Posted on: Saturday, December 22, 2001

Harris accuses watchdog of ethics violation

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign has filed an ethics complaint against the head of the state campaign spending commission for publicly discussing the substance of his investigation into questionable contributions to the mayor's campaign.

The complaint charges that Robert Watada, executive director of the campaign spending commission, has "repeatedly assaulted the reputations of the mayor and his campaign volunteers" by discussing his investigation with reporters, Harris 2002 Campaign Committee attorney Chris Parsons wrote in a letter to the state ethics commission.

"Mr. Watada's continuing public attacks on Mayor Harris ... are an abuse of public office and a violation of the code of ethics," Parsons wrote.

Watada, whose investigation has led to seven fines against Harris contributors in the past two months, called the allegations "silly."

"It's clearly an attempt to harass me and the commission and to intimidate us into not saying any more or doing any more," Watada said. "It's exactly the sort of thing that people are afraid of if they speak up and tell the truth."

Watada has said he has identified more than 60 companies and people who may have contributed more than the $4,000 limit to Harris during his 1996 and 2000 mayoral campaigns. He has said he is trying to find out if any donors gave more than is legal in the hope of being awarded city contracts.

The commission has issued 45 subpoenas for banking records and testimony, and has requested financial documents from the campaigns of Harris and other state and local officials. Harris, a Democrat, is running for governor in 2002.

Watada said it was not inappropriate to discuss his ongoing investigation and that the only information he has shared is public anyway.

"The taxpayers want to know what I'm doing, and they pay my salary so I have to keep them informed of what the commission is doing," he said.

The Harris campaign released copies of the complaint it filed Thursday afternoon, but neither campaign officials nor Harris would comment on it.

"We don't want to try this in the media, and it would be inappropriate to make public comment, given the basis of our complaint," campaign co-chairman Rick Tsujimura said.

Harris declined several days ago to discuss the scrutiny of his contributors, but later responded in writing to a series of questions.

"I understand and respect the commission's responsibility to ensure that contributors adhere to the law, and I don't argue the point that there have been infractions," Harris wrote. "But the infractions have not been solely with contributors to my campaign, and the law states that adhering to spending limits is the contributor's responsibility."

Harris complained that Watada has singled out his campaign and its contributors.

"What's more, most of his public statements are based on innuendo, suspicion and comments supposedly made by unnamed people who supposedly have contributed to my campaign," Harris wrote.

Numerous contributions to Harris' campaigns, adding up to several hundred thousand dollars, came from city contractors and their employees, spouses and relatives, records show.

Harris stressed that the campaign bears no responsibility for excess contributions that have been identified by Watada. The campaign has done the "absolute best it could" to weed out problem donations, according to Harris.

"It's almost impossible for a major campaign receiving thousands of contributions to know who's related to who, who corporate officers are and whether they hold controlling interest in their companies and so on," Harris wrote.

He maintained that there is no reason to ban or limit political contributions from contractors that do business with the city or state, something Watada has long pushed for.

"From my experience, there's no reason to do so because campaign contributions and the awarding of city contracts by the departments in my administration are totally unrelated," Harris wrote.

Ethics commission executive director Dan Mollway said it typically takes several months to investigate and resolve complaints. In this case, an upheld complaint would be forwarded to the governor, who could decide what, if any, action to take, he said.

If Harris is elected governor and the complaint is upheld later, the five-member commission would have to decide whether he would be in a position to decide on any action without bias, Mollway said. An opinion by the attorney general may also be needed, he said.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.