Interest in service defines Caldwell
By B.J. Reyes

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 30, 2010

It was two years ago when Kirk Caldwell found himself a politician without a campaign.
Having been disqualified from running for City Council -- a blunder caused by timing and a decision to challenge his own candidacy -- he was forced to sit out the 2008 campaign season.
But he learned something.

PROFILE
Kirk Caldwell
» Age: 57
» Family: wife, Donna Tanoue; daughter, Maya
» Education: Tufts University (1975), Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (1978), University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law (1984)
» Elected experience: state House of Representatives, 2002-08
» Other experience: managing director, City and County of Honolulu, 2008-present; managing partner, Ashford & Wriston, 1984-2010

First and foremost was to not leave things until the last minute, as he did with his filing.
He also learned something about himself: "that I loved public service, that I missed not serving," he says. "There was a period of time when I was back practicing law full time. And while I loved the intellectual challenge of practicing law, I missed not serving the public.

"For me, going home every night and knowing that I helped people in my community was something that I missed tremendously."

And he vowed to get back in the game.

"You learn a lot about people by the way they manage hardship," says Georgette Deemer, communications director for the House majority caucus, who worked closely with Caldwell during his two years as majority leader. "He turned it into a positive. It made him focus on the fact that public service was really important to him, and I'm not surprised at all that he would want to continue contributing to the community in some way.

"At that point he didn't know what it was going to be, but it's not surprising that this is the direction he would go in."

Today, Caldwell finds himself as the city's acting mayor and one of four major candidates seeking the job permanently in the special election to fill the final two years of the term vacated by Mufi Hannemann, who resigned in July to run for governor.

It was Hannemann who rescued Caldwell from his political purgatory.

After winning re-election in 2008, the mayor was putting his Cabinet together for his second term and phoned Caldwell to see whether he was interested in being managing director, the city's No. 2 executive.

"I was interested, obviously, because here was a way to get back in and serve and work on the two issues I was passionate about: rail and work-force housing," Caldwell says. "We talked and I jumped at the offer."

For the past 18 months he has been on the job as Hannemann's second-in-command, working on the administration's $1.82 billion budget and managing a work force of about 10,000 employees.

He has been the administration's mouthpiece in City Council meetings, and since taking over July 20 as acting mayor, he has been a visible presence in and out of Honolulu Hale with frequent news conferences and recognition ceremonies.

Among his first announcements was an initiative to provide bus service to people in homeless shelters and transitional housing in West Oahu to help connect them to job opportunities and the community in Kapolei. More recently he rushed out proposed legislation to help provide tax credits for a "gap group" of about 250 people who saw their property tax rates soar after the city reclassified their properties from residential to commercial/ industrial.

Critics, mostly his opponents, continue to point out that roads need fixing and parks need long-overdue repair and maintenance. The issue of homelessness continues to weigh on the city as well.

The next mayor stands to inherit the task of implementing -- or killing -- the city's planned $5.5 billion rail transit system, as well as a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve the city's sewage collection and waste-water treatment systems.

Caldwell welcomes the challenges. He promises a collaborative leadership style to tackle the problems facing the city.

"Mine is one of letting everyone have a voice, hearing what they think, and once everyone has weighed in, we make a decision and we implement, and I think it is a style of working together," he says.

"You can fill in a pothole. You can improve a bus stop. You can get rid of graffiti. You can deal with the homeless issue," he says. "The thing is, you can make a difference immediately to improve people's lives. That's why I accepted the offer to be the managing director. That's why I think it's important. That's why I'm running now for mayor."

Caldwell plans to move full steam ahead on the rail project -- one of the key issues that prompted his planned jump to city government two years ago. Another was trying to develop affordable housing in urban centers to help people live closer to where they work.

While working on the majority legislative package, Caldwell says he kept stumbling over how he could advance those issues from a state perspective.

That's when Ann Kobayashi resigned her City Council seat to run for mayor.

"I thought: There's a perfect opportunity. I'll run for the Council, and I'll do it from that side," he says.

But Kobayashi resigned on the day of the candidate filing deadline for office.

"By the time I could confirm there was an opening, I had about four hours," Caldwell says.

Caldwell furiously tried to get the required 15 signatures for his filing papers, and he submitted his paperwork with one minute to spare before the 4:30 p.m. deadline. But in the last-minute scramble, his application came up one signature short, and Caldwell wound up getting the signature of a Manoa resident working in the City Clerk's office to get the required 15.

Questions were raised, and opponents threatened to contest his candidacy but Caldwell ultimately decided to settle the matter by filing his own challenge.

"Here I am, a trained lawyer, a professional lawyer practiced 30 years in litigation, yet I said I will bring this challenge and live with whatever the result is," Caldwell says. "I said I'm not going to play lawyer and appeal it. I'll accept it, respect it and move on. And that's what I did."

