While I’m waiting for Apple’s media event this morning to announce new or updated products, I’ve been browsing my email stack for interesting items.
First, the New York Times reports on the status of Honolulu’s rail project (“Hawaii Struggles to Keep Rail Project From Becoming a Boondoggle“).
Here’s Mayor Caldwell’s spirited defense of the project.
“People are very angry about it,” said Mayor Kirk Caldwell of Honolulu, as he drove through the streets of his city. “But we are now heading toward eight miles completed. It’s like we are pregnant — we can’t just stop and tear it down.”
Although it doesn’t deliver any new information about the project, it’s worth reading to see how it looks to “outsiders.”
Meanwhile, Maui County announced that streaming video and County Council documents will now be available via the council’s website.
Streaming video and legislative files of Maui County Council meetings conducted in the Council Chamber will now be made available on the council’s website at MauiCounty.us, Council Chair Mike White announced today.
“This council is committed to transparency and improving access to government for all residents of Lanai, Maui and Molokai,” White said in a press release. “The videos and documents made available on Maui County Council’s website will make it easier for constituents to know what’s happening in county government and to provide well-informed testimony.”
From the council website, there’s a quick link to the archive of past meetings, as well as to agendas of upcoming meetings and minutes of prior ones.
There’s bound to be a bit of confusion. The county council website, MauiCounty.us, is different from the Maui County website, MauiCounty.gov.
When I checked this morning, the county website doesn’t mention the council’s online initiative, although both the county and the council sites are pretty rich with access to information and documents.
I was quickly able to find the annual financial disclosure forms of elected and appointed county officials, as well as of candidates for county offices, via the county ethics commission page.
In any case, it’s great to see the competition to achieve greater transparency.
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The NYT story was a lame rehash of old news with predictable quotes from the usual suspects, and made Caldwell look like a feckless dope.
It quickly highlighted the delays and cost increases, but sure took its time to mention that they were caused by nuisance lawsuits. And then it quoted Cayetano making the usual shrill accusations, without mentioning that he was a plaintiff in one of the failed lawsuits and a failed anti-rail mayoral candidate.
Oh well, any story in which the first quote comes from Panos is just bound to be crap.
Hope the writer at least tossed back a few mai tais to justify coming out here, because a cross-eyed copy boy could have done a better story in his sleep.
And exactly what job does this person have on the rail project? And I love the description of Caldwell…..have to remember to use it as it is quite accurate. A feckless dope. Thank you.
Yup, almost as funny as “Panos for Progress.” Now that was a real humdinger!
From the article:
“Hawaii is experiencing the kind of construction trauma well known to mainland governments that have embarked on such ambitious works projects as the Boston tunnel known as the “Big Dig” or the high-speed train that Gov. Jerry Brown is advocating in California”
I would say that the description of Honolulu having construction trauma is just scratching the surface to the uprooting that is happening around town. Not only is the rail system causing traffic and road havoc in residential centers of south Oahu – Waipahu, Pearl City, etc. But also the massive construction of high-rise apartment towers has and will continue to create even more havoc as large portions of this town are uprooted and transformed in the next 10-15 years.
If South Oahu thought it was traumatized already from what has happened so far…it might need to get used to being mortified before it all calms down.