Rail fiasco has been great for some folks
Well, it’s official now: The bungling and poor decision-making has reached a new level of incompetence.
I’m referring, of course, to the recent decision to stop the rail at Middle Street, a move that certainly dooms the project to operational failure.
It is the latest in a long series of highly questionable decisions, which include utilizing a 19th-century technology, elevating the entire route, starting in Kapolei instead of town, ending at Ala Moana Center instead of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and administrative moves resulting in legal challenges that delayed construction.
Soon, Ho‘opili will add 20,000 more cars, further congesting the narrow H-1 corridor. The gridlock will be unimaginable.
But not all share the misery.
The construction industry that lobbied so hard and manipulated the last mayoral election, is making out like a bandit. And perhaps that, rather than traffic mitigation, always was the desired outcome.
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Joseph W. Turban
Makakilo
Skip building some stations in short run
In response to Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s announcement that rail will end at Middle Street (“The middle of nowhere”, Star-Advertiser, June 17), let me get this straight: Caldwell is potentially forfeiting $2 billion in design plans, property acquisition and federal funds because the city is short $1.2 billion?
Why not abandon some of the stations on the western corridor and complete the downtown stations, where urban density forces people to pay $200-plus per month for parking?
Once open, rail ridership would encourage completion of other stations on the West Side and maybe even the more expensive stations in East Honolulu.
Is the city really brainstorming for workable alternatives in terms of both design and funding?
Jacquelyn Chappel
Kaimuki
‘Nowhere’ clearly an editorial opinion
Most of the time, I find your news reporting to be admirably fair and impartial. However, your front-page headline about the rail line stopping at Middle Street in the June 17 edition read, “The middle of nowhere,” which was clearly a values statement reflecting the editorial position of the Star-Advertiser.
I urge you to remember that the pro-rail vote that the project is founded on won by only 6 percent. While I strongly disagree with the rail project, your institution has free speech rights just like any other publication. But, please, keep those opinions in the editorials and out of the news and, especially, out of the headlines.
Stuart Allan
Waikiki
Make it more costly to get exemptions
No money to exhibit feather cloaks at the Bishop Museum (“No isle stopover for ‘Na Hulu Ali‘i,” Star-Advertiser, June 20)? No money to finish rail?
Rubbish. There is so much money here it’s obscene.
The city needs to do business like Donald Trump — add a 10 percent “licensing fee” to any luxury condo building not 75 percent occupied by voting residents of Hawaii.
Requests for exemptions in height? No problem: That will be $10 million a foot, payable in advance of the exemption.
Mary Macmillan
Mililani
Students taught contradictory ideas
Twelve Kamehameha School graduates protested the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by not standing for the national anthem. Kamehameha admonished them for it and in so doing unwittingly sanctioned illegal colonialism.
The Hawaiian language, culture and traditions are core subjects that are celebrated in dance and song at Kamehameha. The students learn to be Hawaiian. They are also taught to honor the country that stole their kingdom — a contradiction.
These Hawaiian graduates are very much American. They believe in God, country, family and the American way. They didn’t take a stance against America. They found a way to publicly advertise a wrongful act against the Hawaiian people and exercised their right to do so.
The young have a duty to forge change. Only through insistence and public persistence can that occur. It requires warriors like these young persons to bring it about.
Bill Coelho
Pukalani, Maui
Use Hawaiian for TMT discoveries
If the Thirty Meter Telescope should ever be approved for construction atop Mauna Kea, I suggest that it be made mandatory that all the discoveries made there would have a Hawaiian word associated with or attached to them.
This would promote the understanding of the Hawaiian language throughout the world. It would also have the spirit of giving something back to Hawaii, instead of just taking from Hawaii.
William Geiger Jr.
Kapolei
Roger Christie just ahead of his time
I heard the tragic news on Hawaii Public Radio that Roger and Sherryanne Christie lost their U.S. District Court appeal.
Almost the very next story talked about Hawaii’s drug courts and how 85 percent of defendants are on crystal meth.
