We will be campaigning for Mayor of Honolulu when the position becomes vacant.

We will be campaigning for Mayor of Honolulu when the position becomes vacant. This is a winner takes all race. With your help, we can win this race! And then we can stop waste, stop the elevated rail and fix Oahu.

We are more committed than ever to repairing and maintaining Oahu’s aging infrastructure, increasing efficiency in all city departments and finding real solutions for the problems faced by the city. People want tax and traffic relief and fiscally responsible projects that provide local jobs.

Strategically placed underpasses, sidewalk improvements, synchronized traffic signals, and park upgrades are projects that can improve people’s daily lives.

The rail project, as envisioned by the current mayor should be scrapped and fiscally responsible alternatives should be implemented.

There are projects that could be up and running in just a few years:

• The Nimitz flyover, approved during Ben Cayetano’s administration, could be revived and the EIS updated.

• We have detailed plans for Bus Rapid Transit along King and Beretania streets connecting UH and lower Manoa with downtown. With an upper level constructed on Hotel Street, we have a fast alternative for Airport-Iwilei-Downtown-Moiliili-UH-Manoa.

• DOT plans to develop twin express lanes in the middle of H-1. These will be fixed lanes: 2-lanes inbound in the AM peak and 2-lanes outbound in the PM peak. The reversible lanes will reduce West Oahu commute times to 1990 levels of congestion and provide time to rethink HOT lanes or other alternatives we can afford to build.

• We have detailed plans for a half dozen underpasses in urban Honolulu, Kailua and Kapolei that can reduce congestion by 25% to 50% after three to six month construction.

All of this list can be done in a six year horizon. Effective traffic solutions, and priority mass transit with minimal visual impact. But there is more to possibility of affordable rail system.

The old Oahu Railway’s 40 ft. wide right of way is nearly intact from Nanakuli all the way to the airport. Some of it exists as bikeways, some as a historical railway and most of it is vacant. One can literally follow its path on Google Earth.

This clear path could be the unobstructed land we need to provide transit service between Nanakuli and the airport. This is a likely affordable alternative for light rail that only a handful of unbiased planners and architects have looked at; it has never been studied to reveal its potential as a commuter alternative.

Here is a quick tax savings: Remove the ethanol requirement. Ethanol is a counterproductive (fake) green fuel and we are importing it from corn-growing states or Brazil; we pay 11 cents per gallon for this shibai.

In the 2008 Primary Election we garnered over 17% of the vote even though we began as an unknown, had very little money for advertising and ran against a powerful incumbent mayor. Now we have a supporter base, the opportunity to raise funds in advance of the race and there is no incumbent.

I look forward to your support.

Aloha and Mahalo!
Panos