Hawaii Political Platter - The Ruling on Rail

Yesterday Federal Judge Wallace Teshima issued his 45 page ruling on the rail project from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court.

The Ben Cayetano for Mayor Campaign released the following statement:

"Today, Federal Judge Wallace Tashima sided with Ben and the other 3 plaintiffs who had sued the City saying that the rail project violated federal law. Ben said to KITV: "We are pleased with the ruling. The Court ruled that on 3 different issues, the City had violated the law."

It is not a matter of the number of favorable rulings for one side or another. The lawsuit was about doing the Environmental Impact Study properly - which the City will now have to do.

To KHON, Ben said: "I think this is going to cause them a big delay." In an interview with KITV, Panos Prevedouros explained that the lawsuit was about addressing the rail project's flaws and "the court found significant flaws." The revisions that will need to be made, including costly re-engineering, could mean an end to the project's contingency fund. The 2 articles below have the details about the 3 victories in the ruling:

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/176887081.html?id=176887081 

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/11/01/17541-federal-judge-issues-split-decision-on-honolulu-rail-environmental-suit/

Mel's Commentary - While I expected a more sweeping ruling, I have to force myself to remain somewhat optimistic that one of the 3 counts in favor of the plaintiffs will be enough to bury rail. Parties in the case will be meeting in Federal Court again sometime in December, most likely the 12th.

To assure that this rail project never takes off and that it dies, one must elect Governor Cayetano to be Honolulu's next mayor. Support with a positive vote is also needed for City Councilpersons Tom Berg and Ann Kobayashi, who both oppose the current rail project. A vote in the 6th council district for Sam Aiona will also be a prudent thing to do.

In the long run, a vote for Linda Lingle for U.S. Senate could help as she has come out in opposition of this fixed rail project. The federal funding for rail is still pending and it will take an act of Congress in conjunction with whomever is President of the United States to pass the funding through. It is hopeful that if the funding from the Feds is not approved, that it will put the final nail in rail's coffin.

Additional Article Links

Honolulu's Controversial Rail Project is Derailed in Federal Court
Honolulu Rail Gets Mixed Ruling From Federal Judge
Honolulu Rail Up in the Air Again


Photo by Panos Prevedouros, Ph.D.

Video Links

To come.