Column: Next mayor will have mountains of problems, but mere molehill of money to pay for them

There are six or seven serious Honolulu politicians waking up and going to bed with a dream: the day they take the oath of office as Honolulu’s 18th elected mayor.

It is mostly a career-topping post. No Honolulu mayor has climbed higher up the Hawaii political firmament. At most, sometime after you are no longer mayor, the City Council names a park or a public facility after you.

For instance, former chief executives Fern, Petrie, Wilson, Wright, Crane, Blaisdell and Fasi are now all spots on Google Maps.

The downside to being top dog in Honolulu Hale is worth considering. Every impressive top post comes with a list of unfinished jobs, but when Honolulu’s next mayor is sworn in, he or she will find mountains of problems and a molehill worth of money to pay for them.

Yes, the biggest problem is the overbudget rail system. But the longer it remains unfinished, the more new, big-bucks problems pop up. There are now worries that transit station support arms for needed shading are defective and cannot support or protect the wiring needed on the station platforms. There are also new worries that the trains will draw too much current when they start, causing harmful electrical spikes in nearby residences and businesses. And no one has said they have a community-approved plan for how to run the rail down Dillingham Boulevard.

Also left to speculation is the federal government’s criminal probe into management of the rail system’s construction.

Back in February, new Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Executive Director Andy Robbins said, “I haven’t seen anything that rises to the level of criminal activity.” Shortly after that, the investigating federal grand jury dropped a third subpoena on HART.

One of the ironies of the departing Kirk Caldwell administration is the mayor’s pledge during his first State of the City speech in 2013 to “maintain public confidence in this project.”

Caldwell promised weekly meetings with then-HART chief Dan Grabauskas, that he would work with HART to cut the project’s visual impact, increase input from the community, and improve financial transparency.

And that he and HART officials would continue to evaluate plans to connect the rail line with the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

A winning candidate for mayor in 2020 will need to come up with a position on rail more substantial than, “Oh, I support rail, but it has to be closely monitored.”

That successful candidate must address Caldwell’s infatuation with redoing Ala Moana Regional Park. When the city did its own surveys of what the public wanted done with the park, 25% asked for better bathroom and park maintenance, and an equal number wanted restoration of the park and greenery. There was no call for bark parks or even zip lines — but the new mayor may have to handle those dubious park plan additions.

And finally, the seven would-be successors to Caldwell need a complete response to the mayor’s plans for a nearly $1 billion redo of the Blaisdell entertainment complex: Go ahead and spend the money, stop it now, or call for a study?

As for those now mulling over the job, the filing deadline is not until next year. There is still time to reconsider.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.