City Councilman Tom Berg repeated his firm opposition to the city’s $5.26 billion rail project even as three challengers to his seat staked positions in favor of the plan during a candidate forum Friday at Kroc Center Hawaii in Kapolei.
"It’s a bait and switch … the biggest con job in the state, in the nation," Berg told an audience of about 75 people at the forum sponsored by the Kapolei Chamber of Commerce and the West Oahu Economic Development Association.
Berg was elected in a special election in 2010 after his predecessor, Todd Apo, resigned midway through his four-year term as the councilman for District 1, which runs from the Waianae Coast to Ewa Beach.
Berg said the rail project being built is unlike the project described when voters approved it as part of a City Charter amendment in 2008.
Other candidates at Friday’s forum — veteran union official Mel Kahele, state Rep. Kymberly Pine and former state Rep. Alex Santiago — all said they back rail.
Santiago, a Makaha resident, said he’s become a bigger rail supporter since becoming a Council candidate.
"I sit in that traffic every day," he said. "If it’s bad now, I can only imagine how much worse it’s going to be when we started to fulfill the dream of completing the Second City."
Santiago said he’s confident the federal government will come through with its projected $1.55 billion share of the project funding.
"Rail is not about us; rail is about our children’s children," Santiago said.
Pine said opponents of the rail project have not presented a viable alternative to solving West Oahu’s traffic problems. "I believe in rail 100 percent. As a constitutionalist, I believe in the will of the people, and the people have spoken," she said, referring to the 2008 vote.
The Ewa Beach resident said she will "make sure this project is a success and make sure that every single every dollar is spent wisely and always with the remembrance that this is your money."
Kahele, a Makakilo resident, echoed Pine’s comments. "I don’t think we should circumvent, or we should undermine, the democratic process by now deciding on not pushing or supporting rail," he said.
"It’s going to create thousands of jobs," Kahele said. "We need to look at what kind of jobs it’s going to create."
Berg, of Ewa Beach, said he supports mayoral candidate and former Gov. Ben Cayetano’s bus rapid transit plan as an alternative to rail. "Buses beat rail hands down," Berg said.
E.J. Delacruz, the fifth candidate for the nonpartisan seat, was not asked to participate in the forum. Forum organizers said they chose to feature four candidates and invited the four who participated.
Delacruz, of Kapolei, has said the city should not proceed with the rail project.
Kahele said his vision for West Oahu includes widening a deep draft harbor in Campbell Industrial Park. Such an expansion would bring new businesses and jobs to the area, he said.
Pine said one improvement she’d like to see is a speeding up of the city permit process. "We have had to wait for permitting to build things here, and when you can expedite this, you can have people get to work faster," she said. There should be an option for businesses willing to pay an additional fee to move through the process faster, she said.
Santiago portrayed himself as a moderate-growth candidate who also will fight for the environment and Native Hawaiian rights. While he supports development, he said, "we have to make sure it’s balanced."
Berg, who appeared to respond to every question he was posed by relating it to the rail project, said killing the project would help businesses in the area. "Rail doesn’t serve you; roads do," he said. "If you want businesses to expand … rail doesn’t do that."
