Ethics board cites Lingle in school-reform case
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer
Gov. Linda Lingle violated state ethics law by using state resources to support her education advisory committee after it became a private nonprofit corporation, the Hawai'i State Ethics Commission has ruled.
In an informal advisory opinion released yesterday, the commission found that Lingle improperly used state workers and equipment for Citizens Achieving Reform in Education, which became a nonprofit in December and later sought nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service so it could lobby the state Legislature.
LINGLE
CARE, at the request of the governor, has repaid the state $29,843 for the use of state resources, and the ethics commission has chosen not to pursue the case further.
While the commission strongly commended Lingle for severing state ties to CARE after ethics complaints were filed against her in April, and for her cooperation during the investigation, the commissioners found that she should have perceived an ethics issue.
"The commission hopes in the future that you more fully scrutinize such matters," the commissioners wrote to the governor.
Lingle, who initially described the complaints as a diversion, last night said there was no question that she violated ethics law and appreciated the way the commission handled the case.
"I certainly regret this technical violation, but I think everyone can see that it was unintentional, that we were very open about what we were doing, and, again, had no intention to use resources in any way other than for public interest," the governor said while attending a fund-raiser last night at the Sheraton Waikiki.
Faith Tomoyasu, a librarian at Lehua Elementary School in Pearl City who filed the original complaint, said she is disappointed that Lingle faces no punishment other than admitting the ethics violation publicly. The commission, which has no punitive power, could have held a hearing and ultimately referred its findings to the Legislature.
"They were very blatant about it," Tomoyasu said of the governor and CARE. "Somebody had to do something."
Tomoyasu, while acknowledging that the circumstances were different, noted that former Honolulu City Council member Rene Mansho went to prison for a year for misusing about $150,000 in city resources on campaign and other events. "How come the governor can get away with it and a councilwoman can go to jail?" she asked.
Last October, the Republican governor picked more than two dozen business leaders, educators and activists to serve on CARE, which held public meetings across the state and helped draft the governor's education reform package that was presented to the Legislature.
Lingle's office spent about $65,000 on CARE before it became a nonprofit. Bob Awana, the governor's chief of staff, calculated $29,843 was used on CARE afterward, including for staff work and office space. CARE used state telephone numbers and the state maintained the group's Web site. CARE members and consultants often worked out of the governor's policy office in the state Capitol.
Ethics law prohibits using state resources, including state workers' time and state equipment, to support or give preferential treatment to a private business. The ethics commission determined that CARE, once it became a nonprofit, functioned as a private entity, not an advisory committee.
Kenneth Robbins, an attorney hired by Lingle at her own expense to respond to the complaints, told the commission that Lingle and Awana did not intentionally commit an ethics violation and regret that they did not seek legal advice before CARE became a nonprofit. Robbins wrote that the governor and her staff were "utterly transparent" in operating CARE out of the governor's office and believed the committee's mission was serving the public good.
Awana is now the president of CARE, and the governor plans to work with the group on education reform next session, when she again plans to push for breaking up the state Department of Education into local school districts with elected school boards.
Laura H. Thielen, a member of the state Board of Education and CARE, admitted that she was initially disillusioned by the outcome of the recent legislative session, when Democrats rejected local school boards, but is hopeful that the debate in the future will be less partisan. The DOE is preparing to carry out the Democrats' reform plans, including a new student spending formula and new school community councils at every school.
"I have great hope that next session people will be able to come back to this issue in a more neutral way," Thielen said.
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
