EDITORIAL
Expedite investigation of airport contractors
The state Attorney General's Office is investigating whether millions of dollars in small construction contracts at Honolulu Airport inappropriately got into the hands of a favored few.
If the allegations hold true, a select group of contractors have been awarded hundreds if not thousands of repair and maintenance contracts — through a system of inflated bids and kickbacks — with the help of state Department of Transportation personnel.
The odds are that we wouldn't know about this probe if Advertiser investigative reporter Jim Dooley hadn't independently been looking into how those small contracts are awarded and who gets them.
When pressed, Attorney General Earl Anzai disclosed to Dooley that an investigation was under way, but declined to discuss details. Anzai has blocked the release of airport contract records Dooley sought under the state's open records law, saying that would interfere with the pending criminal investigation.
If we can't see the documents, at least we expect to see results — before the November elections. The last thing the Democratic Party needs right now is the perception that it is sweeping a corruption scandal under the rug.
At the very least, the state must take a critical look at its lax bidding procedure for contracts worth $25,000 or less, a level set to hasten repairs and maintenance.
When a small airport job comes up, the DOT telephones three contractors and asks them to submit bids. The lowest one wins the job.
Sources familiar with the investigation told Dooley of cases in which contractors conspired with one another and state personnel to funnel the job to the favored firm. In some cases, officials inserted into files inflated bids from unwitting and fictitious companies to justify awarding the job to the favored firm.
In return, state personnel received cash, free home repairs, airplane tickets, sporting event tickets and political contributions, sources said.
One lucky contractor is alleged to have received so many small jobs that he netted $3 million in one year. Another received $8,000 to fill a crack in a concrete floor with epoxy. At that rate, it's no wonder that the small repair jobs budget at the airport has soared to about $7 million a year.
Such abuses are believed to have stopped last year after then-Airports Administrator Jerry Matsuda ordered an internal investigation of small construction contract awards.
Let's hope so, because in the wake of Sept. 11, the limit for expedited bidding has been raised from $25,000 to $250,000.
