On Politics: Ige got Caldwell’s help in tough campaign; now state budget proposes $125M for Ala Wai

Gov. David Ige and Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell are growing closer in both political and government operations. It appears they are sharing the wealth in both arenas.

Since early last year, Caldwell backing Ige’s reelection campaign meant that key Caldwell fundraiser, Mitchell Imanaka, moved over to the Ige camp, becoming finance chairman for the campaign.

Switching candidates meant that Caldwell buddies could become Ige’s new friends. Caldwell is something of political cash rainmaker because of the multibillion-dollar rail project and its multitude of subcontractors. Much of Caldwell’s campaign support comes from his steadfast defense of the overbudget, much-delayed Honolulu rail project.

While running for re-election in 2016, Caldwell opponent Charles Djou charged that the mayor received more than $700,000 from contractors and subcontractors of rail. A Honolulu Star-Advertiser report in 2015 showed that “Caldwell received at least $566,196 in contributions from rail contractors and subcontractors from 2010 to 2014.”

Hawaii politics depends on the links between politicians and political donors, and the ability to expand the links is the synergy that makes incumbents so powerful. So in the world of Ige and Caldwell, sharing fundraisers is a good thing.

In the government arena, Ige’s latest proposed state budget includes a yet-to-be-examined $125 million state subsidy to pay the local portion of a massive retrenchment of the Ala Wai Canal.

Federal and state planners have long warned that the canal, which serves to drain the storm waters pouring down from the Koolau mountains, needs to be rebuilt. The entire project is pegged by Congress at $345 million, with the city, state or another entity expected to put up 35 percent of the cost.

Ige‘s budget plan, according to state Rep. Sylvia Luke, House Finance Committee chairwoman, has the state picking up the initial construction costs with the city then being responsible for the operation and management of the new canal system. She said the governor’s office has said the operation and maintenance portion of the project is much more expensive than construction, so the state gets a good deal.

Luke, while not saying the project is not needed, questions how the state became a partner with the city in what is considered a municipal responsibility.

“Whether there is a need or not is not the issue; there has to be a better justification for exactly what this is,” Luke said in an interview.

“Even if the state owns this land, the city operates it. This is denoted as a subsidy to the city and county, if that is the case, let them figure if they can afford it.”

Luke already is voicing concern about the inability of Caldwell and the city to “even know the cost of rail yet, let alone the operation and maintenance of rail.” Saying the city should nail down those costs before dragging the state into another major, costly construction project, Luke questioned how it was included in the Ige budget.

“It is not the right approach, it brings even more suspicion,” she said.

Or, observers can just say it shows that slowly under Ige and Caldwell, the city and state don’t have a partnership as much as a joint checking account.