Posted on: Monday, March 1, 2004

EDITORIAL
Ensure independence of two state agencies

We commend the spirit of a bill introduced by Senate Judiciary Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa to ensure the independence of the Campaign Spending Commission and the Office of Elections.

The two bodies were attached administratively to the Department of Accounting and General Services last summer as a result of legislative action. That was a mistake.

State Comptroller Russ Saito, head of DAGS, says state attorneys feel that he, as department director, is the chief spokesman for those agencies attached to his department.

Dwayne Yoshina, chief elections officer, has deferred media inquiries to Saito's office, and Saito said he had "permitted" Bob Watada, executive director of the Campaign Spending Commission, to testify before a Senate committee.

The independence of both these bodies, as well as their leaders, must be ensured. Hanabusa proposes to attach them both to the Judiciary instead of DAGS. Language of the enabling bill should specify legislative intent that they are and should remain independent.

We hope that this action is as simple and direct as it appears, but we're mindful that senators, including Hanabusa, introduced legislation earlier in this session that was clearly intended to hobble the effectiveness of Watada's commission.

That bill dissolved in an appropriate hail of criticism. We trust we're not seeing a more subtle attempt to bypass that sentiment.