Frank Fasi

Frank Francis Fasi (August 27, 1920 – February 3, 2010) was an American politician who was the longest-serving mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii, serving for 22 years. He also served as a territorial senator and member of the Honolulu City Council. To date, he remains the last Republican mayor of Honolulu.

Early life

Frank Francis Fasi was born on 27 August 1920 in East Hartford, Connecticut, to Sicilian immigrants Carmelo and Josephine Lupo Fasi. He finished 7th out of his class of 476 in high school, and graduated from Trinity College where he had been a history major on an academic scholarship.

Fasi tried to join the United States Marine Corps after graduation from Trinity. The Marines turned him down because of his color blindness. On his second try, he hired a friend to take the eye test for him, and he became a Marine.

Political career

In 1958, Fasi entered politics, winning his first race to represent his district in the senate of the Territory of Hawaii. He then joined the Republican Party to stage a comeback and defeated Anderson in the 1984 election, returning to Honolulu Hale once again and serving as mayor through 1994, when he resigned to seek the Hawaii governorship. After losing his 2004 bid for the office of mayor, Fasi, then 84 years old, announced that he would not run for office again. , he is the last Republican to have served as Mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Fasi served 22 years as the mayor of Honolulu, the longest cumulative tenure of any Honolulu mayor. John P. Craven ran against Fasi in the party's primary. Fasi lost the general election, but his party lives on as the Aloha Āina Party of Hawaii, with which it merged in 1997.

Indictment for corruption Fasi was indicted for bribery in 1977 on charges of accepting $500,000 in bribes. The charges were later dropped.

Legacy Much of Honolulu retains reminders of the Fasi era. He opened the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, and established TheBus, a public transportation system. Fasi also invented and built the Satellite City Hall system, established one of the nation's largest elected neighborhood board systems, and pushed for the construction of the H-POWER waste-to-energy plant. Fasi created the Summer Fun recreational program for children and the annual Honolulu City Lights winter festival. Fasi popularized the shaka, a local hand gesture, when he ordered it to become the city's signature logo and printed on all city signs and publications. He is also credited with transforming the Capitol District by bulldozing massive parking structures near the Hawaii State Capitol, Iolani Palace and Kawaiahao Church to create large parcels of green space known as the Honolulu Civic Center. He also created a central office building for many of the city's departments.

In recognition of Fasi's service to Honolulu, Mayor Mufi Hannemann renamed both the Civic Center and the Municipal Building in July 2006. In order to do so, the Honolulu City Council amended its charter with the passage of Bill 76 (2005) CD 1, FD 1, which bypassed a ban on naming city and county sites in honor of living persons. The Mayor Frank F. Fasi Civic Center and Mayor Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building now stand as memorials to him.

Death Fasi died at his home of natural causes on February 3, 2010. He was 89.

Organization membership

Frank Fasi was a member of the following organizations:

American Legion Rotary International Sigma Nu Veterans of Foreign Wars

Electoral history +Frank F. Fasi Election Summary Year Race Election Party Outcome 1958 Territorial Senator General Democrat Won 1959 Congress Class 1 Senator Special Democrat Lost 1965 Honolulu City Councilman General Democrat Won 1967 Honolulu City Councilman General Democrat Won 1968 Mayor of Honolulu General Democrat Won 1972 Mayor of Honolulu General Democrat Won 1974 Governor of Hawaii Primary Democrat Lost to George R. Ariyoshi (D) 1976 Mayor of Honolulu General Democrat Won 1978 Governor of Hawaii Primary Democrat Lost to George R. Ariyoshi (D) 1980 Mayor of Honolulu Primary Democrat Lost to Eileen Anderson (D) 1982 Governor of Hawaii General Independent Democrat Lost to George R. Ariyoshi (D) 1984 Mayor of Honolulu General Republican Won 1988 Mayor of Honolulu General Republican Won 1992 Mayor of Honolulu General Republican Won 1994 Governor of Hawaii General Best Lost to Benjamin J. Cayetano (D) 1996 Mayor of Honolulu General Nonpartisan Lost to Jeremy Harris (N-P) 2000 Mayor of Honolulu General Nonpartisan Lost to Jeremy Harris (N-P) 2003 Congress 2nd District Special Nonpartisan Lost to Ed Case (D) 2004 Mayor of Honolulu General Nonpartisan Lost to Mufi Hannemann (N-P)