ANNIVERSARY

2003 FALL OF BAGHDAD WAS MISSING IN PAPER

Thanks to the Sunday paper, I learned several significant bits of trivia about April 9. I learned that General Lee surrendered at Appomattox in 1865, that the islandwide power outage in 1991 occurred on this date and that O'ahu Sugar Co. was grinding its last haul of cane in 1995. I also saw two articles on difficulties in Iraq and two articles on the growing Iranian crisis.

Strangely missing was the tiny little fact that the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled on April 9, 2003. How is it that the third anniversary of the fall of Baghdad completely escaped the pages of The Advertiser?

MAINTENANCE

POLITICS OF DEFERRAL SHOT US IN THE FOOT

A few years ago, Mayor Harris decided to raid the sewage fund to defer raising taxes a gross amount. The economy wasn't doing very well, so a majority of the people stayed silent since they liked the cake they were eating and didn't want to pay a higher price for it.

Now the bill has finally come due.

Not only will it cost more to repair, the deferred maintenance has literally caused us to shoot ourselves in the foot. The dumping in the Ala Wai is causing our beaches to stay vacant due to justified fears of contamination. Don't blame Mufi; blame all the voters who stayed silent when the special funds were raided.

The pothole issue is the same as the sewage issue — don't blame the mayor or the governor. The money was used for general expenditures instead of what it was originally earmarked for instead of raising taxes.

Nothing is free, especially in Hawai'i.

STAR OF SEA

FLOOD RECOVERY EFFORT WAS WELL REPORTED

Thank you for your accurate coverage of the ongoing flood recovery effort at Star of the Sea Early Learning Center. It was refreshing, especially after these several days of hard work, to read an article that was able to find some lighthearted humor in the midst of the turmoil in which we have sometimes found ourselves.

We appreciate reporter Karen Blakeman's ability to strike the fine balance between conveying the story of the seriousness of our situation with the ability of all involved to find humor in what has been, sometimes, just truly dreadful.

We extend our gratitude to the City and County for its prompt response to calls, to our vendors for their support and to our families for their continued commitment to the center.

Due to the wonderful support we have received, we have been able to keep our doors open to our children, and we look forward to returning to our own classrooms before the end of this month.

TAX FORMS

THANKS FOR THE HELP

After worrying about my income taxes for weeks, I was gratified and relieved to have the expert assistance of AARP volunteers at Central Union Church. Marcia was the most efficient and helpful person I have ever had.

USS ARIZONA

VISITOR CENTER SHOULD MOVE TO FORD ISLAND

I hope the Navy and the National Park Service are not making a mistake by planning to build the new Arizona Memorial Visitor Center at its present site and will seriously consider locating it to Ford Island opposite the Arizona Memorial.

I advocated that idea 25 years ago when I was deputy public affairs officer at Pearl Harbor Naval Base. It was not considered feasible when the center was built in 1980 because small boats and a ferry were the only means of transportation to Ford Island.

That problem no longer exists now that a bridge connects Ford Island to the Pearl Harbor mainland. A catwalk or small bridge could be built from the Ford Island shoreline to the Arizona Memorial so that visitors could simply walk on and off. No boats would be needed, freeing the Navy crews for their primary duty and saving the Navy and U.S. taxpayers thousands of dollars every year in fuel, maintenance and staffing.

Boat transportation has always been a major headache because of budgeting, breakdowns, foul weather and safety considerations.

The twin visitor sites of the USS Missouri and the Arizona Memorial Visitor Center would be historical bookends and trade off each other. In addition, they would go hand in glove with the air museum to be built on Ford Island. These three attractions could share in the logistics involving parking, transportation and other support.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

BILL ADDRESSES REGULATION OF MONEY TRANSMITTERS

I agree with The Honolulu Advertiser's editorial on April 7 that "money transmitters should be regulated."

In Hawai'i, money transmitters — ranging from large international companies to local "mom and pop" businesses — sell money orders or receive monies to send to other locations like the Philippines. Hundreds of millions of dollars are entrusted each year by Hawai'i consumers to transmitters.

Unfortunately, there have been instances where that trust has been breached. Some Hawai'i consumers have been the victims of certain transmitters: Money doesn't get delivered when promised, less money is received at the destination than was agreed, and money doesn't get delivered at all.

Hawai'i is one of only five states without any regulation of money transmitters. However, pending before the Legislature is Senate Bill 2143, which would change that by requiring that money transmitters be licensed. The bill provides for enforcement actions, civil remedies and criminal penalties.

At four public hearings this year, testimony supporting the bill cited the same reasons as your editorial: the need to protect consumers and the need to prevent money transmissions from being used to launder proceeds from criminal activities.

The Non-Bank Funds Transmitters Group (a coalition of various international money transmitters) strongly favors the bill, which has also garnered wide-ranging testimonial support from financial institutions, labor unions, concerned individuals, a local money transmitter and the law enforcement community.

And, legislators have voted overwhelmingly for the bill as it progressed through the Senate and the House. The bill is now before a conference committee.