Letters 2|07

Letters to the Editor may be e-mailed to: letters_honmag@pacificbasin.net, faxed: 537-6455 or sent to: Honolulu Magazine, 1000 Bishop St., Suite 405, Honolulu, HI, 96813.

“LETTERS,” JANUARY 2007
Our December nightlife issue attracted a letter from a reader accusing us of “smuttification” for putting a photo of a go-go dancer on the cover.

In response to the letter from Ms. Hazzard about your article “Night Shift”: Is she out of her mind? What nonsense! HONOLULU is what it is because it is about Honolulu and the state of Hawai‘i; don’t you guys dare change it for critics like her.

Wanda Estrella
Kane‘ohe

“PSEUDO RELIEF,” JANUARY 2007
In January’s “Afterthoughts” column, Kathryn Drury Wagner wrote about Hawai‘i’s restrictions on the sales of pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient in cold medicine.

When Kam Napier became editor of HONOLULU, he stopped doing “Afterthoughts.” When Kam was authoring the page, my reading started at the back, with the Afterthoughts column, then to the front. Now I will return to that system, triggered by Kathryn Drury Wagner’s “Pseudo Relief.” In it, she nails in one page the perverse stupidity of our lawmakers regarding cold medicine purchase restrictions. Furthermore, she says it with a velvet touch. It is a magnificent job of writing.

Richard Roland, President
Grassroot Institute of Hawai‘i, Honolulu

“HOW IS THE MAYOR DOING?” JANUARY 2007
Associate editor Ronna Bolante gave a mid-term review of Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Thank you for pointing out the many and significant accomplishments of Mufi Hannemann in just his first two years in office. I must take issue, however, with some of the unfair criticism leveled against the administration, especially where it concerns the environment and the issue of homelessness.

Missing from the article was any sort of credit for what is Mayor Hannemann’s latest significant achievement on the environmental front, and that is the preservation of Waimea Valley and Pupukea from development. Additionally, the mayor continues his leadership for the preservation of Hanauma Bay, a program he initiated as a member of the Honolulu City Council. Instead your article twice mentions a cancellation of a curbside recycling program, which, of course, never happened, as there was no curbside recycling program in existence to cancel. “D- or F,” I don’t think so. Only from the mind of Jeff Mikulina.

Homeless advocate Bob Nakata acknowledged that the mayor’s closing of the park provided a catalyst for the state to finally provide a shelter. Furthermore, we are now witnessing the state finally stepping forward with long overdue actions regarding homelessness throughout O‘ahu.

The mayor’s few detractors were given an inordinate amount of space for their unsubstantiated criticism. That being said, judging from the Honolulu Advertiser poll you cited of a 70-percent-plus approval rating as well as other surveys, the answer to the question on the magazine cover, “Is the mayor doing a good job?” has to be a resounding “Yes.”

Bill Brennan, press secretary to Mufi Hannemann
Honolulu

AHANA KOKO LELE In our January 2006 story “How Is the Mayor Doing?” we gave an incorrect figure for the amount of money former Mayor Jeremy Harris spent on sewer work during his administration. The correct figure is close to $600 million.

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