Mayoral candidates skirmish over who is stronger on rail

Mayor Peter Carlisle said Tuesday that his support for the city’s rail proj­ect is "unequivocal," drawing a brighter line than former managing director Kirk Caldwell, who has called for a review of the proj­ect’s station locations, architecture and visual impact.

At a forum put on by the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Carlisle said the $5.27 billion rail proj­ect and the transit-oriented development around rail stations would be an engine of urban renewal. While not mentioning by name former Gov. Ben Caye­tano, who opposes the proj­ect, Carlisle said that if Hono­lulu backs out now, the city would lose relationships with federal transit leaders.

Cayetano did not attend the forum because of a scheduling conflict.

"We need to go forward with rail," Carlisle said. "I am not going to stop. I am not going to equivocate, maybe I’m not going to do rail, maybe I’m going to do rail. This over here" — nodding toward an empty space in reference to Caye­tano — "‘I’m never going to do rail, I’m going to kill it off.’ The second he does that, he rips up a $1.55 billion check and makes sure that the federal government will never take Hono­lulu, Hawaii, seriously one more day in their life.

"Not one more day in their life."

Caldwell, who also served as acting mayor in 2010, said a majority of Oahu residents favored rail when he led the city, and he blamed declining support for the proj­ect on Carlisle’s poor management.

"What’s changed?" Caldwell said. "Has the economy gotten worse? No. The economy is getting better. So what’s changed, I ask you? What’s changed is the style of management. It’s not hands-on. Peter walked away from rail. He didn’t pay attention to it every single day.

"And a project like this requires paying attention to it every single day."

The topic of the 60-minute forum was tourism, and both Carlisle and Caldwell said upgrading the city’s infrastructure and beautification initiatives such as the one before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in November could help attract more visitors and national and international events.

Both candidates said they back additional tourism development around Ko Olina Resort in Leeward Oahu but have reservations about development at Turtle Bay on the North Shore because of community concerns about conservation, traffic congestion and the lack of city infrastructure.

Asked whether the city should invest in tourism marketing, Caldwell said he was open to the concept but questioned where the city would get the revenue given budget constraints.

Carlisle was direct. "Let me stand up and say this quite bluntly: Don’t count on it," he said.

The candidates also offered different portraits of their leadership styles.

Carlisle, a former city prosecutor, said mayors need management experience more than a legislative background. "It’s fairly straightforward: The key is whether you are actually a manager or not," he said.

Caldwell, a former state lawmaker, said he would be a more hands-on chief executive. "I think what distinguishes me from the others is that I am hands-on, that I lead from in front of the desk, not behind the desk, that I don’t see a problem as someone else’s fault, that I recognize it’s there and I look for the common solution," he said.