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Role in Atay ad

We would like to clarify our role in the complaint filed by Mayor Alan Arakawa over a campaign ad that appeared in the Maui Fair tabloid in The Maui News on Sept. 30. The ad for incumbent candidate Alika Atay featured his County Council address and not his campaign address; County Charter provisions clearly state that a candidate’s election activities need to be separate from his or her official governmental duties.

When making the ad purchase, we were instructed by officials with Atay’s campaign to pick up an ad that appeared in an earlier Barrio Fiesta tab. That ad originally had Atay’s 200 S. High St. council office address but was changed to a Kahului post office box at the campaign’s request.

The uncorrected ad with the High Street address was picked up and slated for publication in the fair tab. However, as with all ads in The Maui News, the buyer is given a final proof, must approve the proof or request corrections and ultimately is responsible for its content.

Atay’s campaign approved the proof for the ad that ran in the fair tab without corrections.

It also should be noted that the initial ad came in without a mailing address. As a result, The Maui News inserted the mailing address on the email communication from the campaign, which came from Atay’s council office.

Atay was given the opportunity to respond to the story about Arakawa’s Ethics Board filings, published Oct. 25, and has not returned calls or emails.

Atay’s campaign has requested a refund and publication of a corrected ad. We will be refunding the cost of the ad but not running a correction.

* Editorials reflect the opinion of the publisher.

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