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Police union
won’t endorse in
mayor race

Ballots from 800 of the
department's 1,900 officers
weren't collected, SHOPO
officials say

HPD recruits graduate
Candidates debate debates

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By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii's police union won't endorse a Honolulu mayoral candidate for the first time in years due to a glitch in polling its members.

But an Oahu board member of the police union, who asked not to be identified, said the union's leadership decided not to endorse anyone to avoid endorsing Mufi Hannemann, who received the majority of police officers' votes.

Honolulu Police detective Alex Garcia, Oahu chapter chair of SHOPO -- the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers --said, "We want to take a few days to review it, but it doesn't seem possible. It's not likely we're going to make an endorsement."

SHOPO decided to invalidate its mayoral endorsement yesterday because ballots from 800 police officers among 1,900 total weren't collected. Bylaws require everyone to be polled, Garcia said.

There were 591 votes for Mufi Hannemann, 315 for Mayor Jeremy Harris, 190 for Frank Fasi and 30 for Lillian Hong.

But after a lengthy discussion among the SHOPO board Wednesday, the board decided to endorse Hannemann, said the Oahu board member who asked not to be identified. Then the board called an emergency meeting yesterday but didn't notify some board members. The board needs only eight members for a quorum. It decided to reverse its decision and not endorse any candidate.

Although more than 50 percent of the officers sent back their ballots, SHOPO couldn't track down the remaining 800 due to officers on vacation, shift changes and scheduling problems, Garcia said.

"The size of the department is so large, it was very difficult to reach everyone," he said.

Lt. Ray Ancheta, a former SHOPO president, said he never received a ballot. Nonetheless, he was shocked by the decision not to endorse any candidate.

"Oh my goodness, my goodness. What a major foul-up," Ancheta said. "We operate in a highly political environment. Endorsements are very important."

Hannemann expressed concern for SHOPO's turn of events, but declined to elaborate on the record about the decision change.

"I'm very pleased and very honored to have received in a clear and convincing manner the nod, or the vote, of the rank and file of police officers," Hannemann said.

"No matter what happens from this point on, it's clear to me that the men and women in blue want a change in who is the mayor of the City and County of Honolulu."

Harry Mattson, media director for the Harris campaign, said Harris hadn't been notified officially by SHOPO about the decision.

"The bottom line, it's all internal politics over there. We had an understanding of what the process was to have been. It looks like it's turned into an interesting problem."

Mattson declined to comment further because he hadn't talked with SHOPO leaders directly. But the Harris camp wonders what happened to the other 800 ballots.

"Our membership is split on Hannemann and Harris," Garcia said. "The mayor has done a lot of good things for officers, and Mufi has been supportive to us on the Council. I understand why Mufi is upset, and I don't blame him at all."

The main issue for officers in this mayoral race is pay, Garcia said. "We've always tried to get parity. We've been trying for 25 years," Garcia said. "That's the issue we'll bring to whoever wins."

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Star-Bulletin reporter Gordon Y.K. Pang contributed to this report.

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City & County of Honolulu