DeSoto fined for campaign violation
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
The state Campaign Spending Commission yesterday approved fines against former City Council chairman John DeSoto and Honolulu engineering company NTW Associates.
The commission voted 3-0 to fine DeSoto $4,241 for improperly spending money raised by his campaign committee on personal expenses such as clothing and parking tickets.
DeSoto, who served as council chairman from 1994 to 1998 and again in 2002, said he believed he had done nothing wrong but agreed to the penalty to settle the issue.
"If I wanted to do something bad, I would have tried to hide it," he said. "You play by the rules and this is what you get. I'm not going to fight it. It's ridiculous."
The commission also voted to fine Honolulu engineering company NTW Associates $19,000 for making illegal campaign contributions to Mayor Jeremy Harris.
The company funneled more than $29,000 to Harris between 1996 and 2001 by reimbursing employees, relatives and friends who donated to the mayor's campaign, commission director Robert Watada said.
NTW president Jeffrey Y.C. Wong cooperated with investigators and agreed to the fine, Watada said.
"When he took over the company, he was told this was the way to do it," Watada said. "He had no idea it was improper."
The commission also issued an advisory opinion stating that donations of food for "Talk Story" events held by Gov. Linda Lingle should not be considered campaign contributions.
As long as the events are held to gather input from residents, and no campaign activities occur, the value of the donations does not need to be recorded and disclosed, according to the opinion.
The panel also dismissed a request to investigate how Lingle supported herself in 2002 while reporting an income of $11,000 to the state Ethics Commission.
Watada said the complainant, David Kimo Frankel, hadn't produced any evidence to warrant an investigation. Lingle's attorney said such concerns don't fall under the commission's jurisdiction anyway.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
