Carlisle puts to rest any myth the mayor’s office is all glamour.
Carlisle says: "I’m absolutely knee and ankle deep in potholes and road conditions, in traffic jams, in sewage sludge.”
He aims to keep that where it belongs and says he hopes to keep politics out of city hall.
"Keep making decisions for the right reasons,” he says, “and move us into a new mode of 1) transportation, 2) alternative green energy, 3) fiscal stability and then finally, ultimately, the same issue of being able to redevelop Honolulu because of basically transit oriented development."
That’s development around Honolulu’s $5.3 billion rail system Carlisle stands firmly behind.
"Even if you had the situation where we didn’t get the federal funds — which is now beyond a remote possibility — then we would still be obligated to go forward. That’s what the charter says," Carlisle says. “It’s a good plan. People who are actually in the know — who are the experts — support it completely."
Besides infrastructure and rail, the former county prosecutor says public safety is a high priority, though his opponent Kirk Caldwell has the major public sector unions endorsements including police and fire, contracts for which are still not resolved.
"You can’t constantly be rolling over and playing dead for the public workers,” Carlisle says. “I am not going to sit there and say, hey, listen I need your endorsement therefore I am going to roll into demands that are unreasonable."
The mayor has traveled frequently during his tenure, journeys he defends as necessary and productive.
"The vast majority of travel I’ve taken has been in the United States to deal with issues in Washington, D.C., related to rail. Tt was the very first trip I took,” he says, adding the benefits of Asia travel by saying, “If we have one person going to China and spreading goodwill, and you have 100 people coming back, then you’ve won that race."
The mayor says his political ambitions stop at this office.
"If you’re going to take on that responsibility you should see it through to the end, you shouldn’t be bouncing of to the governors office or Washington, D.C., or wherever else you’re going to go, or back into retirement to playing with the dogs and playing golf,” Carlisle said. “I do not want to go to Washington, D.C. Thhere’s no surf in Washingto, D.C., this is my home."
Tomorrow night, a conversation with former acting mayor Kirk Caldwell, and on Wednesday we’ll hear from former Gov. Ben Cayetano. Longer transcripts of each candidate’s interview will be posted online once all three candidate interviews have broadcast.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
