Dobelle calls regents' charges 'outrageous'

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

Evan Dobelle yesterday called statements made by University of Hawai'i regents in draft meeting minutes accusing him of lying, mismanaging and misusing money both "outrageous" and untrue.

"It's a terrible statement to make about anybody," said Dobelle of allegations that he had lied. "The language used is so coarse and cheap.

"Nobody has ever had the courage to say anything like that to me. Quite honestly, in my dealings with them, being called a liar by some of the members of the regents is like being called ugly by a frog."

Board of Regents vice chairwoman Kitty Lagareta declined to respond to Dobelle's statements.

However, regents' attorney William McCorriston said, "It's unfortunate that Dr. Dobelle on the one hand is accusing the regents of name-calling and seems to be doing the same thing himself."

Dobelle also acknowledged that he had been talking to potential employers about jobs, but he said he had "never taken a trip or charged a trip or taken the time away from the university to speak to anybody (about a new job).

"It's just not true," he said. "If I used personal days it would be for private situations," he said, "or to spend time with my brother who fell ill."

Dobelle acknowledged that on those times he did take a personal day, such as to visit his brother in New York during a business trip, the university paid for the ticket.

Draft minutes of the June 2 and June 15 executive session were released by the university Thursday among hundreds of pages of documents relating to the dispute between Dobelle and the regents and his firing "for cause." The cause was later rescinded in a mediated settlement that cleared both parties of wrongdoing, called for Dobelle's resignation as president as of today, and contained a monetary settlement.

The draft minutes of the two meetings clearly show that regents had lost trust in the president and that the relationship with him was in a shambles. Regents expressed concerns that they were being lied to by the president and raised questions about his integrity.

The feelings of regents included concerns that they believed he had often been duplicitous and had ignored the most basic policies of the university. It was the June 15 meeting that resulted in his firing.

Yesterday, Dobelle responded that the regents were trying to damage his reputation by releasing minutes that were "skewed."

"What's before you is somebody's version of the truth," he said. "My interest is 'play the tapes and let everybody know the truth.' "

Minutes are taped first, then transcribed, and put into final form by staff to be adopted by the board.

The university has said it will release the tapes, said McCorriston, but he noted the technical difficulty of redacting attorney-client privilege from 12 hours of tape-recordings for the June 15 meeting alone.

"The regents have already committed to produce the tapes and will do so shortly," he said.

Dobelle also asked why regents had taken four days to release the minutes when a week ago the Office of Information Practices instructed the university to release them without delay, including tape recordings of the meetings.

University officials have said that the time was needed to allow attorneys for the university to redact areas of the minutes that involved attorney-client privilege.

"It was Dr. Dobelle and his lawyer who wanted the minutes released," said McCorriston. "The minutes are, by definition, summary forms. These particular minutes are only in draft and drafts, by definition, are subject to change. All this seems to be much ado about nothing."

Documents released Thursday show extensive e-mail conversations between Dobelle and prospective employers, including the Asia Society and several colleges in which friends had intervened on his behalf.

E-mail documents from earlier this year involving negotiations with the Asia Society indicate Dobelle was interested in a leadership position there. Yesterday, Dobelle said the group "decided to go to an inside candidate."

"I wasn't convinced it was the right place for me," he said.

There are also e-mail conversations showing an interest in other college presidency jobs including Washington College, Whitman College and the University of Pennsylvania.

He also said he had been talking to potential employers about other jobs, but that the conversations had mostly been initiated by "headhunters."

"I've had many conversations with headhunters out of courtesy and interest, and I'm continuing to do that," he said.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.