Former Congresswoman, and unsuccessful candidate for US Senate, governor, and Honolulu mayor, Colleen Hanabusa, led a public relations offensive this week on behalf of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, the agency that is supposed to be moving the city’s disaster of a rail project to eventual completion.
Hanabusa, who chairs the HART board, made a news splash as compliant reporters jumped on her optimistic but unsupported assertions that a projected $3.5 billion (with a “B”) budget shortfall could be as “little” as $2 billion. And did this dramatic financial announcement mean that HART has finally taken steps to adapt its plans to its actual financial circumstances?
No such luck.
Hanabusa dismissed the projected $3.5 billion deficit as the product of “conservative” cost estimates, which are now being conveniently jettisoned.
“It’s all based on assumptions, snapshots in time and what we basically believe the amount of income will be that’s coming in, ” she said, according to a story in the Honolulu Advertiser.
Of course, these “new” estimates don’t reflect any change in the plans, including any of the alternatives identified earlier, such as a possible termination at an earlier point rather than continuing to Ala Moana Center. And there was no presentation of the “new” assumptions that have apparently fueled Hanabusa’s talk of a reduced deficit, so these assumptions have not been vetted or evaluated objectively and publicly, not even examined and discussed thoroughly by the HART board itself.
Oh, that little bit of information came from a summary posted on Facebook by HART board member Natalie Iwasa, drawing on her testimony submitted to the Budget Committee and in a prior meeting of the full council.
According to Iwasa, a CPA and Certified Fraud Examiner:
There has been no public discussion of the 25+ alternatives for the Honolulu rail project that came out earlier this year.
There has been no discussion of changes in and elimination of bus routes to accommodate rail.
There has been no HART finance committee meeting since 8/12/21 and no financial update since then. (One has finally been scheduled for Fri., Nov. 19.)
There is still no audit committee and no fraud tip hotline, even though both were approved five months ago.
There has been no annual state auditor review / audit of the rail since 2018, even though it’s required under Act 1 of 2017.
There has been no board or public discussion of HART’s budgets for next fiscal year, even though the budget is due to the mayor 12/1/21. (There’s only one day of HART meetings scheduled to discuss the budgets — Nov. 19.)
We still do not know who is responsible for the wheel size mismatch with the tracks at the frog crossings, but we do know that HART is having a very difficult time finding qualified welders. We do not know who is at fault for this mismatch and who is responsible for paying the additional costs.
Given this list, and likely other items, it would not be responsible for the Honolulu City Council to approve any additional monies to go toward HART.
Somewhere, somehow, SOMEONE has to hold HART accountable.
(Commenting in my individual capacity.)
You can read Iwasa’s testimony to the budget committee here.
Despite that litany of issues, Hanabusa’s “Make a Wish” assessment dominated the news cycle.
The reality struck home for me when I read one sentence in the Advertiser story.
The Budget Committee on Wednesday voted to allot a third of the 3 % tax to rail for the first two years and then increase the share to 1.5 % in perpetuity.
So one-half of this hotel room tax will go to rail forever, “in perpetuity.”
What does that mean? Does the bill commit this funding source “in perpetuity,” or does it simply not include a drop dead date? Can a future city administration shift these funds to other uses?
For those with short memories, Hanabusa had been pre-selected by a small group of HART insiders to receive a contract to represent the board. It was even repeatedly referred to as “Colleen’s contract” as they drafted specifications tailored specifically to fit Hanabusa and only Hanabusa, a move that came dangerously close to a classic case of illegal bid rigging. When it became a public issue, Hanabusa turned down the contract, and was almost immediately named to a position on the HART board, and again immediately elected chair.
Another point of political interest. Former Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who was responsible for putting rail on the political “fast track” when he was in office, also submitted testimony on the tax bill to the council’s budget committee.
Interestingly, he did not mention rail. Not once. Instead, he called for most of the revenue generated by this new tax to go to meet the needs and mitigate the impacts of the visitor industry.
As the vast majority of monies raised by the TAT—and the new, three-percent surcharge—will undoubtedly come from the pockets of visitors, our position that the lion’s share of these funds should be utilized to address tourism-focused needs and the impacts created by travelers to Hawai’i. The opportunities this regard are endless and could include more routine county tasks such road refinishing and updates to our infrastructure, but should also be used on projects more directly associated with tourism impacts like frail management, beach and park maintenance, additional support for first responders, and the provision of adequate public safety staffmg at beaches and other City installations.
Oh, another point. Hanabusa failed to mention that those earlier “conservative” rail budget estimates were in recognition that HART and its consultants had for years–many years–provided only rosy, pie-in-the-sky projections that woefully failed the test of time, served mainly to mislead the public, and leading again and again to budget deficits needing emergency action to address.
