District 6 candidate comments on arrest during Hyatt protest

HONOLULU—Honolulu City Council District 6 candidate Larry Fenton was arrested on Thursday, July 22 with 83 other people at a Local 5 hotel workers union protest in front of the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.

Fenton is not a member of Local 5, but is the Vice Chair of the Hawaii Democratic Party Labor Caucus. Active in efforts protecting the rights of workers, Fenton tells The Hawaii Independent that he was there to support members of a vital labor union and to promote his campaign for office in the race for Honolulu City Council District 6. Here are Fenton’s responses to questions asked by The Hawaii Independent about the protest and arrests:

On what specific charge were you arrested?
The charge listed on my bail/bond receipt is “Obedience to police officers 291C-23. A $50 bond was posted by Local 5 on my behalf.

Please describe your treatment by the Honolulu Police Department before, during, and after your arrest.
HPD gave adequate warning, were polite in their treatment of myself and everyone around me, and did a professional job from beginning to end. The whole matter was over in about 5 hours. I have no complaints.

In your article for The Hawaii Reporter, you stated that you and Local 5‘s Eric Gill argued about your presence at the protest. You are a strong advocate for labor, so please explain why he would object to your being at the protest.
It’s possible that Eric Gill didn’t know me well enough to gauge my determination on promoting Local 5’s cause. As Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party Labor Caucus, I feel it was my duty to side with those willing to risk arrest and place my commitment to workers ahead of my personal career, safety, or comfort. The corporate powers subjecting the workers to oppression and anxiety (due to no contract) or lack of job security have massive resources and the only way for us to fight back is through people power. That’s why I started the People Power Program for my campaign. We need to have a way to combat the social ills caused by corporations who rob communities of their human and land resources to trash the environment and lavish their senior executives and CEO’s with huge salaries and bonuses.

If an official of Local 5 objected to your presence at the protest, why did the union pay for your bail?
Eric told me that three-quarters of those he had talked to in Local 5 wanted me to stay in jail. I assume he made the decision to bail me out regardless of their opinion. It’s somewhat baffling to me but I am grateful none the less. I offered to give back the $50 for bail (even telling Eric that I had a receipt book with me to document it) but he refused.

See the responses of all District 6 candidates:

Lawrence Fenton 1| 2
Timothy Garry
Shawn Hamamoto 1
Frank Lavoie 1
Carlton Middleton 1
Sesnita Moepono
Dennis Nakasato 1
Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo 1
Robert Vieira 1
Christopher Wong 1