A mayor’s job is never finished

It’s good news for Mayor Kirk Caldwell that, halfway through his term, he’s halfway to the goal he set for repaving Oahu’s worst roads.

So far crews have dug out and replaced 703 lane-miles of road since the mayor took office — right on the pace he set in order to complete the 1,500 rubbly roadways on Oahu.

But we can think of a few pothole-y stretches that we can only hope are up next (Kapiolani Boulevard, anyone?). And we can only hope that, given the bumps in the road for rail, Caldwell is keeping the pressure on.

For one thing, officials acknowledge that the hardest part of the undertaking is yet to come.

Just like rail.

One really can go home again

Hawaii has always been the underdog in its bid to host a portion of President Barack Obama’s library complex. Still, it’s impossible to overestimate Honolu-lu’s lure for the nation’s 44th president. It’s where he was born and raised — immersed in a multicultural society that shaped his vision — and where he returns each Christmas to reconnect with family and boyhood friends.

Hawaii will always be home for Obama, no matter where he has lived since, or where he resides in the future. It’s wholly appropriate that at least part of his presidential library is built here. Local organizers were smart to secure state-owned land in Kakaako Makai for the proposed site — avoiding an obstacle that has arisen for Chicago. Organizers there are scrambling to assure that proposed sites will be available as promised.