LETHEM SHOCKED BY GALUTERIA'S PRO-GAMBLING VIDEO

News Release from Lethem Campaign October 31, 2014

State Senate candidate Chris Lethem today expressed shock over the discovery that his opponent Brickwood Galuteria was recorded on a video endorsing gambling in Hawaii. The video was published November 21, 2012--just 15 days after Galuteria's re-election -- a 2012 campaign not coincidentally financed by some of gambling's biggest supporters.

"Here's another area where my opponent's actions offer voters in Waikiki, Moili'ili/McCully, and Kaka'ako a clear choice," Lethem said. "If you want gambling, including a lottery that slams low-income households hardest, vote Galuteria. But if you favor preserving Hawaii as a family-friendly visitor destination, leaving gambling to Las Vegas, vote Lethem."

Galuteria's video contains several passages Lethem found disturbing.

Galuteria speaks of "several trips" to Native American reservations that offer gambling, even acknowledging casinos there can "suck life out of their own."

Who paid for these trips?

To Galuteria, gambling on Native American land offers "a lot of great models" that "the Hawaiians can follow," but only "on the heels of reorganization of the Hawaiian government" (with the Hawaiian flag in the video background).

Galuteria is looking for Congressional backing, possible now that Sen. Inouye no longer blocks gambling's path. Sen. Inouye once said, "The worst thing we could hope to do for the state of Hawaii is to have gaming here."

Lethem asks, "So Galuteria -- who earns $50-$100,000 a year in a part-time job working for an OHA trustee -- not only wants luxury condos on OHA land, he also seeks to put casinos on Native Hawaiian land?"

Lethem doubts District 12 constituents share Galuteria's agenda.

The video can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtSXhLfR5m8

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