The following press release was sent to Stop Rail Now supporters from campaign headquarters:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, July 16, 2008
STOP RAIL NOW ATTORNEY SENDS LETTER TO CITY CLERK WHICH REBUTS AND OBLITERATES HER LEGAL OPINION AND DEMANDS THAT SHE REVISIT HER SHABBY RULING IN ORDER TO AVOID BEING HAULED INTO COURTWith the continued threat of court action against
Denise DeCosta, Honolulu’s City Clerk, John S. Carroll, general counsel (pro bono) for
Stop Rail Now, hand-delivered a letter to Denise DeCosta this afternoon which “rebuts and obliterates her unsound legal opinion and demands that she immediately revisit her shabby ruling in order to avoid being hauled into court,” according to Stop Rail Now’s campaign manager Eric Ryan. “She’s obviously trying to slow down the effort to put the expensive heavy rail project on the ballot. But because she’s got herself out on a limb with a wrongheaded legal theory and a bogus interpretation of the law, she will fail miserably and she will have to backpedal.”
In the letter dated July 16, 2008, Carroll writes: “Your office is completely misreading, misunderstanding and misinterpreting that final sentence of the clearly worded charter ordinance §3-404.3 in a manner that would result in a needless waste of taxpayer dollars and would effectively force voters and taxpayers to wait until May 2009 at the earliest to be able to vote on the proposed heavy rail project. Stop Rail Now has sufficient signatures to turn in on August 4th and there is no need for a special election apart from the general election.”
At issue is whether or not §3-404.3 allows for a special election voter initiative on the general election ballot. According to Carroll: “Long before this issue is ever put before a judge, a simple reading of these two sentences by Ms. DeCosta or anyone for that matter, lawyer or non-lawyer, will clear up this matter in a heartbeat. The City Charter is clear. The language is clear. These two sentences in the relevant section are clear. Of course, if the City Clerk wants to act as if this section is less than clear, and if she wants to make voters wait until May of next year to have their say, and if she wants to waste the taxpayers money on a special election, we must forcefully disagree with her and will take all necessary action to correct the problem she is causing.”
In addition to the matter of the disputed general election, there was a large silver lining to the dark cloud cast by City Clerk DeCosta in her July 15th letter to Stop Rail Now’s attorney. The City Clerk now concedes that Stop Rail Now’s signature count requirement to be met will now be based, as Stop Rail Now has contended from day one, on 10% of the people who actually voted in the last mayoral election in 2004 (29,500 signatures) rather than 10% of the total number of registered voters in the last mayoral election (44,500 signatures). This reconsideration of the City Clerk’s previous stand, which previously insisted on a higher vote count didn’t go unnoticed by Stop Rail Now’s attorney: ”On the bright side, it appears that your office now agrees with us in writing that §3-404 of the City Charter is indeed the governing ordinance pertaining to special elections voter initiative. To this end, it seems that your office’s persistent claim that Stop Rail Now needs nearly 45,000 signatures (based on 10% of registered voters in 2004) has been withdrawn by your July 15th letter, and that your office has come to understand the actual requirement is nearly 30,000 signatures (based on 10% of actual voters in 2004). We hope that this means you and (City Elections Officer) Mr. Takahashi will no longer be telling the news media that Stop Rail Now needs the higher number of signatures based on a now-corrected fallacious reading of the City Charter by your office.”
Though the campaign has collected in excess of 40,000 signatures from registered Oahu voters, Stop Rail Now’s supporters are being asked by the campaign to continue collecting signatures, continue signwaving, and to continue pushing toward the August 4th goal of turning in signatures. Ryan added: “This was an expected bump in the road on the way to City Hall with our truckful of petitions; especially since the Mayor promised to do everything legally possible to keep this initiative off the ballot and since everyone in City Hall thinks they work for Mufi Hannemann. Stop Rail Now is here to remind the City Clerk and everyone at City Hall that they work for the people of Honolulu and they better start listening.”
Stop Rail Now is a non-profit organization, the purpose of which is to promote a voter initiative to place on the November 4th general election ballot the question of whether or not to support a large heavy rail transit project.
LINKS:Denise DeCosta Demand Letter, 7-7-087-15-08 Letter from Denise DeCosta, Honolulu City ClerkStop Rail Now Rebuttal Letter to Denise DeCostaCONTACT:Eric Ryan, campaign manager
536-4384 | info@stoprailnow.com
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