Mayor’s first attack ad
By Laurie Au
In today’s Star-Bulletin, I wrote about Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s newest advertisement (and first since his upset in Sept. 20’s primary election) that blasts his mayoral opponent City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi for taking credit in preserving Waimea Valley.
Waimea Valley was a hot topic in 2005 and 2006 for Hannemann and the City Council, but has since fizzled and has been replaced by Hannemann’s proposed $4 billion rail transit system. There really is no reason to bring it up in this year’s mayoral election, except Hannemann is making it a point in going after every one of Kobayashi’s remarks.
Here’s a MP3, courtesy of the Hannemann campaign, of his latest ad.
mufi-waimea-valley-radio.mp3
(And here are some links to previous stories for those of you who forgot the details on Waimea Valley — The City Council rejecting an initial deal; Hannemann’s announcement on an agreement reached; and the vote that Kobayashi wasn’t present for to approve the deal.)
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UPDATED, 12:06 p.m.: Bill McCorriston, the attorney for the then-landowner of Waimea Valley speaking in the ad, had more to say about his involvement in the advertisement.
McCorriston said he told the Hannemann campaign he was upset when he saw Kobayashi’s advertisement taking credit for preserving the valley. After the primary election, campaign officials approached McCorriston to ask for his help in recording the ad.
“I think campaigns should take credit when credit is due,” McCorriston said. “Obviously both campaigns are using Waimea Valley as an example on how they can get things done. It’s not to say the Council didn’t support the deal. Supporting it and doing it are two separate things.”
