Petition to oust Mansho in the works
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
A petition drive to remove City Councilwoman Rene Mansho from office is expected to begin within a week to 10 days.
The drive is being spearheaded by the two people who testified against Mansho during investigations by the state Campaign Spending Commission and city Ethics Commission on the council member's illegal use of campaign funds.
The petitioners will seek the signatures of registered voters in Mansho's council district — which runs from Waipahu upward to the North Shore — for Mansho's removal either through impeachment or a recall election.
"We're looking at a goal of 7,500 registered voters to be safe," said Michelle Kidani, a staff member with Mansho's office from 1988 until last year, when she resigned for health reasons.
The campaign violations focused on more than $30,000 that Mansho improperly spent on city travel and on more than $12,000 worth of credit-card charges on meals, entertainment and gifts. The ethics violations targeted 12 years when Mansho's campaign was run from her city office and when city staff was used on city time, including the Aloha Boat Days events.
Mansho has agreed to pay a total of $80,000 in fines and reimbursement and was removed from the Council Budget Committee and other positions that required her to travel at city expense.
Mansho could not be reached for comment yesterday. Last week, she apologized to her constituents, via a Mililani community Web site.
"I have taken full responsibility for all of the activities of my office and my staff, and I have corrected all of the gray areas in question," she said in a message posted on the Mililani Interactive Web site.
"With a year left in my term (as council member), I want to continue working for you to complete the projects we started and to ensure the highest quality of life for our communities. I am sorry, and I humbly ask for your understanding."
Kidani is heading the petition drive with Ann Haunani Acohido, a lei vendor who filed a complaint with the state Campaign Spending Commission against Mansho. Acohido's complaint said that Mansho violated state campaign laws by using her campaign funds for nonpolitical purposes.
Acohido's complaint, filed last year, prompted separate state and city investigations that found Mansho improperly used her campaign funds and her position on the council to further "Aloha Boat Days," a program providing lei greeters and musicians when passengers arrive on cruise ships in Honolulu Harbor. Acohido claimed that Mansho's activities caused her to lose a lei-supply contract with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Acohido, a Wahiawa resident in Mansho's district, provided letters written by Mansho using city letterhead and other items regarding Aloha Boat Days that showed a conflict of interest.
"I think she is confused with what her rights are as a council member and those as a private entity," Acohido said yesterday.
North Shore residents Ken Newfield and Larry McElheny are assisting with the petition effort. They say they believe Mansho is now ineffective since the council stripped her of her committee assignments.
Mansho is prevented by law from seeking another term on the council.
"If you really believe what she is saying about her lack of good judgment, she should step down anyway," McElheny said.
The signatures of at least 1,000 registered voters from the council district are required to begin an impeachment.
A recall is possible when at least 10 percent of the registered voters in that district during the last regular council election ask for one. In the 1998 election in Council District 1, that number was 53,027, so a recall would demand at least 5,303 signatures.
In a recall election, an elected city official would be removed if more than 50 percent of voters approve it.
The petitioners have 60 days from the date of the first signature to collect the necessary number for a recall election. The city clerk's office would then verify the numbers.
"We are deciding when to start so it is an organized effort," said Kidani, who spoke publicly for the first time since the investigations began.
Kidani admits that having a former Mansho staff member lead the petition drive could appear to district voters as an effort by a disgruntled ex-employee.
"No matter what you do, some people will probably right away perceive it as that," Kidani said.
"It will come down to how her constituents feel about her, and that's the democratic way," Kidani said about the petitions. "But we feel we can get the required number of signatures for this."
