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Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann wants his old job back

Mufi Hannemann applauds the action at Aloha Stadium
Source; KITV Island News 4
Hannemann says he built a reputation for strong leadership when he was the city’s chief executive from 2005-2010 and he's ready to fix the rail project.

Honolulu, HAWAII — The head of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association spoke exclusively to KITV-4’s Annalisa Burgos on Sunday about why he’s entering the mayoral race, saying the state's economy is "broken" and Hawaii needs a "strong leader" to bring back jobs to recover from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hannemann says he built a reputation for his non-partisan and collaborative leadership style when he was the city’s chief executive from 2005-2010. He also is the face of the Honolulu Rail Transit Project, which he spearheaded while in office. Some people believe the subsequent botched execution, corruption allegations and federal investigation into rail tainted Hannemann's credibility.

"Let me be clear. I'm not implicated, involved, or have been named in any of those," Hannemann said. "So once again, I want to be real clear. I was not there when these things happen. And that's what I'm saying. I can go back. I know where the bones are buried, if you will, and we're going to be a different type of structure to it."

Hannemann said he's ready to remind people of what he accomplished during his two terms as Honolulu mayor. And he wants to rebuild trust in rail, positioning it as a way to rebuild the economy.

In this mayoral race, he will face off against Colleen Hanabusa, Rick Blangiardi, Kymberly Pine and Keith Amemiya among others. Hannemann is expected to file his candidacy at Honolulu Hale today (Monday, June 1).

Read more at KITV