Honolulu council wants rail on ballot

[KamaAina]

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080724/NEWS09/807240366&s=d&page=4

Still yesterday's vote signaled growing support for placing the rail issue before the electorate. As recently as last week, four council members said they did not support the ballot resolution, which was introduced by council member Charles Djou.

"My view is let's get this over with," said council member Todd Apo, who favors the rail project and said last week he was opposed to Djou's resolution. "Let's not let this linger out there."...

Stop Rail Now, a nonprofit, has collected 40,000 signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. But last week the city clerk said Stop Rail Now was too late to make the November election. That's when Djou introduced his resolution as an alternative route to get the issue before voters....

Calls for a vote come amid an increasingly contentious debate on the merits of the train, which would be the largest public-works project in state history. Project proponents contend the train is needed to accommodate continued West O'ahu development. Opponents claim the train is too costly.

The Council vote could, I suppose, be seen as a strategic move to head off Stop Rail Now, but still, something that appeared to be a done deal will now go up for a vote -- in a state where the last major ballot initiative banned same-sex marriage by about a 2-1 margin. The only silver lining is that turnout will be much higher in November, when everyone will be voting for President Obama, than in some special election that could easily be dominated by the anti-tax crazies. :eyes:

[KamaAina]

1. Update: Judge forces petition onto Nov. ballot

I'm about to sound like a freeper about "those damn activist judges"!

http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=7540

Oahu residents may be able to vote in November on a measure attempting to block the city's $4 billion rail transit project, according to a court ruling this morning.

Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto ruled in favor of Stop Rail Now, ordering City Clerk Denise De Costa to process and file its petition.

"The public interest is quite clear," Sakamoto said. "The voice of the people cannot be suffocated by the erroneous reading of the law by its own government."

So, basically, the "voice of the (wealthy, suburban, car-driving) people" gets a chance to tell me how and where I can live. :grr: What's worse, this initiative actually states, flat out, "Honolulu mass transit shall not include trains or rail". That's forever. :scared: See you back on the mainland... :(