Yoshimura to face fallout of confession
| • | Editorial: Yoshimura still not atop credibility index |
By Robbie Dingeman and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Honolulu City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura's surprise acknowledgement that he lied about the circumstances of a minor traffic mishap two years ago points to the perils of political ambition in 2001, when full disclosure, total denial or something in between can be politically fatal.
Advertiser library photo
Yoshimura says simply that it was time to set the record straight about what happened. But whether he was motivated by a troubled conscience, or by the spectacle of how deception destroyed the reputation of California Congressman Gary Condit this summer, or by the desire to come clean before announcing his candidacy for statewide office, it's not clear how his confession will play to an increasingly cynical electorate.
Jon Yoshimura has reversed his earlier denial and now admits he had been drinking before hitting a parked car near Ward Centre in 1999.
Some said yesterday they give credit to Yoshimura for coming forward and not trying to place the blame elsewhere. But some political observers said re-establishing trust will be difficult for Yoshimura, a Democrat with strong name recognition who said he plans to run for lieutenant governor next year.
"I don't think it would help anybody to be in a situation like that," said Gov. Ben Cayetano.
Larry J. Sabato, a political analyst and founder of the Center for Governmental Studies at the University of Virginia, said once a politician admits lying, the damage is severe.
"People will think that if he will lie and dodge responsibility about something that is relatively minor, what will he do in the case of something major," said Sabato, who has written several books on political scandals.
He also said Yoshimura's situation will touch a nerve with voters.
"The scandals that really seem to hurt a politician are the ones that average people can relate to, and this is a classic example," he said. "The most damaging part of it is not lying, though that's serious. It's hit-and-run. There are very few people out there who have not had some damage done to their car at one time or another by a driver who didn't leave a note. So that's going to hurt."
Yoshimura called a news conference Monday to acknowledge that on July 13, 1999, he had been drinking in a restaurant before he hit a parked car near Ward Centre and drove off. After the incident, Yoshimura steadfastly maintained that he was coming directly from work when the accident happened and that he thought he had backed into a utility pole.
Yoshimura acknowledged Monday he had one drink but was afraid of what people would think if he told the truth. He was later cited and fined $35 for leaving the scene of the accident.
Michael Kilousky, a member of the Nu'uanu/Punchbowl Neighborhood Board who is generally supportive of Yoshimura, said he believes Yoshimura's confession will hurt his campaign.
"He should have come out in the first place and it wouldn't have been a big deal," Kilousky said. "A lot of people I talked to all say the same thing. They don't like it."
He said people are suspicious of Yoshimura's decision to come forward two years after the accident: "Kind of late, yeah? You think if he wasn't running for lieutenant governor he would come out and apologize?"
Yoshimura said yesterday that the initial public reaction to his confession has been positive. "I'm getting a lot of supportive phone calls. It just validates my decision to set the record straight," he said.
Yoshimura said he has heard the cynical suggestions about why he came forward — that he polled voters on the issue, that he wanted to clear the air before launching his statewide his campaign — but that none are true.
"The plain answer is that it was just something that I decided to do," Yoshimura said. "It was difficult to summon up the courage to face people and admit my mistake."
Political observer and historian Bob Dye, who served in former Mayor Frank Fasi's administration and occasionally writes about politics in The Advertiser, said the admission could help Yoshimura move past the embarrassing incident. "It's good to get it behind you if you can," he said.
Dye said the admission of having a drink before denting a parked car is the kind of thing that people may forgive because no one was injured and the damage wasn't extensive. "People are kind. Everybody has done stupid stuff," he said.
But Dye said the admission could hurt Yoshimura's credibility: "I think it's always good to tell the truth and people appreciate that. But it took an awful long time for him to be forthright."
Yoshimura agreed last week to pay a fine of $3,532 to the state Campaign Spending Commission to settle disputes over some of his expenditures of campaign money. He said yesterday that he continued to hope voters judge him on his accomplishments as a City Council member, and he stressed that both the traffic incident and the campaign spending dispute are old issues.
"These problems that have been haunting me are really problems that took place some time ago," he said.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com and Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
