The heated campaign between Tommy Waters and Trevor Ozawa in the special election for the Honolulu City Council’s District 4 seat continues to stir controversy.
The Oahu Democratic Party chairman for East Honolulu sent an unusual email to party members this week calling out former Honolulu City Councilmember Trevor Ozawa for the unauthorized use of another party official’s photo on a campaign flyer.
The email from Donald Koelper to area Democrats said Ozawa’s prominent use of the photo falsely implied an endorsement by Cynthia Jarrell, the party’s District 18 chair.
Although Koelper doesn’t refer to Ozawa by name, his email links to a video in which Jarrell describes her efforts to have her photo removed from Ozawa campaign materials. Both Jarrell and Koelper say that, as party officials, they have stayed neutral in the race. Jarrell says Ozawa reneged on an agreement to cease distribution of the flyer until her photo was removed.
Here’s a lengthy excerpt from Koelper’s email.
Dear East Honolulu Democrats:
This is a rather unpleasant message to write, given my position as Region 1 Chair. However, I feel as though I would be derelict in my duty if I did not express to you my profound concern over recent events in our special election for the City Council District 4 seat, a race in which two Democrats are competing.
To start off, I would like to share with you this YouTube video in which District 18 chair Cynthia Jarrell explains her own interaction with one of these two candidates:
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zla5q-Wh3H8&feature=youtu.be
I can confirm to you that Ms. Jarrell shared with me her concern over this matter from the very outset, because she was concerned that the unauthorized use of her photo in a campaign flyer would be construed by some voters as an endorsement – which it was, unfortunately. I had already received several phone calls from members asking me whether party officials were taking sides in this race.
She had also informed me of her conversation with this particular candidate within an hour of its occurrence. Further, she told me he had assured her this very same evening that his campaign would cease to distribute the brochures in question to district voters. Unfortunately, he then failed to keep his word. The flyers with Ms. Jarrell’s photo continued to be distributed during the succeeding weeks.
While I am disappointed in this candidate’s behavior, I’m no longer surprised, as this sort of high-handedness has been reported to me by various east Honolulu Democrats for quite some time now. I will say on the record at this point, however, that this conduct is completely unbecoming of any candidate who seeks to run as a professed Democrat, even if this particular race so happens to be nonpartisan, as all City and County elections are….
Because both candidates in the City Council special election are Democrats, I have refrained from formally endorsing either one in my capacity as Region 1 chair for the Democratic Party, this race, as have Cynthia Jarrell (Chair, Dist. 18), Nick Kacprowski (Chair, Dist. 17) and John Choi (Chair, Dist. 19). This is the right and proper thing to do. What’s NOT okay is for any candidate to use our photos in campaign literature to imply otherwise without first obtaining our prior concurrence and written permission.
This message to you should not be construed by anyone as an endorsement. I am merely informing you of something that happened which I believe Democrats in Region 1 should be aware, if you aren’t already. That said, I encourage you to please vote in this special election for the candidate which you feel would best represent our district on the Honolulu City Council.
However, I am now putting everyone on notice that henceforth, we will not look the other way as party protocols are deliberately flouted by candidates who are professed Democrats, and who are seeking an undue advantage with misleading insinuations and allusions involving party officials.
Aloha,
DONALD R. KOELPER | Chair, Region 1 (Dists. 17-19, Kalama Valley to Diamond Head)
O’ahu County Committee | Democratic Party of Hawai’i
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Happy to report my ballot for Waters has been sent in!
Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident. It certainly is behavior unbecoming of a candidate, but is SOP for Trevor Ozawa along with the lies on his fliers.
Does this mean you Dems will throw baby Twevor out with the bath water? One can only hope…
Ozawa is desperate! We need to know, thank you,! Regular TV and paper news misses so much now, you have see everything to get less than half. I can vividly remember watching TV news in 1970’s Bob Sevey had so much depth with his team. And the newspaper once had something to read other than wire stories and we had half the current population. Media access today is like the old Soviet controlled Pravda even PBS and Olelo – We pay for public access, good luck!
Both these candidates have gone absolutely bananas! Thousands of $$ wasted on name signs and throwaway flyers. I’ve received at least 30 that go directly to the trash.
Instead of who makes the most rubbish and best shaka technique, I vote for who collects Most Glass, Most Cigarettes and Most Plastic from the beach. Ready set go!
Interesting review of each parties Campaign Spending contributor list shows Barbara Ankershmit famed Hawaii political poller donating to Ozawa. Interesting because in Gov. Ben Cayetano’s book on how he got elected and re-elected he devoted an entire chapter to her in gratitude for her superior guidance. Also interesting when poll’s show your behind you always want more debates.