EDITORIAL
Tourism audit loses zip on close reading

If you read the allegations raised in State Auditor Marion Higa's damning audit of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, you might wonder why a grand jury isn't being convened to investigate.

Here's a relatively new agency, funded by hotel tax dollars to increase accountability in the state's tourism marketing, and already its 13-member governing board is being accused of mismanaging its annual $61 million budget and failing to adequately account for how money is being spent.

Even if the HTA has spent its formative years executing an aggressive marketing campaign to attract more tourist dollars, as it says it has, that doesn't make it exempt from the state Sunshine Law. The auditor says minutes were found for only nine of 28 closed-door meetings to discuss confidential, proprietary and personnel matters. That's unacceptable.

According to the audit, the authority:

• Awarded contracts after events took place.
• Paid millions of dollars to the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau for marketing without knowing what services were performed or their impact.
• Failed to record the minutes at committee meetings where major decisions were made.

But while the audit suggests misfeasance and possible malfeasance, it doesn't do a great job of backing up some of the accusations with specifics. In other words, it's hard to find a smoking gun.

For example, Higa faults the HTA for not having invoices for all its payments to former executive director Robert Fishman. The HTA says it had the invoices and would have given them to the auditor had it known she was looking for them. So it's unclear whether we're dealing with missing money or a simple misunderstanding, and that chips at the credibility of an audit.

Higa's 11 single-sentence recommendations to the HTA also seem weak in light of the harsh allegations. For example, she advises the authority to "conduct an annual evaluation of itself, the authority and its chief executive officer," but doesn't specify what needs to be evaluated. She also recommends the authority "comply with state laws governing public meetings." Well, doesn't that go without saying?

Overall, we're pleased that the state is taking a closer look at how the HTA does business. And we're glad the Legislature is holding a hearing on the audit, hopefully to get at the specifics. But after a seven-month investigation by Higa, we'd like to see less sizzle and more steak.