It’s not so simple
Today’s inflationary spiral has many causes, and to single out record corporate profits is naive.
In a letter to the editor, Dave Kisor (Your Views, Oct. 14) accuses corporate America of hiding corporate profits through accounting gimmicks. Recording and reporting corporate profits are not like tabulating the sales of a lemonade stand.
Many factors affecting profits and losses are not always immediately known or available, party because IRS rules have created a nightmare for maintaining accurate and complying records.
Businesses with publicly traded stock have an obligation to their stockholders to provide reports that reflect the total financial health of the company, and not just profit and loss statements.
While there are some businesses engaging in unethical and sometimes unlawful practices, it is incorrect to claim they are all guilty of this.
Don Baker
Volcano
Lack of response
I agree with the Board of Ethics’ rejection of Roger Christie’s complaint regarding the lack of response by the County Council and mayor to his emails (Tribune-Herald, Oct. 13).
However, he does have a point about their failure to respond. It might not be unethical under the law, but it’s poor form by those who are supposed to represent us.
Don Rudny
Pepeekeo
One way out
For the past week, the work on Kalanianaole Street below the port area has caused, at certain times of the day, traffic to be backed up two miles to the Carlsmith Beach area.
Were there an emergency in which someone had to get out of Keaukaha in a hurry, a helicopter would be needed.
There is only road out of Keaukaha now, and that is on Kalanianaole. But wait: There is an evacuation road that goes above (the Puna side) of the airport and emerges at the airport.
Why this is not open to the public when work is blocking traffic, I am not even sure the mayor knows. But I would like to know!
Tom Goltz
Keaukaha
Shortsighted decision
I am disappointed that officially the Saddle Road (Daniel K. Inouye Highway) extension EIS won’t be finalized. It wasn’t unexpected, though, especially since the state Department of Transportation has changed its policy from adding new roadway capacity to focusing on system preservation/safety projects since 2016.
There is an aspect of this decision that I question, though. If I recall correctly, DOT planned to use revenue from the car rental surcharge to finance the construction of this roadway back 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic halted those plans, which resulted in the suspension of work on the EIS in 2021. However, tourism has rebounded since COVID has waned over the past year.
The decision to permanently stop work on the EIS doesn’t make any sense due to the latter reason.
Tourism has rebounded, so the surcharge revenue should be returning to normal. This revenue would’ve given the project a funding source to finalize the EIS. As it stands now, the EIS remains incomplete and will have to be updated when, and if, work resumes on this document.
I firmly believe the decision to terminate work on the draft EIS is shortsighted.
The project construction costs will continue to escalate the longer it remains suspended, but the community ‘s need for this regional traffic improvement remains.
It appears the DOT has used the pandemic as an out to rid itself of a costly project. I find it very curious that one of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program updates last year had projected the finalization of the ROD (Record of Decision) by the end of 2021, but work on the EIS was suspended in September 2021 due to the lack of funding source.
I can only imagine the outcome if the COVID pandemic didn’t happen.
Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona