In a State of the City address that contained no surprises and just a smattering of new initiatives, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell reaffirmed his position on three contentious issues: rail, homelessness and the bicycle track along South King Street.
With Foster Botanical Garden as his backdrop Tuesday, Caldwell pledged to spruce up dilapidated park facilities with the help of the community through a reinvigorated adopt-a-park program.
Caldwell’s 48-minute address, his third as mayor, focused on core needs and was devoid of new, big-bang, big-dollar projects.
In order to take care of Oahu’s precious lands, he said, good roads, sewers and other infrastructure are needed. "That’s why this administration is all about infrastructure, more infrastructure and more infrastructure," he said.
Caldwell described the $5 billion-plus rail project as "the big elephant in this very big, outdoor room," an acknowledgment of the recent news that its price tag is anticipated to go over budget by $700 million to $900 million due to delays and cost overruns.
"As a politician, I’m not going to run from it," he said.
Rather than pointing fingers, he said, "I accept it’s happening … under my watch, and we all need to work together to figure out how we’re going to address these cost increases."
Lobbying again for state lawmakers to extend the 0.5 percent surcharge on the general excise tax beyond 2022 to help pay for rail, Caldwell said it was the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye who pressed the Legislature to allow the surcharge even though final costs, the route or technology were not known. It was Inouye who said to "raise the money first and then design the system," Caldwell said.
Extending the excise tax makes sense "because our visitors pay one-third of that tax," he said. The only other options are to raise property taxes or kill the project halfway into it, he said.
Caldwell said efforts to remove as many homeless individuals as possible from Honolulu’s sidewalks and parks are working, citing the so-called sit-lie ordinances in Waikiki and other business neighborhoods. "Providers have told us there’s been a great uptick in people moving into shelters," he said.
Besides continuing the Housing First program to give shelter to the chronically homeless, Caldwell said, he has pledged to federal officials to end chronic homelessness among veterans by, among other things, issuing them federal rent vouchers.
The mayor pledged to continue the King Street cycle track, a two-year pilot project, that he acknowledged has generated a lot of feedback both for and against. The project is a nod to future generations, he said. "To make a difference, we need to embrace change," he said.
He also proposed continuing funding to keep a 24-hour restroom open in Waikiki, a partnership with Waikiki businesses.
Those among the invitation-only, largely pro-Caldwell crowd of about 200 people applauded the mayor’s candor.
"I like that he said, ‘I could not dodge from what’s going on, I don’t say it’s someone else’s responsibility,’" said retired dentist Joseph Young, the unofficial "mayor of Chinatown."
