Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Monday, December 20, 2010
LoPresti: Espero saw Dudley vandalize signs (UPDATE)
By News Release @ 11:21 PM :: 12977 Views :: Honolulu County, Politicians

UPDATE Dec 20:  Espero and Dudley commented on LoPresti's allegations today on Civil Beat.  Here are the relevant quotes:

But Espero said that isn't quite what happened.

"LoPresti twisted what I said, completely," Espero told Civil Beat. "I didn't witness any vandalizing of signs. I did not witnessing Dudley remove the signs from the ground, but what I did tell Matthew LoPresti was that when I drove past it was in the ground, and five minutes later it was out of the ground, and Dudley was there sign-waving. It could have been him, but really, I didn't witness it."

When asked about the accusation, Dudley laughed heartily.

"You know, anything LoPresti says is a lie," Dudley said. "God help us. No, good Lord, no I don't take down other people's signs."

UPDATE Dec 24:  Hawai'i Free Press received a response from Dudley: 

Interestingly, this went to my junk mail where I found it today. Sometimes, when you just let things take their own course, they self-identify and set their own direction accordingly, as this did in finding its way to my junk mail.

Dr. Kioni Dudley

Press Release from Matthew S. LoPresti, Ph.D.

Aloha,

Unfortunately, I want to announce some very sad news.  My grass-roots campaign is running on an extremely tight budget and about 95% of my $600 budget has gone to purchasing signage. I do not understand why, but about A FULL THIRD of the signs I have posted from Ewa Beach to Makaha have been stolen. I have been told that this sort of thing is normal, but I have a hard time believing it when only my signs go missing while certain candidates’ signs only grow in presence.  I am essentially out of signs at this point and my sign campaign has been utterly destroyed by thieves. This is a very important issue, not only because of the sign stealing but because who seems to be behind at least some of it.

Please know that this comes from and can be verified by another candidate, Jason Espero, who this morning informed me that he saw Kioni Dudley removing both my signs and the signs of Rose Martinez this morning in Kapolei (at the corner of Farrington Hwy. and Fort Barrette Road). He said that he would be willing to talk to the media to confirm this story as well as the other disturbing things that happened when Espero was there in the presence of Mr. Dudley.

When I arrived, Dudley was just leaving and Espero told me what happened. As I was picking up and replacing my signs as well as Ms. Martinez's signs (it wouldn't be right to just leave hers on the ground) Dudley drove by pointing and laughing like a mad man as he drove back up towards his home in Makakilo. It was really disconcerting. Again, this comes from not just me, but is verifiable from another candidate as well. It seems that Dudely also cursed out Espero's elderly grandfather while they were sign waiving near one another too.

I bring this to your attention out of sincere aim to call for a higher level of respect among candidates, not just to point fingers. I cannot be any more sincere about this than I truly am. I'm not a politician, just an ordinary citizen who decided to enter the race to fight for my community and the sorts of things I have witnessed as a candidate thus far are just appalling. (Not the least of which is having this millionaire who seems to gleefully destroy the property of a struggling middle-class workingman like myself.)

The saddest part of all of this is that Dudley did this after I sent him and his family the warmest possible Christmas wishes possible yesterday and he responds by tearing down his opponents’ signs. Please do something about exposing this sort of behavior - it is most disturbing.

In closing: PLEASE know that I desperately want to talk about the issues with the other candidates as well as with the people of district 1, but I have been and am being systematically silenced by actions like the above. And yet I have such important and fresh ideas and solutions to share. It is not about me winning, it is about our community being well served by honest and upstanding candidates, who follow the rules, respect one another, and therefore respect the community they are trying to serve.

This is sadly becoming a major issue in and of itself since the speech of candidates like myself are being systematically and shockingly silenced by the misbehavior of other candidates. A mockery is being made of free and fair democratic elections in this race. If that is also not an issue worth covering, I honest to God do not know what is.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Matthew S. LoPresti, Ph.D.

www.mslopresti.com

NOTE: Hawai’i Free Press has requested comment from Espero and Dudley.  We will update this posting if they respond. 

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT