Tsunami of sleaze confronts electorate

By Bob Dye
Kailua-based writer and historian

Integrity emerges as the hot 2002 issue, especially in the Democratic primary contest for governor and lieutenant governor, and for the nonpartisan Honolulu mayor and City Council races.

Former Honolulu official Michael Kahapea talks with his attorney, Don Wilkerson, after being convicted of more than 40 counts of theft and related charges in the 'Ewa Villages redevelopment scandal. Advertiser library photo • August 2000

That it's better to tell the truth hasn't registered with politicians, he says. "Voters recognize political spin. They've had 20 years of it and can see through it. ... In the coming election, if a politician gains the people's trust, they'll give that official a long leash to lead."

Democratic state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, also a lawyer, says that without doubt, integrity will be "the defining issue in the 2002 election cycle."

Candidates for all offices, great and small, should know they will be scrutinized like never before, she warns.

Businessman D.G. "Andy" Anderson, a probable contender for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, says: "I think integrity with a capital 'I' will be very much a part of next year's election. Hawai'i's voters have become, for very good reason, disenchanted with politics. I hear it every day as I move around the state talking with people. What I hear most is that they can no longer trust their elected officials."

Anderson adds: "You haven't got enough column inches for me to list all of the examples given me daily by the guy on the street — questionable conduct, illegal deeds, abuse of the raising of campaign funds, breaking one's word once given. You name it, they are saying it."

Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, a Democratic candidate for governor, points out: "Integrity is very important because it's part of restoring people's trust in government. Integrity, honesty and trustworthiness go hand in hand. When individuals betray trust, there's a tendency to paint everybody with that brush."

Revelations of crime and corruption at Honolulu Hale impel a former twice-elected city prosecutor, Keith Kaneshiro, to consider running for mayor. Once director of the state Department of Public Safety, Kaneshiro, now a private lawyer, recently represented a City Council employee who blew the whistle on his boss for asking for and accepting a kickback.

"Integrity is the biggest issue in this mayor's race," says Councilman Duke Bainum. "The public's confidence in city government must be restored." An announced candidate for mayor, he is drafting a half-dozen bills to correct an imperfect system for dealing with ethical lapses by city officials. The physician has made integrity a major issue in his previous campaigns.

Scandal has been so persistent for so long at City Hall that these questions arise:

Candidates for the top state jobs Jeremy Harris and Jon Yoshimura may have convinced voters they have vision, but will voters trust them to govern the state?

If front-runner Harris slips in the polls, will he decide to bow out of the governor's race before filing day? Harris has the option of finishing the final two years of his mayorship.

In the face of recent admissions of guilt and unethical behavior, how long will it be before Yoshimura is removed by decent colleagues from chairmanship of the scandal-ridden council?

Harris, it must be remembered fairly, was legally untainted by what went wrong on his watch as managing director and mayor. Nevertheless, opponents can, and undoubtedly will, remind voters that while he was in charge:

• Michael Kahapea, a city employee, embezzled millions of dollars from the city over a period of years. He did not take the stand in his own defense. And Harris successfully avoided appearing as a witness. Kahapea was found guilty of committing the greatest fraud in the history of the county and is now serving time. City Hall contends Kahapea acted alone.

• A city department head was sent to federal prison for illegally soliciting money for the Harris and Frank Fasi political campaigns in the 1994 election.

• A deputy managing director who served under Harris was sent to federal prison for diverting campaign money to his personal use. He has since died.

• And there is the present great embarrassment of having two high-ranking Honolulu police officers indicted on charges of misusing public money intended for feeding hapless prisoners. Other employees of the department may be charged in what appears to be more than a Keystone Kops caper. Harris defended the chief when a detective called for him to resign.

Under the chairmanship of Yoshimura, these misdeeds made headlines:

• Councilman Andy Mirikitani misused and abused his office. After sentencing for his felonious acts, he will be removed from office. The head of his political party and the council chairman urged Mirikitani to resign, but he refused to take that honorable step. His aide, also found guilty of a felony, was fired. Depending on when Mirikitani vacates the office, a replacement will be elected or appointed.

Either way, restoring the people's faith in government will be a top issue.

• Councilwoman Rene Mansho was fined earlier this year for violating campaign spending laws. When some colleagues called for stripping her of most of her committee powers, a protective Harris asked them to show compassion. A campaigner for Harris, she remains under suspicion of related misdeeds. If charged, found guilty and sentenced before the end of her term, she also will be removed from office. Candidates for her seat will campaign on a clean government platform.

• Chairman Yoshimura himself recently was fined for campaign spending violations. Shortly thereafter, he voluntarily admitted lying about drinking before a traffic accident. He fled the scene of that accident and was fined. Unlike Mansho, he was not stripped of council power. He says everything happens for a reason, that he is now "a different man."

Yoshimura contends he should be given credit for keeping the council focused on the people's business during such a turbulent period. A lot was accomplished, he says. Although he was initially distrustful of Harris, he now respects and trusts him. The two work well together. Too well, thinks Councilman John Henry Felix.

Republicans, of course, may note that it mostly has been Democrats who have been miscreants. But that's probably by virtue of their great numbers in elected and appointive posts.

Democratic Party head Lorraine Akiba says, "Integrity is not R(epublican) or D(emocrat), it is individual." During her tenure, she reminds me, "incumbency is not an entitlement." If a Democratic office-holder does not meet the high standards of the party, it will find a new and better person to challenge that person at the polls, she promises.