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STAR-ADVERTISER / APRIL 16, 2008
Rod Tam, then a city councilman, is seen at a Council meeting on the mass transit system.
Rod Tam, a former Honolulu City Councilman and state lawmaker who five years ago pleaded guilty to 26 misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor counts of theft and falsifying documents, is now attempting to make a political comeback as a Republican.
Tam, 62, filed Monday to run for the open District 13 state Senate seat that includes Downtown Honolulu, Nuuanu, Iwilei and Liliha. That seat is being vacated by longtime Democratic Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland, who has announced she will not run for re-election this year.
Tam was elected as a Democrat to the state House from 1982 to 1994, and to the state Senate from 1994 to 2002. He was elected to the city council in 2002, where he remained until he made an unsuccessful bid to become Honolulu mayor in 2010.
Late in his time in office Tam became publicly entangled in investigations into alleged misconduct, and in 2011 the court ordered him to serve two days in jail and 300 hours of community service after pleading guilty in June of that year to the 26 misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor counts.
Those charges were related to overcharging the city for meals at Honolulu restaurants from 2007 to 2009.
Tam pleaded no contest to eight misdemeanor counts of violating campaign spending laws by falsely claiming he had a meal with a volunteer at a restaurant, failing to report two campaign contributions, misusing campaign funds and failing to maintain receipts to verify expenses.
In March 2010, the Ethics Commission fined Tam $2,000 and ordered him to pay $11,700 in restitution for using city funds to buy “hundreds” of meals totaling more than $22,000 unrelated to his city work.
In 2012 the Ethics Commission also fined Tam $813.53 for misusing city funds to buy city employees appreciation lunches and for a Chinese dinner for foreign delegates. Those cases dated back to 2009 and 2010.
Tam refused to discuss his attempt at a political comeback today when reached by telephone, and said all media requests for comment would be routed through his campaign manager. He also refused to discuss his decision to run as a Republican.
Also running for the Dist. 13 Senate seat is state Rep. Karl Rhoads, 53, who is now the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; and former Board of Education Member Kim Coco Iwamoto. Iwamoto is currently a member of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission.
Keone John Nakoa and Harry Ozols have also filed to run for the Senate seat.
you cannot be serious…
Republicans brought us the bizarre tv entertainer Trump and now Tam? Have they no pride left?
Well, the democrats gave us Shillary Clinton who is more worried about allowing illegal aliens into the US and transgender restrooms than actual US political issues.
I thought immigration policy decision is one of the biggest political issues of our time. Guess it don’t matter to you since you’re “native” Hawaiian and you got subjugated by the white racists a long time ago and loving your status as a second rate American?
And flasher Anthony Weiner. We have seen both parties whose VPs had foot-in-mouth disease, like Dan Quayle and Joe Biden. Look, folks, party does not matter, they are all politicians.
Only a LibRat would do that…Hey Rod stay in your corral you rat!
Takes one to know one!
That’s right, Trump is a racist. His rallies have Mexicans waving flags, burning the American flag, rioting, assaults. Viva La Raza. Viva Mexico.
White seperatists and white supremists burn the American flage just as much, if not more often. Your Mormon leader, Romney probably would never have had a chance to run for US Prez. if guys like Trump kept him and his criminal Mexican father out of the country.
And what did Democrats bring us? A community organizer to lead the free world. Heaven help us for the mess he created.
Oh, but they are. I’m still giggling at this.
He must be hungry!
Next stop, Zippys.
Not on my watch.
Sure, we all know that the republicans are so desperate to field qualified candidates they will take thieves and crooks. Seems about right for them.
Why is Crokked Lyin hiLIARy firmly planted on your side then?
“Crooked”..have to get that right.
Although I’m not in his district, Rod “Zippy” Tam is the man. His mistakes were peanuts compared to those already on the payroll. Makes his district race interesting.
There are many in his district who really like the guy. Never under estimate the power of a free plate lunch.
true enough..Tam is small potatoes compared to what many others got away with.
Let him run.. free Zippys for a year.. thats the level of importance of Hawaii politics…
First a Democratic then moving “to be” a Republican. Smells like Cayetano is playing chess. He opposes rail then supports Djou for US Senate seat. Cayetano is no better.
