Update on Rail - Federal Trial & State Supreme Court Decision

The Hawaii State Supreme Court ruled last week that the City & County of Honolulu was wrong in starting rail construction before a complete survey of Hawaiian burials and location of "Iwi" was done violating state law. The plaintiff in this case has asked the city to stop rail construction today. The City has vowed to keep on constructing. If that happens the plaintiff lawyer will file an injunction that will force the city to halt construction. More to come on this.

In the meantime arguments on the Federal lawsuit concluded on August 21. Both parties in this lawsuit await a decision from the judge which could come at anytime, but expected to occur in the next 30 to 60 days. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in this case could effectively shut down the rail project.

Professors Randy Roth and Panos Prevedouros discuss the federal case in the video from HawaiiReporter posted below.

Honolulu’s Pricey Rail Project Put on Trial

Honolulu’s Pricey Rail Project Put on Trial

HawaiiReporter's Malia Zimmerman reports on the August 21 rail case hearing in Federal Court:

Will Honolulu’s pricey and controversial rail project ever be built or will it be derailed in court? That could depend on what Ninth Circuit Court Judge Wallace Tashima decides in the next few weeks.

Tashima heard oral arguments on Tuesday, August 21, in one of Hawaii’s most closely watched legal cases -Honolulutraffic.com et al v. Federal Transit Administration et al - after all 7 of Hawaii’s federal judges were recused from the case. His decision may ultimately determine the future of Honolulu’s controversial $5.2 billion rail project.

Eight plaintiffs – who range from environmentalists, businessmen and a transportation expert to a former governor, law professor, doctor and retired judge – maintain the city’s actions were “arbitrary” and “capricious”.

The plaintiffs, who include former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano, Law professor Randall Roth, Retired Judge Walter Heen, retired businessman and transportation expert Cliff Slater, Dr. Michael Uechi, Hawaii’s Thousand Friends, Outdoor Circle and Sen. Sam Slom's Small Business Hawaii Entrepreneurial Education Foundation, sought a motion for summary judgment in their challenge against the City & County of Honolulu and the Federal Transit Administration.

Read the entire article at HawaiiReporter.com - http://www.hawaiireporter.com/?p=53678

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Video Reports from Hawaii News Now and KITV 4

Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

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Publisher's Comment

As a longtime opponent to fixed rail and especially to the current project, here's hope that the outcome of this trail be ruled in the favor of the opponents. A favorable ruling against rail in this case and the election of former Governor Ben Cayetano as mayor of Honolulu will be major factors in helping put this expensive rail fiasco into the grave soon. Stop Rail Stop.

Hawaii Political Platter - Primary Election Tomorrow

The first peak of the election season in Hawaii occurs on Saturday as voters throughout the state cast ballots for their favorite candidates. Here on Oahu the most pivotal and deciding race will be for the office of Honolulu Mayor.

There are three candidates running for mayor.

The first is former Governor Ben Cayetano who is running for mayor on a platform that opposes the $7 billion fixed rail project (now starting construction) and for fixing and maintaining critical city infrastructure. Since I have been a longtime opponent of rail, my vote like thousands of other rail opponent will be going for the former Governor and hopefully next mayor.

The other two candidates include current mayor Peter Carlisle (who I have voted for in the past for City Prosecutor. He was good at that but so far has been a lousy mayor) and former city managing director Kirk Caldwell. Both are huge supporters for rail. No one should be voting for them if they oppose rail and its high cost to taxpayers.

Check this video out of Ben and Vicky Cayetano from the HawaiiReporter.com YouTube channel:



There are other races to decide on. I will be pulling a Republican ballot:

U.S. Senate - The leading candidates in this highly contested race include Democrats Ed Case, Mazie Hirono and Republican Linda Lingle. All have similar platforms. They support rail, the Jones Act and the Akaka Bill among other statewide and national issues. Longshot GOP candidate John Carroll opposes all of these and he will get my vote just because I don't support any of those issues.

U.S. Congress 1st District - Current U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D) vs. former U.S. Representative Charles Djou? I'll go with Charles.

U.S. Congress 2nd District - A very heated race in the Democrat primary between Tulsi Gabbard and former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann. All bets go with Tulsi. I don't live in this district so I vote for none of them. One of them will be facing Republican challengers Matt DeGeronimo or Kawika Crowley in the general election.

State Senate 9th District - My recommendation will be to vote for State Senator Sam Slom who I have known and worked for many years.



State Senate 11th District - By this weekend one of the two Democratic senate candidates will emerge victorious in this race created by redistricting which was finally settled earlier this year. The two Democrats are incumbents in separate districts under the old plan. They are Brian Taniguchi, former Senate Judiciary Chair and Carol Fukunaga, a champion for internet taxation. Because of her stance on taxing our Amazon purchases, my recommendation would be to go with Sen. Taniguchi. One of them will face Republican Larry Fenton in the November general election.

State Senate 12th District - My vote will be going with Republican challenger Liz Larson who is taking on Democrat incumbent Brickwood Galuteria. I have some trouble supporting Liz since she told me recently that she favors "transit oriented development" (T.O.D.) but voted against the "steel on steel" rail proposal in 2008. She is from the State of Utah and has been in Hawaii for about 5 years. She needs more education on the fallacy and high cost of rail.



State House District 26 - Several candidates are running in this area, most of them Democrats. Since I will be pulling a Republican ballot the only choice I have is Tiffany Au who as far as I know is a beauty queen and someone who worked for State Rep. Corrinne Ching. I sent her an email question regarding her stance on the rail project, and so far have gotten no answer. Blank ballot??? Maybe.

The primary election is tomorrow, August 11 at polling places all around the state. Walk in absentee voting was held from July 30 to August 9. Mail in absentee ballots are still being accepted by the State Office of Elecitons until 6PM tomorrow afternoon. Polling places will be open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. Vote!

Check out my Hawaii Politics Photostream on Flickr:



Note: Links to candidate websites will probably go dark after the election season.

News Behind the News - Winners' Camp

HawaiiReporter.com's Malia Zimmerman interviews Delorese Gregoire and friends of Winners' Camp. History, people and more about the Winners' Camp operation that has been around for more than 20 years, 10+ of them up at Kamehame Ridge in Hawaii Kai.

You can find out more about Winners' Camp at:

Winnerscamp.com

Winners' Camp Flickr Photostream (July 2012 camp photos):