Off The Beat: 'Fact-Finding' Versus Stating The Obvious

Adrienne LaFrance/Civil Beat

It sounded like a great idea: A fact-finding mission to scope out other cities' experiences with the likely recipient of a $1.1 billion rail contract in Honolulu. City Council members were aware that other areas had reported negatively about the city's chosen contractor, Ansaldo, and they planned a trip to ask questions about what happened in those places.

But the report Honolulu City Council members finally filed on Monday — seven weeks after they returned from Copenhagen, Los Angeles and San Francisco — suggests that they buckled under pressure from city lawyers. Breene Harimoto and Ernie Martin said they were cautioned not to ask certain questions that might jeopardize the city's procurement plans, especially now that two companies are protesting the city's decision to select Ansaldo to design, build, operate and maintain Honolulu's $5.3 billion rail line.