Two-term former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann plans to file his nomination papers to run for mayor on Monday, the day before the 2020 election’s deadline.
Hannemann joins a field of nine that includes Keith Amemiya, Rick Blangiardi, Ernest Caravalho, John Carroll, Karl Dicks, Tim Garry, Colleen Hanabusa, Choon James and Kymberly Pine.
The 65-year-old Hannemann is running on the campaign slogan “Mayor Mufi: A strong and tested leader in tough times.”
Hannemann, currently serving as president and CEO of the Hawaii Lodging &Tourism Association, said the challenges of the pandemic inspired him to seek a third mayoral term. He served as mayor from 2005 to 2010, when he resigned during his second term to run for governor. He became eligible to seek another term in 2016.
“I’ve been tested. I’ve gone through a crisis before and I know how to work collaboratively,” he said.
Hannemann said his competitors are fine candidates, but now isn’t the time to take a chance with someone who hasn’t held an executive position in government.
Hannemann’s public service record also includes serving on the Honolulu City Council from 1995 to 2000. Before that, he served in Gov. John Waihee’s administration as director of the
Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development &Tourism and the director of the Hawaii Office of International Relations .
He’s also undertaken public servant roles for four presidential administrations, those of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.
Paul Yonamine, chairman and CEO of Central Pacific Bank Corp., said he supports Hannemann because he’s witnessed his leadership firsthand.
“He always had a vision, he always had a strategy. He was excellent in execution,” said Yonamine, who served Hannemann’s administration as a volunteer civil servant in 2004.
Given the pandemic crisis, Yonamine said Honolulu residents need someone who can hit the ground running to address health and safety and the ailing economy,
primarily brought on by the collapse of tourism.
“Tourism feeds Hawaii. It’s a crucial industry, and Mufi’s background with HLTA and his overall marketing background also make him the right man for the job,” he said.
Lynette Eastman, general manager of the Surfjack
Hotel &Swim Club, said Hannemann has brought hope to a downtrodden visitor industry and would do the same for the community.
”We know he’s the right man for our industry and for every industry,” she said. “He’s always been a man for the community and he’s the right choice for the right time.”
Her husband, Bulla Eastman, a Waikiki safety and security director, said a recent mayoral poll shows that 42% of Honolulu voters are still undecided, suggesting that many voters haven’t found what they were seeking.
“Every candidate brings a lot to the table,” he said. “But we have to find the right candidate, which we feel is Mufi. We need a candidate that can get the engines running again as fast as they can.”
If elected, Hannemann said his main goal will be to get Honolulu’s economy back on track and people back to work.
“It pains me the number of people who continue to be unemployed,” he said. “They don’t know where their next paycheck will come from or if they will have health benefits. Some have expressed that their kids have graduated and they have nothing to give them. My goal is to be the champion of the people.”
Hannemann said he learned how to go after the longshot, growing up in an immigrant family in Kalihi. His father, Gustav Hannemann, who worked three jobs to support his family of nine, taught him the value of hard work.
His mother, Faiaso Hannemann, pushed him to do well at ‘Iolani School so he could get into Harvard, which was his parents’ “American dream.”
Given the sacrifices of his parents, Hannemann said he wasn’t too proud
to to take a job cleaning
toilets to help fund his
Harvard education.
“They left a very good life in Samoa,” he said. “They moved here because they said, ‘Our children need to be exposed to opportunities that are afforded to people who reside under the American flag.’”
Hannemann said he’s thankful everyday for his parents’ sacrifices and wants to pay them forward by helping return opportunities to the people of Honolulu.
Hannemann is married to Gail Mukaihata Hannemann.
