In his July newsletter, Rep. George Fontaine stated, "In the past two legislative sessions, we submitted funding requests to the finance committee for Kihei High School. However, we were unsuccessful at securing funding needed to begin construction."
Now that campaign season has heated up, the newsletter has been removed from his website, and Fontaine is claiming that it would've been premature to ask for funding then. This is untrue, as Sen. Roz Baker has gotten the funds on the Senate side. But it failed to make it to the House side under Fontaine. This is very misleading - typical political spin.
Despite what was reported from the candidate forum (The Maui News, Oct. 11), Kaniela Ing did not accuse Fontaine of letting Kihei high school funding lapse. However, Ing correctly pointed out that funding hasn't since been recovered.
We need someone who can work with the rest of the Maui delegation to pass laws and secure funding. While Fontaine has been working exclusively with the powerless minority caucus - evident in the hundreds of photos posted online and in newsletters - Ing's political weight and statewide network is extremely impressive and is exactly what South Maui needs.
We need honesty in government, not the same old political games of taking credit for colleagues' bills and misleading the public. This is why I'm voting for an extremely qualified, locally rooted and fresh candidate: Kaniela Ing for state House. Let's all join together and bring a fresh perspective by supporting Ing on Nov. 6.
Sara Ohashi
Kihei
