HILO — A mayoral candidate who was shut out of several Big Island forums said he’s filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union, believing nonprofits that sponsor forums are required to invite all candidates.
Paul Bryant, of Papaaloa, said Monday the ACLU Hawaii chapter is still processing his complaint, in which he names a number of nonprofits he thinks violated their IRS 501(c)3 nonprofit status by engaging in partisan campaign activities.
An ACLU spokeswoman declined comment, saying complaints are confidential.
Bryant and the other 12 candidates in the crowded field will get their chance to be on stage tonight, when the League of Women Voters and American Association of University Women Hilo sponsor what is billed as the county’s final and most comprehensive moderated mayoral candidate forum for 2016.
The public event, at Hilo’s Aunty Sally Kaleohano’s Luau Hale, is scheduled 5-7:30 p.m. The sponsors request no candidate shirts or signs in the hale.
The office of county mayor is open because Mayor Billy Kenoi is term-limited after serving eight years.
“I’m ticked off. I’m really ticked off,” Bryant said about being shunned at some other events. “It’s a disservice to the public.”
At issue for Bryant are candidate forums that selected what they considered the top three or four candidates in the crowded field of 13. The Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce used a candidate questionnaire to select participants, choosing eight for its forum. Others picked what the organization saw as the top candidates — generally Pete Hoffmann, Harry Kim, Wally Lau and a female candidate — and a scattering, such as the West Hawaii Association of Realtors, allowed all qualified candidates.
A July 14 forum in Hilo sponsored by a group of seven organizations allowed all candidates to set up tables, but allowed only four candidates on stage to respond to questions.
Candidates who are also on the ballot for mayor are Alvin Akina, Daniel Howard Cunningham, Marlene Hapai, Helen Olena Luta, Wendell Kaehuaea, Shannon McCandless, Gene Tamashiro, Timothy Waugh and Eric Drake Weinert Jr. All but Cunningham and Luta have agreed to participate in tonight’s forum.
The July 14 event was primarily organized for the benefit of the sponsoring organizations, while also being open to the public, said Miles Yoshioka, executive officer for the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, one of the seven organizations. He said the time and expenses for the event was handled by the organizations.
Others were the Big Island Press Club, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hawaii Island Realtors, Hawaii Island Contractors Association, Kanoelehua Industrial Area Association and the Hawaii Island Portuguese Chamber of Commerce.
“The candidates invited to the stage were selected by all participating organizations as those felt to have the experience needed to run our county government and who had been prior holders of prominent countywide or statewide positions in our community,” Yoshioka said. “There was no intent to slight any candidate.”
The nine candidates not invited to the stage were allowed to set up information tables to display their campaign material and meet with the public before and after the forum. Those who set up tables were mentioned by name by forum moderator Sherry Bracken.
The rules the Internal Revenue Services posted for nonprofits says educational events, including public forums, are allowed. However, educational events that “have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention,” under the IRS rules.
Bracken believes it’s important to give the better-known candidates as much time in front of the public as possible, even if it means the also-rans don’t get a chance to speak up. Some candidates on the ballot are single-issue candidates who simply don’t have the experience to run what in the mayoral race amounts to a $463 million corporation with more than 2,700 employees, she said.
“You can’t really spend the time you need to get at the heart of the matter,” Bracken said of a crowded stage. “The job is not just one issue.”
Nonprofit associations and good-government groups, however, recommend that all candidates be invited.
“It’s a best practice to invite all candidates,” said Lisa Maruyama, president and CEO of the Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations. “When doing an educational forum, it will be wise to invite everybody.”
Maruyama refers to guidelines published by Nonprofit VOTE, founded in 2005 by a consortium of state nonprofit associations and national nonprofit networks to help the nonprofit sector conduct nonpartisan voter participation and election activities.
Nonprofit VOTE lists three factors that make a candidate forum nonpartisan: All candidates for an office are invited. The rules of the forum don’t favor any candidate over another. The questions are fair.
Elizabeth Hansen, president of the American Association of University Women Hilo and a member of the forum committee with the League of Women Voters, said concerns about the groups’ nonprofit status weren’t the motivation behind their decision to invite all candidates.
“I think it’s right for everyone to have a voice,” Hansen said. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
Disclosure: Nancy Cook Lauer previously served on the board of the Big Island Press Club