Mayor Mufi Hannemann literally sang the praises of Honolulu this morning in his annual State of the City address.

With the Mission Memorial Auditorium set up to host a town hall-style event, Hannemann stepped to the center of the room and began crooning:

"Welcome to my world. Won't you come on in? ... Speeches like this, happen once a year."

Wired for sound and speaking without hand-held notes before an invited crowd that included U.S. Sens. Daniel K. Inouye and Dan Akaka, plus local government, military, business and educational leaders, the mayor stuck to a familiar theme of fiscal responsibility.

He said he would present a budget to the City Council on March 2 that would project over two years that would "look down the road."

Hannemann thanked Inouye, Akaka and the rest of Hawaii's congressional delegation for helping obtain $678 million for the state in the federal stimulus bill.

He said the city would use its share wisely on its City Block Development Grants.

As for rail, Hannemann called efforts by some in the state Legislature to defer the transit tax "illegal."

"The train is here and it's moving ahead," he said, promising the project would result in "hundreds of jobs" beginning this year.