From Deseret News archives:
Hola is confident of primary survival
John Lund was running against Hola for student body president at the University of Utah. They decided to go to lunch. Lund had what he now calls the "Hola experience," and decided he'd be not Hola's opponent but his running mate.
"I walked away smitten with the guy. I went back and said, 'I love the way you think, and I want to run as your vice president,' " Lund remembered. That was 1987, and the pair went on to win. Around that time, Hola told Lund he'd be mayor of Salt Lake City someday.
Now that Hola, 38, is in the race against incumbent Mayor Rocky Anderson and fellow challenger Frank Pignanelli, he's finding the road to elected office a bit rougher, of course. But talk to him or Lund, and you won't find even a shred of doubt that Hola will make it past the Oct. 7 primary election. Both are also positive he'll go on to win the mayor's seat on Nov. 4.
"He'll be a breath of fresh air when he takes office," Lund promised. "On the worst, rainiest, bleakest, coldest day, in Nai's eyes, it's beautiful weather. For him, the glass has never been half full. It's overflowing. And we need more of that."
"I was born in a hut," Hola will tell you right away. It was a coconut-leaf hut in Futu'mu, Tonga, where he lived with five siblings until 1970, when the family moved to Utah. Hola's great-grandfather had wanted to bring his family to America for educational opportunity. He never made it, and neither did his children. Hola's father, three generations later, fulfilled that wish.
But Hola remembers being terrified when, 6 years old and speaking almost no English, he set out for James E. Moss Elementary. When his mother put him on the school bus, "I was scared. And she must have been 10 times as scared."
Later that year, his teacher, Mrs. Armstrong, stuck a shiny green star onto Hola's forehead. He'd learned a lot of English in a short time, so she took him by the shoulders, turned him to face the class, and said, "He's a good boy."
And that experience, sweet and sentimental as it sounds, put Hola on the path to politics. School officials continued to bolster his confidence, saying they saw in him nascent leadership ability. At Granite Park Junior High, then-vice principal Bob Fitt urged Hola to run for student body president. He did, and later won the same posts at at Granite High School and the U.
Comments
- Salvadoran town buries dead 10:17 p.m.
- Strings attached to schools money 10:17 p.m.
- World datelines 10:16 p.m.
- 2A soccer all-state first team 10:11 p.m.
- Droid is cool computer in a phone 10:09 p.m.
- Jobless help extended 14 more weeks 10:08 p.m.
- Hotel rates may drop by 8.8% 10:08 p.m.
- Kraft's Cadbury bid starts tussle 10:07 p.m.
- Conference set for directors, officers 10:02 p.m.
- Seminar about body language 10:01 p.m.
- TCU showdown has big implications
- Seniors helped BYU regroup
- Lambert surprisingly tops news
- Hope for single moms
- Bystanders framed for child porn
- Korver and Miles to be evaluated
- Prep girls soccer MVPs named
- Utah Jazz Extra: Whose hot/not
- GOP blasts Matheson after vote
- Newhouse Hotel, an explosive end
- House passes health care bill
227 - TCU showdown has big implications
182 - Lobo suspended
182 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
154 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
115 - Thousands protest health bill
112 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - No 'backlash' for pioneers, gays analogy
96 - Utes pound winless Lobos
89
Meghan McCain, the daughter of former presidential candidate John...
Why do so many people live so close to refineries in Utah and elsewhere?
Lee is brilliant. I certainly hope "he's in". This guy is EXACTLY what we...
it doesn't say how late, it could have been 9:00
If Larry would have forked out this much money when we still had John and...
mrs parker is my hero(: DYNASTY
Strike one up for the good guys? I think not.
So why lie about the number of tea partiers? Why does Beck just play fast...
WOW people. come on. seriously. a win is a win. it doesnt matter how you get...
Want a great example of the disparity inherent in the BCS? It took...
Stats for the New York game: Kirilenko was 5-8 from behind the arc. That's...
Little Brothers and... | 7:53 p.m. Nov. 9, 2009 "BYU has done that [top 25...



You can be the first to comment on this story.