I attended the Diamondhead/Kahuku/St.Louis Heights Neighborhood Board in November where a portion of the itinerary was slated for presentations on rail. One member tried to submit a resolution opposing rail to be voted on by the Board. She was scuttled as out of order. Others, who were pro-rail, were allowed excessive time to explain their positions and when it came to the end of the meeting the chair quickly gaveled the meeting to a close, clearly refusing to put the resolution to consideration.

Olelo TV recently carried the various hearings held by the City Council to garner public opinion on Transit alternatives. It was clear by the questions and attitude of Committee Chair Romy Cachola that his mind was already made up. All of these meetings are, in reality, merely a formality. The same could be said for our mayor, Mufi Hannemann. There isn’t anything that anyone could say that would change his mind at this point.

Therefore I propose that we stop calling this project “light rail” or “fixed rail” or any kind of rail. We should simply call it The Honolulu Railroad. Because that is what we are getting: Railroaded.   

Don Newman, senior policy analyst for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii can be reached at: mailto:don@grassrootinstitute.org