The high-priced ad campaign by Mayor Mufi Hannemann, the Carpenters Union and a mystery group fronted by PR man David McNeil to stop a public vote on the city's $3.7 billion rail transit plan certainly got my attention.

It reminded me to sign and send in my copy of the petition to put a rail initiative on the November ballot.

At this point, any publicity is probably good publicity for the rail opponents, who don't appear to have nearly as much money to get the issue before the public as the mayor and his allies.

The more attention rail supporters draw to the effort to derail transit — especially when it's done in a heavy-handed manner — the easier it likely becomes for Stop Rail Now to gather the 45,000 signatures it needs to put a proposition before voters that states: "Honolulu mass transit shall not include trains or rail transit."

Stop Rail Now claims to have collected 35,000 signatures of registered voters already and has until Aug. 4 to gather the remaining 10,000 to meet the city clerk's requirements to get on the ballot.

I don't necessarily oppose rail transit and my vote is up for grabs if it goes on the ballot, but I need more assurances that local officials are capable of carrying out the biggest public works project in Hawai'i's history competently and honestly.

Early signs cause concern: The Legislature is skimming 10 percent of the excise tax proceeds raised to pay for transit, controversy swirls around contracts awarded to Hannemann's political associates and the City Council is mired in chaos, unable to muster the five votes needed to designate a preferred rail technology.

We haven't even gotten to the issues of property rights and land development around transit stations, which offer the most opportunity for political mischief and favoritism.

Given the enormous long-term expense of this project and the lack of consensus in the community or among city elected officials, it seems reasonable to allow voters a direct say on the matter — as has happened in other cities considering rail transit.

If transit supporters can convince voters that rail will bring the most traffic relief we can get for $3.7 billion and that they'll build the best possible system for the lowest possible cost with no political profiteering, rail transit will most likely survive a ballot test. If they can't provide these assurances, rail deserves to be voted down.

Neither side has set a winning tone so far.

Hannemann's personal attacks against rail opponents and unsubstantiated allegations that their support is coming from "far-right so-called think tanks" on the Mainland have drawn criticism from former Gov. Ben Cayetano for attacking the messenger instead of addressing the message.

There's little evidence that Stop Rail Now has received significant money from the Mainland to this point, but Hannemann's campaign has raised at least $163,000 from potential rail contractors — some from the Mainland — and you've got to suspect the same sources are providing part of the secret funding for the McNeil group.

Stop Rail Now could have taken the opportunity to claim the high road, but instead chose to burrow even deeper into the political mud by likening the mayor and other rail supporters to "Nazis, Communists and terrorists around the world."

The group circulated a flier ludicrously tying the mayor's pro-rail forces to Osama bin Laden, insulting the memories of the more than 3,000 people who died in New York and Washington by comparing a local transit dispute to the horrific 9/11 terrorism.

More of this offensive nonsense will doom their chances of connecting with local voters.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at http://volcanicash.honadvblogs.com.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.