Roger Christie has consistently told anyone who would listen that in 1991, the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that Hawaii’s Green Harvest program was directly responsible for the meth epidemic in Hawaii.
He also was the only person with guts to stand up and try and help some of these meth addicts by giving them a joint and counseling them. Bless him and shame on the rest of those in legislative, law enforcement and judiciary roles who continue to waste people’s lives while continuing cannabis prohibition.
Sara Steiner
Pahoa, Hawaii island
28 responses to “Rail fiasco has been great for some folks”
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Jacquelyn, the cost of all of the stations combined is estimated to be less than $1 billion, so eliminating some of the stations doesn’t get the rail close enough to the $6.8 billion that the FTA is mandating. Here are the options that HART presented: http://hartdocs.honolulu.gov/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-18958/20160608-bod-options-to-current-ffga-scope.pdf.
Stuart Turban,
Your comments are spot on. The city and HART have completely bungled this project possibly making Oahu’s rail he biggest boondoggle in USA’s history. It is the biggest boondoggle on a per capita basis.
The planning and management has been so bad that people with no rail experience could have don a better job simply by educating themselves on google.
Now because of the upcoming election, Caldwell is nowhere to be seen or heard. Normally he would be refuting the numbers until the next time he has to ask for more money.
Do not re-elect Caldwell and fire grabby and all of the HART board. We needt ore-assess whether it’s even worth the trouble to continue or to tear it down.
The incompetent rail building must stop now because the project has insufficient funds. Any more tax increases for rail must have voters approval.
Ending rail at Middle St or AMC makes no difference; most commuters still have to catch another bus to their final destinations.
“HART hasn’t yet issued the two big contracts to complete rail’s final 10 miles”.
The first 10 miles ends at Aloha Stadium. The rail, if kept, should end at Aloha Stadium where there are enough open parking spaces for a major Bus transit center and for many passenger cars (for commuter transfers to/from the buses/rail) during the week day when the stadium parking are unused.
The practical and best option is to convert the rail guide way to a reversible 2-lane HOV(2) Reversible freeway from Kapolei to Aloha Stadium for less than $4 Billion already collected via GET.
The year 2030 downtown-bound commuter demand will be 15,000 commuters per hour above the existing highway capacity, according to the city’s Alternative Traffic analysis. The reversible can carry up to 17,000 commuters per hour (200 express buses and 3800 vehicles per hour) versus 3,000 RAIL commuters per hour.
Rail will NOT eliminate traffic gridlock at the H-1/H-2 merge. New buses are 80% funded by the Feds and would cost the city about $200,000 per bus or $40 million for 200 new buses. HART plans to purchase 80 rail cars at $1.2 million each for $96 million (Oahu Taxpayer funded).
The guide way can carry most vehicles except heavy construction vehicles such as concrete batch trucks and 18 wheeler trucks. Freeway on/off ramps can be constructed at about 5 mile intervals (Kapolei, Farrington/Ft. Weaver, H-1/H-2, Aloha Stadium).
This Reversible HOV(2) freeway option deletes rail functions such as rail stations, rail cars, utilities relocation, land/building acquisitions, rail security, rail power plant, rail O&M (100 million per year), etc.
Rail = Biggest construction and financial debacle ever for the Nei. Makes H3 look like chump change.
WAIT…RIDING ON THE RAIL FROM KAPOLEI, WHY WOULD ANY ONE NEED PARKING SPACES AT ALOHA STADIUM?
IRT Bill Coelho: “Young warriors?” Give me a break! They’re disrespectful miscreants, who learned their behavior at the most racist institution on the planet. The only institution left that plants its’ seeds of racism from the very beginning, admission.
The better way to look at this event is that everyone else DID stand for the Star-Spangled Banner. Think positive. Here in the belly of the beast, in the very heart of racial segregation where nobody is allowed to attend who lacks a drop of the magic blood — in the school which teaches a twisted version of Hawaii’s history to brainwash the kids with anti-American propaganda — we see that the vast majority of students and parents give honor and respect to the nation that nurtures them, to which they owe allegiance.
