Summit organizers won't solicit Hawai'i donations

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

The city is moving forward with plans for an international environmental conference next month, but organizers have quietly dropped a controversial practice of soliciting donations from Hawai'i companies to help pay for the event.

Mayor Jeremy Harris will serve as summit co-chairman. Advertiser library photo

No one was charged with wrongdoing in relation to the meetings, and the 19-month probe has since moved in other directions.

But an unusual civil lawsuit filed to pre-empt the criminal investigation by clearing summit organizers of suspicion has not been resolved. The suit seeks a court declaration that the conferences are not campaign activities and that city employees are free to work on them.

This year's Mayors' Asia-Pacific Environmental Summit is scheduled for Sept. 22 to 24 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, with help from the Asian Development Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies.

Harris will serve as summit co-chairman, along with Karl Hausker of the Global Environment & Technology Foundation. The event is expected to cost about $340,000 and will explore issues such as air-quality improvement and the management of garbage and wastewater.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa said Honolulu's contribution would be up to $91,000 to pay for meeting rooms, food, accommodations for nine key speakers, and other services.

Hausker's foundation is seeking additional money from corporate sponsors on the Mainland but is not soliciting Hawai'i companies, Costa said.

Harris organized the first summit in 1999 and the city has sponsored a series of similar events since then. The 2001 summit drew more than 400 delegates from 100 cities in 29 countries.

"It's in our best interest that Asia develops in an environmentally sustainable way, both from an economic standpoint and an environmental standpoint," Harris said.

A cornerstone of the city's economic development strategy is to establish Honolulu as a leader that Asian cities can turn to for environmental expertise, he said.

The goal is to encourage Hawai'i companies to market their skills in Asia, and to bring firms to Honolulu that specialize in water purification, transportation planning, waste-handling and other environmental concerns providing jobs, Harris said.

"The whole idea is to position us as a center for technology transfer to Asia, so our kids will be able to work in Honolulu designing the environmental technology Asia will need over the next 30 years," he said.

But the 2001 event aroused suspicion as Harris was planning a run for governor. Many government contractors and companies that donated heavily to his campaign committee also helped bankroll the summit.

Among the contributors to previous summits was Honolulu engineering firm SSFM International. Five SSFM officials, including the company's president, pleaded no contest this year to criminal charges for illegally funneling money to Harris' re-election campaign.

Another summit donor was R.M. Towill Corp. Four company executives have been arrested since late June on suspicion of illegally financing Harris' campaign, but they have not been charged with wrongdoing.

None of the criminal charges was related to the environmental summits. Prosecutors declined to discuss the status of the probe or the results of last year's inquiry regarding the conferences.

A key figure in Harris' campaign fund raising, attorney Peter Char, also headed the Environmental Foundation, a nonprofit group formed to organize and raise money for the environmental events.

Char, a prominent Honolulu medical malpractice lawyer, was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury about campaign activities in November 2002.

He died less than two months later after an illness, and Harris suggested then that stress triggered by the investigation was partly to blame.

Char's widow, Lynette, a deputy in Harris' Cabinet and the city's lead organizer for the summits, declined to be interviewed.

In an unorthodox move, she and the Environmental Foundation sued the city in October 2002 and requested a court declaration that they had done nothing wrong, despite the pending investigation headed by City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle.

City attorneys would not agree in writing that "none of the funds raised for the city-sponsored events are campaign contributions" as defined by state law, court records show, and the suit is still pending.

Costa said city lawyers have issued an opinion stating that "the Environmental Summit is a City event and that it is entirely appropriate for City employees such as Lynette Char and other City staff to work on the program."

She could not provide a copy of the opinion last week, however.

Harris said he did not think this year's conference, or Honolulu's stature regarding environmental technology, had been damaged by the investigation.

"It's very clear that this is a bona fide city activity and a cornerstone of our economic development program," he said.

Harris said Hawai'i firms were not being solicited for support this year because adequate money was available from other sponsors. The change was not a result of questions raised by the investigation, he said.

Six people, including the SSFM officials and a member of Harris' Cabinet, have been fined after pleading no contest to criminal charges related to Harris' 2000 re-election campaign.

Three other suspects are awaiting trial, at least 17 more have been arrested and released uncharged, and more than 600 subpoenas have been issued to a variety of companies and individuals for bank records and other documents.

Dozens of companies have also been fined by the state Campaign Spending Commission for making illegal contributions to Harris and several other top Hawai'i politicians.

No charges have been filed against Harris by the commission or by prosecutors.

The mayor's attorney says the criminal probe is politically motivated and has focused on improper donations to Harris while ignoring money that illegally went to the others. Prosecutors say they are reviewing evidence impartially.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.