Does anyone remember Rene Mansho and Andy Mirikitani? Those are two former City Council members who paid for their misuse of public funds with jail time.

There's no rational excuse for letting Rod Tam off from the full consequences of his misdeed, eight years after the last big scandal, when Mansho went behind bars. But even if someone was inclined to say the civil settlement over some of the funds is sufficient, Tam's utter lack of remorse  would give them pause.

Tam writes off his misdeed as math errors. He won't quit, and he plans to run for mayor.

One reason for punishment is to send a message reminding offenders that their actions were wrong, a deterrence against more bad behavior.

If Tam didn't get the message, it's time to turn up the volume.

Anyone have any thoughts to the contrary? Is this unfair to Tam?

-- Vicki Viotti

The Senate has passed bills that would loosen things up for marijuana users, one way or another.

• SB 2213, to allow counties to license medical marijuana dispensaries
• SB 2141, to increase the amounts allowed under current medical marijuana law

• SB 2450, to remove criminal penalties for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and replace them with civil fines.

All of this bears discussion, I suppose, but we all should be at least a little wary of the first one (though it actually just pushes the decision off to the counties). These dispensaries have proven to be a regulatory headache for California. Here's just one piece from the ongoing news chronicles:

Medical marijuana advocates sue Los Angeles

What do all you folks think of the apparent current movement toward marijuana legalization here?

— Vicki Viotti

We'll be weighing in on the Rod Tam da kine on Sunday; probably something Rod won't want to save for his campaign scrapbbook.

On Monday, we're suggesting some ideas for getting homeless people out of the streets and parks. I'd welcome ideas and comments on this topic.

Jim Kelly

With the state failing to win Race to the Top education funds in the first round, attention turns to Round Two, with applications due June 1. It's a top priority for the Department of Education and its interim superintendent, Kathryn Matayoshi. It's also a priority of Gov. Linda Lingle, who outlined what the state needs to do to receive up to $75 million in federal funds:

During the next two months Hawai‘i will need to demonstrate we are serious about meeting the criteria set forth in the Race to the Top application. These criteria include implementing a performance-based evaluation and compensation system for teachers and principals; eliminating statutory, financial and policy barriers to the growth of quality charter schools; and making a firm commitment to increasing student achievement, particularly in math and English.

Hawai‘i should also demonstrate that we can implement a new education governance structure that holds a single person — the Governor — accountable for the success or failure of our school system.

OK, let's get serious about these criteria:

• Pay-for-performance evaluations for teachers and principals. This represents a sea change in how education employees are managed, and will require negotiations among the state administration and the teachers' and principals' unions. Perhaps they should start with something easy, like negotiating an agreement to restore a few furlough days to the school calendar. On second thought...

• Encouraging charter schools. This is a promising idea; policymakers should do more to promote schools with more autonomy, less administrative overhead and more parental involvement, especially in rural, underserved areas. All that's required is a broad agreement among the DOE, the BOE, the unions, the Legislature and the Lingle administration to lift the cap on the number of charter schools and give them more money per pupil. How hard can that be? On second thought...

• A firm commitment to increasing student achievement. The state has to prove this? Heaven help us.

• A complete overhaul of public education's governance structure, with the governor having final authority and responsibility. Could such a change make the first three items more achievable? Well, clearly that depends on who's the governor.

If all this sounds like a challenge, look on the bright side. We have nearly three months. And everyone wants the same thing — to get that $75 million to help make major, long-lasting improvements to the school system. This would be a significant achievement, considering that $75 million might be barely enough to restore the 23 remaining furlough days — which would put the school system right back where it started before the budget cuts. Even so, these and other reforms being pursued by Matayoshi, Lingle and Co., such as innovation zones for lower-achieving schools, are worth the effort, whatever the challenges.

On second thought, let's get that application in. It's worth the shot.

I've seen some comments in recent days that the editorial positions of The Advertiser are somehow going to be influenced by our perceptions of which politicians are more likely to help "save" the newspaper or its jobs after its purchase by our competitor.

What a joke.

This isn't 1999. Nobody's stepping up to save anything, and that's just fine with us. We don't owe anybody any favors, and so we'll just keep calling them as we see them. If you want to get out your Ouija board to try to calculate how we're bobbing and weaving, knock yourself out.

Jim Kelly