Now let me tell you what I do at public events. If the event leads off with the state anthem Hawai’i Pono’i (which was the national anthem of the Hawaiian Kingdom) instead of the Star-Spangled Banner, I remain seated and refuse to stand. If a Hawaiian flag is raised or leads a parade without an American flag on top or in front, I remain seated and refuse to stand. And in the future, if there are more incidents like what this newspaper commentary reports, I will not only remain seated in silence — I will stand up and raise a ruckus and shout “What about the Star-Spangled Banner?” or “Where’s Old Glory, our American flag?” No more Mr. Nice Guy sitting in silence.
I already have a personal policy of speaking politely but firmly, as though I’m a tourist, to those guys wearing the “Defend Hawaii” shirts with picture of the AR 15 assault rifle. “What is it you’re defending Hawaii FROM?” I ask them. “Why does it take an assault rifle?” “What are you afraid of?” “Do you really think it’s nice to wear a shirt like that when we’ve had mass shootings of innocent children and adults in schools, churches, nightclubs?” So far I have never gotten an explanation. Only cowards who play dumb and pretend they don’t know the answer.
Conklin is courageous enough to stand up for Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and all the symbols of what makes America and Americans special. And he will shout this to the rooftops as he fights against “racist” and “dangerous” Hawaiian sovereignty – especially if it is a few uppity teens at an evil prep school.
What Kenny and his supporters refuse to acknowledge, what is unsaid, is the historical record of United States imperialism. We don’t want to muddy the waters of idealism with what really happened.
The fact is, the USA is a nation founded upon, and conducting itself, and permeated by a white supremacist worldview. This is evidenced by 350 years of slavery and Jim Crow apartheid. And this was not a few nasty individuals off on the fringe, rather it was institutionalized and codified in state and federal laws by the courts at all levels, and even by the churches and other Civic institutions.
Real civil rights leaders had to stand up to this system of violent, barbaric oppression, and their success has partial. In many ways, white supremacy (now called white privilege) persists on the mainland to this day. It is evident in rates of income inequality, poverty, failed schools, healthcare disparities, unfair lending practices, racist civil discourse, inhumane immigration policies, minority voter restrictions and mass incarceration of non-white citizens. It persists here in the islands as well.
Kenny has glorified the all white “committee of safety” that overthrew the Hawaiian Nation with a US supported coup d’etat that was in no way ratified by the common citizens of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The actions and words of these American businessman and US officials conveyed the white supremacist worldview of their Nation. They believed that non-whites are inferior, unable to properly manage their affairs – often dangerous and savage – and that allowing them to independently rule themselves will lead to violence against the ruling class. These Euro-Americans raised barriers to citizenship, voting and land ownership for the non-Europeans in Hawaii and enriched themselves.
These are Conklin’s hero’s. They are like the slave holding founding fathers. All these (white) men cherished freedom and liberty, not like those dangerous Hawaiians with their racist quest for independence from the land of freedom and equality.
DannoBoy says: : Conklin is courageous enough to …&c. &c. &c….What Kenny and his supporters refuse to acknowledge, what is unsaid, is the historical record of United States imperialism. We don’t want to muddy the waters of idealism with what really happened.
The fact is, the USA is a nation founded upon, and conducting itself, and permeated by a white supremacist worldview. This is evidenced by 350 years of slavery and Jim Crow apartheid.
What DannoBoy gingerly avoids is the fact that late19th century Hawaii demonstrated it was no longer capable of self-governance and thus became low hanging fruit for the great powers to covet given its strategic location. It was not Uncle Sam but the Queen’s owns subjects who overthrew her. A monarch has but a single job, but it is a difficult job not suited to haughty, arrogant, ignorant amateurs. That job is to preserve the kingdom. All of the Queen’s MALE predecessors were up to the job, but probably because she was poorly prepared, when the critical decisive moment arrived, she could not hack it. She had the power and the opportunity to nip the sort of intrigue that surrounds every royal court in the bud, but she declined to act until it was too late. That is called dereliction of duty and that is not the fault of Uncle Sam.
