Djou: Mayor Irresponsible in Delaying Fix for Rail

News Release from Djou Campaign June 28, 2016

Honolulu, HI - Charles Djou, candidate for Mayor of Honolulu, reacted to the the administration's request to delay finding a fix for the rail mess until after the General Election.

"I implore the mayor to take responsibility for the cost overruns on the rail project and provide a "recovery plan" by the August 7 deadline," stated Djou.  "In the past, the mayor has stated that additional delays increase the cost of the rail project. Yet, the mayor is asking for further delay in what appears to be a political move to avoid having to provide his plan prior to the Primary Election in August and the General Election in November.  This means our community will needlessly spend more money on rail. The people deserve to know the mayor's plans for this rail project prior to the election."

Because the Honolulu rail transit program has become one of the most over-budget, behind schedule and mismanaged projects in American history, the FTA demanded the City submit a "recovery plan" to explain how it foresees fixing this project.  The FTA set an Aug. 7 deadline for submission of such plan.  The mayor, however, has asked for a 10-month delay to allow him to submit such plan well after the Primary Election on Aug. 13.  If granted such delay request, the project construction costs will not only increase due to the mayor's delay, but the public will not have a clear picture of what the mayor's plans are for rail before they vote in the Primary and General Elections.

###

RELATED:

PDF: Caldwell Letter

SA: Mayor seeks 10 more months for HART recovery plan

Nov 15, 2015: Rail Funds Frozen? Feds Explain ‘Officially’ and ‘Unofficially’ What they Told Caldwell

May 11, 2016: Will Feds Withhold a Third Year of Financing Before HART Gets Around to Writing Financial Plan? (We now have Caldwell's answer to this question.)

Rail Recovery Plan? Feds Explain How Rail Systems Blow Budget

FTA: Thanks to Caldwell, Honolulu Rail is Now One of Ten Most Screwed Up Projects

Rail: Easy Ways to Save Millions without Cutting Line Short