Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann remembers how he would advise his Cabinet members during contentious meetings: "Save your drama for your momma."

Hannemann is now recalling that advice as the current mayor, Kirk Caldwell, lobbies the Legislature to make permanent the temporary general excise tax increase for rail.

In various forms, Caldwell has laid out three options for dealing with the over-budget rail plan:

» Grab the rail tax increase and never let go.

» Hit up property owners for more money.

» Or just quit the game and duck.

Of the three, Caldwell only wants more excise tax money, but Hannemann fears the drama.

All this new uncertainty is scaring those who support rail, encouraging those who hate rail and making people think it will never be built.

"We are losing support by the day by asking for a tax extension that is not needed right now," Hannemann said in an interview.

In two MidWeek columns and in the recent interview, Hannemann is telling Caldwell to stop scaring people into thinking he will either fund rail with property tax increases or just stop the project if he does not get a forever tax increase.

"We need some flexibility, we need some time. I think Caldwell is playing a very dangerous game by threatening to stop the project or raise real property taxes," Hannemann said.

The former two-term mayor, who since Honolulu Hale has lost elections for governor, Congress and governor again, said Caldwell needs a new strategy.

"I think we are trying to push the wrong strategy to get this done," he said. "They need to show some credibility, and the credibility is in building the first 10 miles. The people in Hawaii need to see that this project is going to get built."

In his State of the City speech this week, Caldwell gave his own take on the three options.

"I don’t know if the City Council will vote for a large increase in real property taxes on top of having to actually vote to extend the surcharge," Caldwell said. "I think the choice needs to be the excise tax. The third choice, the one I just don’t want to accept, but it is an alternative: ‘Stop. Don’t build any more.’ That’s crazy to me."

Hannemann, who calls his early and successful rallying to building a rail line "my blessing and my curse," thinks Caldwell’s options are "a bogus argument."

"My former managing director has got to lead on this project. He can’t play peek-a-boo," Hannemann said.

Hannemann’s advice is do whatever it takes to give Honolulu the first 10 miles of rail and then show riders what a great and needed service it will be when the whole thing is finished.

If Hannemann is something of the father of the Honolulu rail project, he is also not someone thinking all his accomplishments are in the past.

So it is fair to ask if this public offering of advice is a first salvo in a campaign to recapture Honolulu Hale.

Nope, Hannemann said, rail is what he wants.

"I don’t have a political agenda here; I just want to see it done," said Hannemann.

Of course, today’s non-agenda can become tomorrow’s mandate.

And if there is anything Hannemann believes in, it is tomorrow.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com