Eight of 9 members of the Honolulu City Council met Wednesday, April 16, to vote on a controversial bill that would enable the city administration to proceed with its plans to build a multi-billion dollar 20-mile steel-on-steel rail system from Kapolei through Honolulu.
Missing because of a family emergency was Council Chair Barbara Marshall, who has opposed the construction of a rail and the general excise tax hike that is set aside to fund it. Her absence set the stage for the Council's two factions -- split on the technology choice -- to come to a stalemate before a final vote.
After more than 5 hours of testimony on three versions of Bill 80, City Council Member Charles Djou implemented a series of parliamentary twists and turns that ultimately dismantled the bill and got a final decision deferred until the next City Council meeting on April 23. He did so with the help of three council members, Romy Cachola, Ann Kobayashi and Donovan Dela Cruz, who want other mass transit technologies considered, specifically rubber tire on concrete and magnetic levitation.
Djou and Kobayashi asked the acting Council chair, Todd Apo, a steel-on-steel rail council proponent, to delay the vote until Marshall returned and he refused.
Djou then posed a series of changes to the bill via the Roberts Rules of Order that resulted in several 4 to 4 votes, eventually shutting down efforts by Council Members Apo, Nestor Garcia, Rod Tam and Gary Okino to select steel-on-steel. His efforts resembled a finely played chess match that resulted in a checkmate for Djou -- at least for now.
During the hearing, there were several noteworthy occurrences:
- Former U.S. Secretary Norman Mineta testified for over an hour on behalf of a city subcontractor in favor of steel-on-steel rail. Mineta, a close ally of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, now works as a vice chairman of Hill & Knowlton, a national public relations firm. He admitted under questioning by Dela Cruz that he is making $10,000 a month as a consultant on this project -- money that is coming from taxpayers. He made statements that directly conflicted with his policies while he was U.S. Secretary from 2001 to 2006, according to Cliff Slater of HonoluluTraffic.com. Slater issued a memo that notes: "When Mr. Mineta was Secretary of Transportation, he developed the “National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network”. It is easy to read to the point. “Congestion drains the Economy”; ‘Congestion Hurts Families”; “Causes of Congestion”; “Congestion is Not a Fact of Life” – the most interesting of all. For example, “The demonstrated success of road pricing. Other major cities around the world, including London, England and Stockholm, Sweden most recently, have reduced congestion and improved throughout almost immediately through the implementation of congestion pricing strategies.” ... Slater continues with "Mr. Mineta’s Six Point Plan: Implementing a broad congestion pricing or variable toll demonstration; Creating or expanding express bus services, which will benefit from free flow traffic conditions; Securing agreements from major area employers to establish or expand telecommuting and flex scheduling programs. Expediting completion of the most significant highway capacity projects currently underway that hold the greatest potential for reducing congestion and bottlenecks. Nowhere, anywhere, did Mr. Mineta describe rail transit."
- Council member Dela Cruz expressed concern about the long list of highly paid consultants already on the city's payroll. He also told city officials in no uncertain terms that he wants to see a budget breakdown for the multi-billion project -- something they claimed to already have provided. Estimates have spanned $3.7 billion to more than $6 billion. Dela Cruz says he doesn't want a summary of the expenditures -- he wants details on what will amount to the city's largest ever public works project.
- Council member Rod Tam, a strong proponent of steel on steel and an arch enemy of Djou, claimed those who want HotLanes and more lanes for cars instead of rail are "selfish." This even though rail is considerably more expensive and took the largest tax increase in the state's history to fund. He said he takes great offense to those who want to put more cars on the road -- something he said after he admitted that he drives to work.
- Council member Romy Cachola asked why http://www.therailscam.com was targeting him in his Salt Lake district by telling people that he wants to "rip you off." Cachola was referring to thousands of fliers being distributed in his area that says he knows that the rail will take additional tax increases to fund, and will destroy property values in the area, and create unwanted noise at all hours of the night, but that Cachola continues to vote for it anyway.
- Mayor Mufi Hannemann's director of the Department of Transportation services threatened that if council members delayed the vote and did not select steel on steel at that hearing, that congressional funding would be put in jeopardy. He also said he worried that lawmakers would get the wrong message and revive a bill introduced earlier this session that repealed the city's right to collect a 12.5 percent increase in the General Excise Tax unless a decision was made on the technology within a certain time period. Mineta took the same position, adding that the longer the Council takes to build a rail, the more expensive it will be. Kobayashi countered that the city is always threatening them to rush them through the voting process, something that is unnecessary, she says.
- Several union leaders came forward once again to support the rail construction, saying it will provide 15 years of work for thousands of people.
- Mayor Hannemann's administration claimed that if the council members cannot make a decision on the rail, that the mayor will make it for them. Hannemann supports the steel-on-steel rail, advocated by 4 of 5 of his panel of "experts."
- Council member Garcia said that since 1963, Honolulu has considered building a rail, and each time, opted not to. He said if politicians had the political will back then, they would have built the rail and today, Waikiki would have a rail line running right through it. He supports the rail, but the image of a steel rail by the beach in Waikiki brought shudders from some in the audience.
- Council member Djou maintained that the whole process to determine whether a rail should be built in Honolulu at such a high cost should be put as a question to the voters in the next election rather than ramming it down their throats. He says every other major city has put that question to their voters rather than rushing a project through without knowing whether there is support.
Mayor Hannemann held a press conference after the Council hearing and said he won't let the the Council's "failed leadership" derail the project. He plans to proceed as if they'd selected steel-on-steel technology.
The Council could take up Bill 80 on April 23 when the full Council should be present, although according to city spokesperson Bill Brennan, that’s not necessarily the case.
"The council voted on Bill 80 last night and it failed by a vote of 6-2. Then there was a motion to reconsider. That’s what will happen on April 23…They might vote not to reconsider and the 6-2 vote against the bill that selects 3 technologies will be unchanged.
They might vote to reconsider…Then they would take up Bill 80. If that happens, it will either be approved or disapproved. If approved, the council will have selected 3 technologies. If disapproved, the result is the same as Wednesday's vote," Brennan says.
Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor of Hawaii Reporter, at mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com
