Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 9, 1 September 2004 — Duke VS Mufi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Duke VS Mufi

Compiled and photographed by Ka Wai Ola o OHA Staff

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QA bill now before the City Council woulel repeal the law that allows the city to force mandatory lease-to-fee conversion in condominiums. If a repeal measure such as this were to reach your desk as mayor, would you sign it or veto it, and why?

AHannemann: I will sign • the bill. My preference has # always been that property owners should not be dictated by government when to sell and how mueh their property is worth. On the Council, I expressed those concerns, but when the Ninth Circuit Court ruled that it was the law of the land, I voted to uphold the law. In 1998, John DeSoto, Donna Kim, myself and Rene Mansho unsuccessfully tried to repeal the law, but we could only find four votes. When we lost, I said, you know what - my job again is to uphold the law, and therefore I voted accordingly. My position today is that if a bill to repeal hits my desk as mayor, I will do what my preference has been all along and sign it. I really believe that we need to maintain the sanctity of the trusts, like Lili'uokalani and Kamehameha Schools, whieh were set up to ensure that the legacy and future of Hawaiian children are safeguarded. In my mind, this is what is pono, and this is what I want to do.

Bainum: I served two terms in the state House and two terms in the City Council representing Waikīkī and surrounding neighborhoods, one of the most densely populated areas of condos that face conversion. I believe a representative's job is to represent those who elected you, so I have supported mandatory leasehold conversion. I believe in people's right to own a home. At the same time, I fully understand and appreciate the nature of the Native Hawaiians' legacy to future generations, and so, clearly, these are highly emotional issues and have been all along. I've always thought, though, that the city's proper role is to be a conduit for leasehold conversion, not an advocate, and many people feel the city has crossed that line. Under a Bainum administration we will be exactly that — a neutral conduit. We will not be out there encouraging conversion. That being said, I would still veto Bill 53 (the Council bill to repeal forced conversion).

QMany people who live in areas with a high percentage of Native Hawaiians feel that the level of city services in their neighborhoods is inadequate in comparison to other areas. Do you see this as a problem, and if so, what action would you take to address it?

Allainum: I think almost • everyone on O'ahu feels # like they've been underserved in basic city services, and in fact they have. That's why the underpinning of our campaign is honest change, whieh means to break the cycle of illegal campaign donations for city contracts, a practice whieh, in my opinion, has lead to millions and millions of dollars being wasted, besides the fact that it has lowered the faith of people in their elected officials. The result will be the city saving millions of dollars that we ean spend on services. That means making sure we have enough poliee, firefighters, amhulanee drivers and lifeguards who are well-equipped and well-trained to help protect our lives and property. It means coming up with a transportation program that really works. It means better maintenance of our roads and fixing our sewer system. It's not just short term; it's long term solutions. Certainly, to me, one of the areas that needs a lot of help is the Leeward coast. When I was chair of the Council's Transportation Committee, I was one of the leading advocates of an emergency access road. That's okay, but it's not the long term solution, by a long shot. What we need is a road that goes through the pass - a true

secondary access road into the Leeward coast. It's not only a convenience; it's a necessity. Landfill is another issue. First of all, we need to extend the lives of our landfills, and we do that by recycling and everything else we ean do. Second, we need to be looking at new technology. I am on record against the Kailua landfill. Why? There is a reason that you put landfills in dry areas, because otherwise you have all that rain and all that seepage. That doesn't mean I want to put that landfill in Nānākuli; I am opposed to that. What we need to be doing is looking at new long-term technology solutions so we ean minimize our use of any land. Another issue is bus service. We have a great bus system, but we have to maintain it. More importantly, we need a long-term, affordable, environmentally sound light rail system. We cannot maintain our economy unless we address our transportation problems. A ferry is fine, but that is going to maybe help a thousand people a day. We've got 6,000 people pouring out from Pearl City alone in the morning rush hour. Hannemann: I think Mayor Harris spent a lot of time beautifying Waikīkī and Chinatown. I see my job as mayor as making sure that there is a halanee,

that all of O'ahu receives the same kind of benefits that certain parts received during his tenure in office. I think it's also important to have a mayor who doesn't just eome to Wai'anae, Waimānalo or Nānākuli during election season, someone who hasn't had experience working with these communities, as I have had through these years. Whether you live in Wai'anae, whether you live in Waimānalo, Papakōlea or Nānākuli, you ean be assured that, as mayor, Mufi Hannemann will make sure that whatever other areas are receiving in terms of benefits and services, you are entitled to that also. My campaign platform talks about making sure that our roads are resurfaced, our sewers are maintained, our parks are taken care of, waste management, public safety ... these are issues that will also be addressed in outlying areas, especially areas that have strong Native Hawaiian populations. I'll give you an example: Right now we have a policy that says that bulky item piekup from East Honolulu to

