Read More: http://www.kaleo.org/news/cayetano-details-traffic-plan-prioritizes-students/article_e3481af0-26b9-11e2-8b77-0019bb30f31a.html

Tashima’s 45-page decision said the city failed to take into account the potential impacts of the elevated rail line to Mother Waldron Park in Kakaako, part of the National Register of Historic Places, and did a poor job identifying traditional cultural properties, also known as TCPs. The judge also ruled the city must study a tunnel option along Beretania Street, from the Board of Water Supply Building to Nuuanu Avenue – about a mile in length.

RECAP of the 2012 Campaign Spending Commission Report

Kirk Caldwell

*There are additional contributors with HART rail contracts and connections but names have not been released yet.

Ben Cayetano

We suggest you send the e-card below to your undecided friends if you are uncomfortable with how unbiased Caldwell will be if he is allowed to “build rail better.”

According to the Hawaii Reporter, Honolulu’s rail transit project has lost a major legal test in The Federal Ninth Circuit Court, as Judge Wallace Tashima ruled in  HonoluluTraffic.com v. Federal Transit Administration et al that the city of Honolulu had violated federal environmental law on three counts.

The plaintiffs included are a coalition of environmental, civic, political and taxpayer interests, including former Governor and mayoral candidate Benjamin Cayetano, University of Hawaii Law professor Randall Roth, Retired Judge Walter Heen, retired businessman and transportation expert Cliff Slater, Dr. Michael Uechi, Hawaii’s Thousand Friends, Outdoor Circle and the Small Business Hawaii Entrepreneurial Education Foundation.

The plaintiffs and defendants differ strongly on the impact of the ruling, and the defendants are to return to court in December seeking a permanent injunction against the project.

University of Hawaii Engineering Professor Panos Prevedouros told the Hawaii Reporter that the decision would require environmental planning revisions that could take up to 2 years.

This setback is in addition to a previous unanimous Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that had already required construction to be suspended and which could delay project for at least a year, according to the Hawaii Reporter. The Supreme Court in Kaleikini v. Yoshioka, ruled that the city of Honolulu failed to comply with the state’s historic preservation and burial protection laws when it did not complete an archeological inventory survey for the 20-mile route before starting construction.

“There is a segment of the population who want their voices heard. A segment who don’t want rail, who don’t want to see the further rape of our beautiful island home to urban sprawl, who want to see that the “basics of the basics” are taken care of (our infrastructure),who don’t want to be strapped with excessive taxes for not only this generation, but for future generations to come. There are so many great, valid reasons for voting for Ben Cayetano. He’s my choice! — SA

“You go GOV. Cayetano!!! I am talking to people daily to make sure they understand what is at stake!! Especially on the bus you should see the reaction.” – MP

“I am a 65 year old and made my first ever campaign contribution. And guess what? It was to the Cayetano campaign. I never thought that I would ever donate money to a political campaign. It was not a lot of money…but I wanted to help. I spent my entire adult life working in law enforcement. I know the importance of this election. If Ben is elected; it will be a game changer for the citizens of Oahu. If Ben is willing to give it try. Then so am I. But it is going to take all of us… I put my money on Ben to do the job.” — BP

“VOTE CAYETANO, that message comes through loud and clear.” — KH

“The rail will crush our kupunas’ bones and crush our keiki and mo’opuna with dream killing, burdensome debt. Props to Mr. Cayetano for coming out to help local people.” – LU

“Spoke to my dear neighbor yesterday. He is an architect/designer. So I asked him a few questions about the rail. I asked him if the rail was providing local jobs? After he stopped “giggling” under his breath he replied “no” those jobs go to the “mainland guys”. “ — BP

“To all Caldwell supporters: Before you cast your ballot at least know your candidates vision in relation to the budget and ask him to answer “How Kirk Caldwell plans to deal with the $202 million dollar short fall?”…” – DR

“Cayetano is an environmentalist whereas Caldwell is a railist…..” – LMC

“I usually oppose suits (so many are frivolous) but Ben is right to sue the criminal element led by Kirk Caldwell. They have spent millions of dollars in untrue ads to damage Ben’s reputation because he won’t play with them in the Caldwell “Pay for Play” scam.” – KH

“If you’re Hawaiian it is your patriotic duty to vote for Cayetano and stop the corrupt rail” – CH

“It’s interesting how Caldwell doesn’t make any note about the contributions he’s getting from his PRP buddies. And many other contractors. Legal for him, but not legal for Cayetano.” – JW

“The beauty of Ben running for Mayor is that he wants to bring integrity back to City Hall. And, like most voters, he doesn’t want the Caldwell/John White/PRP “Pay for Play” scheme or the dishonest ads they conjure up. If you want John White as the power behind Honolulu Hale, raise your hand. What? No hands went up, except for John and Kirk?” — KH

“Ben Cayetano el hombre del futuro de H A W A I I.” – GR

“I just learned that a third municipality in California has filed for Bankruptcy under Chapter 9. This situation is beginning to become more evident as the weeks go by. C&C workers are being laid off and municipal union contracts are simply voided. This does not have to happen on Oahu. I believe that Ben would be a good steward of the people’s money and will try to maintain wages and benefits for police, fire and first responders. But Ben is not known for giving the people money away. He is results oriented and owes the unions nothing. Ben will put the people back in charge. Our city needs to properly collect taxes and continue to wisely use the citizen’s money. I am excited about Ben’s campaign.” — BP

“The Caldwell “Pay for Play” scam worked out in conjunction with John White and PRP PAC is sickening to say the least. I can’t believe that a majority of our people prefer dishonesty and White’s buying the election by controlling Caldwell in this manner. Whatever happened to values like honesty?” – KH

