Posted on: Thursday, November 25, 2004

Councilman files request for travel financial details

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

City Councilman Charles Djou said Mayor Jeremy Harris' refusal to tell him who paid for a series of recent trips by the mayor to several countries and the Mainland have prompted him to file a formal request for the information.

Djou said he had also asked the state Office of Information Practices to determine whether he is legally entitled to the information, after Harris ignored a written request and inquiries by his staff.

"Although the public has every right to travel, the public has a right to know who is financing Harris' globetrotting and if those entities paying for Harris' trips are trying to influence city business," Djou said.

Harris, who returned to Honolulu early yesterday after visits to China and Japan, dismissed Djou's complaints as frivolous.

"I think his actions are just clearly political, and I don't intend to play Djou's political games," Harris said.

He said city money paid for the trip. His staff said the cost was $4,600.

Harris led a U.S. delegation of mayors to the Japan-U.S. Cities Summit in Hiroshima. He then went to China to speak about sustainable tourism in Honolulu at the World Tourism Marketing Summit in Nanjing.

Private groups paid for parts of several other recent trips that Harris made for conferences and speaking engagements. Some council members say he should have disclosed the expenditures as gifts to the city and should have sought council approval.

Harris says that was never required of any previous mayor. He stressed that he has disclosed the cost of trips and source of money to The Advertiser upon request. At least $11,700 in taxpayer money was spent on four trips, according to those disclosures.

Djou said Harris should willingly provide such information to council members.

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