Former Acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell criticized Mayor Peter Carlisle‘s State of the City speech today as “a politician’s speech.”

In a press conference on Fort Street Mall about 90 minutes after Carlisle’s address ended, Caldwell said a real mayor would have thanked public servants who kept Honolulu safe during APEC, but that Carlisle ignored the police because they don’t support him in his re-election bid.

Caldwell was endorsed by the police officers’ union, SHOPO.

He said Carlisle failed a “bright light” test when he didn’t announce publicly that the financial plan for rail would involve suspending the city’s longstanding debt policy, and that it’s hypocritical to say he values transparency.

“It looks like he’s speaking out of both sides of his mouth, like a politician does,” Caldwell said of Carlisle.

Later Thursday, Caldwell’s campaign issued the following statement that mirrored remarks to reporters:

“We’ve all heard the typical politician speech before, and this morning a career politician gave just that. Mayor Carlisle talked about his record of being honest, transparent and fiscally responsible. But the truth is, he is none of these. An honest and transparent Mayor wouldn’t hide the fact that he suspended the city debt guidelines, as was reported today. Peter Carlisle has demonstrated a total disregard for the public, and when I say public, I mean you, your family and your friends. It’s simply unacceptable behavior and Peter owes all of us an apology. This is just the latest example of Mayor Carlisle’s lack of transparency and his failed leadership that is moving the rail project backwards.

Mayor Carlisle is also failing to listen to the people. These are crucial things a good Mayor must do and he is not. As Mayor, I will work harder to be completely transparent and honest, and I will ALWAYS make time to listen to the people. That’s why I’m out in the community meeting with folks everyday, to listen to their thoughts and ideas for the future of our city.”

(Photo from Civil Beat’s Flickr page)