Tapping into all the goodwill that comes with each new year, as well as the aspirations of a largely reconstituted City Council, Mayor Kirk Caldwell sounded the hopeful notes of resolve to work collaboratively for the benefit of the people who elected him and his colleagues.

However, even the most jaded Honolulu residents will have to be forgiven for withholding their review of his speech for a few weeks at least. Honolulu Hale has a long history of frosty relations between the mayor’s office and Council chambers, and fulfilling the pledge won’t be easy.

The event itself last Wednesday served as a symbol of good intentions: This was the first time that the newly elected Council members and mayor were sworn in during a joint ceremony.

In his inaugural remarks, Caldwell acknowledged the importance of the separation of powers in independent executive and legislative branches — the "push-pull" of democratic governance.

But he also underscored the critical need to cooperate and find the common ground to make any real progress on behalf of the taxpayers.

That’s going to be tough, considering that part of the job of the mayor and Council during tenuous economic times lies in delivering bad news to the people who hired them in the recent elections.

The good news Caldwell received in recent weeks came in the form of property valuations on Oahu rising by 2.3 percent over the past year. If tax rates remain the same, that should mean he’ll have more tax revenue to work with.

There are already many claims on that money, though, and budgeting is sure to mean some hard choices. The push to upgrade Honolulu’s crumbling sewers, water mains and roadways goes on.

If Caldwell is as eager to grapple with the brass-tacks of city management, the eruption of new potholes in the wake of recent rains, not to mention flooding in Waimea Valley over the New Year’s holiday, ought to remind him that public expectations for basic municipal services are high, and unrelenting.

Further, there are many big-ticket challenges that are weighing down the in-box on the mayor’s desk:

» Caldwell pledged during the campaign to revisit the finer details of routing and design on the downtown segment of the $5.26 billion rail project. That’s likely to be a challenging prospect, both procedurally and politically. Satisfying the public demand for input into such a contentious issue will be difficult, but he will have to try.

» Budgetary matters will take his attention first, and both the mayor and the Council should resist any urge to depart from core city services that could prod the tax rate higher. Taxpayers overall — in the middle class, as well as those in lower-income brackets — still face considerable economic duress. They’d appreciate a lower tax bill from the city or, at the very least, the confidence that most of the budgetary fat has been trimmed out.

» Honolulu’s merchant district, with sluggish activity after business hours and chronic challenges in addressing homelessness, needs revitalizing. Strides have been made in Kakaako, Waikiki and even Chinatown, but the announced closure of the Fort Street Mall Macy’s store exemplifies that the downtown area could use some thoughtful urban planning.

The approaching discussions over rail stops in the area provide the context for that issue.

On this front, it’s good to hear Caldwell’s promise to work closely with the governor. Having state Capitol veterans in City Hall may be fortuitous, if it brings good working relations.

"I do believe government is an instrument of good, despite what happened in Washington over the weekend," the mayor said, and the audience laughed, reflecting on the "fiscal cliff" showdown in Washington.

"I do believe that public service is a noble profession," Caldwell added, "as long as you use power to help those without power, as long as you remember to work with all sides, not just one side, to look for that common ground."

Democracy is complicated, messy and contentious, but having someone in charge who at least believes in the process is a good start. Now Hono-lulu will watch to see how much he can deliver, which is what really counts.