Rail

Under his watch, the cost of rail has risen $3.34 billion over budget to $8.6 billion, and more than 7 years behind schedule. A recent federal “upper bound” estimate puts the cost at $10.79 billion (more than double the original budget of $5.26 billion) and the completion date at 2027.....

... By “tinkering” with the traffic lights, it’s possible to reduce traffic ....

...if enough of the tendons or their anchors fail, the entire box girder system will fail and could very well collapse....

HART has now received a total of $1.8 billion in surcharge revenue for the rail project ... roughly $48.4 million less than projected....

In my first 100 days in office, I will....

"...Caldwell may have evaded State and Federal taxes on all the stock options he has received to date...."

Glen Nohara gave $12K to Caldwell and a total of $102K mostly to the usual list of Democrat incumbent candidates...

The Grassroot Institute argues that this is not about the right to collect taxes, but rather a matter of mis-allocation of the funds....

Drive-alone remains the choice of slightly over three-fourths of all commuters....

This report provides the Honolulu City Council with an update on the activities of the Office of the City Auditor....

...the habit the state Department of Taxation has of keeping the money that is left over after they process the rail surcharge....

Voters should have received the 2016 Charter Amendments booklet this week....

An average family of five would have to pay more than $1,000 per year just to complete rail....

"The City is requesting an extension of the December 2016 Recovery Plan submittal date to June 30, 2017"

...Caldwell has been using his position as Mayor to enrich himself -- making $200,000-$299,999 a year as mayor "working" just 1-2 hours a months and collecting $900,000 - $999,999 in bank stock for his "service"....

"In the future they can be aggressive. In other words, they can be tailgating each other to save a lot of space. But in the early stages this is not going to happen...."

"Last week we learned that the City failed to spend tens of millions of dollars in the affordable housing fund and we may now lose this money."

The Federal Transit Administration says it will demand its money back....

"...Farrington Highway and Kamehameha Highway ... are eligible for Federal aid funds, subject to selection by OahuMPO and HIDOT...."

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....