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Bainum Supporter Files Complaint Over Hannemann's Rent

Castle And Cooke Says Rent Is Fair

POSTED: 8:08 am HST October 7, 2004
UPDATED: 11:13 am HST October 7, 2004

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A complaint filed by a supporter of mayoral candidate Duke Bainum claims his opponent, Mufi Hannemann, is not truthfully reporting campaign contributions.

Commitment 2004
2004 HONOLULU MAYOR'S RACE
The complaint alleges Hannemann is getting a special deal on rent for his headquarters from Castle and Cooke. Both Hannemann and Castle and Cooke deny any special deal.

The campaigns of Hannemann and U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye are paying about one-third of the asking price to rent their campaign headquarters. That may raise eyebrows, but Castle and Cooke said there's a legitimate explanation.

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Hannemann's headquarters is located at Dole Cannery in Iwilei, which is owned by Castle and Cooke, a company that has already donated about $3,600 to Hannemann, close to the legal limit of $4,000.

Castle and Cooke's Web site says its "rental asking price" for Hannemann's office comes out to $3,600 a month, but Hannemann is paying just $1,100 a month rent with electricity included.

Peter Lenhart is a lawyer for the man who filed the complaint.

"This candidate, Mufi Hannemann, is perhaps may be receiving in-kind contributions, which would be a disguised way of exceeding the $4,000-per-contributor campaign spending limit," Lenhart said.

"We've only just gotten a copy of this from you, (KITV). We don't have an official copy of the complaint, and it's going to take us a little bit of time to sift through these things," Hannemann's spokeswoman, Elisa Yadao, said. "We're confident that there are reasonable, justifiable explanations for this. That's what I've said."

Inouye rents another part of the Dole Cannery for his headquarters. He's also paying about one-third of the asking price.

While Castle and Cooke asks for about $9,600 a month for his space, Inouye is paying them $3,333 rent.

"There's no basis for the complaint," said Richard Mirikitani, Corporate Counsel for Castle and Cooke. "We are charging fair rent under the circumstances."

He said the complex has "an abundance of vacancies" and Hannemann and Inouye's rent are within the range of what other tenants are paying.

"Do you folks have any specific evidence that there is any kind of an agreement for this 'under the table' or in-kind agreement?" KITV 4 News reporter Keoki Kerr said.

"No, those sorts of things are very difficult to prove; normally it's sort of an understood situation where somebody who wishes to do a favor for a candidate basically does this," Lenhart said.

A man named Reid Seino filed the complaint. He's a law student at Williamette University who is home in Hawaii this semester and is volunteering on Bainum's campaign.

The Campaign Spending Commission will hear the complaint next Wednesday and decide whether to investigate it further or dismiss it.

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