The debate over a planned commuter rail system has dominated much of the conversation in this year's mayoral campaign to the exclusion of other major issues that deserve voters' attention.

While Mayor Mufi Hannemann is closely associated with the plan to build a 20-mile elevated commuter line from East Kapolei to Ala Moana, he has also been active on many other fronts.

Yesterday, The Advertiser reported on the views of Hannemann's opponent, City Council member Ann Kobayashi, on issues other than rail. Today we take a look at Hannemann's stance on improving city roads and sewers, waste management, the economy and the environment.

THE LOCAL ECONOMY

Hannemann, a former executive with C. Brewer and Co. Ltd. and head of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism during the administration of Gov. John Waihee, touts his business experience as reason why he is capable of ushering the city through turbulent economic times.

Hannemann said he understands that the trouble on Wall Street affects the retirement plans and equities portfolios of many O'ahu residents, but said his administration needs to focus on keeping the local economy moving by promoting transit-oriented development, supporting tourism, and forging public-private partnerships.

Seeing the decline in tax revenue, Hannemann ordered city departments in June to tighten their belts and operate as if 3 percent of the city's $1.9 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2009 had been cut.

"I am a mayor who understands business," said Hannemann. "I have the background, the qualifications and the experience to oversee 10,000 employees and an operating budget of $1.9 billion. That's why I've received the endorsement of every major labor organization in the state."

Under his watch, the city received an upgrade from Standard & Poor's bond rating service from AA- to AA and twice received a "clean" audit report from independent auditors, earning a "low-risk auditee" designation for the first time in 10 years.

Developments such as the Disney resort at Ko Olina, the Trump Tower in Waikiki, and the Makaiwa Hills housing development illustrate the city administration's efforts to partner with private firms, Hannemann said.

By getting companies to foot the bill for infrastructure and other development, the city expedites permitting processes, he said.

Hannemann said maintaining infrastructure and city mechanisms that support tourism is key to maintaining a healthy economy.

"If people don't feel safe coming to Honolulu, and if our infrastructure can't support the visitor community, we're not going to be successful," he said.

He cited his work with the tourism arm of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and their support of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye's national tourism initiative that would funnel federal money to municipalities seeking to bolster visitor programs as continued evidence that he is actively marketing Honolulu.

A major piece of his economic program will be the rail project, he said. Construction of the $3.7 billion commuter rail project coupled with the development that grows around it will create jobs and infuse money into the local market, he said.

"We're going to prime the pump the way FDR did — by putting workers to work on jobs we need to have," Hannemann said. "We cannot worry about what happens on Wall Street, because we in Honolulu cannot significantly impact that. We need to focus on Main Street Honolulu."

CITY INFRASTRUCTURE

Hannemann said the infrastructure situation he inherited from former Mayor Jeremy Harris was abysmal and forced him to raise sewer fees and attend to basic services after years of neglect.

"Infrastructure work is a 'need to have.' You cannot have a sound business environment, you cannot ask visitors to come here, you cannot ask people to purchase new homes if infrastructure is not sound and safe," said Hannemann. "In the instances where we are going to be challenged in terms of funding critical infrastructure, developers front-end the money. In return, I save more money because I am going to expedite the permitting process. We've reduced their time to complete their project."

In his term, Hannemann said, the city has filled more than 176,000 potholes, resurfaced more than 111 lane miles while spending $124 million on road rehabilitation since 2005.

Over this fiscal year, $77 million is pledged to road repairs.

Hannemann's administration has invested more than $1 billion in sewer infrastructure, more than the previous administration spent in 10 years. The city will spend up to $1.5 billion more on sewers over the next six years, Hannemann said.

"We're fixing more lane miles of roads, we're fixing more potholes. Yeah, we're not satisfied, but you have to take into consideration where we were when we came into office, and where we will be going into the future."

Hannemann has raised sewer fees to help pay the added costs.

WASTE MANAGEMENT & THE ENVIRONMENT

Hannemann says Honolulu will always need a landfill in the short term, but that his administration is working toward making environmentally conscious practices the norm rather than the exception. He pointed toward efforts to coordinate energy-saving practices across departments and detailed aspects of his 25-year solid-waste management master plan that is being drafted.

"We're going to continue to push preserving and maintaining our environment and continue to honor our host culture. We will push green buildings and restore productive agriculture," Hannemann said.

Since taking office in 2004, Hannemann's administration has made bulky-item curbside pickup service available islandwide while instituting "greencycling" — automated curbside pickup of green waste from 50,000 homes.

He has implemented curbside recycling in Hawai'i Kai and Mililani, and plans to make it islandwide.

When he took office, the City Council had voted to keep the Waimanalo Gulch landfill open. After conducting research, Hannemann determined that the landfill would need to remain open because closing it meant moving it to another site closer to homes in Nanakuli.

He said city officials worked to ensure that the landfill's management brought the site under compliance with state Department of Health regulations and paid all past-due fines.

A contentious landfill extension debate earlier this year pitted Hannemann against state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, but in the end, the state Land Use Commission approved keeping the site open until November 2009.

Hannemann said he hopes that after purchasing H-Power and scheduling to process an additional 300,000 tons of waste, shipping more than 100,000 of trash to the Mainland each year and expanding recycling, the city can get closer to a day when a landfill is no longer needed.

"We're going to have curbside recycling islandwide after years of talk talk, talk," Hannemann said. "People have to recognize these things are not going to happen overnight."