There must be a hidden agenda some City Council members follow in place of the one posted for each meeting. Otherwise there can be no way to explain the way the vote on the mass-transit system went last week.

Reviewing the score: Mayor Mufi Hannemann now has rightly lost any confidence that the council members could come to any agreement on system technology, so he's given notice that he's following the experts' recommendation: steel wheels on steel rail.

But the drama's not over. On Wednesday, the council will decide whether to reconsider its vote to kill the last surviving proposal. If it does reconsider, then the council is poised to vote again on various options.

If the steel opponents continue to vote in a bloc, the rubber-tire-on-cement system — the favorite of Ann Kobayashi and Donovan Dela Cruz — could overtake the steel-on-steel option. Three other members — Barbara Marshall, Charles Djou and Romy Cachola — have voted in the anti-rail camp, each for his or her own reasons.

Now it's time for those in that group to rethink the reasons for their vote.

Marshall and Djou, for example, have been steadfast opponents to any fixed-guideway system. If they really want to follow their convictions, they shouldn't choose any technology. They should abstain.

The more responsible course would be to give up trying to defeat a fixed guideway and choose the technology that's best for O'ahu.

As for Cachola, he has flip-flopped on the issue and seems disturbed by protests about noise by some opponents in his community.

Cachola should focus on which technology will serve the entire city the best, and not only the narrow concerns of his district. In fact, noise levels from a steel system are on par with that of a rubber-tired system, according to transit engineers.

If Salt Lake Boulevard residents are worried about noise, there is still the option to study both the boulevard alignment and the airport route and choose the one that makes the most sense later.

One option facing the council is a bill that would endorse both the rubber-tire and magnetic levitation option, buying more time for a final decision.

This is ludicrous. The council helped to hire experts to give their best advice, which has come down decidedly in favor of steel. Why bother hiring experts if technological novices on the council are willing to ignore their experience and advice? Will they be accountable for going against their recommendation?

Also ludicrous: Kobayashi's complaint that the council is being rushed to a decision. Transit has been on the menu for three years; everyone has had ample time to do their homework.

The fact is that the council has committed to a fixed guideway. That vote has already been taken.

Transit opponents should stop being obstructionists and do the right thing: Be a public servant. The technologies are arrayed before you. Pick one. Please.