“All those attack adds against Cayetano on television are inaccurate and don’t deserve anyone’s attention. A vote for Caldwell is a vote in the wrong direction. Some reasons not to vote for Caldwell: he was against Bill 11, his wife is on the Board of Kaneohe Ranch, and he wants a rail system that Hawaii cannot afford.” – CD

“Caldwell is a pawn of PRP and should be ashamed of himself. Someone send him the definition of PONO.” – PS

“Remember that this is funded by Democrats and Unions! Big money corrupts everyone!! Ben is for the average person!” – CE

“Caldwell, PRP PAC, John White ALL LIE. VOTE BEN CAYETANO TO RETURN SOME INTEGRITY TO CITY HALL. I DID.” – KH

“I am voting for Ben and have very high respect from him and Mr Watada!! I was elated when the News said you were suing those people. It’s time to clean up the State..To the gentlemen [who worked for the Federal government] who told me back in 1992 that all of this was going to happen I wish I could talk to you now. Thank you, Mr Cayetano, because he did tell me there was going to be that ONE person that would stand up and fight them all and that is YOU!! Thank for loving our aina and fighting for us….and thank you for having FAITH in our bus system. Mahalo Nui Loa.” – BF

“You got my vote Gov!!” – PT

“BTW Governor, just sent in my absentee ballot and you got my vote. Hope you become Honolulu’s next mayor.” – RD

“PRI, Outrigger, HECO, other big businesses and labor is trying to smear your name … because they know that they will not be able to steal billions into the future if you are elected Mayor. Why you and not the others. I hope VOTERS can clearly see the alterior motives behind all this. Thanks for being the front man, laying everything on the line and trying to save all of us other people who will they are targeting to take money from for the rest of our lives.” – JL

“Remember how you asked Caldwell the cost of the downtown segment of the rail? Well, when he came to class yesterday, I asked him how he can guarantee building the rail on budget (if he wins, which he won’t) if he doesn’t even know the cost of the downtown segment and is even proposing changing it. He said he does know the range of where bids are likely to fall, he just can’t say because then the contractors will submit bids that are too high. I was not persuaded.” – JM

“Lucky we have Cayetano backing our position on many issues, including ag lands. ” – LP

“Ben will restore fiscal sanity to our city and deploy FAST to get traffic moving and to upgrade — not dismantle — TheBus.” – DR

“Mr. Governor, it’s not just about the rail but it is much more. I think that distinction between you and Mr. Caldwell is well established. For me, it is about leadership and vision. Therein lies your strength and Mr. Caldwell’s shortcomings.” – BP

“Building [rail] on land they don’t own….it goes on and on and on” – PS

“It is time to kill the rail and stop increasing our losses. We can still save billions of dollars that White and Caldwell want to put into the “pay for play” scam.” – KH

“Has Kirk Caldwell been fined yet for failure to report the million-plus dollars in campaign contributions from John White and PRP in the state’s biggest ever “pay for play” scheme? Since there are only two candidates in the race for mayor of Honolulu all of the attack ads paid for by White/PRP are favoring Caldwell, no matter the fine print disclaimer. Kirk knows this and still has not asked White to pull the ads that are blatantly dishonest, spreading lies about future Mayor Ben Cayetano. Kirk, you’re desperate, and it shows.” – KH

“And Kirk Caldwell is just as culpable in spreading the lies and innuendoes about Cayetano as is John White/PRP. I hope everyone who sees the Caldwell TV commercials realizes that Ben is not only innocent of wrongdoing, but also capable of bringing back some integrity to Honolulu Hale.” – KH

“I just know it’s BEN for us!!!! GOOOOO Ben!” – PS

You’ve got to click through to this humorous look at the history of Honolulu’s rail project: Rail Honolulu’s Big Mistake.

Let’s make sure the joke’s not on us on election day. Talk to your friends, neighbors and co-workers and ask them to vote for Ben Cayetano!

“Why is it that John Pritchett, who isn’t even running for office, is so much smarter than Hannemann, Carlisle, and Pay to Play Caldwell, who just don’t get it? VOTE FOR CAYETANO.”

KH-Facebook

WAIKIKI, October 31, 2012 — In the Aloha State, Hawaiians have a saying: Lawe i ka ma’alea a ku’ono’ono. Those words tell us that to be successful one must acquire skill and make it deep. In selecting a mayor this November to serve and represent the island of Oahu’s nearly one million residents, Honolulu should know that there is no candidate who has experience and skills that run so deep or so great as former Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano.

Civil Beat conducted the poll on Oct. 24 and 25, shortly after Governor Ben filed a defamation lawsuit in response to widespread attack ads paid for by Pacific Resource Partnership and other pro-rail special interests. The ads contain blatant distortions and lies designed to mislead voters about Governor Ben’s record of achievements as Hawaii’s chief executive.

With Governor Ben leading by just five percent in the poll – and five percent of survey respondents undecided – voter turnout will be crucial in the Nov. 6 General Election.

“A lot of it is going to come down to turnout,” said Matt Fitch, executive director of Merriman River Group, which partners with Civil Beat on its polls. “We know that Caldwell does better among the likeliest voters, and Cayetano’s best voting footprint is with a large turnout of casual voters who only vote sometimes.”

With that analysis in mind, a mass sign-waving rally for Governor Ben set for Friday, Nov. 2 takes on even greater significance. Please show your support for his candidacy by joining hundreds of other volunteers in front of the State Capitol from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m.

What are your thoughts?