It's no surprise that Mercer "Chubby" Vicens, vice president of A&B Properties, doesn"t want procedures eased for introducing initiatives to voters (The Maui News, Aug. 1). Heavens no! It's fairly easy for big business to control elected officials by stuffing their pockets with campaign contributions.
Initiative gives power to ordinary citizens to place issues directly on the ballot, taking power away from elected and appointed officials and giving that power directly to the voters. That's much closer to pure democracy and obviously scary as hell to the big business interests. (Vicens is a member of the Maui Contractors Association and the Maui Chamber of Commerce.)
If the voters of Maui were able to put initiatives before voters without having to go through the current obstacle course in whirlwind speed, big business could be made to answer to the voter. That's the way it should be. More people would become involved in the process, and voter apathy would diminish.
Eloise Engman
Makawao