More public workers face scrutiny

By Johnny Brannon and Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writers

The arrest of Honolulu Department of Community Services director Mike Amii is the latest in a string of allegations that public employees stole taxpayer money by billing government agencies for time spent on private activities.

Amii, who allegedly performed campaign work for Mayor Jeremy Harris on city time, was arrested less than a month after former city councilwoman Rene Mansho was sentenced to a year in prison for charges that included stealing at least $20,000 worth of city time spent on work for her campaign.

In addition:

• The Honolulu Police Department's Internal Affairs unit is investigating allegations that dozens of police officers who participated in an off-duty golf tournament were paid for a subsequent day on which they did not work.
• The police and the Department of Environmental Services have been looking into complaints that Kailua Wastewater Treatment Plant workers were paid overtime for installing sprinklers at the home of a supervisor's mother on their day off and performed other non-city work.
• The state Department of Public Safety is probing allegations that members of its sheriff's division assigned to Honolulu International Airport collected overtime for hours they did not work, the same offense that two former airport police officers pleaded no contest to earlier this year.

Chuck Totto, director of the city's Ethics Commission, said when people are prosecuted for stealing public time, others who know about similar cases are more likely to come forward.

"I think the bottom line is that the public and employees are now aware that there are agencies that will act," Totto said.

About 25 police officers from the Crime Reduction Unit allegedly were paid even though they did not work the day after they helped run the golf tournament in May. Some officers expect internal affairs investigators to interview 100 officers and supervisors up to the rank of major.

A police department spokeswoman confirmed that internal affairs detectives had begun interviewing dozens of officers but said she could not specify who would be included.

Some Kailua sewer plant workers who say they complained about the abuse of overtime and other problems filed a lawsuit in June after they were allegedly harassed and reassigned in retaliation.

The Department of Public Safety reassigned a sheriff's division lieutenant when the airport overtime abuse probe began. The police officers who earlier pleaded no contest to similar charges avoided jail time by agreeing to pay back the money and perform community service.