Peter Carlisle is Honolulu’s newest mayor.

Carlisle was sworn in today in the mayor’s office at City Hall by Hawaii Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald.

At a news conference afterward, Carlisle said he would travel to Washington, D.C., to assure administration and congressional officials that the commuter rail project is solidly supported by the city.

He says he backs a measure on the Nov. 2 ballot that would create a semiautonomous panel to oversee construction and operation of the project.

Carlisle also says he will quickly focus on the city’s financial health.

The former Honolulu prosecutor on Sept. 18 defeated then-acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell, engineer Panos Prevedouros and five other candidates.