As 2020 ends, so does Kirk Caldwell’s final term as mayor. He has been mayor since 2013, also serving briefly before that as interim mayor.
During that period, Caldwell’s political career has become a new definition for the term “cancel culture.”
Instead of being a modern form of ostracism, Caldwell’s cancel culture is the practice of adopting a program or project he figures is going to be a sure-bet winner, only to find out that a loud and argumentative portion of the Honolulu public hates the idea. Sometimes the scheme has so-so support but no one can afford it.
The glowing, shiny new future turns into the reality of a real mess. Already he has canceled plans for reconstruction of controversial portions of Waimanalo Park in the face of Native Hawaiian concerns over disrupting burial grounds; and a special playground and bark park at Ala Moana Park as critics said the projects were mostly for wealthy landowners residing in new million-dollar condos across the street.
Remember when Caldwell had visions of revamping the city’s Blaisdell Center complex with its iconic dome, comfortable if snug performance hall and exhibition hall? The price for replacing the municipal facilities plus adding a gym and some community centers was pegged at north of $700 million.
“The planning and design for a modernized Neal Blaisdell Center resulted in an excellent and exciting vision for this facility,” a starry-
eyed but cashless Caldwell said, adding that he hoped the new administration would take up the culture cause.
Meanwhile, Mayor-elect Rick Blangiardi has bigger problems than polishing up the symphony’s home. Just last week Manny Valbuena, the city’s acting Budget and Fiscal Services director, said it appears the city operating budget — the money used to run the city every day — is short $400 million.
“We’re trying to fix the budget so that we don’t have to have layoffs, furloughs or cuts in services,” Valbuena told the City Council’s Budget Committee, as reported in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
But wait, if it’s budget deficits you want, Caldwell and company can do better than $400 million. Consider what is happening to the Honolulu rail project, now estimated to be soaring to $11 billion with its start date possibly pushed back six years, to 2033.
“We’re talking about a $1.1 billion difference between what HART says it’s going to cost and what I believe is a more realistic number,” Caldwell said during a news conference, referencing the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, the semi-autonomous agency building the rail.
Caldwell successfully fought to cancel and redo the scheme for private-public financing of the project. Caldwell was mayor in 2016 when those first trains were delivered at Honolulu Harbor. If those trains don’t run until 2033, they will be
17 years old and the question will be whether to drive them on the completed route or to Bishop Museum.
In reviewing Caldwell’s city career, the biggest cancellation has been his popularity. Back in January 2015 the Manoa Democrat was enjoying 64% job performance approval, according to the Star-Advertiser’s Hawaii Poll. Last year, before the latest budget and rail fumbles, only 31% of those polled approved of Caldwell’s job performance, while 59% disapproved, which means only one-third think he’s doing well. Those numbers and his record may be Caldwell’s biggest cancellation.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
