Posted on: Saturday, April 16, 2005

Counsel says Harris book work not illegal

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Former Mayor Jeremy Harris and his staff did not violate city procurement regulations while producing "The Renaissance of Honolulu," a coffee-table book that chronicled the administration's achievements, an investigation by city lawyers found.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Duane Pang outlined the lawyers' finding in a letter dated April 13 and addressed to City Council member Charles Djou, who had asked the corporation counsel to research the issue.

"Although it was done at the last minute, we could find no violations of the procurement code," Pang said.

In fact, Pang said, if the project had been conceived as a book from the start, instead of growing out of a smaller project and pushing against a fiscal-year budget deadline, it would have qualified for exemptions that wouldn't have tied city officials to procurement regulations in the first place.

Harris could not be reached for comment about Pang's findings yesterday, but Ben Lee, former city manager under the Harris administration, was pleased with the news.

"Good," he said. "That's great. I didn't think there would be (a problem). Everything was done aboveboard. I'm happy to hear that the corporation counsel has confirmed that."

Djou did not think the letter showed the book project was appropriate.

He said that even if there was no wrongdoing that would open the former mayor to criminal prosecution or a lawsuit, the Harris book was "still a waste of taxpayer's money."

"The ethics commission is still investigating," he said. "They could reach a different conclusion."

Lee said the book started out as a portion of the city's annual report and grew — through a lot of late-night work — into the book.

It was conceived, he said, as something that could be given as a gift to visiting dignitaries, and as a means of marketing the city's best aspects.

"I don't know if the current administration is interested in using it that way," he said, "but that is the way we saw it."

He said proceeds from the book would go back to the city and were intended to help fund sustainability programs, but so far no proceeds have been received.

Pang pointed out in his letter to Djou that the book's distributor, The Islander Group, has made no payments to the city even though an agreement calls for the city to get 70 percent on the sale of each book, paid within three months of the date the book was sold.

"It started sales in December," Pang said yesterday, "so theoretically we were supposed to get something by now."

Lee said he thought that situation could be corrected with a phone call.

"If they are behind on their payments," he said, "I'm sure they just need to be reminded."

When the book expanded from part of the annual report to a book, a contract with General Printing Inc. was amended from $15,000 to $62,000.

A contract with Smith Davis Miyasaki Advertising Inc. went from $24,000 to $33,000. The additional paper for the book cost $13,300, according to Pang's letter.

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.