City Council Member Charles Djou hoped to spend his 34th birthday yesterday celebrating the fact that an important piece of legislation he introduced in the Honolulu City Council passed third reading at the monthly Council meeting, only to go to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris for his signature.
A bill he introduced to give the city ethics commissioners teeth by allowing them to impose civil fines on those city employees who violated city ethics rules or laws had passed two readings and committee hearings with no opposition from any of the nine Honolulu City Council Members.
In committee, Djou had pointed out that because the commission has no power to fine anyone who has violated ethics rules or laws -- serious or otherwise -- that city employees continued to commit sometimes serious offenses getting just a "slap on the wrist" in the form of a letter.
The 8 other city council members initially backed him. That is until they felt the heavy hand of the Hawaii Government Employees Association executive director and attorney, who lobbied hard against the bill just days before final reading and at the council meeting yesterday saying it was unconstitutional. But the arguement by HGEA, which represents many of the city employees in collective bargaining, is not valid, Djou argues, because the counties of Maui and Hawaii, as well as counties in almost every other major America city, allow their ethics commissioners to issue civil fines.
However, despite Djou’s logic, HGEA had an influence over five of the nine council members who changed their vote after a more than three-hour debate at yesterday’s council meeting. That may be because HGEA lobbies hard for the elected official who support the union cause -- campaigning, signwaving, holding fundraisers and getting out the vote for those on their side, and working diligently to unseat those elected officials who are not. Two of those council members -- Rod Tam and Ann Kobayashi -- should likely have recused themselves from voting as both have been under scrutiny in recent months by the city ethics commission after complaints were filed against them, and they may have been subject to fines if the legislation went through. If they had recused themselves from voting, the measure would have passed. But they did not and the measure failed with Council Members Gary Okino, Mike Gabbard, Charles Djou and Donovan Dela Cruz voting in favor and Kobayashi, Tam, Barbara Marshall, Romy Cachola and Nestor Garcia voting against the measure ultimately killing it.
The lack of enforcement ability and privacy issues governing the ethics commission that prevent outsiders and the press from knowing what cases are discussed in monthly meetings, have fostered a downward spiral in the city, Djou said afterward in an interview with Hawaii Reporter.
A number of city officials and employees have been investigated by law enforcement, arrested and in some case convicted of crimes related to their lack of ethics. Djou argues that if they are stopped earlier from committing offenses through civil fines imposed by the city ethics commission that their behavior will become public sooner and they may never commit more serious offenses.
However, Djou has not had much support outside the initial City Council backing. That is probably because good behavior starts from the top. Unfortunately city employees who are supposed to be lead by example have not had a chief executive officer to set the bar high for good behavior. Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris has been under investigation for more than two years for an elaborate "pay to play" scheme in which contractors and other businesses say they are pressured to give campaign contributions -- often illegally -- in order to get city contracts, permits and zoning. More than 1,000 fines have been issued to contractors, most who got city contracts, permits or zoning, for giving illegal contributions in the pay to play conspiracy.
City Managing Director Ben Lee, who is second in command, has not helped maintain the dignity of his office either. He was caught red-handed stealing city property -- nearly 200 year old curb stones from Chinatown’s historic district -- to build a wall around his Honolulu home. A police report for theft was filed against him, although nothing public has happened in regard to his case to date.
Just under Lee on the career ladder is the city Department of Community Services Director Mike Amii, who pleaded no contest to a third-degree theft charge for ordering a staffer to work on Harris' political campaign.
Then there is a host of other city officials who have been prosecuted criminally for various crimes.
Aug. 28, 2001, then Honolulu City Council Chair Jon Yoshimura, a Democrat running for state Senate, acknowledging he lied when he told reporters he did not drink before a hit and run traffic accident in July 13, 1999. Yoshimura later pleaded no contest to the charge of leaving the scene of an accident and paid a $35 fine. A disciplinary board of the Hawaii Supreme Court recommended that Yoshimura be suspended from practicing law for 6 months because he lied to the public after that accident. In an unrelated matter, Yoshimura agreed last year to pay a fine of $3,532.06 to the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund after the state Campaign Commission investigated his campaign expenditures.
Dec. 6, 2001, Former Council Member Andy Mirikitani, a Democrat, was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison for a kickback and extortion scheme and must pay $6,884 in restitution. July 3, a federal jury found Mirikitani guilty of bribery, theft, extortion, wire fraud and witness tampering. Federal prosecutors say Mirikitani gave more than $26,500 in bonuses from his Council salaries account to staff aides.
May 24, 2002, eight of 15 Honolulu Liquor Commission inspectors, working under the Democrat-appointed liquor commissioner, were indicted on 57 counts of racketeering and extortion for allegedly taking bribes from bar owners in return for ignoring liquor law violations. The bribes and money extorted from the liquor licensees ranged from $20 to $1,000 per night. They targeted 45 Asian "hostess" clubs and other strip clubs of the more than 1,500 liquor licensees on the island of Oahu for cash. Currently the last of the perpetrators are on trial.
June 27, 2002, Former Council member Rene Mansho, a Democrat, member of the Honolulu City Council for 10 years, was sentenced to one year in prison, five years probation and a $25,000 fine. The fine was in addition to the $40,000 she previously paid the state Campaign Spending Commission, and the $40,000 in restitution she already paid the city. Mansho plead guilty to using her city employees and city facilities during city time to campaign for her and work for non-profit agencies she supported.
March 2003, Honolulu police Maj. Jeffrey Owens pled no contest to theft charges. He and another officer allowed $700 worth of beef and turkey purchased for criminals in holding cells to be consumed by officers under his command at the main station's Central Receiving Division.
There are many more offenses not documented here and many more being committed not yet known to the public, but likely the city ethics commissioners, who supported Djou’s legislation, are aware of.
Unfortunately, Djou says the bill did not pass, something that he says just "blows him away" and really disappoints him.
"I mean, my God, it is not as if we don’t have ethics problems in the city," he says.
Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii Reporter, via email at mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com
