Gubernatorial
candidates stump
as Nov. 3 nears

Cayetano warns of GOP's
anti-labor agenda

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

Gov. Ben Cayetano hit the family theme hard yesterday, introducing his smiling wife who stood beside him as he spoke.

Several hundred people turned out to hear the governor and other Democratic candidates speak at the Construction Industry Alliance gathering at Thomas Square yesterday afternoon.

Cayetano said he was a Kalihi boy in a single-parent working-class family, and that with luck he rose to a position that enabled him to help others like himself.

"My father had a third-grade education," he said. "I worked all my life."

He said he delivered newspapers and later worked at the old Hawaiian Pineapple cannery. He operated a forklift, worked as an electrician's apprentice and drove a truck delivering frozen foods to homes of people who could afford freezers.

"I am a Democrat forever and ever," he said.

With 12,000 construction jobs lost in Hawaii since 1991, Cayetano said he was motivated to speed up school construction. "We built 11 new schools."

Republicans have "strange ideas," he said. "Those folks on the other side -- they're not for minimum wage."

Cayetano reminded listeners that Sen. Daniel Inouye had just told them how important the 1954 election was with Democrats gaining control of the Territorial Legislature.

Republicans put down labor and put down unions as communist, Cayetano said.

"It's all been anti-labor, and what they did in 1954 and before 1954 they will try to do today. I am proud that Hawaii is a labor state. We need your help. We need your support and we need to work together."

The speech received favorable comment.

"I think it went pretty well," said Stan McCormick, 48, of Wahiawa. "I just hope he can turn this thing around for the construction industry, that he can get a lot of people back to work like he said he would do."

"He was very good," said Alicia Crompton of Makiki. "Of course, he's for working people."

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Lingle attacks state
bureaucracy, regulations

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

A bloated state bureaucracy obsessed with rules and regulations that inhibit economic growth proved a prime target for Linda Lingle and running mate Stan Koki last night.

About 800 people packed into Kaneohe's Castle High School cafeteria to give a rousing reception to Lingle, Maui mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Koki said as a businessman, he was burdened by an anti-business climate. Lingle brought economic success to Maui because she treated county government as if it were her own business, Koki said.

Lingle said Gov. Ben Cayetano has twice as much money as she does. But she's used to running campaigns without as much money as her competitors.

"I've run for office seven times, and I've won seven times," Lingle said. She didn't have money or union endorsements, but she had the people on her side, she said.

Since beginning her campaign for governor a year ago, her team has put on a mammoth voter registration drive, she said.

"We had 100,000 new registered voters this year in Hawaii, and after they registered, you know what happened on Sept. 19. We got the most votes of anybody," she said.

Koki will be her economic liaison and voice of the small-business community, Lingle said. "Stan is going to begin immediately to meet with the various industry groups in our state."

Overregulation has long burdened business in Hawaii and slowed economic growth, Lingle said.

She also said she wants to decentralize school control and reduce bureaucracy. Windward Oahu, not downtown Honolulu, should control Windward Oahu schools, Lingle said.

Lingle's speech was well received. "I enjoyed it," said Realtor Don Krog, 56, of Kailua. "That's the first time I've heard her."

Art Hernandez, 49, a self-employed landscaper from Kailua, found Lingle in tune with reality. "I think she has real solutions," he said.

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Holmes cries foul
on ‘unfair’ ad

The Councilman files a complaint
against opponent Melodie Aduja

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Windward Councilman Steve Holmes has filed a complaint against election opponent Melodie Aduja charging that a new advertisement contains misleading information.

The complaint, filed this morning with the Campaign Spending Commission, charges Aduja with violating the Code of Fair Campaign Practices that she signed.

Aduja is challenging Holmes, a two-term incumbent, for the Second District Council seat that goes from Kawela to Enchanted Lake and includes Kaneohe.

Ads appearing in both the Kailua and Kaneohe editions of the Sun Press circulating yesterday accuse Holmes of "neglect."

They feature unflattering pictures of four projects in the Windward district and blame Holmes for their conditions.

Aduja today said she stands by her ads. "These photos were taken less than a week ago," she said, adding she would give a detailed response after studying Holmes' complaint, which she received this morning.

A caption under a picture of Waiahole Beach Park says the facility has no bathrooms, picnic tables or running water.

Holmes said the $7 million in federal monies he lobbied for to help purchase the park does not allow the city to put up any structures blocking view planes.

Under a picture of Kahaluu Beach Park are the words "portable toilets, no paved parking, no lights, no sewer."

According to Holmes, the city put in portable toilets at his request. Improvements, including permanent restroom facilities, are pending the completion of the Kahaluu sewer line project.

Another photo of Kahaluu Stream Bridge is followed with "needs cleaning and painting."

Holmes said that "the city, as a practice, does not paint concrete bridges." He said there is no graffiti on the bridge, something he actively looks to prevent.

A fourth photo shows a wall fronting Kulauli Street that's on Bay View Golf Course property.

Aduja's ad says views of the mountain were lost by the erection of the wall and that "Holmes' promised community benefits never materialized."

Holmes said the wall was a dust control fence put up while the golf course was being built to minimize impacts on Puohala Elementary School across the street and was required by the state Department of Health.

He said the wall is no longer there, and that the developer is keeping to its required timetable to put in community benefits.

The ad also charges that "the shameful condition of our beaches and facilities are a result of Steve's inability to work with fellow Councilmembers."

Aduja is backed by Council incumbents Mufi Hannemann, John Henry Felix and Rene Mansho.

Holmes says his support is incumbents Donna Mercado Kim, Duke Bainum and John DeSoto.

Holmes said he's most disturbed that the ads have come out 10 days before the election. Ad deadlines leave him no chance to respond.