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| Bob Watada |
To many, Bob Watada is an honorable and courageous man, who despite his quick laugh and big heart, has not hesitated to bring to their knees and to jail some of the most powerful and corrupt political insiders in Hawaii.
To others, the recently retired state Campaign Spending Commission executive director is a despised scoundrel accused of having a political agenda and the gumption to use the powers of his office to forward that agenda.
To people at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Watada is a hero whose Herculean effort over the last decade dealt a major blow to corruption in Hawaii. And because of that, the non-profit free market think tank presented Watada with the Unsung Hero award at a Nov. 4, 2005, dinner being held at the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki.
Those who have followed Watada’s career say he leaves behind a trail of broken politicians who misused campaign funds, including some jailed for their crimes, and a number of corporate directors who gave illegal contributions to gain favor in government procurement. For the most part, the people he investigated paid the price for participating in what Watada deemed Hawaii’s "pay to play" system.
Under Watada’s direction, nearly 100 companies were fined between 2002 and 2005 for making "false name" contributions and excessive contributions primarily to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris and former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano. The city prosecutor and federal government took over some of Watada’s cases charging corporate executives of those companies with money laundering, making illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion. The companies participated in the scheme to boost their chances of getting government contracts, concession rights or zoning clearances.
Watada also either headed investigations, or uncovered information, that led to a long line of powerful politicians going to jail. Those include Daniel Kihano, former speaker of the House; Milton Holt, one of the most powerful state Senators of his time; Andy Mirikitani and Rene Mansho, former council members; and Marshall Ige, a former legislator who served in the House and Senate for 16 years. While in the past all politicians involved in the campaign "pay to play" scheme were Democrats, most recently Watada helped secure a federal case against Republican candidate for Congress and Lieutenant Governor, Dalton Tanonaka.
Honolulu City Council Chair Jon Yoshimura, former Senator Cal Kawamoto and former Senator Melodie Aduja were investigated and subsequently fined for their campaign spending violations.
One of Watada’s primary investigations centered around former Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, who served as Honolulu mayor for a decade, and was the target of the state Campaign Spending Commission for more that three years. While he escaped prosecution and jail time, more than 100 of Harris' supporters who laundered an estimated $1.5 million to his campaign were prosecuted and fined. The investigation is still under way.
But after taking on the Harris case, and the trail of high-paid lawyers who came with Harris, Watada suffered severe and frequent retaliatory actions by the Harris campaign. There was the ethics complaint, two federal lawsuits and one state lawsuit -- all of which ended favorably for Watada. At commission hearings, armed state security officers were present at the door, because commissioners had been threatened and investigated by the Harris campaign workers.
In addition to bringing down politicians and blowing a major hole in the Democrats’ well-established fundraising machine, Watada was involved in the investigation into Bishop Estate, a multi-billion dollar trust for Hawaiian children that was considered the land and power arm of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. The five trustees of the Bishop Estate eventually resigned or were forced out after a series of scandals, including cultivating Democrat candidates and funding their campaigns with trust monies, were revealed by Watada, IRS agents and the state attorney general.
The Campaign Spending Commission wasn’t always so aggressive, in part because Democrat political operatives were once in Watada’s position.
The first executive director of the Campaign Spending Commission was Robert Klein, who later was appointed a Hawaii Supreme Court judge. Klein, who served as the executive director from 1974 to 1975, is now a political operative and attorney for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, former Mayoral Candidate Duke Bainum and the Bishop Estate.
Wally Weatherwax took over the Campaign Spending Commission for three years beginning in 1975. He was recently fired as the city Liquor Commission executive director in part because 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.
Jack Gonzalves was the next director of the Campaign Spending Commission after Weatherwax, but was fired in 1994 after being arrested by federal agents for his involvement in a ponzi scheme. Gonsalves is still serving his 16-year term in federal prison. Watada, who was a commissioner on the state Campaign Spending Commission at the time of Gonsalves’ arrest, took over the position for the next decade.
Clearing the black cloud over the commission took years of hard work, honesty, integrity, dedication and consistency by Watada, his supporters say.
However, Watada took each day and each new case in stride. Taking the ups and downs during his career with a sense of humor, and taking time out for himself to play tennis or join in an aerobics class, was one of the keys to Watada’s success. He also spends quite a bit of time volunteering at Waialae School, a charter school, where he is a board member.
Lucky in his career -- Watada also was lucky in love. He recently married Rosa Sakanishi Miyakawa whom he fell in love with more than three decades ago while he was in the Peace Corps, but had to leave behind in Peru.
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| Rosa and Bob Watada |
When time allows, Watada and Rosa, who live in Hawaii Kai, visit her 32-year-old son, Jorge, who lives in Japan and they plan to spend more than a year with him in Japan beginning in 2006. They also spend time in the mainland visiting Watada’s two grown sons, Lorin and Ehren.
Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii Reporter, via email at mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com
