Proponents and opponents of the city's $3.7 billion elevated commuter rail project accused each other of misleading the public yesterday, and Gov. Linda Lingle called on both parties to pull back on the rhetoric.

The city hopes to break ground on the 20-mile project connecting East Kapolei and Ala Moana next year and open the first segment in 2012. A group opposed to the project is collecting signatures to put it on the November ballot. The city and Mayor Mufi Hannemann are countering with a public relations blitz.

Lingle said the two sides in the rail debate need to provide the public with objective information about the project.

Lingle also expressed concern about ads Hannemann ran which stated, "Our entire congressional delegation, governor, state legislature, city council and my administration, have moved forward with this project."

Lingle, speaking on the Rick Hamada radio show on KHVH 830-AM, said her administration has never taken a stand for or against the train.

"I've never taken a public position on the project," she said. "No one in my administration has ever taken a public position on it, so to say in an ad that we're all moving forward on it including the governor and so on, I thought was misleading."

Meanwhile, a newly formed pro-rail group called Go Rail Go accused the main anti-rail group, Stop Rail Now, of disseminating misleading and deceptive information to garner signatures. Go Rail Go launched a Web site (www.gorailgo.org) for people who signed the anti-rail petition and now wish to remove their names.

"Contrary to what people see and hear, there is a strong, widespread, grassroots support movement for Honolulu's rail transit project," Maeda Timson, the president and spokesperson for the group, said in a news release.

The city spent $1.4 million in taxpayer money on public relations and outreach efforts related to the rail project from August 2005 through February 2008. That effort was augmented last week when Hannemann spent his campaign money on several ads attacking the Stop Rail Now movement.

The ads claimed local anti-rail groups are receiving support from Mainland right-wing special interests — a charge Stop Rail Now denies.

Stop Rail Now threatened to sue the city yesterday, alleging that the pro-rail ad campaign is misleading and inaccurate.

Stop Rail Now claims the city misrepresented the impact of the proposed rail system in a series of radio ads, radio show appearances and printed material.

"The legal case is for constructive fraud, which is a polite way of saying, 'You're misleading everybody,' " said Stop Rail Now backer Cliff Slater.

"Maybe it's by accident. We don't know, but whatever. Take it off the air and spend an equal amount of time correcting all the errors."

LAWSUIT WARNING

Stop Rail Now warned that it will sue the city for fraud and seek a restraining order preventing further pro-rail advertisements if the city doesn't make amends by Tuesday. Such a lawsuit would not prevent the rail project from going forward. However, it could impact the city's ability to continue its public relations campaign.

The city defended the ads.

"The radio advertisements produced and broadcast by the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project and paid for with tax dollars, are factual, accurate and were researched and reviewed extensively to ensure that accuracy," the city said in a written statement.

Representing Stop Rail Now is attorney and former state legislator John Carroll, who believes the group could get a temporary restraining order against the city within two to three weeks.

At least one local attorney doubted the group would succeed in court. Local litigation attorney Bruce Voss said Stop Rail Now's claims of fraud sound "frivolous at best."

"They would have an extremely difficult time proving such a claim," he said.

Even if the city's ads were misleading, "it does not necessarily give rise to a legal claim," Voss added.

Stop Rail Now (www.stoprailnow.com) wants to gather about 45,000 signatures of registered voters by Aug. 4 to place an anti-rail petition on the November ballot. The group says it has collected about 37,000 signatures so far.