Courting Panos
By B.J. Reyes
A post from Star-Bulletin city hall reporter Laurie Au:
Former mayoral candidate Panos Prevedouros sent an e-mail yesterday thanking his supporters, but the message makes no mention of an endorsement of City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi for mayor.
“While we did not prevail, I feel strongly that our message was heard, and that the people of Honolulu are far more informed about our infrastructure problems than theywere prior to starting our campaign,” Prevedouros’ e-mail states.
^^The mayoral candidates at a debate earlier this month (Star-Bulletin photo/FL Morris)
Prevedouros returned to his job this week as a University of Hawaii at Manoa engineering professor after receiving only 17 percent of the votes cast in Saturday’s primary election.
Kobayashi’s campaign aides have said they believe Prevedouros will support the councilwoman as she faces Mayor Mufi Hannemann in the Nov. 4 general election.
This week, Kobayashi has been meeting with Prevedouros, seeking a possible endorsement. Prevedouros previously said he had no plans to endorse Kobayashi because the two differ on their opinions on the race’s biggest issue — Hannemann’s proposed $4 billion rail transit system.
She wants a rubber-tire bus system, while he prefers to scrap the plans completely and have more dedicated highway bus lanes to alleviate Oahu’s worsening traffic congestion.
The two have always remained friendly on the campaign trail — even sign waving at the same location the day before the primary — while remaining critical of Hannemann.
Prevedouros’ relationship with Hannemann, on the other hand, has been contentious even prior to Prevedouros’ entrance into the mayor’s race. Hannemann’s campaign said it hopes to capture some of Prevedouros’ votes by focusing on issues other than rail.
