Mahalo to Nancy for the following letter in the Honolulu Advertiser a few days ago:

I was struck by the brilliance of a campaign that came through my e-mail this past week. It provides a fresh look at solutions to Hawai’i's budget shortfalls; ideas that have yet to be considered and answers that have been hidden in plain sight.

The campaign calls for fair rents to be paid by the multitude of space entrepreneurs at the current and future laboratory sites on Mauna Kea. These areas, estimated at $50 million worth of rent fees, are going for one penny a year.

Long ago I researched the $1 lease made with the Army to use Mākua Valley for live fire and other training. (The original agreement was to return the land at the close of WWII.)

How many other sweet deals have been made that could be bringing in much-needed revenues so that our children, the most needy and fragile, don’t take any more hits?

Nancy Aleck
Honolulu