July 29, 2010

Hawaii Carpenters Union Endorses Mufi Hannemann for Governor

Today the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 745, today announced their endorsement of Mufi Hannemann for Governor of Hawaii.  The carpenters union represents nearly 7,000 hardworking men and women in Hawaii. 

Carpenters Union financial secretary and business representative Ron Taketa pointed to Hannemann's leadership experience and steadfast support for Oahu’s rail transit project as just some of the reasons for the endorsement: 

"We have supported both democratic candidates in the past for different offices, but with the staggering problems confronting our industry and our state it is clear that we need a leader with the ability to bring people together and work on solutions, a leader with a proven record of supporting working families in Hawaii and a leader most of all with executive experience who can make the hard decisions, the right decisions to get Hawaii back on the road to recovery. With our endorsement today, the Hawaii Carpenters Union is committed to working as hard as we can to elect Mufi Hannemann as the next governor of Hawaii.”

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Honolulu Has Nation's “Premier” Rail Project

by Adrienne LaFrance, Civil Beat

Honolulu’s rail plan is "the premier transit project in the entire country,” the congressman who chairs the House transportation committee says. As chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Jim Oberstar is in a position to know. Via video conference from Washington, D.C., he and Congresswoman Mazie Hirono addressed dozens who gathered for the Summit on the State of Physical Infrastructure in Hawaii, presented Tuesday by the Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs (HIPA).  Oberstar's public comments echoed what city officials have said they've been hearing from Washington.

“This is vastly safer transit project than anywhere else in America,” Oberstar said. “It’s exceedingly well designed, and it has received the highest rating from the Federal Transit Administration.”

Read more on Civil Beat (subscription required)