FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                 January 20, 2006

Release M-5-06

MAYOR WILL INSPECT VANCOUVER AND LAS VEGAS TRANSIT SYSTEMS

AND ATTEND U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS MEETING

            Mayor Mufi Hannemann departs Saturday evening (January 21, 2006) for a North American trip in which he will inspect the rail transit systems in Vancouver, B.C., and Las Vegas, Nev., and attend a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C.

            Vancouver’s SkyTrain light rail transit system opened in 1986 and has been extended several times. Mayor Hannemann will be joined by City Councilmen Todd Apo and Gary Okino on Monday, January 23, when he meets with SkyTrain officials and rides the system.

            After that, Hannemann will go to Washington, D.C., for the 74^th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He also plans to meet with members of Hawaii’s Congressional delegation, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and other officials of the federal government.

            Following that, on his way home to Honolulu, Hannemann will stop in Las Vegas to meet with officials of the Las Vegas Monorail Co., the non-profit corporation that operates the rail transit system there, and tour their transit system.

            Hannemann is scheduled to return to Honolulu on Sunday, January 29. While he is out of the state, Managing Director Jeff Coelho will serve as acting mayor.

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Contact:

                  Bill Brennan, 527-6928

                  Mark Matsunaga, 527-5784