And while he endorsed Kobayashi for mayor, that was not an endorsement of her mass transit plan.ĬITY COUNCILMAN Charles Djou and Apo resurrected the route selection issue after a majority of the voters approved the system on the ballot question. “ I did not support Ann's EZWay.” Ĭachola said the ad ran with his photo without his consent. “ Saying that I did not support rail is not correct because I voted up on rail,” Cachola said. 4 ballot question approving the rail system. While Cachola did not support the technology then, he said he voted “ yes” in the Nov.
In April, Cachola did not vote for Hannemann's preferred technology for a “ steel wheel on steel rail” system that deadlocked the City Council in a nine-hour meeting. For him to now accuse me on reneging on a commitment.
“ He never came out to refute Ann on EZWay. “ He never supported 'steel on steel,'” Hannemann said. Below the photo, the advertisement goes on to talk about Kobayashi's “ EZWay” mass transit system, which she proposed to counter Hannemann's rail project. In an advertisement that ran in the Hawaii Filipino Chronicle, there is a photo of Cachola, his wife and Kobayashi at one of her campaign fundraisers. That's why I voted against the airport, because I did not want to be the one to break that commitment.” Īpo, who recently replaced Barbara Marshall as the Council's chairman, called on the other members to drop their political bantering to support the airport route, which he views as the most logical to accommodate Hawaii's tourism industry.Īpo said the proposal would still allow for a spur to go to Salt Lake eventually, just not in the first segment with an expected completion in 2012.ĪS CACHOLA accuses Hannemann of reneging on a promise, Hannemann is quick to point out an advertisement of Cachola endorsing Kobayashi for mayor in her failed election earlier this month. saying a commitment had been made by the mayor saying that the rail would go to the Salt Lake area. “ But the day before the vote, the night before, the councilmember from that district approached me. “ I was poised to vote for the airport route when we voted years ago,” said Kobayashi at Wednesday's City Council meeting. “ So I'm willing to go along with Salt Lake, but we also need the support of your councilmember.” Īccording to Cachola, Hannemann had told Salt Lake members, “ If you want Salt Lake, I will give it to you.” Īpparently, councilmembers who were not at that meeting knew of the agreement reached behind closed doors.Ĭity Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who voted against the Kapolei-to-airport route but supported another version with a line running to her district of Manoa, recalled hearing of the agreement as well. For it to die right now would send a very negative message to Washington,'” Hannemann recalled last week. “ I said to them, 'I have to keep rail going. Now that the City Council is once again considering a route change, details and slightly different versions of that meeting are slowly emerging. The details of a meeting between Hannemann, Cachola and several members of the Salt Lake community before the crucial vote remained unclear at that time. Two years ago, when Mayor Mufi Hannemann first proposed revisiting the idea of building a mass transit system in Honolulu, a majority of the City Council approved the project but were at odds over the route.Īs a compromise to capture the support of Councilman Romy Cachola, the fifth of nine votes, Hannemann agreed to bring the 20-mile stretch through Cachola's district, Salt Lake. The recent proposal to change the city's $5 billion rail transit line to go to the airport over Salt Lake has ignited a firestorm among city officials and bickering over alleged broken promises and political motives.
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