Honolulu mayoral candidate Charles Djou apologized to the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter on Monday morning after his campaign sent an email to supporters over the weekend erroneously stating that the environmental group had endorsed him.
“This was an error by a campaign volunteer, pure and simple,” Djou said in an email in response to a query by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He said his staff is made up of volunteers and that he has no paid workers or consultants.
“We removed any reference from our internet feeds as soon as we realized what happened,” Djou said. The email was sent to volunteers only, he said.
Anthony Aalto, chairman of the Sierra Club Oahu Chapter, confirmed that no endorsement had been made in the Honolulu mayor’s race, although Djou, Mayor Kirk Caldwell and former Mayor Peter Carlisle were all interviewed for a possible endorsement.
In the email to supporters, the Djou campaign said under the category of “TRUST” that the former U.S. representative and City Council member had been endorsed by a diverse group of leaders that included former Hawaii Democratic Party Chairman Walter Heen, former Gov. Ben Cayetano, Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, “the Sierra Club, and even several unions.”
Woman gets 3 months in jail for welfare theft
WAILUKU >> A Maui County woman convicted of stealing thousands of dollars in welfare benefits has been sentenced to three months in jail.
Christiana Santos was sentenced after pleading no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree theft and welfare fraud. Deputy Prosecutor Emlyn Higa said the theft charge was reduced because the estimated amount taken was just over $20,000, the Maui News reported Sunday.
Court records show the 35-year-old woman falsely reported that her children were living with her to collect welfare benefits from December 2013 to February 2015.
Wendy Hudson, Santos’ attorney, said in court that her client was not “intentionally trying to commit welfare fraud” and that her children were “with her sometimes.”
But Higa said the children had been with their father on the mainland and that Santos’ actions were intentional.
“This went on for a period of time,” Higa said. “There are lots of people that legitimately need those funds. She took money from the system that she wasn’t entitled to.”
At her sentencing Santos asked Maui Circuit Judge Peter Cahill to have the convictions wiped from her record and said the two months she’s already served in jail have “opened my eyes.”
“I am a nurse. I had a good job at the hospital. This is not my nature. It was a bad time in my life. I wasn’t being responsible for my actions,” she said.
The judge denied Santos’ request.