So a former convict can run for office? Can he vote for himself, too?
Go away…go! go!……..
joke
Republicans don’t want you either.
Does this guy not get IT?
OMG! Can’t believe Rod ‘The Thief’ Tam is back ! He needs to go back to jail. District 13 don’t vote for him.
When he was in the city council he wanted to turn Koko Head into a rubbish dump. Ai sus?
Think the public has forgotten your past transgressions, Rod?
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!Don’t you just love politicians?
Best of Luck Rod!
don’t worry, he won’t win, he is a loser.
he looks tired. time for a nap.
Aha! Somebody else who remembers “Tam Time.” (For those new to our unique brand of political entertainment, Mr. Tam once offered a bill to provide mandatory nap time for State Employees to “improve productivity.”)
And snacks…
You’ve got to be kidding me! One of the political Kings of dishonesty, deceit and distrust, “Triple D” Tam at its worst. Taking his family to expensive dinners, then saying he misremembered and thought it was for meetings with his constituents. Isn’t he the one that proposed legislation to have naps for City workers to improve productivity? Wait it gets even better, another one of his ideas was to have snacks available to the workers too. Tam, like Cahola, Mirikatani and Mansho must think that the public has the same mental capacity and memory as himself. Just people in his district remember how bad he was.
Why are you just identifying a few wrongdoers? There have been many more, some charged with more serious crimes.
Really? Get a clue! Not trying to cite every crooked politician in Hawaii. Just trying to make a point.
The list would be lengthy and we would forget what the story was about!
Get a clue! I’m making a point too.
Life is full of surprises!
I thought we had buried this criminal (theft and falsifying documents) a long time ago. Now he wants back in. He is not suitable for a position of trust in the State Legislature.
Born again?
Maybe he’s a Mormon.
moron you mean……….
Switching party affiliation is odd. Being a crooked politician, he fit right in as a Democrat.
Not really, he’s proving that being a crooked politician with no self esteem isn’t limited to any one political party and anyone who thinks so is as clueless as this guy.
Tam probably saw Hillary cinch the nomination today and thought – criminals can still win elections, I can do this!
You’ve got to admit, ole “Zippy” Rod has name recognition and in Hawaii we tend to vote for names familiar to us. Who are the other folks running? Never heard of them. If crooked Hillary can run, so can Tam. I feel the Bern.
Oh geez. Enough. You guys who hide behind pseudonyms and make trolling comments and then go self-pleasure while your wives are actually attending to business are really pathetic. I don’t like Rod Tam much. I’ve actually met him and spoken with him. How about a movement on this forum to have people who are not afraid to back up opinions with their names?
My name is James Petersen and I live in Mililani and I’m not ashamed of my opinions nor do I try to snipe at people from behind a tree. I give credit where it’s due and criticism where it’s warranted. I’m going to try to change my screen name to my real name.
Mr. Petersen, it is a free country and we are all given the opportunity to choose between using pseudonym or our names. All of us choose the former. Personally, whatever your choices doesn’t matter with me, because your opinions and postings are always appreciated and with much admirations. It also doesn’t mean we are in agreement with all the subjects/topics that appeared in the daily forums! Good luck!
Godspeed, Mr. Tam!
i no vote for ca ca roaches
Hath this man no shame?
Will he be running under the “Hawaii People Have Short Memories” platform?
Oh, that. Then he’ll do fine.
Let’s see how many id!ots try to get this guy back in office. On top of his blatant theft of public money, I believe he was the same guy that referred to Mexicans as “wet-backs” then tried to say that he didn’t realize it was a derogatory term. What a loser.
Jonas wrote: I believe he was the same guy that referred to Mexicans as “wet-backs” – YES he did. Very sad indeed. Sadly Jonas unlike you most voters have a short memory or voter amnesia.
Yes Rod “wet back” is and has been a derogatory term for decades!
Next clown showing up at the circus will be Nestor Garcia!!!
is he serious? he committed a crime while in the city council and now he wants to do likewise as member of the state senate? he must be delusional.
No. Please, no.