Honolulu newspapers to City Council: Enough already!

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Posted Sunday, 20 April 2008, 16:18 HST @012

This morning, both major daily newspapers in Honolulu published editorials that were highly critical of the City Council. As I discussed last Thursday on billso.com, Mayor Mufi Hannemann has prevailed in his quest for a steel-on-steel rail mass transit system, despite the laughable efforts of several council members to amend, postpone, revisit, second-guess, and micromanage the proposal.

Today’s editorials are significant. Any member of the City Council who wants a newspaper endorsement in upcoming elections should be concerned. In Honolulu, the mainstream media still wields considerable influence over voters.

Enough is enough

I’ve written several articles on this issue because the fixed guideway mass transit project is the largest ever proposed in the state of Hawaii. The decisions that have been made over the last 3 years have led to a US$3.8 billion proposal that will determine how Honolulu’s residents will commute, park and live for the next 50 years.

Oahu has far too many automobiles already. Adding and expanding the roads and highways would only bring more cars and traffic problems.

“A bewildering bill”

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s lead editorial today asks the City Council to let steel-on-steel rail go forward. Their opportunity to make this decision has passed.

The editorial’s description of Wednesday night’s meeting is apt:

Only two members voted for a bewildering bill naming three technologies — rail, rubber-tire and magnetic levitation.

This editorial ended with James Oberstar’s assessment that Honolulu’s train system might become the country’s most efficient light-rail project. Oberstar runs the US House committee on transportation. Hawaii’s senior senator, Daniel Inouye, is his counterpart on the Senate committee. Oberstar’s promise of US$900M in funding seems linked to steel-on-steel rail.

Today’s Honolulu Advertiser has a front page article about the height and placement of the transit stations and guideway. Much of this information was available last year, when the city presented its proposals along with computer-generated images of the project.

An editorial in the same edition implored the council to “stop the games” and recommend one technology in their final vote this Wednesday. The front page article acknowledged that the Mayor Hannemann can veto the Council’s final recommendation, and that the Council probably does not have enough votes to override his veto.

Calling out the opposition

The editorial also asked Barbara Marshall and Charles Djou to abstain from the vote, citing their long-standing opposition to the fixed guideway transit project. Romy Cachola is called a flip-flopper who put his district ahead of the island’s greater interest.

Finally, Ann Kobayashi got a reminder that the Council had three years to do their homework and make a decision. Kobayashi and Donovan Dela Cruz both fought hard and long for a bus-based system that resembled previous Mayor Jeremy Harris’s recommendations. Fellow council members were not swayed then or now.

There will be more hearings and decisions about the exact route of the trail, and the placement of the rail stations. Bills have already been proposed to regulate building activity and growth around the project. The Council’s inability to recommend a transit technology may become the enduring legacy of the current council members.

It’s time to end the discussion and move forward on light rail.

6 responses so far ↓

1 billso // Monday, 21 April 2008, 10:33 HST @773

From the front page of this morning’s Advertiser comes word that Cliff Slater is rallying the anti-rail groups again.

The goal: 40,000 signatures by the end of July 2008, to force a ballot referendum in November 2008.

The referendum is simple enough: no bus or rail for Honolulu’s mass transit project. Seems like there’s little time to gather and certify the signatures.

What a train wreck.
2 billso // Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 08:23 HST @682

From this morning’s Honoulu Star-Bulletin comes a report about yesterday’s anti-rail rally. The anti-rail groups will be lucky to get 44,000 certified signatures in 60 days.

Interesting to note that the lone dissenter on the special advisory panel, UH-Manoa professor Panos Prevedouros, is supporting the petition organizers. Who will be the first city council member to back the petition? Djou? Marshall? Cachola?

There’s also an op-ed piece from a city planning employee about the UH-West Oahu station fiasco.
3 billso // Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 06:34 HST @607

Today the City Council will hold a fifth and final vote on mass transit technology. See this article in the Honolulu Advertiser for more details.
4 billso // Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 20:45 HST @198

Another vote, another 4-4 tie. Council chair Barbara Marshall missed the meeting because of another “family emergency”.
5 billso // Thursday, 24 April 2008, 06:12 HST @592

This morning’s article’s about last night’s deadlock vote, courtesy of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser.

Council member Romy Cachola, who represents the Salt Lake area, said he would have preferred continuing to consider quieter technology options. However, Cachola said he’ll still support the project.

“If that’s the selection of the (Hannemann) administration - steel on steel — and I said I support mass transit, that’s what I’ll do.”

It’s unlikely the council’s current division will spill over into future transit votes, Cachola said.

“It’s a possibility, but I doubt it,” he said.
6 billso // Thursday, 8 May 2008, 20:30 HST @187

The City Council just cannot let go of the rail decision. Fortunately, yesterday’s bill endorsing buses and maglev will get bottled up in a committee meeting on 15 May 2008.

Council Chair Barbara Marshall is back and voting “no” with her fellow traveler, Charles Djou. I was sorry to hear that her prolonged absence from the Council was the result of her mother’s recent death in Florida.

The Council did approve the locations of 34 transit stations.

An airport line, and the two spurs to Waikiki and UH-Manoa may be added.

Of course, all of this can be juggled about again, but here’s the Advertiser’s map of the latest stations and alignments.

See today’s articles in the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin for more details.