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| Malia Zimmerman |
A Scene From the Twilight Zone … Fishman Gets Ethics Appointment
It was like a scene from the television episode "The Twilight Zone" -- Bob Fishman was confirmed to the City Ethics Board and no members of the Honolulu City Council even challenged that appointment or asked him any questions. He just breezed right through confirmation.
But Fishman, who has had his ethics questioned on many occasions by the state auditor and Senate Tourism Committee because he used his government positions to fill his own pocketbook, should have been questioned intensely and then turned down as a candidate.
Not just because his ethics have been questioned during his long government career (he has had more government appointments than can be counted on at least one of his hands). But also because one of those government positions was as Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' number two man as managing director of the city. A fact in itself that should prevent him from being one of 6 ethics commissioners who oversees the ethical behavior of the mayor, his administrators, elected city officials and city employees.
So what does an ethics commissioner do? City Ethics Director Chuck Totto says the commission of 6 (still one vacant position) reviews complaints coming into the city from the public or city employees, looks at proposed city legislation and policy issues and oversees whistleblower cases. No ethics commission reports typically become public with the exception of the review of former Council Member Rene Mansho who went to prison for a year for her legal violations.
But Democrat political observers are concerned with Fishman's placement on the commission. They feel the mayor, who is close with Fishman and notorious for going after and retaliating against council members who challenge him, will use Fishman to lean on those council members who don't run the Council as the mayor might deem appropriate.
They also are worried by Fishman's recent public coziness with U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and Rep. Neil Abercombie, as they believe these congressional leaders are sending a signal to other Democrat elected officials that they will support Fishman in the next mayoral election in 2004 (Fishman has not said he'd run for mayor). The scenario Democrats believe will play out: Harris, who cannot run for mayor in 2004 because of term limits, will ask the current managing director Ben Lee to leave (Lee is facing criminal charges for taking city historical property and using it in his home). Then Harris will reinstate Fishman in the managing director position, so should he resign early, possibly due to the city and state investigations into his administration and campaign, Fishman will be acting mayor and thus have an advantage in the 2004 election.
Though Fishman is popular in some Democrat circles, there are others who see him as a liability and a threat.
He worked for the Hawaii Democrats in one capacity or another over the last three decades and his ties are strong, particularly to former Govs. George Ariyoshi, (governor from 1974 to 1986), and John Waihee (governor from 1986 to 1994). Fishman also accepted other state bureaucratic appointments, working as the general manager of the Aloha Stadium and the head of the Hawaii Tourism Authority. He briefly was employed at Hawaiian Airlines as a vice president and serves as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.
In addition to working in the state government, Fishman was employed with the City and County of Honolulu from 1994 to 1998 as the managing director under Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris. That Harris connection paid off when Fishman ran for Honolulu City Council as Harris and key administrators were the key forces behind Fishman's Council campaign. Fishman's victory, undermined by Charles Djou, would have secured a desperately needed ally on the Council for the mayor to target adversaries of Harris on the Council and shift the balance of power away from those who question Harris' budget and policies to those who rubber stamp them.
But there are even people within the city workforce who do not like Fishman and blame him for major scandals that occurred under his watch. While Fishman was employed as the managing director of the city, the biggest scandal ever to hit Hawaii's government occurred -– the theft of nearly $6 million in city taxpayer funds by city Property Management Branch Chief Michael Kahapea at Ewa Villages. Kahapea in October 2000 was charged with 47 counts, then went to trial, then was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each of five counts of first-degree theft for stealing $5.8 million from the city's Ewa Villages relocation project. Prior to his arrest and conviction, Kahapea was awarded with the Employee of the Year status at the City & County of Honolulu. Michael Kahapea claimed at the time that supervisors instructed him to misuse money from the Ewa Villages revitalization project.
It seemed scandal followed Fishman to his next government position. Later, as head of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Fishman's leadership ability, honesty and integrity were questioned by the state auditor and the head of the Senate tourism committee.
The audit, issued in 2001 by the state auditor reported the Hawaii Tourism Authority "is plagued by an alarming array of management deficiencies" and that the board has "failed to provide the vision, leadership, and direction necessary to ensure that the authority achieves its primary mission." The auditor went on to say in a scathing report that the authority's strategic planning process was deficient, and measuring the direct impact of the authority's efforts is difficult.
The report harshly criticized Fishman because he awarded himself through a company called Fishman Enterprises Inc. a lucrative contract that exceeded a half a million dollars. "We found suspect the history and justification behind the authority's decision to contract with Fishman Enterprises, Inc. for up to $546,000 in compensation (plus certain expenses) to serve as chief executive officer overseeing the staff and operations of the authority for a three-year period. Also, the contract contains a number of unfavorable provisions. For example, the contract allows the State to terminate the contractual relationship with Fishman Enterprises for a number of causal reasons, but not for 'poor performance.'"
The auditor's report also said the HTA had unclear and deficient management and operational leadership under Fishman. "For example, the authority has yet to establish some of the basic organizational fundamentals and controls; this has led to internal conflict over the role board members should play in the authority's operations. Moreover, we found that the board should have been more careful about ethics laws and public meeting laws. Furthermore, we found that inadequate management of the authority has not ensured the appropriate use of $144.5 million in state resources."
