Attorney general should investigate OHA, too
I (and certainly the tax-paying public) would honestly appreciate an investigation by the attorney general into the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Frenchy DeSoto with her arrogance had the audacity to say that "a state inquiry was unnecessary, because we are currently conducting an in-house fact-finding investigation."That is the same sermon that the Bishop Estate trustees preached to the public for decades. "We can handle it ourselves." "It's a Hawaiian thing." "The public and the attorney general should mind their own business."
It is because of these kinds of arrogant remarks they are being investigated, not only by the attorney general but also by the Internal Revenue Service.
I sense that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' in-house bickering, finger- pointing, missing files, dissension, whistle blowing, secrecy, power struggle and distrust among themselves is of great public and Hawaiian concern.
An investigation should be conducted now before it gets out of hand and costs the taxpayers more money for lawyers and delayed court dates.
Robert P. Kanealii
Kaneohe
Modafferi gets a break his target didn't enjoy
I guess the old adage "what goes around, comes around" is true. I was surprised to hear of Gary Modafferi's arrest. But to hear that he was being sent to a rehabilitation center was unbelievable.A few years back, he was the prosecuting attorney in my daughter's case. Her charges were the same as his and this was her first arrest. But no one bothered to send her to a rehabilitation center, which I thought she really needed.
Instead, she was found guilty and sent to prison, where she died of an asthma attack. The women's prison was not equipped to handle this kind of emergency. The equipment was old and unmaintained, too much time was wasted in finding out nothing worked, and 911 was called after she died.
Am I to believe there are two rules of punishment for different people?
I think Gary Modafferi is the worse kind of criminal. He pretended to be a law enforcer and we trusted him.
Vera Coleman
Aiea
Porteus' conclusions seem repugnant today
UH American Studies Professor David Stannard's eye-opening Dec. 6 Other Views column, "Why Porteus Hall must be renamed," got me thinking:
Isn't it odd that Porteus considered non-Nordic people a threat to the U.S., urging their sterilization and the cessation of Japanese immigration? I mean, how might one so "superior" be threatened by one who is, as Porteus declared non-Nordic people, inferior?
Asinine, indeed. And so are Porteus' writings and "research."
It is my hope that the Board of Regents not attempt to justify an obvious wrong, for doing so will merely mock the university and Hawaii's multi-ethnic population.
Warren A. Kaneshiro
Plan to pay off Ewa loan won't use city tax money
Next October the city has to repay the $63.5 million it borrowed to pay for the roads, water systems, parks and other infrastructure built in Ewa. The administration does not want any city money used to pay off this note. Instead, the city has sold properties to nonprofit associations that will build affordable and special-needs housing at Ewa. This is a common practice.Each year the city is allotted federal funds to give to the nonprofit assistance to build affordable homes. The use of the federal funds by the nonprofit organizations to buy the land is a common and acceptable procedure. The funds generated from the property sales will be used to repay the money borrowed five years ago.
Selling the properties to the nonprofits is not a bailout. It's just the opposite. If we do not go forward with the city administration's plan and, instead, follow the advice of some City Council members, the city's taxpayers will end up paying for the loan. That's a bailout!
Malcolm J. Tom
Chief Budget Officer
City and County of Honolulu
Safe Haven provides hope for homeless mentally ill
Many thanks for your Dec. 16 article on Safe Haven ("Hope for the hopeless"). Safe Haven has proven to be successful in providing people with mental illness a safe and humane alternative to homelessness. It was judged best in the nation and is an outstanding role model.Many thanks to the media, private and public agencies, mental health providers, and individual volunteers who made Safe Haven a reality. Special thanks go to its staff, who do a difficult job exceedingly well.
There is so much fear and ignorance against people with brain illnesses. Advocates must continue to educate the public about programs which are effective.
People with mental illness are not "hopeless" cases. Many can have good productive lives if there are effective programs to help them.
Sylvia Ching
Who are we to judge JFK's private life?
Columnist Leonard Larsen's dim-witted moralizing about President Kennedy's private life didn't deserve to be printed (Star-Bulletin, Dec. 15).When will self-righteous prudes like Larsen realize that their personal prejudices should be kept to themselves? Didn't someone greater even than Kennedy suggest that we should not judge, lest we be judged?
Richard Miles
Bishop Estate Archive
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