Rail

A couple of days ago, I talked to a senior consulting engineer on the rail project....

It seems that 15%-20% of our surcharge is being paid by “tourists” in the strict sense, but when you include military families and the federal government you do come up with a percentage closer to a third....

...a significant portion of the $110 million spent to design the Airport section will be lost because the design-build contractor will not use all the designs....

Djou Endorsements Now Include: Council Chair Ernie Martin, Councilmember Ann Kobayashi and Councilmember Trevor Ozawa....

Blatant dishonesty, pay-to-play politics, and the blame game are what defines his administration....

Divide $200 million by 1 million people, and you get $200 a year per person....

...In the last 24 hours, my position on rail has been misrepresented and taken out of context....

...FTA is reconsidering its recovery plan due date (to allow this to stretch into the Legislative session so Caldwell can use it to push a GE Tax hike)....

...FTA rules have required a HART Recovery Plan since late 2014....

Mayor Caldwell is responsible for this mess and his only answer is more rail GET tax extensions....

...Garrity will serve as acting DTS director until the HART board names an interim or permanent executive director and CEO, thus allowing Mr. Formby to resume his normal duties....

"...mainland consultants who have little knowledge of local construction conditions (are) dictating the course of the project...."

Hawaii’s construction industry made the second largest contribution to state GDP at 5.9 percent with an increase of 0.5 percent from 2014, the largest year-over-year improvement of any state....

By keeping traffic jammed, DOT maximizes the demand for Rail....

They don't care that many people cannot afford the high cost of living and live in their cars and on the streets.  But, we do....

In just 68 days, we managed to hold the incumbent mayor to an effective draw after being outspent 5-to-1 with the entire City machinery against us....

Let’s think this through before we go any further....

Kirk Caldwell's latest ads show just how desperate he is....

...the mayor fails to attend the debate tonight in Sand Island sponsored by the Kaimuki Business Association, Kalihi Business Association and Kahala Business Association....

...Kirk Caldwell has done everything possible to evade questioning and withhold the details of the rail project....

Against all odds....

This week our City government mailed two very important documents:  your property tax bill and your absentee ballot....

Caldwell promised that rail is 'fully paid for.'  But yesterday....

...roughly $44 million less than projected....

Now that the rail project is facing a short fall of at least $1.5 billion, using Caldwell's own math, it means the mayor needs to increase real property tax rates by at least 50% to 65% ....

...after having seen Caldwell in ‘action’ as mayor, Damien and the IBEW have thrown their support firmly behind Charles....

...leaders of the International Union of Operating Engineers who were accused of squandering pension funds....

...Grassroot Institute analyst Matthew Reade speaks with Thomas Rubin, a mass transit consultant who advised Hawaii officials in the early stages of the project....

...The unions endorsing Djou were the first unions to support Kirk Caldwell for mayor in 2010 and backed Caldwell again in 2012....

...omit the most densely populated, and therefore the most useful, portion of the route....

Early in the effort to determine a mass transit alternative for Oahu, city officials announced that the rail project would likely cost a little more than $3 billion....

...the Honolulu rail system cost could now reach as high as almost $11 bil. from the original projected cost of $5.2 bil....

HART began talking publicly about a “Recovery Plan” only this month even though FTA rules apparently required a Recovery Plan since late 2014....

The newspaper characterized Caldwell's decision-making as "political expediency" driven by his re-election campaign....

leaders are making serious decisions on changing the rail route without publicly analyzing facts or figures on how the change will affect the ridership numbers....

Over the past 48-hours the mayor's policy on rail swung wildly in a display of uneven and poorly constructed leadership....

This is the third artificial rail crisis Caldwell has ginned up to push a tax hike....

...if a taking is abandoned or dismissed prior to final judgment, the condemnor is on the hook for "damages."....

"...and secure additional funding to complete the last five miles of the project to Ala Moana...."

Earlier today, Kirk Caldwell had a massive change of position on rail by admitting that the route might need to be shortened to end at Middle Street....

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....

“For so many things to come out at this pretty late stage is very unusual.”

“We need a leader who will stand up for the people and protect hard-working families from the out-of control costs of the rail system."

...City Council approves $6.8B cap on rail spending....

...her spouse was employed by Parsons as a Vice President and was Parsons’ principal consultant and a point of contact for 12 DOT Parsons Projects....

Hanabusa is an opportunist. She gave up her House seat to achieve something bigger and better in the Senate, but she lost....

At $2.9 billion this extra cost is nearly $3,000 for every man, woman and child in Honolulu. It is more than $8,500 per household....

...Until FTA receives and approves a revised project cost estimate, schedule, and financial plan which includes a commitment of all of the local funds needed to cover that cost estimate, FTA cannot award the FY2015 or FY2016 increments....