Convicted felon Mirikitani still feeding at the public trough

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

After something has been stolen from your house, you start to think about security. You might live for years with screens that slip out from the window frame with the slightest nudge and a lock on the back door that even the cat knows how to open. But if you become the victim of a break-in, your thoughts turn to deadbolts, door alarms and Dobermans.

That seems to be how we're feeling in the aftermath of Andy Mirikitani's crimes against us.

We're bothered that he played loose with taxpayer money, we're irked that he never owned up to what he did, we're mad that he refused to leave office after being convicted. But what really makes us boil is that he slipped through the back door and snatched retirement benefits for himself and his co-conspirator.

Now we're wondering how to put a big lock on that door so we don't get taken again.

The total amount of money Mirikitani received in his bribery and kickback scheme was less than $7,000. The bigger financial injury is that we'll foot the bill for Mirikitani's room and board for four years and three months while he banks his pension checks (also provided by us), and then, when he and his wife are both out of prison, we'll still be paying their bills.

There's talk in town of new legislation, laws that would make certain an elected official convicted of a crime would be kicked out of office after the conviction and not months later, after sentencing. There's discussion about how to keep lawbreaking government leaders, whether elected or not, from quickly retiring before going to jail and therefore setting themselves up on the public tab for life. One idea is to calculate years-in-office only up to the date the crime was committed; all benefits after the offense would be forfeited.

It is bizarre and sad to have such thoughts of needing to protect ourselves from the very ones who are supposed to be looking out for our best interests.

But if we don't lock this door, other opportunistic thieves will rob us again, and we'll have to accept some of the responsibility of our victimization.

Can we protect ourselves from another Andy Mirikitani? Can we shore up the windows and doors, set up motion detectors, seal off all access from the crooks?

Sadly, no. Not completely.

Like my dad always says, locks are made for honest people. Thieves break locks. They cut holes. They puka through. That's what makes them thieves.

There's always the neighborhood watch approach. Let them know we're paying attention. Let them know we'll report suspicious activity and we're willing to follow a case through to adjudication. But that only works when the actions are illegal. Staying in office and cashing in on benefits were completely legal actions on Mirikitani's part, though morally askew.

Maybe the best we can hope for is that Mirikitani's demise will scare others in office into playing it straight. Maybe to some, four years in Club Fed and a pension of a thousand bucks a month doesn't sound like a cushy deal.

Let's hope so.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.