This summer, Honolulu’s most prominent mayoral candidates, Duke Bainum and Mufi Hannemann, appeared in numerous forums to answer questions, clarify their reasons for running, and summarize their plans for Honolulu if elected. Kalamalama Faculty Editor Dr. Larry LeDoux summarizes the two presentations he attended.

Bainum is running on a reform platform that starts with eliminating the influence of campaign contributions on city decisions. He would refuse contributions from convicted campaign-spending violaters, establish an independent board to review all city contracts over $250,000, and require written oaths of contractors. Next he would remove any city appointee who violates ethics laws and would prohibit them from soliciting campaign contributions. He would then work to strengthen the ethics commission by establishing an independent committee to select them; the mayor would nominate them and the City Council would confirm nominations. He would broaden the commission’s oversight, establish independent funding for it, and give it more power to prosecute violators, including a lower burden of proof. Finally, he would expand ethics law training for employees, strengthen impeachment laws, and establish a city auditor and a fraud hotline.

Hannemann would, if elected, focus on restoring fiscal accountability by conducting a general audit and establishing a “budget for results” process; he would focus on reestablishing essential community services: repair and ongoing maintenance of roads, sewers, and parks; improvement of public safety through improving salaries for and full staffing of police and fire departments; improving transportation through coordination of ferries with bus services; and handling waste management through recycling programs. He will evaluate all services and projects on a “need to have” basis, and will ask three questions: “Do we need it? Can we afford it? Can we maintain it?” He will work to revitalize private sector economic growth by filling vacancies and employing consultants to ease the permit process; making idle city properties available for high -tech and art incubation centers; pursuing federal grants in areas of work force development, job training, and construction.

Neither candidate recieved enough votes during the primary to win the election out right, so both will face off during the general election of Nov. 2.