Another fact DannoBoy slides past on a soothing carpet of lies is that unlike the 17th century monarchies of the Old World based as they were on conquest, a brand new idea blossomed forth in the New World as conceived by our well educated Founders: a government that derives its authority from the consent of the governed. This was a philosophy of government never before seen in the history of Man.
And finally the issue of slavery, a widespread institution of mankind stretching over vast reaches of territory and time and still practiced to this day: It was not the American slaves who freed themselves, but WHITE males who paid a terrible price in blood and treasure who subdued the Confederacy and freed the n e g r o slaves. That war between the states (mistakenly called a “civil war” which it was nothing of the sort) is the bloodiest in American history.
So DannoBoy, when you invoke those three powerful words : what really happened know that you are standing right in the middle of the impact area. And as Joe Louis told Max Schmeling, “You can run but you can’t hide.”
<< It was not the American slaves who freed themselves, but WHITE males who paid a terrible price in blood and treasure who subdued the Confederacy and freed the n e g r o slaves. That war between the states (mistakenly called a “civil war” which it was nothing of the sort) is the bloodiest in American history. >>
1) The Hawaiian kingdom of the 19th century did not have government sanctioned slavery of an entire race.
2) Hawaiians helped spark the anti slavery movement. As a girl, Harriet Beecher, who would go on to write”Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, and her younger brother Henry, who became a leading abolitionist and influential preacher after the civil war, were both inspired by Henry ‘Opukaha’ia and Thomas Hopu. As Henry Beecher said, “…the whole world has been stirred up by the mission cause. I am what I am because Henry Obookiah, from The Sandwich Islands, was taught at the Cornwall school in Connecticut and in my Boyhood came down to my father’s house, and produced an impression on me which has undulated and propagated and gone on influencing me. Some of the enthusiasm which I have felt for moral conditions came to me from seeing him.”
3) The Northern Euro-Americans were joined by African-Americans to defeat the Southern White supremacists.
4) Once the north retreated, white men across the South conspired to brutalize and exploit the non-Europeans, and successfully did so for another century. White supremacy was institutionalized and in muted, yet pervasive ways, it persists to this day.
As far as the problems and vulnerabilities of 19th century Hawaii, the US could have easily protected or supported the kingdom as it has other allies, rather than assisting its racist businessmen to seize power in a coup and then annexing it. The US could have acted as Great Britain had and sent an admiral Thomas to its aid.
As for the financial troubles, loyal citizens could have assisted the government rather than conspiring for its failure. Then seizing power for white American businessmen and wealthy Europeans, and against true democratic values taking the vote away from other Hawaiian citizens. These white supremacists conspired to control all government institutions in order to maintain their grip on power and enriched themselves.
These are the facts.
U-S-A!, U-S-A!, U-S-A!!!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the rifles on most of those “Defend Hawaii” logos are AK-47s. Minor point…
Most racist institution on the planet? Way to show your bias and inherent racism. I see every race represented on that hill. Scroll through the comments and you’ll see people calling out how asian or blond haired and blue eyes their students are. The institution has no issue with racism. It’s outside forces like you that show their cards and want to pass judgement where you’re clearly ignorant to the facts. Their support extends to all children in Hawaii with millions invested in public education.
In a world with the KKK and Donald Trump supporters(which I’m guessing you likely are), how dare you! Take your hyperbole and do some more reading.
Really, are we still lying about Trump and the KKK(while DownHill commits treason accepting money from foreign Powers for favors!)
And I really wish The founder of Kamehameha could be brought back to life and again say to you(as in her Will) that:” the school was for all poor children.” She recognized, unlike the present “spam Hawaiians” and power hungry Monarchists, that the Kingdom of Hawaii was made of many people, NOT just Hawaiians!
It was, then the white men took it over.