The auditor said the HTA was doing a poor job in its accounting, as it was unable to adequately account for its significant financial and human resources. The report cited since HTA's inception, the awarding of about 390 contracts and agreements totaling over $137 million." The report said the "failure of Fishman Enterprises to ensure the implementation of adequate internal controls over contracting has resulted in serious deficiencies in the contracting process and opens the authority to waste and fraud."
Without this contracting framework, which should include written policies and procedures, the authority is also missing key documents supporting the contracting process and is inadequately monitoring contracts, the auditor wrote.
The bottom line: if Fishman was truly ethical, he would have declined the position without hesitation. But he didn't. He just gave a speech about how honored he was to be on the commission and a friend of his, Gary Slovin, a lobbyist and attorney, gave a speech about how ethical and terrific Fishman is.
And now by acting foolishly or cowardly, council members screwed themselves by not demanding an ethics member with more independence from the mayor. That will come back to haunt them if they cross they mayor, whether that becomes public or not.
Other Democrat candidates for mayor also should see the writing on the wall. The Democrat leaders are setting Fishman up to seem ethical by putting him on the ethics commission as to prepare him for a run for higher office. Hopefully the voters see right through that -- they did in 2002, when they overwhelmingly voted in Council Member Charles Djou over Fishman for the council seat.
For more information on the City Ethics Commission, see http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/ethics
New City Auditor Has Big, Big Job Ahead
Les Tanaka, the city of Honolulu's first ever auditor, has a big job ahead of him.
Yesterday in a brief interview with Hawaii Reporter, Tanaka says his small department with just two staff members is in the process of determining which city departments or funds to audit. They are looking at eight areas right now that seem to need detailed evaluation.
"We are making risk assessments and looking at prior audits and findings," Tanaka says.
They will likely start with some of the "hot" topics recently in the news -- such as the sewer fund, which was drained down to nothing by Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris over a couple of years so he could balance the budget. Ultimately sewer hook up fees had to be raised substantially to put money back in the fund.
Tanaka says they may also start with the City Liquor Commission, which has come under investigation twice in 15 years for inspectors gone wild on taking bribes and extorting funds from club owners. Last year, 8 liquor inspectors were indicted on 57 counts and are facing federal charges of extortion, amongst other felony charges.
For the full details, see
"City Ethics Commission Documents Improprieties by Honolulu Liquor Commission Representatives"
"Honolulu Liquor Commission Inspectors Indicted"
"Liquor Commission Investigators Indicted on 57 Counts"
"Hawaii's Courageous Women - Part One in a Series" -- Linda Smith Was Not Afraid to Expose Corruption in Government, No Matter the Consequences
Tanaka, who was formerly working in the state auditor's department, has worked for the much-respected state Auditor Marion Higa, and should certainly have a target rich environment to audit.
City Council Confirms New City Clerk
Denise DeCosta was confirmed yesterday as the new city clerk for the City & County of Honolulu and will be sworn in Sept. 2.
DeCosta, with the Board of Water Supply since 1981, has had extensive experience in media, working for KHON, KHVH radio, the United Press International and the Unity House publication. She also worked in the minority research office at the Hawaii State Legislature.
More Witnesses Come Forward in Investigation of Mayor
Yesterday, Hawaii Reporter revealed more than 600 subpoenas have been issued over the last several months in the investigation of the campaign and administration of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris by city investigators with the vast majority sent to consultants hired by the city.
Those included architects and engineers who accepted city construction and consulting jobs and then made substantial contributions to the campaign of the mayor.
Law enforcement investigators believe at least $1 million was contributed to the mayor's campaign by these consultants, much of it illegally through "false name" contributions.
But also being investigated by law enforcement: those administrators in the city accused of holding up city contracts; payments to contractors, consultants and vendors; or permitting and/or zoning requests until contributions were made to the mayor's campaign or other cash payments were made to certain city officials.
Hawaii Reporter has interviewed these individuals and company heads that claim they were required to make contributions in order to conduct standard city business. More on this story as soon as details become printable.
Campaign Spending Commission Set to Fine More Consulting Companies
The state Campaign Spending Commission has investigated the campaigns of several powerful Democrats including Honolulu Major Jeremy Harris, former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano, former Lieutenant Gov. Mazie Hirono and former Maui Mayor Kimo Apana, and found in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars made in "false name" contributions.
The individuals and corporations that made those false name contributions are being fined heavily for those illegal contributions and in the most severe cases are referred to the Honolulu Police Department and the Honolulu City Prosecutor for money laundering and other charges.
Tomorrow four more companies are set to appear before the state Campaign Spending Commission's 5-member panel to finalize their conciliation agreements, including Edward Noda & Associates, Randolph H. Murayama, Grant Thorton LLP and R.T Tanaka Engineers Inc. (Kirk T. Tanaka).
Bouncing Back
Jeffrey B. Owens, the Retired Honolulu police Major who admitted on two occasions that $700 worth of meat for prisoners was consumed by policemen on his watch, has a new career.
He opened his own business -- Transcend Inc. -- and now offers training and consulting in crisis prevention, intervention and response effectiveness in the workplace.
See http://www.workplacetraining.biz
Owens, a 30-year police department veteran, maintains he did nothing criminal and that the department saw reduction in complaints against officers and improved performance. He opted to plead no contest two days before trial to the charges pending against him for second degree theft.
He has requested and was granted a deferral of his sentence, which means his record will be wiped clean after he serves what essentially is probation.
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