June 15, 2016

Email to Supporters

Yesterday, KHON's Gina Mangieri covered a story detailing HART's request to borrow a minimum of $20 million more for rail, this time on the city's credit. You may recall former Mayor Peter Carlisle saying that this money wouldn't be needed "unless the moon fell into the ocean."  Yet another burden that the taxpayers of Honolulu simply can't afford.

UPDATE: After KHON's story aired, HART delayed the request to borrow these funds, but may still decide to do so in July. This only further reinforces that our community simply can't trust City Hall under the current administration -- the same administration that is responsible for gagging the City's Ethics Commission Executive Director.

It's time we fix this rail mess and the only way we can do this is with you at our side. The election is less than two months away. Your contribution of $500 or $100, $50, or any amount up to $4,000 will make a tremendous difference immediately.

We are excited about this upcoming election, but we need your help.  The City and its handling of rail has been incompetent and we are suffering the consequences.  Please join us and together let's make a difference in our community.

Aloha,

Charles K. Djou

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HART Suddenly Claims it is Out of Money, Must Borrow From City Beginning Next Month

KHON:  …The HART board is considering a request to allow for short-term borrowing much sooner than expected.

It’s a move HART once dismissed as unlikely, unless there was a major disaster. But last year, the city and HART agreed borrowing would be part of the financial plan for rail.

Always Investigating was the first to reveal that the federal government is holding off on more than half-a billion in payments to HART.

HART is now telling its board it will essentially run out of cash next month.

It’s asking to borrow short-term on the city’s credit — something it got open-ended approval to do years ago on the promise borrowing would be unlikely and infrequent.

In 2012, the rail authority received the green light to use the city’s equivalent of a line of credit (a.k.a. commercial paper) for hundreds of millions of dollars. HART said at the time that it was needed to keep the federal government happy in financial plan documents.

Though it evolved into being an expected part of interim rail financing in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last year, HART told the council as recently as May that borrowing would be unlikely until summer 2017.

HART had originally told the council back in 2012 it would only be drawn in case of disaster, war, terrorism, strikes, or economic jolts.

“Even (former Honolulu mayor Peter) Carlisle, when he was mayor, said they wouldn’t need that money until the moon falls into the ocean,” said Honolulu City Council budget chair Ann Kobayashi….

As Explained: Will Feds Withhold a Third Year of Financing Before HART Gets Around to Writing Financial Plan?

read … Credit Draw