The challenge did not go in his favor, and Caldwell was disqualified from the race for failing to withdraw from his House race prior to filing for the Council vacancy.

"I think, personally, he was deeply affected by it because he truly and sincerely enjoys the privilege of public service," said Rep. Marcus Oshiro, who succeeded Caldwell as majority leader in the House. "He's one of those folks that get up each morning ready to face the challenges to work toward a better future for all of us."

But it's not all work all the time for Caldwell, particularly if he finds himself at "Pops" in Waikiki with his surfboard on an early Sunday morning.

The peace and tranquility he feels from surfing momentarily take him away from the pressures of the mayor's office and the campaign, until someone recognizes him and wants to talk politics.

"I try to change the subject -- quickly," he says.

He would rather talk about catching the perfect wave.

"A nice, long white going toward Diamond Head -- and you can go a long time on some of those waves at Pops," he says. "You see Diamond Head. You see Waikiki. I feel alive. I feel connected.

"That kind of wave, no matter how I go into the water, I come out healed."

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I'm not referring to what we call "PC" these days. Can't really understand that movement. I guess in Hawaii, we're such a melting pot of cultures that it doesn't seem applicable. For me, being "PC" is getting back to roots. It's about people and the relationships that flow to, from and out of them. Like the good ole days. Hard to find at times, perhaps even more difficult in the arena of politics. Today, a refreshing experience.

We first got to meet acting Mayor, Kirk Caldwell, as he made a proclamation at our 15th anniversary celebrations at Willows Hawaii. He didn't really "read" the proclamation. Instead, he delivered a heart felt message to those in attendance. I have to admit, though I can be jaded, I was moved.

True to his word, he visited us to get more of the "KoAloha experience after our party." Here he is, pictured with my mom, pops and Twitter friend, Shay. (Good luck in your doctorates, Shay!)

The mayor got a crash course on things KoAloha and seemed genuinely interested in us. Not only as a company, but as a family. He kept his promise...my skeptical heart grew even softer still.....

This was not a "Meet and Run" thing, but a good 2 hours of hanging out. Often times, we get a good feel for people when we share lunch together. Faithful Ka Leo followers know the deal.

So I waited and I waited, but there was no pitch in site....I was impressed.

Instead, I got a chance to hang out and talk story about the things I consider important, namely, Arts and Music. The city already jumped in by supporting Hawaii Youth Symphony in clearing 2 performances/year in the concert hall. And we spoke of ways to support what has been dying in public school, the Arts.

As I asked how we would be able to support him, he simply said, "Just let people know what I am about." No $, no votes, just a simple message. Is this a call for support? Perhaps. I realize that everyone has their views. I just want to share this story. Mostly, we just hung out. I think that's the most powerful message of all.

Honolulu Mayoral Candidates Face Off In Forum Hosted By New Hope

HONOLULU -- Three of the leading candidates in the Honolulu mayoral race answer questions about the role of the church in government.

The mayoral forum Wednesday night was hosted by New Hope Oahu.

The candidates in attendance included former city managing director and Acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell, former city prosecutor Peter Carlisle and University of Hawaii engineering professor Panos Prevedouros.

The friendly gathering at the forum covered issues ranging from the budget, to a fireworks ban, to rail transit.

But before this audience of mostly New Hope church members, what they wanted to know was where the candidates stood when it came to religion.

"You can't separate faith from your profession, your entertainment, that's all in one. So, yes, faith does have a place in government," said forum attendee Noela Andres-Nance.

The Honolulu City Council faced this issue when Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church filed a complaint over religious prayers during council meetings. The candidates were asked if they support a ban.

"No, I don't support the removal of religious prayers from any public place," said Panos Prevadouros.

"I think we do need a spiritual way in our lives everyday and we need to be reminded about that before we start our business on a daily basis," said Kirk Caldwell.

Peter Carlisle said there shouldn't be an issue with saying "God" at government events, as in the case of the Pledge of Allegiance, but it must be done legally.

"The problem is we're going to have to follow whatever the requirements are of the law," said Carlisle.

It was the only faith-based question asked in Wednesday's forum.

Missing was candidate Rod Tam. According to the organizers of the forum, Tam said he would attend only if he received the questions before the debate, which organizers refused to do.

Hawaii Public Radio aired a debate between candidates for Honolulu mayor Kirk Caldwell, Peter Carlisle and Panos Prevedouros on Monday night

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“We have in fact cut 860 positions from government and we have grown the size of government in this area. Our police force has grown larger. Our fire department has grown larger. The number one job of any mayor is to make sure we provide public safety,” said Caldwell.

One audience member asked how the candidates would approach the growing homeless population.“It requires all of us working together not just in government the county or the state or the feds. We are already seeing some positive,” Caldwell answered.