Leong resigns from police commission

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Police Commissioner Leonard Leong reluctantly resigned under fire yesterday, nearly a week after entering a plea of no contest to a misdemeanor charge of making campaign contributions to Mayor Jeremy Harris under a false name.

Police Commissioner Leonard Leong said he did not want to put Mayor Jeremy Harris in the awkward position of being forced to decide whether he should stay or go. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

He is the only public official to be charged by prosecutors with wrongdoing since a wide-ranging campaign finance probe began nearly two years ago, focusing mostly on money that went to Harris.

City Council members and other police commissioners had said Leong could undermine public confidence in the seven-member panel that rules on allegations of police misconduct if he remained after publicly admitting a crime.

Leong said his judgment regarding police matters would not have been affected, but that he did not want to put Harris in the awkward position of being forced to decide whether he should stay or go.

"It's partly out of friendship that I resigned," Leong said. "I didn't want to put him through the same media frenzy I've been through."

Leong admitted donating $3,000 to Harris under his sister's name, but said he had not sought to improperly improve his company's chances of being awarded city construction contracts.

"The implication was that we were awarded contracts unfairly, and that wasn't the case," he said.

He said many people, including police officers, had urged him to remain on the commission and that he had hoped for a strong public show of support.

"I'd just like to thank the people who did support me through this ordeal," he said. "I thought they would be more vocal, but they weren't, and without that support it was a losing battle."

Police Commission chairman Ronald Taketa, who had called for Leong's resignation, praised his decision yesterday.

"He served the commission, the community and the police department very well for many years," Taketa said. "His personal legal problems are unfortunate, but I think under the circumstances this was the right decision, and I respect Leonard for making it."

Harris appointed Leong to the commission in 1996, and he served for several years as chairman. Taketa said Leong had been "one of the most dedicated commissioners that I've come in contact with."

He said he was certain Leong stepped down with no prodding from Harris, who had defended Leong while the charge was pending. Leong said he had not spoken to the mayor since he entered his plea.

Harris is in Washington, D.C., after a week in Greece, and is expected to return to City Hall tomorrow. A spokeswoman said he had been told of Leong's decision but had not released any statement.

City Council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz said public faith in all city commissions is important, and that he was glad Leong had put an end to the controversy surrounding his position.

"I commend him for doing the right thing," Dela Cruz said. "Anyone who admits or is found guilty of wrongdoing, we need to re-examine their role."

City Councilman Charles Djou said he was also glad the situation had been resolved.

"It's unfortunate and disappointing that it had to come to this, but I'm happy he made the right decision," Djou said. "Maybe for the future, the council should look at setting some standards to avoid having a similar situation."

He said he hoped the council would place a city charter amendment on the ballot next fall to allow the Ethics Commission to issue fines for certain violations, rather than simply send letters of concern to offenders or refer suspected wrongdoing to prosecutors.

During the past two years, the Campaign Spending Commission has issued dozens of fines to companies and people who made illegal donations. Harris' campaign received the bulk of the tainted money, but many others received illegal contributions, too.

Besides Leong, 12 people have been charged with criminal violations, including seven who were fined after pleading no contest. One of the charges was a felony, and prosecutors say additional felony charges are likely soon.

The fine against Royal Contracting approved yesterday settled allegations that the company, its president David Hulihee and Leong illegally gave thousands of dollars to Mayor Jeremy Harris, former City Council chairman Mufi Hannemann, and former candidate for governor D.G. "Andy" Anderson.

Royal Contracting executives, employees and family members gave $27,000 to Harris, $15,000 to Anderson, and $12,300 to Hannemann, according to the Campaign Spending Commission. The donations were made between 1996 and 2001, while Leong was serving on the Police Commission.

Donors can legally give no more than $4,000 to a candidate for mayor and $6,000 to someone running for governor, but donors connected to Royal were allegedly reimbursed illegally for their donations. None of the politicians have been charged with wrongdoing.

"The company's just glad to have gotten this taken care of," Royal attorney Mark Kawata said. "This is an unfortunate situation where company principals made contributions without knowing what the letter of the law was."

He said people associated with the company may not have known it was also illegal to reimburse others for contributions, and likely assumed that was permissible because the practice historically has been widespread in Hawai'i.

Yesterday's meeting was the first for new campaign commission members Steven E. Olbrich, managing partner of Olbrich Farms; Gino L. Gabrio, an attorney and partner in the law firm of Cades Schutte LLP; and Paul T. Kuramoto, a certified public accountant and manager of Tokumoto, Yamamoto & Ichishita, CPAs Inc.

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