Both Kirk Caldwell, a Honolulu mayoral candidate, and current Mayor Peter Carlisle have been strong supporters of the Honolulu Rail Project. However, at a recent press conference, Kirk Caldwell noted that when he was the acting mayor in 2010, support for the project was at an all time high. Since then, support has drastically fallen for the project. Caldwell pointed his finger at the current administration and stated, ”I think what has changed is the lack of engagement with the public. The mayor (Carlisle) is not discussing the project. The mayor is kind of just letting things operate on automatic pilot, and as a result it’s moved backward. It has not been hands-on. It has not been answering the questions. We have not been transparent. He has not gone out to the community and addressed the kind of concerns I have been talking about today.”
Kirk Caldwell is also suggesting that city leaders should review the downtown and Kakaako portions of the rail project now before the project fully gets underway. Many residents have expressed their concerns about view planes that the elevated rail guideways might obstruct. Caldwell added, ”I think by doing it now you’re going to save costs and you’re going to save time, particularly if we’re going to change what we’re doing, and I think we need to do that, we need to engage the downtown community. We need to see if we can’t design this thing better and do rail better.”
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-23-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
