“Kirk Caldwell’s statement that I backed out at the last minute of the West Oahu Economic Development Association forum is inaccurate. When I first received the invitation I politely declined.
I already participated in two debates with my opponents, including our first televised debate. I have agreed to two more televised debates as well as two more non-televised mayor forums. Meanwhile, my Truth Squad and I have gone directly to the people by holding forums so far in Mililani, Pearl City, Waipahu, Manoa and Hawaii Kai.
Unlike the sparse crowds that attend Mr. Caldwell’s community meetings, every one of our forums has attracted large crowds of people who are tired of listening to the propaganda being cranked out by the City’s ten public relations firms and the big special interest groups assisting Mr. Caldwell’s campaign.
Three of our five forums were held in West Oahu. On June 21st, we will hold our sixth community forum in Kapolei. By the time of the August 11th primary election, I will have met personally with thousands of people throughout Oahu, particularly in West Oahu.”
Ben Cayetano
Carlisle wants Rail. Caldwell now says he want’s Rail but will ‘do it better’. As per debates, Ben Cayetano simply doesn’t duck debates. However, now that Caldwell has admitted the Rail project is not where is should be, isn’t it his responsibility to explain where the additional money is coming from to make improvements he wants? My guess is Caldwell and Carlisle really don’t want to debate simply because the disagreement between them on Rail only underscores concerns about cost-over-runs. Bottom line, Ben Cayetano is right to question the entire Rail project. If anyone is backing out her, it is Caldwell who ‘supported Rail by being against it so he could support it’ (apologies to John Kerry).
Carlisle claims that rail result in taking off 40,000 vehicle trips daily from the road. But Carlisle did not tell you that the city itself predicts that by year 2030 there will approximately 4 million vehicle trips on the road. 40,000 is just 1% of the total vehicle trips. ..That is the equivalent of Rail “DOING NOTHING” for $5.27 Billion! The city has consistently said that “DOING NOTHING” is “NOT AN OPTION”. The Rail is also NOT an “ALTERNATIVE” as the city claims. Ben’s BRT will eliminate the H-1 bottlenecks by providing many point to point express buses from West Oahu towns to downtown and beyond to UH and Waikiki.