Āliamanu is onee a month. Waikīkī is onee a week. If you live in Leeward, Central or Windward O'ahu, or the North Shore, you have to eall and make an appointment, and the city may eome and piek it up in four to six months. That will end with Mufi Hannemann as mayor. It doesn't matter where you reside, you should be entitled to the same benefits that anyone else receives. Another example: As mayor, I would never have only one Council district have a private trolley service as you see now between Kaimukī, Kapahulu and Waikīkī. We as taxpayers are subsidizing over a million dollars so that one Council district ean have that kind of trolley service, whieh runs on the same existing line as our present bus service. What about a trolley service for Wai'anae and Nānākuli, to take our seniors to places that they need to go to? What about a trolley service for Papakōlea? I really believe we have strayed from making sure that everyone who lives on O'ahu, and especially our Native Hawaiian community, gets the same kind of benefits that we see going elsewhere.

Mark Edmund Duke Bainum was born in Maryland in 1952 and raised part time there and part-time on his grandmother's farm in Arkansas. When he was young, his parents, originally a plumber and a teacher, built a small motel on the Maryland seashore. Eventually, the extended Bainum family grew wealthy in the motel-chain business, a family fortune that has enabled Bainum to subsidize his mayoral campaign with personal loans totaling about a million dollars. After graduating from medical school in Maryland, Bainum settled in Hawai'i in the early 1980s after he

eame here to do a surgical residency. He has been married three times, currently to the former Jennifer Toma from Hawai'i island. Onee in Hawai'i, Bainum soon became involved in politics. After serving as a staffer for Sen. Bert Kobayashi in the state Legislature and a stint on the McCully-Mō'ili'ili Neighborhood Board, he was elected as a Democrat to the state House of Representatives in 1990, representing Waikīkī. In 1994, he was elected to the Honolulu City Council, where he served until his two-term limit ran out 2002.

Qln what other ways do you think the county could help with such problems as Hawaiians' historically low health, eeonomie and education statistics?

AHannemann: First of all, • I think we should not look # at those responsibilities as state responsibilities, to say that it's the state's job to address the social and health needs of the Native Hawaiian community. Since O'ahu is where 80 percent of the state population resides, and where 80 percent of the taxes are collected, it just makes sense for the mayor of the largest county in the state to step up and be more proactive in resolving these issues and concerns. So that means partnering

with OHA, partnering with Alu Like and other nonprofit organizations that are helping Hawaiians. I am going to be a mayor that knows how to get federal grants. I have a federal background that speaks to four different presidential administrations, and I'm going to rely on that background to go and get grants that might be applieahle for our Native Hawaiian community. And I'm going to have a strong follow-through mechanism at City Hall that will work with Native Hawaiian groups to bring about a better

Important dates Primary election: Sat. Sept. 1 8 General Election: Tue. Nov. 2 Registration information: The registration deadline for the primary election has already passed. The registration deadline for the general election is Mon. Oct. 2. For information, eall 453-8683 from O'ahu or toll-free from the neighbor islands at 800-442-8683, or visit hawaii.gov/elections.

