09-23-2008, 10:47 AM
hikatz, thanks for the kind words. You have the right Dave.
Rob, what you are being told is spin of the worst kind, and you are perpetuating The Lie by presenting misinformation. There is no gray here. Look up the reports yourself if you have doubts. Hunter's blog:
http://hunterbishop.com/journal/2008/9/1...again.html
has the links that tell of the recent examples of developer money Pilago has taken as well as the blatant quid pro quo when he took the maximum allowed from Kohanaiki's developers when he first ran for County Council in 2004. All together the developer money exceeds $5,000 for the current cycle and at least $12,000 overall. But the amount is not the issue. Violation of trust is.
And I'm not clear as to your "architects are architects" comment, but in this case, as its Web site notes, Ali Ghalamfarsa's firm Alii Architects provides a wide range of services for developers including architectural, engineering and other planning. And why would the owner of that firm be listed as a "property manager" on Pilago's reports if not to deceive?
Note also that Pilago removed his "We have not taken any money from developers or special interest" letter from his campaign Web site after Hunter's article appeared with a link to that claim. I have a copy of the old Web site for disbelievers.
And Hunter's blog didn't even mention the money Pilago has accepted from special interests. In the current cycle alone he took $1,000 from Gentry's Kona Marina, which is no doubt keeping a keen eye on the ongoing issues of expanding and privatization of the state marinas, and thousands more from other businesses. Why would a business donate to a political campaign? The answer is special interest.
Truth be told, I was considering voting for Pilago until the truth came out. But I can't conceive of voting for someone who will obviously do and say anything to get elected, especially if that involves violating the trust of many of his supporters on a core issue.
Again, I wonder how many votes Pilago would have gotten if the Tribune-Herald had reported the matter prior to election day:
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/arti...ocal01.txt
or if West Hawaii Today hadn't failed to report it at all.
Rob, what you are being told is spin of the worst kind, and you are perpetuating The Lie by presenting misinformation. There is no gray here. Look up the reports yourself if you have doubts. Hunter's blog:
http://hunterbishop.com/journal/2008/9/1...again.html
has the links that tell of the recent examples of developer money Pilago has taken as well as the blatant quid pro quo when he took the maximum allowed from Kohanaiki's developers when he first ran for County Council in 2004. All together the developer money exceeds $5,000 for the current cycle and at least $12,000 overall. But the amount is not the issue. Violation of trust is.
And I'm not clear as to your "architects are architects" comment, but in this case, as its Web site notes, Ali Ghalamfarsa's firm Alii Architects provides a wide range of services for developers including architectural, engineering and other planning. And why would the owner of that firm be listed as a "property manager" on Pilago's reports if not to deceive?
Note also that Pilago removed his "We have not taken any money from developers or special interest" letter from his campaign Web site after Hunter's article appeared with a link to that claim. I have a copy of the old Web site for disbelievers.
And Hunter's blog didn't even mention the money Pilago has accepted from special interests. In the current cycle alone he took $1,000 from Gentry's Kona Marina, which is no doubt keeping a keen eye on the ongoing issues of expanding and privatization of the state marinas, and thousands more from other businesses. Why would a business donate to a political campaign? The answer is special interest.
Truth be told, I was considering voting for Pilago until the truth came out. But I can't conceive of voting for someone who will obviously do and say anything to get elected, especially if that involves violating the trust of many of his supporters on a core issue.
Again, I wonder how many votes Pilago would have gotten if the Tribune-Herald had reported the matter prior to election day:
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/arti...ocal01.txt
or if West Hawaii Today hadn't failed to report it at all.