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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 10, 2006

Facilities may be named for Fasi, Mink

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Two city facilities would be named after former Mayor Frank Fasi, and the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink would have a sports complex named for her, under a pair of proposals at Honolulu Hale.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann this week proposed renaming the Civic Center and the Honolulu Municipal Building in Fasi's honor, citing his 22 years as mayor and earlier service as a territorial senator and city councilman.

"Mayor Fasi served longer than any other mayor of Honolulu and was recently named one of Honolulu's 100 most influential people by the Honolulu Centennial Commission," Hannemann said.

He said Fasi was instrumental in the construction of the Municipal Building and "the transformation of the Civic Center grounds from an asphalt parking lot to the park-like setting we enjoy today."

The City Council last month approved a policy change so public facilities can be named after former city officials who are alive. Fasi is 85.

Council members Donovan Dela Cruz and Ann Kobayashi introduced a resolution to rename the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Complex in honor of Mink.

Mink, a Democrat, represented Hawai'i in the U.S. House for 24 years and served on the City Council for four years.

She was a pioneer in women's rights and was principal author of Title IX, the federal law that requires gender equity in federally funded schools. After Mink died in 2002, that law was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act.

The resolution said renaming the soccer complex "would honor a political pioneer who transformed the city, state and nation."

Hannemann supported that move. "In her long and illustrious career, Congresswoman Mink, ably assisted by her husband John, left a permanent legacy of equality and justice for all Americans," he said.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.