Monthly Archive for Hawaii
Hawaii Stories Posted in July 2008
Initiative Derailed by Wording
Category: City Government · State: Hawaii · Source: Honolulu Star-Bulltin
The city clerk says "no" to a citizen's petition drive trying to block the $4 billion city rail transit plan. The decision yesterday afternoon from City Clerk Denise De Costa means she will not put the issue on the November ballot, regardless of whether Stop Rail Now receives enough signatures. De Costa says the City Charter prohibits a special initiative issue from being placed on the ballot within 180 days of an election. Stop Rail Now organizers, however, say the clerk is wrong and they are still collecting signatures and are mulling over a court challenge. In the meantime, anti-rail organizers plan to continue collecting signatures that would also be valid for a special election scheduled at a later time.
Pro-Rail Opponents of Voter Initiative are 'Enemies of Democracy' in Hawaii
Category: Transportation · State: Hawaii · Source: Hawaii Reporter
Referring to opponents of voter initiative on the rail project as “enemies of democracy,” Stop Rail Now’s volunteer campaign manager Eric Ryan lashed out at high-ranking members of the local political scene for attempting to thwart the will of Oahu voters by intentionally undermining the petition process. In response to rail supporter State House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell’s statement in Sunday’s edition of The Honolulu Advertiser, who said “Now is the time to fight the ballot initiative. A vote on rail could signal the death knell for the project”, Ryan accused Caldwell of intentionally turning a deaf ear to voters from Waimanalo to Manoa to Waianae. Ryan said, “These voters and taxpayers have rights under the City Charter and they are determined to exercise those rights because, even after all the lies told by the Hannemann administration, voters can see right through the get-rich-quick scheme that the rail project clearly is.”
Other Monthly Archives for Hawaii
- July 2008 (2)