text: This marks a sad day in the life of the City and County of Honolulu. In the old days, we thought the fist fights between council members were embarrassing (or laughable). But these events (investigation of chief, federal search warrant of the prosecutors office, big "scandal" at the ethics commission)  and a $9.5 billion rail project (did you read that Rep Joe Souki wants the City to pay for the rail cost overruns with ....yes...property taxes} connote extremely serious mal-government. We are going to start to feel the pain of a poorly functioning local government which has been in the big leagues for many years now with no talent. Surely we can do better. And it is not just about the mayor, the council has looked pretty bad in recent years, although the new leadership is promising.