BY JOE UNO – Well one thing was made perfectly clear to anyone watching, Rod Tam’s candidacy is a waste of time.
The two other career politicians, Carlisle and Caldwell, did manage to lawyer-speak around the issues facing the City, many times contradicting themselves.
Caldwell made references to the tough economic times that we are facing, and yet is willing to set us up for bankruptcy paying for the $6 billion dollar rail project and the $7 billion dollar sewer Consent Decree. He says that most of the money is already on its way, too bad he ignores the operational and maintenance costs which we will all bear to keep it running. Yes, East and Windward Oahu, you don’t think these rail systems run a profit do you? His blatant brown-nosing the HPD, HFD and the EMS was shameful. His closing remarks were saccharin.
Carlisle wants to bring jobs and economic stimulation to our City, good luck with that when we’re bankrupt. Jobs will come from the real economic security of the fiscally responsible. Carlisle also made a feeble attempt at painting Panos Prevedouros as a dictator who would ignore the will of the people by stopping the rail project that we cannot afford. Sounds like Panos is the one who can make the “tough choices” that Carlisle says is an important quality for a Mayor to possess.
Panos Prevedouros was the only candidate who offered a clear vision for Oahu. Please take a moment to read Panos’ vision for Oahu at https://www.fixoahunow.com/profiles/blogs/my-vision-for-oahu .
While there is definitely an anti-rail element voting for Panos, many of us see him as a refreshing change from the politicians. Many of us want to see City Hall more fiscally responsible. When we voted in 2008, we were woefully under-informed of the true cost of the rail project and we had no idea of the depth and breadth of the recession that started that autumn. If we learned one lesson from that free-fall, it was that we all must balance our budgets and not take on debt that we could not afford to pay. I hope that you will vote on Saturday and I urge you to cast your vote for an Engineer, not a politician.
Joe Uno can be reached at joestm8r@gmail.com