At a mayoral forum last night, Duke Bainum, left, and Mufi Hannemann vowed to focus on basic city services if elected. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The former city councilmen are the top contenders to succeed Mayor Jeremy Harris, who cannot run again because of term limits.

Bainum and Hannemann agreed that Waikiki had seen important revitalization but continues to face serious problems with crime, drugs, noise and prostitution, and each said he would not tolerate corruption in city government.

It was the first widely publicized campaign forum that both attended, and they made it clear this will be a hard-fought election.

Hannemann portrayed himself as the more experienced candidate, in the best position to partner with state and federal officials to solve the city's big problems.

He called the city's proposed Bus Rapid Transit system "a colossal waste of money" that should be stopped, and hammered Bainum for supporting the project while on the City Council.

Bainum said Harris' administration was not implementing the project as he had expected, and that he had serious questions about ongoing road work along Kuhio Avenue.

He questioned whether endorsements of Hannemann by labor unions and business groups would "have strings attached," and said he was proud to have financed many of his own campaign expenses so he would not owe favors to special interests.

But Hannemann said Bainum had sought many of the same endorsements and took the position only because he did not receive them.

"You can't have it both ways," he said in one of the rare direct exchanges between candidates, who answered a series of questions drafted by the Waikiki Neighborhood Board and provided in advance.

Bainum repeated his campaign buzz-words "honest change" many times, and reiterated that he had not accepted any illegal campaign contributions.

Hannemann's campaign has forfeited more than $58,000 to the state Campaign Spending Commission after several donors were fined for contributing the money illegally. The campaign has also voluntarily returned donations that exceeded the $4,000-per-donor limit.

Both candidates have served on the City Council — Hannemann as chairman and Bainum as a committee chairman.

The two traded jabs last week over a proposed tax break for agricultural land that the City Council later postponed.

Hannemann supported the move to cut taxes on vacant farm land by 95 percent, and blamed Bainum in a radio ad for triggering higher taxes.

Bainum sponsored a 2002 bill while he was a councilman that changed agricultural tax assessments from a formula based on crop yield to one based on land value.

He said the bill had helped catch tax cheats and protected agricultural land, and dismissed the tax-break proposal as a giveaway to big-land owners.

In March, an Advertiser Hawai'i Poll found that Bainum had taken an early lead over Hannemann.

The query of 315 O'ahu registered voters found that 44 percent favored Bainum while 35 percent would vote for Hannemann if the election were held immediately.

The poll by Ward Research Inc. of Honolulu also found that 12 percent supported former Mayor Frank Fasi, and that just 9 percent were undecided if the only candidates were Bainum, Fasi and Hannemann.

If the results prove true on Election Day, Sept. 18, Fasi could split the vote enough to deny the others the required victory threshold of 50 percent plus one vote.

That would force a run-off between Bainum and Hannemann in the Nov. 2 general election. Fasi's fans and any voters who remain undecided could tip the final tally in either direction.

Bainum raised and spent far more campaign money than Hannemann during the six months that ended in January, according to reports filed with the state Campaign Spending Commission.

Bainum reported raising $586,314 and spending $174,278, with $824,366 left as of Jan. 30, and has lent his campaign more than $1 million since 1998.

Hannemann reported raising $176,212 and spending $38,695, with $664,344 left in his campaign coffers.

Fasi reported raising no money during the six-month period. A few other candidates are also expected to run shoestring campaigns. The candidate registration deadline is July 20.