Bainum fired back by criticizing Hannemann's support for Bill 35, which Bainum characterized as a giveaway to powerful special interests.

The City Council will likely override Mayor Jeremy Harris' veto of Bill 35 today, but Harris says he'll refuse to enforce the measure because it would illegally unbalance the city budget by granting up to $9.6 million in tax relief.

Hannemann and Bainum, who have traded jabs over the bill for weeks, continued to spar yesterday before a crowd of more than 200 who packed a forum sponsored by business groups at the Japanese Cultural Center.

Bainum said that while the earlier bill needs some adjustments to protect farmers, problems have been overblown. "Yes, it needs to be tweaked, but the majority of farmers saw their tax bill either go down or stay the same," he said.

The measure made it much harder to exploit tax loopholes by falsely claiming to use land for farming, Bainum said.

But Hannemann said officials must be more sensitive about taxation issues to ensure that changes don't hurt farms and other businesses. "If you're mayor or a council member, you need to look at taxes as the absolute last resort," he said.

Bainum repeatedly called for "honest change" at City Hall and pledged to sever what he says is a link between illegal campaign contributions and city contracts.

Hannemann said Bainum has tried to mislead voters about illegal donations that went to Hannemann's campaign committee several years ago.

Hannemann has been required to forfeit $61,000 in contributions that exceeded the legal limit or were made under false names since 1996, and Bainum has often brought up the issue. Hannemann, who says he has cooperated fully with the state Campaign Spending Commission on such matters, accused Bainum of mischaracterizing Hannemann's record in campaign literature to suggest corruption.

"It seems to me it's more like politics as usual," said Hannemann, who also commented on Bainum's personal wealth.

"If I had all the money in the world like Mr. Bainum has, I wouldn't be out there asking for donations," Hannemann said. He said nine donations out of 3,700 had been proven improper.

Bainum said his campaign materials do not misstate facts.

He also said he was not ashamed of money he had earned. "I don't have to apologize for working hard," he said.

Campaign Spending Commission director Robert Watada later confirmed that Hannemann had cooperated with his review of illegal donations. Watada said he had seen no evidence to indicate Hannemann had solicited money improperly.

Long-shot candidate Frank Fasi appeared with Bainum and Hannemann for the first time yesterday. He focused mostly on the 22 years he spent as mayor prior to 1994 and on quirky ideas he has floated in the past, like building a casino on Midway island.

Fasi said that Honolulu's roads "have more potholes than they do in Iraq" and that he has the most experience at finding sources of money to solve the city's problems. "This is what this campaign is about: Where is the money and how can we get our hands on it," he said.

Bainum and Hannemann said they would refocus city spending on essential services, but each said he had the vision and experience to do a better job.

All three candidates strayed far from questions posed to them by the forum's moderator, political columnist Dan Boylan, and instead segued quickly into familiar stump speeches.

The candidates are among a total of 10 who are registered to run for mayor in the Sept. 18 primary. If none receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in the Nov. 2 general election.

The forum was sponsored by the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i, and the Affiliated Chamber and Business Organizations Council.