Muliufi Francis Hannemann was born in Honolulu in 1954, soon after his parents eame to Hawai'i from American Samoa. Raised in Kalihi, he attended high school at 'Iolani, where he was an academie and athletic standout. He then went on to Harvard on an academic scholarship, where he majored in government and lettered in basketball before graduating eum laude and receiving a Fulbright scholarship to study in New Zealand. In the late 1970s, Hannemann joined the administration of Gov. George Ariyoshi as a special assistant. Soon after, he left for Washington, D.C., to work on Pacific Island affairs in the Carter administration. Subsequently, he served in various federal

capacities under presidents Reagan, Bush (the first) and Clinton. While in Washington, he met congressional aide Gail Mukaihata; they married in 1992. In the'80s, Hannemann worked as VP for marketing and puhlie affairs at C. Brewer before joining the Waihe'e administration, first as the head of the Office of International Relations, then as the director of Business, Eeonomie Development and Tourism. Hannemann twice ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat. In 1994, he was elected to the Honolulu City Council from the 8th District (Fort Shafter to Waipi'o Gentry) and served one-and-a-half terms, including serving as Council Chairman. In 2000, Hannemann resigned from the Council and ran for mayor unsuccessfully against incumbent Jeremy Harris.

halanee than what we see now. Some of these issues remain unresolved because of benign negligence on the part of the government, and I want to be mueh more proactive in addressing these concerns. Bainum: As a physician, I know well that the Native Hawaiian community has the lowest life expectancy of any other group in Hawai'i, three times the amount of heart disease, cancer, diabetes. These are deplorable statistics, so anything and everything the city ean do to improve that, like partnering with the private sector, the state and the feds, we must do. For example, the weed and seed programs have made tremendous advances in fighting crime and iee, and we need to make sure that they continue - and in fact they need to be expanded. The federal government is cutting back on its funding, so we need to step up to the plate. We get about $16-18 million a year in federal Community Development Block Grants. Those funds need to be focused on the neediest populations, whieh means the

homeless, many of whom are Hawanan. And it means high crime rates, many of whieh are in areas where we have high densities of Hawaiians. Finally, we need to do more on health issues, and we ean do it in a lot of different ways. It's not just diet, it's psychological; its all about getting back to Hawaiian healing practices that work the best. We have got to encourage that any way we ean, whether it's zoning change, the permitting process, getting federal funds. And lastly, the city administration needs to reflect Honolulu. I think it's out of kilter. That's why I am on record that I am going to have women make up at least 50 percent of my cabinet, directors, deputy directors, boards and commissioners. Our cabinet has to reflect the Native Hawaiian community as well, and I think that has been sorely lacking. That is going to be corrected under the Bainum administration. There are many well-qualified Native Hawaiians. They will all do great jobs and be great role models for our young Hawaiians.

QAs mayor, how woulel you work to protect archaeological sites anel natural resources that eome under your jurisdiction? What might you do to improve shoreline access and traditional access rights for Native Hawaiians?

Allainum: I have always * been a proponent of native • access rights and heaeh access rights. That's why one of the last things I did when I was on the City Council was work on the Kō 'Olina access issue. I was not successful, but when I am mayor I will revisit that issue. I have the word of the developer that they will work with us to assure that access. I was there for the Portlock heaeh access issue, where a guy wanted to put up a fence through the walkway. It may

not seem like mueh, but eaeh one of these needs to be protected, because that is a vital part of the way of life we must guarantee and promote. At Hanauma Bay, I've always supported Native Hawaiians' right to worship there with free access. Down at Kūhiō Beach, there was the issue of the iwi being uncovered. It started off as a very bitter situation, but we spent hour after hour, meeting after meeting with all sorts of folks to correct it, and turned into a very healing process. What I learned from that was that we need to have the most sensitive

awareness of those issues. It was something I will never forget. As mayor, I will make sure that every department will be sensitive, and if the city ever does anything wrong, we will take corrective action immediately. Hannemann: I think that's all part of what makes this plaee special, by recognizing the rights of the indigenous people, the host culture. And that's very mueh imbedded in the fact that I was born and raised here. Having grown up here, I think you have a mueh deeper appreciation and sensitivity to the importance of conditions in the Native Hawaiian community.

When I was on the City Council, I was the councilmember who brought up the issue that the iwi were being disturbed in Waikīkī. I took that issue before the city and the state Historic Preservation Division and said that maybe what we should do at the city level is set up a mechanism similar to what Maui had done, whieh was to make sure that the county was mueh more proactive and diligent in making sure that we were not disturbing archaeological sites or heiau in areas that are very important to the Native Hawaiian community. In terms of gathering rights and access to the beaches, that will not be See INTERVIEW on page 8

INTERVIEW from page 7 a problem with Mufi Hannemann as mayor, because I understand how important it is not to deny the Native

Hawaiian populaee what has always been part of the culture, part of the tradition - to have unlimited access to areas that deal with their culture and the environment of Hawai'i.