Aren’t conservative estimates exactly what the public needs and deserves at this late date?
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
It’s difficult to feel any respect for Hanabusa and Mufi due to this rail disaster. Natalies presence is the only positive aspect. She I trust. Thanks for update. The rail really must be stopped at Chinatown.
Ian: This post of yours really needs wider distribution ASAP. A Star-Advertiser op ed would be nice, but getting that done might be slow. Can you get this onto Civil Beat ASAP?
The new, rosier estimate should be carefully scrutinized to see what sort of estimates of inflation were used, and those estimates should be compared to real inflation that we’ve seen in the last year.
Also note that even if we use the rosy estimate, and assume no finance costs, it will take approximately 45 years for the TAT to cover the projected rail shortfall.
The rail system is a joke. It will never run and it will never end bleeding $$. When I arrived in 1968, Mayor Blaisdell was talking about a rail system. Way too late now,thanks to Mufi and Kirk. And the new stadium proposal is just as much a joke.
This new stadium WILL be ramrodded through despite people having shell shock and being battle weary about the utter disaster that the rail is. Hawaii government is not about “for the People”.
All they (Wakai, etc) could talk about the other day on HPR is the numbers of union construction JOBS a stadium white elephant would provide. And that is their ONLY justification for a new stadium.
Cannot compare the stadium with HART., The developer needs to build it, run it and repair it as needed.
First of all, I hope your piece above is printed in the opinion section of Civil Beat for more people to read.
Secondly, this reads like HART is totally expecting virtually NO ONE to ride the rail fail disaster in the future and are preparing to cover the losses/embarrassment by sealing in guaranteed money…in perpetuity…to keep old Rusty running. Provided Rusty can even get up and started.
Expect to see Hanabusa’s ego to run for yet another office in the very near future even though her name is equal to dirt amongst most of the citizens here. If we had an office of Dog Catcher here, she couldn’t win it.
Two elevate lanes for electric buses would have been running years ago. But, NO MUFI demanded “Steel Wheel on steel rail”.
“Ruba tire on concrete” works, economically and on time. But, than where’s the steal?
Thank you again, Ian, for shedding much-needed light on information dimmed in mainstream reporting. Like previous comments , is there any way to make thorough reporting a priority of the news media, or is it too indebted to the recycled cronies who thrive here “in perpetuity?”
A tad bit of good news — during yesterday’s board meeting, members were assigned to committees, including the Internal Audit Committee.
Excellent article!!
My son, Timmy, was looking at a fancy concrete building just the other day. When he asked me what it was for, I told him it kept dishonest people who had been convicted of breaking federal laws. I assured my son that because he was honest and law-abiding, that he would ever see the inside of such a place.
“Timmy…it’s for the ones that GOT CAUGHT.”
The Rail is a disaster and everyone knows it! However, UNLESS the citizens speak out…at City Council…at HART meetings…thru Letters to the Editor at the S/Adv and Civil Beat…NOTHING WILL CHANGE. Sad to say, Honolulu is stuck with a train to nowhere and a LARGE PUKA for more of your tax $$$.
We, STOP RAIL NOW AND RAIL: SOS, have been trying for YEARS to educate the public that the rail would not solve our traffic problems, Unfortunately, the scales has always tipped in favor of the developers…the unions…and the politicians whose pockets are being lined….
How can a train which stops every mile for 21 stops be an efficient method of travel???
How can a car or bus that’s stopping every few feet due to congestion be one?
I’ll hold the football, Charlie Brown, and you run up and kick it.
Obviously everyone should be skeptical of new cost estimates, esp. the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (the Advertiser is no longer with us, sad to say). But it is worth mentioning the new cost estimate is based on a new consultant’s financial assessment that HART refuses to make public. Hanabusa can say what she likes, but her claims will be tested — when the consultant’s final report is released. If HART later claims that it CANNOT release the report because (for example) it will tip HART’s hand by disclosing its estimates of the cost of future contracts, then Hanabusa’s statements are worth nothing.
There are several cogent points in Mr. Lind’s post. As a rail supporter, I agree with most of them. One point that needs further discussion is what to do about the next segment in the project (the City Center segment).
A large percentage of the projected construction cost is embedded in the stations. HART could save a considerable amount of the cost on the segment by redesigning and downsizing the stations. All that’s really needed is a platform and a ticket machine. This is more typical of the majority of stations in other systems. We can’t afford and really don’t need all the bells and whistles incorporated in the current designs.
But what about the beautiful, artistic concrete columns? Such added aesthetic value…
Was surprised to see a rail supporter here n identified him/herself. What are ur reasons for supporting rail?
And does the Captain actually live in a part of Oahu that might actually be “served” by the disaster? Or is it one of those “I support the rail as long as it’s NOWHERE near my home and neighborhood” types?