I first bumped into former Honolulu mayor Frank Fasi on a high-school field trip to Honolulu Hale. Fasi had revamped City Hall into a more statesmanlike structure, and his office had quite interesting accommodations. He got out his high-back chair to chat with the students, and it was such an interesting piece of furniture that I took a picture of it. The mayor got obviously annoyed. “Why aren’t you taking pictures of ME?” he said. I was about 15 years old at the time and unable to frame a logical answer. Probably still can’t.
Fasi was one of those old-school politicians who took care of his own, as long as they took care of him. He was good for the city, as he recognized that urban life is an extension of a family dwelling and the role of the godfather in charge is to take care of business. No bus system because HRT is out on strike? Well, Fasi just went out and bought busses and created a new system. And so he was also a control freak, which is an excellent philia for a city manager but not for a politician. He was never able to understand that newspapers are by nature independent and ornery and should never be house organs for politicians. And so both Honolulu dailies became enemies in his eyes, something that delighted the editors.
Fasi had heart problems in the ’80s, and he seemed to change after surgery. Instead of joisting with opponents, it became personal and rough. It was like he somehow became meaner and bitter. It was too bad. He really wanted to become governor, but that brass ring kept eluding him.
An example: Some time ago I did one of those goofy feature stories that readers like. The idea was simple. Drivers’ license photos were the great leveler. Everyone hates their drivers’ license photo. And so we copied the drivers’ license photos of as many Hawaii people as we could think of whose faces were familiar to the public. Every one of them immediately got the joke and pulled out their license. All except one, that is. Fasi started yelling about how the concept was a newspaper plot aimed against him.
And then, after the piece ran, Fasi complained that he wasn’t included.
Well, that was Frank F. Fasi for you. If he wasn’t in the mayoral drivers’ seat, nobody got to drive. But when he was in the drivers seat, he was generally a good driver.