3 candidates joust over the embattled rail transit project

With just over two weeks remaining before the Aug. 13 primary election, the three major mayoral candidates attacked one another’s positions on rail transit and personal backgrounds in their first televised debate.

On Thursday night former U.S. Rep. Charles Djou questioned the propriety of incumbent Mayor Kirk Caldwell drawing a more-than-$200,000 salary as a member of Territorial Savings Bank’s board of trustees, which Djou called “a part-time job,” on top of his $164,928-a-year salary as Honolulu’s top executive. “We deserve better than that,” Djou said.

Caldwell did not address the accusation during the debate, which was sponsored by KITV and Civil Beat. Afterward, however, Caldwell told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he received several opinions from the city Ethics Commission stating it was not a conflict to serve on the Territorial board. Caldwell said he takes vacation time two hours a month to attend bank board meetings and that it does not affect his job as mayor.

During the debate, Caldwell hammered Djou for criticizing the city’s $8 billion rail project while failing to come up with a real plan to address a projected funding shortfall. “He talks about all the problems, never a plan or a solution.”

Djou maintained that the mayor is too wrapped up in a troubled rail project to deal with homelessness. In response, Caldwell said he has housed 1,000 individuals while Djou “blames homelessness on rail.”

Djou said he is open to all transit-related options for getting people from Middle Street to Ala Moana Center, as long as they do not require Hawaii residents to pay more taxes.

Former Mayor Peter Carlisle, who at times appeared to be ignored while Caldwell and Djou attacked each other, said the incumbent has been wishy-washy on rail and was skeptical early on that the city would be able to receive the $1.55 billion in federal dollars for the project that the Federal Transit Administration has committed to it. Carlisle also said Caldwell had flip-flopped between Ala Moana and Middle Street, regarding where the current rail project should stop.

Caldwell contended that he has been a strong supporter of rail since at least 2008 and that he had “full confidence” federal dollars would be available due to the influence of U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, who died in 2012. “And now we’re working to complete this system that he wanted to see started.”

Asked whether Honolulu Authority for Rail Transportation Executive Director Dan Grabauskas should stay on the job, Carlisle said yes and Djou said no. Caldwell said it should be up to the appointed HART board.

Both Djou and Carlisle said current Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha should step down, at least temporarily, while being investigated by federal prosecutors. Caldwell expressed concern regarding the allegations against the chief but said that the Police Commission should allow him to stay in office unless he’s charged with a crime.

Critical issues facing West Oahu took the spotlight at another forum Thursday featuring the same three candidates fielding questions on their views and plans for the Leeward Coast and Kapolei.

The forum, held at the Kroc Center Hawaii, was hosted by the Kapolei Chamber of Commerce and the West Oahu Economic Development Association and broadcast live on ‘Olelo.

The three candidates appeared to agree that it’s a priority to reduce the amount of waste sent to the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill. The 200-acre Kahe Point landfill has been a long-standing issue for several Leeward Coast residents due to the granting of multiple extensions for its closure. Waste Management of Hawaii, the landfill’s operator, also paid $200,000 under the terms of a plea agreement to settle a case involving the spillage of millions of gallons of contaminated stormwater from the facility, Oahu’s sole municipal solid-waste landfill, into the ocean several years ago.

About 10 percent of the island’s waste is sent to the landfill, the majority of which is ash from the HPOWER waste-to-energy facility at Campbell Industrial Park. City officials have said that engineers estimate the landfill is 25 to 40 years from reaching its capacity.

After the forum, Caldwell said city officials are traveling to Okinawa next month to explore ways to repurpose the ash for road repaving. Carlisle said another boiler at HPOWER could help, along with the possibility of giving ash to those who can use it, such as the private sector or parties overseas. Djou said it would be irresponsible to say that Oahu will never need a landfill, but that the city should look into new technologies used overseas, such as high-burn waste-to-energy facilities.

Another matter discussed was ways to encourage more businesses to relocate to the Kapolei area, which has about 110,000 residents. Population projections show that the region will grow to about 143,300 residents and host about 84,000 jobs by 2025, according to 2015 data from a James Campbell Co. consultant.

Caldwell said the city needs to work with the state on passing legislation that would give tax breaks to employers that relocate to Oahu’s second city. Carlisle said the city needs to forge more partnerships with the federal and state governments to coordinate job growth in the region. Djou said there needs to be a commitment to move more government services to the area, adding that the private sector would most likely follow suit.

Eight other candidates are running for mayor, none of whom have held political office. If a candidate receives 50 percent of the votes cast plus one vote in the Aug. 13 primary election, that person will win outright. If not, the two candidates with the highest number of votes will face off in the Nov. 8 general election.