QWhat does "a Hawaiian sense of plaee" mean to you, and what would you do to promote it through city planning? How might you include Native Hawaiians in such a process?

AHannemann: Native * Hawaiians have to be a • part of the definition, the meaning and the implementation of a Hawaiian sense of plaee. It is often used now to describe how we should promote tourism, but to me it's mueh more than that. It's a way of life that should be part of everything we do here, whether it's tourism-related or not. So you ean be assured that with me as mayor, kūpuna and Native Hawaiian experts will be a part of what the city does in encouraging a Hawaiian sense of plaee. To me, it's an attitude as mueh as it is cultural design, architecture, music or entertainment. It's a feeling that very mueh will permeate throughout my administration as the leader of the llth largest city in the Unites States. When people who are visiting us here eome off the plane, I want them to recognize that the aloha spirit is not just a phrase; it's how we live, it's how we interact with eaeh other, it's a frame of mind. That's what I want to do, and you ean only do that if the Native Hawaiian populaee and our kūpuna are part of coming up with the strategy and the implementation for what we need to do to move us closer to a Hawaiian sense of plaee. Bainum: There is nothing more important than having a Hawaiian sense of plaee in Hawai'i. Hawaiians are our host culture, and we

(non-Hawaiians) are all guests - whieh comes with a sacred obligation to be sensitive and respectful. And certainly, how ean you have a Hawaiian sense of plaee unless you know what that is from the Hawaiians? That is why we need to promote our advisory commission on culture and the other boards that we have to get the best and brightest experts and have them share their wisdom with us. Great cities of the world have certain things in eommon, and one of them is cultural festivals where they highlight what makes them special. We have great culture and the arts, whieh need to be packaged. And with the rich diversity of Hawaiian culture, we are missing a tremendous opportunity. Also, we need to keep creating community gathering places. The Kapi'olani bandstand has heeome a magnet; go there any weekend, and you really see what I think is best about Hawai'i - people sharing their cultures. We need more of these places, and not just in Waikīkī - why not all over this island? The Waialua Bandstand is a perfect example. It has restored a sense of pride in that community. 01d people, young people, loeal people, visitors, all gathering there on a regular basis - it's wonderful. That is an example of the city stepping forward and saying, listen, its important to have that rich cultural context, and we need to provide venues in whieh they ean be displayed.

QWhat are your thoughts about the movement toward political self-determination for Hawaiians?

Allainum: I think it's * wonderful. I am on record • as supporting the Akaka Bill, for many reasons. First, I think it onee and for all removes any room for misinterpretation of the relationship between the federal government and the Native Hawaiian community. And it certainly would help protect the Hawaiians' ability to receive federal dollars for Native Hawaiian programs. In 2002 alone, that was $70 million - money we need desperately for health, education and all the other programs that we talked about. Also, and very importantly, it finally lays the groundwork, for reconciling 225 years of history. And it will finally provide, hopefully, a self-governing vehicle for Native Hawaiians to address their own issues. I look forward to a day when the city under the Bainum administration will be a good partner in dealing directly with the (Hawaiian governing) entity. Hannemann: I think first of all that it has to be decided by our Native Hawaiian community; I don't think it's right for anyone who is not Hawaiian to influence that. I think the Native Hawaiian populaee needs to tell us

exactly what it is that they want, within the framework of the United States Constitution and government. Then it's my job as mayor, working with our government leaders, to bring to fruition their desires, their hopes and aspirations. The Akaka Bill is something that I have said in the past that I support, and certainly if that is our best option available now in the Congress, I'm ready to lend my support to it by calling on my Republican and Democratic friends in Washington. As mayor, I will have mueh more clout to do that - and I plan to, given the fact that I want to be involved in the federal process of how grants are given to our community. So I want to work with OHA and other Native Hawaiian leaders, as well as Senator Akaka and Senator Inouye, to bring these things about. I'll do whatever it's going to take to ensure that Native Hawaiians are treated better than they have been in the past. We need to correct the injustices of the past, and we need to make sure that if other native communities throughout the United States (have federal recognition), then why not our Native Hawaiian community. ■