City politics roughens the road to rail transit - Editorials

Public welfare...now that is funny. About the only public who will benefit from rail are the homeless who will have more places to live, like in the stations, under the overpasses.

I thought the column pretty well summed up the "now you see it , now you don't " state of Hawaii politics. Baboon troups on the plains of Africa have politics , it's just harder to lie when you don't have language.

Those who try at every turn to block Mufi's rail project are standing up for people who are struggling to make ends meet, and who can't afford more taxes and price hikes, year after year after year. The excise tax jump is already on our backs. If we had a chance to VOTE on that, it would have failed. Mufi's mess has raised the cost of living for all islanders already, and he proposes to stick our kids with the bill for BILLIONS more as the decades roll on. Rail keeps hitting the skids because it's a huge and largely useless bauble. It won't do squat to fix the traffic congestion. It's a welfare project for developers, mortgage mongers and the unions. Why shopuld we bail them out? It's a drama because there are wolves at the door and we're trying to keep them out.

"A mere two days after voters approved a ballot measure to back the project, the City Council decided to change the rail route through Salt Lake to run past the airport instead."

Not true. All that happened is two members of the council proposed to change the route. The council as a whole did not decide anything two days after the election. The council still hasn't made a decision on the route change proposal. It's still just a proposal.

OI VEY? or OI WAY? Sista! if u tink dat diss is all politics and smoking guns as usual, den u neva grow up heea. We (locals) can see beyond da reef runway and we know wots goin on in our camps. If your article is intended to give us more information, bravo!
Please don't mis-interpret diss re-sponse. I only intend to evoke thought, not ideals so we can EDUCATE one another, NOT RE-EDUCATE! We all really need to educate ourselves to make better choices in EVERY aspect of our "island life" lest we become "working class heroes" where the only NEW infusion of life is the new club that just opened up! Take a look around you good people. The hawai'i of yesterday is changing both in complexion and in complexities. We need good ideas to keep us aware and awake to "DA PILAU"!(wake up) auwe

The council as a whole might as well be playing poker. Has Marshall has been participating at all? Shouldn't she have someone replacing her? Who's representing Kaneohe?

All this bickering will be for nothing. Nobody seems to be concerned that the projected cost of this rail transit project has been escalating. Nobody seems to understand that the City will run out of money probably midway during the construction of this project. Then what. Triple or quadruple property tax? Triple or quadruple the Transit tax?

I disagree. Plenty of people are concerned now. The bickering over rail has been tremendously productive. If it weren't for the arrogance of the Mayor, the incompetence of the City, the thick skins of the naysayers, and increasing coverage of the issue, I would still be thinking the rail plan might be good for Oahu. In fact, rail might be a good idea for Oahu someday, but not this rail plan, and not in this stinking economy. We need ground level rail, as quiet and non-intrusive as possible. Elevated steel on steel as planned is no bargain and will not help tourism or military readiness. We can't afford to borrow and pay for construction costs at top dollar, or to raise taxes even further. A lot of us are getting older and tired of watching our backs all the time. If there hadn't been a steadily increasing hue and cry over rail, a lot more of us would have been bamboozled.

Djou has a screw loose in his head for thinking that people will believe in his support for rail. And Cachola should realize that it's all politics when the makeup of the shifts due to the political winds. He'll not be able to bring home the pork for his district. He deserves a lot of credit for trying though.

al Guacamole wrote:

Djou has a screw loose in his head for thinking that people will believe in his support for rail.

DAve Shapiro seems to believe it. Maybe he's the one with the screw loose.

Djou is a hero. Cachola too. They've been taking a real beating, but they're also tapping the brakes on this willy nilly rail system. It's another big fat white elephant, and there absolutely has to be a better way to releive traffic congestion, improve mass transit, and design housing for island people.

I feel badly for Marshall, but I also feel badly for those of us who were counting on her to fight the Mayor's bullying and scheming. She was the Council Chair with a huge issue on the table, in an election year. It wasn't right for her to not have more input, after all her years of studying the issue and taking a stand. Someone should have helped in her time of crisis, and not just let the reins be dropped.

Is it illegal to vote from afar, or send in a proxy?

Kirkland wrote:

Nobody seems to be concerned that the projected cost of this rail transit project has been escalating. Nobody seems to understand that the City will run out of money probably midway during the construction of this project. Then what. Triple or quadruple property tax? Triple or quadruple the Transit tax?

I agree. Posters like "Outrageous" and others think it is unreasonable to be concerned about the projected costs for this flawed transit project.

"Outrageous" spewed:
"You keep asking all kinds of unreasonable questions...
You are just being unreasonable"

Unreasonable questions?

How much will the added spur extensions cost in addition to the $5.2 billion to $6.4 billion needed to just build the first 20 mile rail section?
Is it too hard to answer? Why is that an unreasonable question to ask?

Do you think the mayor and his transit team at PB could give a guesstimate to the nearest billion for the extra 17 miles of train track plus stations? Don't these rail guys do this for a living?

Yes, how much will it cost to do something in 15 years? You know what, that will be a guesstimate and when we get to that point a more accurate cost estimate should be done so we can decide if we want to do the spurs.
The airport route always made more sense, and depsite what ROmy says now he made it very clear he would not vote for rail unless it went thru Salt lake first. Otherwise, the airport route would have stayed. Of course Romy is the only one to blame - Dela Cruz, Koba, Djou, or Marshall could have said if Romy bolts on the airport route, they would vote for it, thereby taking away his leverage.
Tam, Okino, Apo, and Garcia have been the only consistent councilmembers who are trying to do whats best for the island.

willie wrote:

Public welfare...now that is funny. About the only public who will benefit from rail are the homeless who will have more places to live, like in the stations, under the overpasses.

Too bad there won't be any boxcars.

Kailua Resident wrote:

Yes, how much will it cost to do something in 15 years?

Do you know how much the current rail system cost is to build?
It may not be complete until at least 15 years in the future, but that IS A KNOWN cost today, correct? Why no full cost estimate for the building the line that was approved from UHManoa to Kalaeloa?
The DEIS is using numbers that are in year 2030.
THIS IS 22 YEARS IN THE FUTURE!
This train is not even built yet or had a groundbreaking.....IT WILL BE BUILT IN THE FUTRE. 10, 15, 20,25 YEARS IN THE FUTURE!
The smart guys at the mayors office and at PB transit offices can't even give an estimate in billions for the extra 17 miles of train spur extensions that are planned? What are they afraid of? That it may cost more than the current $5.2 to $6.4 billion dollar 20 mile first section build estimate?
Like a stated before...the 2008 DEIS is using numbers that are in year 2030. THIS IS 22 YEARS IN THE FUTURE! It defines future rail costs.
Is that not what these transit experts do for a living?
So, yes, the mayor and his transit team MUST at least give a TOTAL estimate cost to Oahu residents in multi-billions on how much it will be to build the planned rail spur extensions over the next 10 -22 years.
Do you think we should keep the total true costs for rail hidden from the public?

Unfortunately, The real victims of the choo choo train will be the property owners on Oahu. We will pay for the rail via our property tax. The train is going to happen and will be a slow and painful bleed to us property owners.

Ex Local,
Rigby, Idaho

Tutu Much wrote:

The council as a whole might as well be playing poker. Has Marshall has been participating at all? Shouldn't she have someone replacing her? Who's representing Kaneohe?

Marshall is being treated for colon cancer & is probably quite sick. She's against rail anyway, so no matter.

Seen this poll on Hawaii issues?

http://www.hawaiilibertychronicles.com/...