DannoBoy when you finally assume room temperature, one hopes you will not be buried but put in a nitrogen filled glass case in a museum so that future generations can see what a rank racist really looks like.
Haven’t you ever heard of the Big Five?
Nā Hui Nui ʻElima (the Big Five) was the name given to a group of what started as sugarcane processing corporations that wielded considerable political power in the Territory of Hawaii during the early 20th century. The extent of the power that the Big Five had was considered by some as equivalent to an oligarchy.
Attorney General of Hawaii Edmund Pearson Dole, referring to the Big Five, said in 1903, “There is a government in this Territory which is centralized to an extent unknown in the United States, and probably almost as centralized as it was in France under Louis XIV.”
All of the executives of the Big 5 came from the same mold. They were white. Republican. Male.
They moved in the same corporate and social circles. It was not uncommon for the executives to serve on the boards of the same companies.
Such close ties were considered harmful to market competition, eventually leading legislators — mostly Democrats — to pass a law banning so-called interlocking directorships in the 1960$.
In the political arena, the Big 5 influence was impressive and, at times, illegal. Their plantation managers used to hang pencils from the ceilings above voting booths so the managers could tell from the way the string moved how people voted. An “improper” vote resulted in threats of retaliation.
Hopefully future generations will be more interested in the truth than you are.
See this summary by Rob Petez:
http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/10/25/news/story5.html
Joseph W. Turban, your last paragraph says it all. Let me add “developers” to it. Yep, it was never about relieving traffic.
“Well, it’s official now: The bungling and poor decision-making has reached a new level of incompetence.” Joseph W. Turban, Makakilo
Mr Turban,
Thank you so much for your letter. Clear, succinct, irrefutable. Perfect.
Well done.
Rail was never for traffic relief. It was mainly for the contractors and developers. Nobody is going to cry for them when the boom is over.
In the never ending quest to bring readers of the SA news they’ll never see otherwise, the following:
“The Russian government is building an electronic intelligence-gathering facility in Nicaragua as part of Moscow’s efforts to increase military and intelligence activities in the Western Hemisphere.”
Part of Hillary Clinton’s “reset” of relations with Russia, no doubt. If Ms. Clinton’s job at the State Department had involved building real estate instead of foreign policy, her property would be a smoking hole in the ground. She’s ready to be president, alright, president of Venezuela.
“Requests for exemptions in height? No problem: That will be $10 million a foot, payable in advance of the exemption.”>>> How does THAT protect the intent of the regulation? Just puts money in the hands of govt. Great job.
No, the way to “get their way” to go around regulations is to “just do it” and pay a fine after they are caught. I only recall once where a building had to be shortened after being built (a temple in Palolo). Highly reflective glass changed (after it has been installed)? Just take the penalty!
Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t everyone celebrating prematurely? All I’ve read is that Caldwell is “recommending” that rail end at Middle Street “until there’s more funding”. It’s just a “recommendation” to the HART board. HART has yet to make a decision so I don’t think it’s a done deal. All I see is Caldwell kicking the responsibility for the rail mess onto HART so that he can say it’s no longer his mess if rail continues beyond Middle Street. It’s all an election year ploy.
If Oahu voters are dumb enough to vote Caldwell back into the mayor’s seat, be prepared to hand your wallet over to him. He’ll complete the rail at any cost and without any accountability, just as he had done up to this point. Why would he have any reason to change if he’s voted back in.
And that’s just the beginning. The crushing operations and maintenance fees haven’t been incurred yet, but they will soon.
Vote for someone who will hold people accountable, not the status quo.
Never believe a known liar.
More Clinton news the SA will never publish— the IT guy who installed/managed Hillary’s illegal email system took the 5th amendment refusing to answer questions in court yesterday 125 TIMES. Oh, I’m sure he has nothing to hide. Just move along folks. cClinton for prez! Yeah!
IRT Steiner: Christie deserves to be found guilty, because he is! However, I’d rather see him do a whole lot of community service instead of jail time. To me, he ran a scam and got caught!