Council Transportation Chair Gives Glimpse of Fact-Finding Trip

Adrienne LaFrance/Civil Beat

City Council Transportation Chairman Breene Harimoto says he understands why his silence thus far about a fact-finding rail trip has drawn criticism.

"I've already gotten some emails blasting us for this 'junket,'" Harimoto told Civil Beat on Tuesday. "Making it worse, we're not publicly reporting it. I can fully understand where they're coming from. I knew we would be under fire but I'm glad that we went."

Harimoto finally broke his silence Tuesday, more than a week after he returned from a trip to San Francisco and Copenhagen. His goal was to learn more about those cities' experience with Italian rail manufacturer Ansaldo, which Honolulu selected for a $1.1 billion rail contract. City Council member Ernie Martin joined Harimoto in San Francisco, then went on to Los Angeles.

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