There is a couple of things this vote, and the comments from it, have exposed about the entire mentality of the people of Honolulu about this project:
1. It wouldn't matter at this point if there was a gilded hero dropping in with a bag full of money that would pay off the entire construction cost of the system, because the critics would still sit there like a bunch of grumps and still complain about the system. The amount of trust that anyone has in this project is growing less and less, no matter how it is spun at this point.
2. In the adage of the finger pointing at the sky, the people of Honolulu have this fixation on looking at the finger, and forgetting that the finger itself is pointing toward a possible revamped transportation future in the City and County. No one wants to focus on what the project may produce in benefits for the County....they just want to look and pontificate on every micro-drama that emerges from this.