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Mayor Peter Carlisle is in Washington, D.C., meeting with rail officials and mayors from around the country. He has six weeks until he presents his first budget. Back at Honolulu Hale, new City Council members are busy mapping out priorities. Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

FTA Clears Major Hurdle in City Rail Plan

1:32 p.m.
After meeting with federal transit officials in Washington, D.C., today, Mayor Peter Carlisle is announcing the Federal Transit Administration issued a Record of Decision on the city’s rail plan.

The move means the Federal Transit Administration finds the city has met all requirements of the environmental review process, and leaves the city just a handful of permits and approvals away from beginning construction on the project.

“It’s time to get those shovels in the ground,” Carlisle wrote in a statement.

The City has already selected a contractor for the first phase of construction. Officials said they expect they’ll soon award a second contract — for train storage and maintenance facility.

Transportation Committee Takes Up Rail Permits in Special Meeting

1:23 p.m.
In a special Transportation and Transit Planning Committee meeting today, City Council members are considering a granting a special management area use permit to begin rail construction.

The Department of Planning and Permitting already granted accepted the city’s permit application, and the Transportation Services Department held public hearings about the permit earlier this month. DPP Director David Tanoue is briefing City Council members about the permitting process.

City Council members Romy Cachola, Stanley Chang, Ikaika Anderson, Ernie Martin, Nestor Garcia and Breene Harimoto, who chairs the committee, are present.

As the applicant for the permit, Department of Transportation Services Director Wayne Yoshioka is also appearing before the council. At least one well-known rail opponent, Cliff Slater, is in the audience.

The permit pertains to coastal areas along the proposed rail route.

Inouye Wants an Office at City Hall

12:42 p.m.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye stopped by Honolulu Hale this morning with a special request for City Council Chairman Nestor Garcia. The senior senator wants an office at City Hall.

“Not for him, personally, but a liaison,” Garcia told Civil Beat. “That way if someone comes here with a question and it turns about to be a federal issue, someone can help them.”

Garcia said he plans to work with the mayor to follow up on the request. He said he hopes to be able to set up a small office with a telephone line and a computer.

Nestor Garcia Returns from D.C., Meets with Dan Inouye

10:32 a.m.
City Council Chairman Nestor Garcia is meeting with Sen. Dan Inouye in Garcia’s Honolulu Hale office. The City Council leader returned this weekend from a short trip to Washington D.C., where he met with State Department officials about a plan to forge “sister city” relationships for the November 2011 APEC conference in Honolulu.

Garcia told Civil Beat he and other members of the met with , who works as a liaison between state and local officials in the U.S. and their counterparts in other countries.

“It went well,” Garcia said. “We met with Reta Jo and we talked about my sister-city initiative, which she was very happy to hear, by the way. It’s right along the lines of what her office does.”

Garcia said fiscal concern was palpable in his encounters with Washington lawmakers.

“Just the overall atmosphere,” Garcia said. “They are very conscious about the deficit.”

Clean-Up Continues After Landfill Overflow

9:19 a.m.
City workers today are returning to leeward beaches where medical waste washed ashore, in a continuing effort to clean up contaminated waters. The hazardous garbage — including syringes and vials of blood — got into the ocean after the Waimanalo Gulch landfill flooded from heavy rains.

A spokesman for the mayor said he and other city officials, including Managing Director Doug Chin, visited clean-up crews yesterday. Chin is serving as acting mayor while Mayor Peter Carlisle is away on business.

The landfill today remains closed to the public. City officials report the rain made roads leading to the gulch too dangerous to use.

Tell It To The Mayor

Have an idea on how to improve to City and County of Honolulu? The mayor’s office still regularly checks red suggestion boxes for messages to Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle, but usually finds them empty.

“We check them every other day and we rarely find anything in them,” a spokesman from the mayor’s office told Civil Beat. “The majority of the complaints come to Satellite City Hall.”

There are suggestion boxes in the Fasi municipal building, at the library and at Honolulu Hale.

Read Previous Editions of Inside Honolulu

Jan. 14, 2011: Deputy prosecutor sworn in; City confronts myriad trash issues; Ikaika Anderson creating task force to consider sweeping overhaul to property tax structure; City workers hit the Furlough Friday halfway point.

Jan. 13, 2011: City opens emergency shelter on Leeward Coast; Heavy rains continue to hamper city business; City Council Chairman Nestor Garcia is in Washington, D.C., to discuss APEC.

Jan. 12, 2011: City Transportation hearing a one-sided affair; Council members concerned about camping fees; Customer Services director nominee Gail Haraguchi breezes through committee; Hawaii could get a preseason NFL game; Former Mayor Mufi Hannemann says air travel is key for economic recovery.

Jan. 11, 2011: First Zoning Committee of the new year gets updates on pending amendments to Honolulu’s Land Use Ordinance.

Jan. 10, 2011: Mayor Peter Carlisle gives kudos to Kauai; Committees move forward with two director nominations; Statewide fireworks ban unlikely; City officials worry about fireworks hoarders.

Jan. 7, 2011: City transportation director preps to take up IMG report in Transportation Committee meeting next week; Mayor Peter Carlisle stays quiet on illegal rental to President Barack Obama; Carlisle plans business trip to Hollywood, jokes about wanting a cameo in Hawaii 5-0.

Jan. 6, 2011: Emergency official cites threat of “huge mudslide” in Kaneohe highway closure; City eyes user fees, but in what form? Mayor tells Pacific Club crowd about inevitable cuts during “financial crisis,” calls city challenges “exciting.”

Jan. 5, 2011: Council vice chair to host hearing on IMG report; Rail division moves down permitting check list; A new year means a new website for Honolulu.

Jan. 4, 2011: Carlisle’s drinking buddies may be lonely this month; Honolulu’s first mayor inaugurated 102 years ago today; Tom Berg isn’t happy with his Council committee assignments.

Jan. 3, 2011: City Council to explore user fees as revenue generator; Nestor Garcia talks rail, APEC, city values in celebratory inaugural address.