our ocean can no longer afford these careless ways.