Democrats file ethics complaint against Lingle

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The partisan finger-pointing over ethics resumed yesterday, with the Hawai'i Democratic Party firing back at Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle.

Linda Lingle's actions in 1998 is targeted in an ethics complaint. Advertiser library photo

The party also filed a complaint with the state Campaign Spending Commission, saying Lingle failed to report use of county staff for the release. The news release, dated Feb. 4, 1998, was titled, "Lingle Refutes Allegations and Pledges to Stick to Real Issues." Akiba said it was sent on county letterhead and urged the media to contact Lingle's public information officer.

The Democrats' actions follow the Republican Party's ethics complaint last week against Cayetano That complaint contends that the governor was wrong for having the state Tax Department analyze Lingle's economic plans. Cayetano said it was his responsibility as governor and that he would also examine the budget plans of Democratic gubernatorial candidates.

"Linda Lingle says one thing, and accuses others and points fingers at others, and when held to the same standard of conduct ... falls short of that benchmark," Akiba said.

Akiba said Cayetano reviewed a budget plan while Lingle's release was "purely political." Lingle's campaign officials have said Lingle's 1998 release was a response to misstatements made by Cayetano during the campaign, while Cayetano used state workers for an analysis.

"It's more than four years old," Lingle campaign chairman Lloyd Yonenaka said of the 1998 release. "The fact that they're bringing it up again shows that their intent is to try and distract the public from the real issue, which is basically that the governor used state workers for something that they shouldn't have done."