UH faulted on running of Lyon Arboretum
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
State Sen. Clayton Hee told University of Hawai'i administrators they won't get the $3 million they want to improve Lyon Arboretum without a detailed breakdown of the projects within that request, and without far more detailed budget figures than UH has provided.
The arboretum has been in crisis for the past year, and yesterday's early legislative briefing was aimed at moving forward rapidly on problems there. However, what Hee found spoke more to a state audit issued in late December that criticized the university for how poorly it has managed and funded the arboretum for the past half-century and how little attention has been paid to everything from the budget to repairs on the aged plantation-era cottages and a focused plan for research.
"Any hope of the capital improvement funds being appropriated is dependent on a breakdown of the $3 million request," Hee told university administrators yesterday, asking for a five-year budget breakdown for him before a second hearing Jan. 25.
Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku), said he was surprised the university could provide his Senate Higher Education Committee with only a rough estimate of the arboretum's annual budget — even after interim vice president for research Jim Gaines told him that salaries of the 13.5 employees cost $700,000, from the state general fund. Hee also said he was surprised the university has asked for no new operating money for the arboretum.
University administrators admitted to having had difficulty pinning down the arboretum's budget, including how much is spent annually, where it comes from and where it goes.
"There isn't a set of records that shows where all the money flows," Gaines conceded.
The arboretum has been in upheaval since last January, when employees complained about safety and health concerns at the facility, including decaying buildings, dangerous utility lines, unstable walkways, unsuitable bathroom facilities for visiting children's groups, alleged discrimination, and other issues.
The university launched an investigation that eventually resulted in the facility's closure in late August at state auditor Marion Higa's urging because of liability concerns. It reopened Jan. 2 with temporary measures addressing safety, including closure of five of the eight cottages, which are used for staff offices, lab space and research.
Higa's office, too, was stymied in locating complete budget figures. Barbara Polk, a former UH administrator who is chairwoman of a legislative steering committee charged with coming up with a plan for the arboretum's future — a UH task force is at work on the same thing — said she also is trying to understand the funding picture. "Where is the money coming from and where is it going?" she asked.
At yesterday's hearing, UH civil-rights counselor Jill Nunokawa called on legislators to establish a task force to monitor arboretum improvements. And she accused UH of "ongoing ineptness" in dealing with the arboretum, such as failure to investigate complaints by staff when they first arose, including a complaint of discrimination by a former employee.
"For over 50 years UH has miserably failed in its obligations to be proper stewards over the precious and delicate watershed in Manoa Valley," said Nunokawa. "The Lyon Arboretum needs a champion, an entity to make sure that this great resource is protected and prospers as it once did. You are the ones that can make it happen," she told the Senate committee.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
