It is questionable how truly popular is the city’s long-delayed and over-budget rail scheme. Supporters are having a difficult time working up the excitement to defend the 20 miles of postponements, setbacks and stumbles.
Newly elected Honolulu City Councilwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi is the latest to ask why not stop the train at Middle Street, pocket the unspent money and just walk away. She recently said more audits are needed and hard decisions may need to be made about calling it quits.
Against that backdrop, there is another force with much more potency than just a regular, disgruntled rail critic: the organized Hawaii construction industry.
Take a look at the rapidly flowering Pacific Resource Partnership (PRP), representing the Regional Council of Carpenters along with over 240 contractors and other construction-related entities such as the Hawaii Laborers and Employers Co-op and the various building and construction unions.
Ask a politician “Who’s your daddy?” and the person answering is most likely working in construction involving the rail line, carrying a union card and/or packing a powerful wad of cash to spend in the next election.
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano’s 2012 attempt to stop rail by becoming Honolulu mayor and then disable the multibillion-dollar project was stopped by the torrent of PRP negative ads, some so vicious that Cayetano sued and won an apology from the Carpenters.
Since then, PRP has polished its act, by running professional seminars and tapping into social media public policy groups.
But what it and the rest of the construction and development industry really do is invest serious money in getting folks elected to local office. Yes, the forces wanting more and more construction are mildly involved in federal offices, but what really sharpens their interest is having a friendly player when it is time to decide zoning, building and land use questions. Keeping rail on track no matter what the cost is the Holy Grail of Hawaii’s construction and development political forces.
The best example of how the forces of construction and development view a candidate is the just-finished special election between former state Rep. Tommy Waters and almost-Council Chairman-elect Trevor Ozawa.
The Hawaii Laborers Political Action Committee, a hardy perennial campaign contributor, gave Ozawa $15,500 between 2014 and 2019, but when Waters made his comeback attempt, the PAC tossed Waters $4,000 in 2018 and another $4,000 in 2019.
After losing twice to Ozawa, Waters came back with a big finish in this month’s special election, beating the councilman by more than 1,000 votes.
Mere months ago, Ozawa looked like he had it made: Not only had he beaten Waters in the November election, but he was slated to become Council chairman until the state Supreme Court overturned that election, forcing a redo. Ozawa lost as Waters outspent him by $40,000, according to Campaign Spending Commission tallies.
That wasn’t the only money, however. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s veteran city hall reporter, Gordon Pang, reported “$163,000 in ad campaigns by two labor-related political action committees that reminded voters of Ozawa’s frequently caustic personality.”
The construction industry and its development industry brothers don’t play dirty as much as they play to win.
Any Hawaii politician who doesn’t understand their massive political power probably will not last long.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
