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

Duke VS Mufi

Whoever becomes the next mayor of the City and County of Honolulu will be in charge of the municipality that has more Native Hawaiian residents than anywhere else in the world. So never mind that Hawaiian issues are usually considered to be more the kuleana of the state and federal governments — whoever wins the mayor's race on O'ahu will be making decisions that impact the lives of a great many Hawaiians. One example is the issue of forced lease-to-fee eon-

version - a process that is passionately opposed by Hawaiian trusts who use lease revenue to serve their beneficiaries. This long-running issue has heated up again with a new bill in the City Council that would repeal Honolulu's forced conversion law. Because of issues like this, it is important that Kanaka Maoli voters on O'ahu take the candidates' positions on Hawaiian issues into consideration when they make their ehoiee for mayor. To help with this process, Ka Wai Ola staff recently sat down separately

with the mayoral front-runners, Duke Bainum and Mufi Hannemann, to discuss their positions on issues affecting Hawaiians. We also talked to longtime former mayor and perennial candidate Frank Fasi, who recent polls have placed a distant third in the race. On page six of this issue is an in-depth question and answer forum featuring mana'o from mayoral candidates Bainum, Fasi and Hannemann. Read on ...

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