A rail system is not going to sound like the gentle whoosh of the sea.

Some of Mayor Mufi Hannemann's buddies will profit from the project.

The plan may not have the wholehearted support of the people.

But none of that is an excuse for indecision.

Wednesday's Honolulu City Council meeting to decide the type of rail technology was an exercise in the absurd, televised for all to see, if you could stand to watch nothing happen. Again. For hours.

The lowest point came when council member Ann Kobayashi repeatedly asked a city attorney if Hannemann could legally take away the right of the City Council to decide on the type of rail system.

If you're fighting about your right to decide, then for crying out loud, decide!

They've already taken the junkets to other cities to ride the rides and hear the sales talks. So they disagree on technology. That's where consensus-building and diplomatic discussions come in. That's an important part of politics.

But not at Honolulu Hale.

It is safer for council members to hold tight to an impasse and let Hannemann make the decision, all the while lamenting that he is making the decision. Because here, it is so clear that "make the decision" will equal "take the blame" when the whole project goes bad.

And it will go bad.

But not as bad as it will be if the city fumbles mass transit yet again.

If we don't get rail, we will get nothing. We will never build a toll road or tunnel under Pearl Harbor or double-decker freeway to Kapolei. Never.

We are already being taxed to pay for this project. People sit in traffic between Kapolei and Honolulu every day and it is only getting worse. Honolulu is already so paved and overbuilt and urbanized that you're not talking about mowing down lush forests to build this thing. What this needs now is guts, and if Hannemann is the only one who has any, let him make everyone's decisions for them.

Put it to a vote? That's a lovely idea in theory but will quickly become ridiculous in reality when anti-rail activists try to compete with the mayor's power and proclivity to produce an advertising campaign. Think of Hannemann singing "Chuku-chuku-maila" in the background with images of smiling children riding into the rainbows on the love train. Who can compete with that?

The mayor has the right to yank the City Council around for not doing their jobs by avoiding a hard decision. They've wasted enough time already. Move on.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.