Corruption issue may haunt Isle Democrats

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief

Ben Cayetano's 1994 campaign for governor, in large part, was about ending cronyism and corruption in government. Seven years later the Democrats would love to leave that issue far behind, but they can't.

Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono said recent cases may increase cynicism. Advertiser library photo

That worries some party members, who say there could be a splatter effect that will hurt Democratic candidates in 2002. But some prominent party members predict the political damage will be limited to the people directly involved in any wrongdoing.

"Clearly, the ones who are breaking the law need to pay for it," said Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, who is preparing for a bid for governor in 2002.

"I don't think it helps the Democrats, but I also don't think it helps anybody who's running for elected office, because I think all of these things really tend to have the effect of creating a real cynicism among our voters and our electorate about politicians in general," Hirono said.

Most recently, former state Sen. Marshall Ige pleaded no contest last week to a single misdemeanor charge that he filed inaccurate campaign spending reports. Prosecutors agreed to drop six other charges.

Ige, who was voted out of office last fall, also faces felony charges of first-degree theft, money laundering and attempted tax evasion in an unrelated case.

Honolulu Councilwoman Rene Mansho last week agreed to pay $40,000 to settle a complaint that she repeatedly violated state campaign spending laws, and acknowledged that she in fact broke the law. She has also agreed to pay another $40,000 to settle other allegations that she violated the city ethics code by misusing her staff and city resources.

Meanwhile, Honolulu Councilman Andy Mirikitani is under federal indictment in connection with an alleged kickback and embezzlement scheme. He is charged with theft, bribery, extortion and wire fraud.

Ige, Mansho and Mirikitani are Democrats, and there may be some continuing political fallout from those kinds of cases.

Image and the impressions formed by media campaigns play particularly important roles in statewide races such as the contest for governor because many or most voters never actually meet the candidates.

In that contest, some Democrats said, any negative image created by the criminal and civil cases could be important.

"It just kind of adds to the general perception that there's corruption in government," Cayetano said last week. "It doesn't help. You're talking about those folks facing those kinds of problems, and before that, Milton Holt, the former speaker (of the state House), the former president, the Bishop Estate — they don't help us."

Former state Sen. Holt — another Democrat — served federal prison time after pleading guilty in 1999 to one count of felony mail fraud in connection with violating state campaign spending laws.

Former state House Speaker Daniel Kihano also went to federal prison after he was convicted in 1997 of converting campaign money to personal use. Kihano, a longtime Democrat, died last year.

Although they weren't convicted, the legal troubles of former House Speaker Henry Peters and former Senate President Richard "Dickie" Wong also may have added to negative associations in the voters' minds.

Wong and Peters were indicted in connection with a real estate deal, although all of the charges were later dismissed. Again, the case involved two prominent longtime Democrats.

Prosecutors alleged Peters and Wong had used their positions as trustees of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate to help developer Jeffrey Stone, Wong's former brother-in-law, get what prosecutors alleged was a "sweetheart deal" on Kamehameha Schools land under condominiums in Hawaii'i Kai.

The attorney general alleged that Peters received $192,500 in kickbacks from Stone in return for getting the land, and that Wong received $115,800 from Stone.

Lawyers for Wong, Peters and Stone argued that Stone actually paid millions of dollars more than the assessed value of the land at the time of the transaction during a period of falling real estate prices.

Ira Rohter, an associate professor of political science at the University of Hawai'i and co-chairman of the Hawai'i Green Party, said the well-publicized criminal and civil cases will contribute to the Democrats' troubles in 2002.

"I don't think this is singularly important. I think it's one more brick weighting down this party, which is really leaderless right now," he said.

If the Democrats have a sterling record of accomplishments going into the election, the focus of the campaign may shift to those achievements, he said. But Rohter doesn't expect that will happen because, he said, the Democrats seem to be "floundering around" at the Legislature.

"This corruption and cronyism stuff is going to come up again because there's really nothing else to talk about," he said.

"I think this kind of adds another element, another piece of weight to the idea that the Democrats can't run the state effectively, they don't know where they're going, and the Republicans are going to run very effective campaigns," Rohter said.

Not surprisingly, state Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Lingle seems prepared to take the issue to the 2002 campaign, when Lingle will be running for governor herself.

"I guess you have to ask, these are just the ones that have come to light," Lingle said of the criminal and civil cases. "What else is going on?"

"I think it's a reflection of what can happen when too much power is concentrated in a small group of people in one political party," she said. "I believe it's better for our state to have a balanced political system. There's less of a chance of those kinds of things happening. I do think it would be true regardless of what party would be in office."

Hirono acknowledged that "there is a tendency in the political arena to call the whole barrel rotten when there's one rotten apple."

Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, who also is expected to run for governor next year, was unavailable to discuss the issue. But Cayetano said he believes both Democrats Horono and Harris are equipped to cope with the issue.

"I think the two candidates that we have are clean, Cayetano said. "I think the people may not like them, they may disagree with them, but they've got pretty good reputations, I think, when it comes to that kind of thing."

Hirono said she expects the Republicans to try to use the issue of corruption "to paint all of us in a bad light," but said the voters won't accept any effort to paint Democrats with a "broad brush."

"It won't be much of an issue in my campaign since I'm hardly what you call an old-boy candidate, though others may try to portray me in that light," Hirono said.