UPDATE:  After publishing this letter, HFP was CCed on the following email from Larry Mehau's wife Beverly Mehau to John Carroll:

Thanks John, I just read your email and boy I am surely grateful that you have the guts to do something like this. You are what I call a true friend. Mahalo. I know that this is not the first time you've done this and I appreciate your kindness. Waiting to see your sign or signs on our fence. You want to make sure that your sign can be seen by anyone traveling to Honokaa or Waimea. Yes, you can stop by unannounced anytime.  

  UPDATE: Carroll for Governor banner now hanging on Mehau's front gate right next to Abercrombie banner.  May 11, 2010 

Dear Editor,

You have a story about Mehau and Abercrombie which I wish to address.  You can keep this  message confidential or publish or edit it as you see fit.

You are correct about the Abercrombie sign being on the Mehau fence.  You may know that Mufi was endorsed for the Governor’s race by the ILWU.   Larry Mehau is friends with Yoshito Takamine, Bobo Lapena, and Takashi Domingo.  The three have ties to ILWU and do not like Mufi.  They asked Larry to put the Abercrombie sign up on his fence.  He consented.

While Larry and his family have not openly endorsed my candidacy, they have allowed me to put my sign on that same fence and I believe that they are supporting my candidacy, not Abercrombie’s. 

I was concerned, in years past when I was in the State House, about allegations that Larry was a crime “God Father”.   I went to his home about 10:00 one night after hunting on Mauna Kea. I had been told by various persons who live in Waimea about the body guards, guard dogs and other security arrangements at his ranch.  I went there with Putman Clark, owner of Clark Realty.

It was about 10:00 pm when we arrived.   (I played football with Larry at UH in 1950, and had always considered him a friend.  I had an open invitation to come by…. Which is why I felt a late arrival would be acceptable.)  First, there was NO GATE blocking access to his home.  There were two dogs, one very large one that was decrepit and could hardly bark at all.  The second was a tiny one barking loudly, but certainly no guard capability.  There were NO BODY GUARDS, just his wife and he.  The front door did not have a visible latch.  He welcomed Putty and me warmly as did his lovely wife.

Over the next twenty years, 1977 through 2000, I have witnessed Larry on the highway, alone, putting in fence posts.  I have ridden my bicycle into his barn without  being stopped or questioned by workers (1 or 2) and with helmet, dark riding goggles no way to see who I was. 

I wrote an article a number of years back called “The Myth that Hurts”.  It was published in at least one of the dailies.  The thrust of the article is that Larry is definitely not a “God Father”, not a hated and feared person, but a man who has helped many people over the years and politicians in both parties, including Andy Anderson and Pat Saiki.  Each time this comes up it hurts his whole family, and I feel compelled to tell what I know about this in order to at least limit the hurt the family members endure each time this specter is raised. 

Signed

John Carroll

(John Carroll is a candidate for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination.)

RELATED: Larry Mehau supporting Neil Abercrombie