Contractors on Honolulu's $3.7 billion transit system and their employees have contributed $163,000 to Mayor Mufi Hannemann's re-election campaign.

Hannemann hopes to win a second four-year term on Nov. 4 and, so far, has no opponents.

Between November 2004, when Hannemann was elected, to December 2007, he has raised $2.26 million for his campaign, and $163,000, or 7.2 percent, has come from contractors involved in the planning of the project, their employees and families, according to an Advertiser search of Hawai'i Campaign Spending Commission records.

The $163,000 donation figure includes companies already receiving money from the city but does not include contributions from land owners and developers, labor unions, other future beneficiaries of the transit project.

The city plans to build a 20-mile elevated train connecting East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. The rail system is to open in phases from 2012 to 2018.

Transit contractor companies contributed $91,207 to Hannemann's prior mayoral campaign, which equated to 4.8 percent of the $1.92 million in total contributions raised from 2000-04.

LEGAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Hannemann's $163,000 compares with the $8,450 given by transit-contract employees to the five city council members up for reelection in November. That's 2.5 percent of the $333,193 raised by council members Todd Apo, Barbara Marshall, Ann Kobayashi, Romy Cachola and Nestor Garcia.

Ira Rohter, a political science professor at the University of Hawai'i, said the 7 percent figure is small, but only represents contributions from a portion of those parties poised to benefit from the transit project. The fact that people with a financial stake in the project contribute, doesn't mean the project is driven by campaign funds, Rohter added.

"Politics sometimes gets reduced to these simple crude arguments," he said. "Government spends money and people who benefit are well-organized and are going to make contributions because we have that kind of system. I don't think there's a corollary (that) therefore the mayor is only doing this because he's trying to collect campaign funds. That's just the way politics operates."

Companies with city contracts are banned from contributing to city political campaigns. However, employees of city contractors as well as subcontractors are allowed to give up to $4,000 each during the current mayoral campaign period, 2004-2008.

"It's important to point out that any and all contributions to the Hannemann campaign are legal and totally aboveboard," said Hannemann's spokesman, Bill Brennan, in an e-mail to the Advertiser.

Brennan said the mayor has no role in selecting the contractors for the rail project and the fact that only 7 percent of Hannemann's money came from rail-related contributors is noteworthy.

"Most reasonable people will acknowledge that 7 percent is indeed a small figure," Brennan said. "Ninety-three cents of every dollar contributed to the Hannemann campaign committee comes from donors not at all associated with the transit project."

Brennan added, "There are some who would like to create the impression that there is some sort of link between campaign donations and city contracts, but the reality is, as you have discovered, that is simply not the case."

MEETING NEEDS

Through Dec. 31, the most recent figures available, employees from Honolulu civil engineering consulting firm R.M. Towill Corp. contributed $24,800 to Hannemann's campaign. That's the most of any company working on the planned transit system.

R.M. Towill has a transit deal currently valued at $4.9 million, according to the city.

R.M. Towill is a subcontractor to New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff, which has an $86 million, two-and-a-half year transit contract with the city signed on Aug. 24, 2007.

Employees of Parsons Brinckerhoff contributed $17,175 to Hannemann's campaign during the same period. That figure includes former employees. Most of that money — $16,750 — came for Parsons Brinckerhoff employees with out-of-state addresses.

Employees of Honolulu consulting firm Lyon Associates Inc. contributed $12,000 to Hannemann's reelection effort, which ranked third among all companies working on the project. Executives for R.M. Towill and Lyon Associates declined to comment for this story.

Parsons Brinckerhoff said contributing to Hannemann's campaign makes sense because Hannemann is an ardent supporter of the project.

"We have an interest in supporting transit and supporting those people that we believe are strong advocates for infrastructure in general," said Parsons Brinckerhoff spokeswoman Judy Cooper. "Mayor Hannemann is somebody who has been a very strong advocate. We do that to show our support where we feel it's important and infrastructure is what we do."

Hundreds, if not thousands of businesses will likely work on the transit system. So far there have been three main transit contracts awarded by the city. At least 94 companies and advisers have worked on the project. Employees of 41 of those entities have contributed to Hannemann's campaign since Nov. 3, 2004.

Securing work on the project during these initial early stages could put businesses in a better position to receive follow-on work.

Parsons Brinckerhoff's current $86 million contract followed a prior $10.2 million city contract awarded to the company in 2005. Further, 20 of the 27 companies that worked on Parson Brinckerhoff's original contract to study transportation alternatives received follow-on work under the company's current deal, according to city records.

Hannemann has said decisions on which companies get transit business are left to the project's two current prime contractors — Parsons Brinckerhoff and InfraConsult LLC.

Parsons Brinckerhoff picks the best subcontractors possible, regardless of political considerations, Cooper said.

"This is not a political game," she said. "This is (about) how are we going to meet the needs of the client."