Legislators consider probe of HVCB
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
Legislature leaders are preparing for the possibility of a House-Senate investigation of the Hawai'i Visitors Convention Bureau by asking the state auditor to preserve records on the Hawai'i Tourism Authority's contracts with HVCB.
State auditor Marion Higa said the request from Senate President Robert Bunda and House Speaker Calvin Say may involve giving a legislative committee power to subpoena witnesses and documents.
Bunda and Say asked for records on $151.7 million in marketing contracts held by HVCB from 2000 to 2002, which were the focus of a report issued by Higa accusing HVCB executives of misusing state money.
Senate tourism committee chairwoman Donna Mercado Kim said after a joint briefing of House and Senate tourism committees yesterday that the Legislature has not yet decided whether to conduct an investigation of HVCB. But she said she wants to find out more about the agency's accounting practices and the awarding of contracts to a former HVCB employee.
Kim also criticized the auditor's office's work and asked why the report on HVCB did not detail more serious findings of noncompliance or breaches of contract.
The tourism committees scheduled a third day of briefings for 9 a.m. Friday. Kim said she hopes to have a decision then on whether to start a formal investigation but said such a probe would not start until January.
"We may have a new contractor by then," said House tourism committee chair Jerry Chang.
The attorney general's office also has been asked to look into the audit findings and the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, which contracts with HVCB.
HVCB President Tony Vericella explained at the briefing some of the motivations for granting contracts to a former HVCB employee and allowing Japan Airlines to pay part of the salary and benefits of an HVCB employee. "We understand why the perception of conflict was there. ... We need to and we will remove that," he said.
Kim said she was concerned Vericella had "just no sense of the conflicts and the issues."
"I don't think good intentions excuse you from the law," she said.
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2470.
