Former Governor of the state of Hawaii, Ben Cayetano, will be running for Honolulu Mayor with a platform of if he is elected, he would put a stop to the rail project. Ben Cayetano was served as a governor for the state from 1994 to 2002. Last year, Cayetano joined together with several other rail opponents and filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the project.
Supporters of the rail project, are very nervous about the intentions of Cayetano. Doug Chin, the City Managing Director, stated, "Last year voters created the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation as a semi-autonomous agency to remove politics from the rail project. It's spelled out in the charter what HART, a mayor or the City Council can or cannot do, and all city officers including a mayor have sworn to uphold this. A delay or stop to the project now would forfeit up to $1.55 billion in federal assistance that Honolulu is poised to receive, invite costly litigation and provide no viable alternative to traffic congestion on Oahu. This would be a large and unnecessary setback for us and future generations."
Ben Cayetano clearly stated that he would not cooperate with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transporation. Cayetano noted that if he is elected, "The mayor doesn't have to release money. The mayor can veto appropriations, and I think that if I get elected, quite frankly, the Federal Transit Administration will say, ‘That's it, Why should we give this city money when they have a mayor who doesn't support the system?'"
